Active heave compensation of a floating crane using electric drive

Floating cranes have shown their benefits in port operations and in offshore tasks. With the increase of offshore wind farms, installation and maintenance of the wind turbines require crane vessels for multiple tasks. In order to operate in open sea regardless the ocean waves, active heave compensation system is necessary to be installed. In this work an electric drive is proposed for active heave compensation of a floating crane, as more sustainable solution among other benefits. Dynamic model of a floating crane was derived for model based control. Different control algorithms were developed and numerically tested for efficiency.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and Logistic

Generative design of a large-scale nonhomogeneous structures

The digitalization of the product design process has become the new norm in the engineering design with the development of different CAD software, design analyses tools, and rapid prototyping techniques. More holistic approaches in the product design analyses include modeling of the manufacturing technologies and the entire logistics regarding the product life-cycle. Advanced design techniques have paved the way for engineers and designers to create new innovative products with unique functionalities or entirely change the shape of an existing traditional product. Generative and parametric design methods have established themselves in the recent years with benefits regarding material use and sustainability, but mostly with the development of the additive manufacturing technologies. They enable concepts like application driven design to become feasible, in this case lightweight structures while still maintaining structural integrity. In this work, an application driven design of non-homogeneous structure with tailored response to different external load conditions is presented. The structure design constraints in size and expected load capacity result in nonhomogeneous structure with optimal material distribution and structure mechanical response.Transport Engineering and Logistic

Design of a multi-functional vehicle which supports passenger and cargo transport

Online shops are responsible for a significant increase in the total volume of parcels which have to be transported. Due to the increase in volume there are more vehicles required to meet this enormous demand. This has a negative impact on the traffic flow on the infrastructure. A possible solution can be found in ride-sharing, as sharing resources paves the way to more sustainable designs. Public transport often operates with occupancy rates below the maximum, and a way to optimize it to combine it with parcel transport. A multi-functional vehicle which combines public and cargo transport in variable ratios could lower the impact of parcel vehicles on the traffic flow. The designing steps for a multi-functional vehicle are presented which lead to a more detailed case design. This case zooms in on small public transport vehicles which are often active between small towns. The multi-functional case design consists of an innovative solution based on reconfigurable chairs which enables a more efficient use of vehicle space. Multiple options to implement the multi-functional vehicles in the transport system are also discussed.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and Logistic

Design of a Soft Underwater Gripper With SMA Actuation

Underwater robot tasks pose many challenges for conventional robotic systems. The current rigid robots are limited in their adaptability to the environment and the objects to be manipulated. Soft grasping of objects offers advantages due to the flexibility when dealing with, for example, living organisms, random shaped objects, and coral reefs. Additionally, conventional robotic systems face difficulties when exploring the planet's deep waters due to higher pressures and susceptibility of the often large amount of electronics to underwater conditions. Smart materials such as shape memory alloys can be more advantageous for the actuation of soft robotic underwater grippers because there is less need for complex electronic systems. Therefore, this project explores the use of smart materials for the actuation of a soft robotic underwater gripper. With this aim, three different gripper designs were made and evaluated. Various flexible materials, smart materials, 3D printing settings, numerous gripper configurations, and manufacturing methods are investigated. The gripper is intended to be a maintenance and inspection add-on for an underwater autonomous vehicle.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and Logistic

Investigation of geometrical properties of single-phase local resonators in the formation of bandgaps in three-dimensional elastic metamaterials

Elastic metamaterials – man-made resonant structures exhibiting unusual functionalities – have shown promising results for controlling structural vibration, specially at a low frequency regime. Such functionalities rely on the presence of resonant bandgaps, which consists of a frequency band where waves cannot propagate in response to the out-of-phase motion of the local resonators. Usually, the contrast between the properties of different material phases in such resonators results on the resonant effect, however, the manufacturing of such multi-phase structures is challenging and can be a high-cost process. This work proposes a parametric investigation of an elastic metamaterial constituted by single-phase local resonators. The bandgap formation in such structure depends on the geometrical properties of the resonators, instead of the material parameters. This analysis allows us to understand which geometrical features are sensitive to the position of the resonant bandgaps and its width. Designing such single-phase resonators provides an alternative to manufacture low-cost structures for engineering application.Transport Engineering and Logistic

Human Acceptance As Part of the Soft Robot Design

As machines and robots become a increasingly larger part of society, it is important that they are fully accepted. If the machines are not utilized as intended, it is not only a waste of time and energy, but also of valuable resources. This acceptance by humans of robots is based on how well the interaction with robots is trusted. Trust of robots can be based on three approaches: physical safety, operational understanding, and the social aspect of training. It is important to also consider these aspects when designing machines that will interact with humans, since acceptance by the people is key for the correct utilization of the machines. A possible approach to solve the issues around trust are soft robots. These machines are adaptable to a situation by either a physical flexibility or a digital anticipation due to sensing and control. This adaptiveness to humans in different ways makes Soft Robotics easier to accept then regular rigid machines. With their reduced or prevented effect if collided with humans they are safer. Because of the reduced operational complexity and digital simulations they are therefore easier to understand. Training becomes also easier as operator can experience the flexible nature of soft material themselves as well have augmented reality or virtual reality to assist them in training and operating. All these benefits of Soft Robotics will eventually lead to better acceptance of robots and should therefore be taken into account when designing robots to enable a flourishing automatized society.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and Logistic

AI supported noise analyses for structure design requirements definition

The artificial intelligence (AI) field has encountered a turning point mainly due to advancements in machine learning, which allows systems to learn, improve, and perform a specific task through data without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning can be utilized with machining processes to improve product quality levels and productivity rates and to optimize design and process parameters. The systems for acoustic event detection and classification (AED/C) of noise events is a process consisted of feature extraction of the signals, meaning processing acoustic signals and converting them into symbolic descriptions that correspond to the various sound events present in the signals and their sources. The main objective of the AED/C systems is to develop algorithms able to recognize and classify sound events that occur in the chosen environment, giving an appropriate response to users. By utilizing the acoustic events detection and classification systems, a clear set of design requirements can be extracted based on the noise to be attenuated. A smart structure design for noise attenuation needs clear noise input for proper smart material choice, placement and active control. This paper shows a method for detection of noise events based on machinelearning algorithm that can be further used for definition of design requirements.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and Logistic

Design of a Soft Bio-Inspired Tissue Transport Mechanism

In the medical field, it is essential to remove delicate tissues from the body without damaging them or disturbing the surroundings. Current tissue transport mechanisms depend on the tissue composition and shape of the transported tissue, which results in problems such as clogging. This study presents a soft transportation mechanism for tissues inspired by the longitudinal muscles associated with the peristaltic movement of the gastrointestinal tract. The mechanism is designed as a conveying toroid that turns itself inside out in a continuous motion. A fabrication method was developed to manufacture a small-sized silicone toroid, filled with lubricating liquid. Comparable to the peristaltic movement, the silicone toroid adapts its shape to the transported tissue which results in a soft seal around the tissue. The toroid conveys the tissue while locking it at a stationary spot. A prototype was built to evaluate the transport efficiency of the conveying toroid in differently curved pathways. The preliminary experiments showed good transport efficiency, revealing the potential of the proposed soft transport mechanism for medical, and other transport applications.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired TechnologyTransport Engineering and Logistic

Virtual reality supported design of smart grasper

Smart material graspers have shown potential for different applications in terms of functionality and actuation, especially in handling arbitrary shapes, fragile objects and complex 3D geometries. However, to take these initial designs further towards real applications, the challenge remains to determine the optimal size, shape, and passive and smart material location. Virtual reality can be beneficial in the early concept generation as it can help visualize and understand the grasping process. The access to suitable hardware and the development of virtual reality (VR) software has resulted in increased use of this technology. The 3D visualization offered by VR especially in the early stages of the design process assists engineers in making appropriate and efficient decisions, and it can also support the interaction with the end user to iterate on potential design improvements. The conceptual phase is often overlooked and rushed by the other departments involved in the design and development process although it is of great importance for successful outcome. It is important to make the most of it in order to assure quality result. In order to ensure short conceptual phase that will not reflect on the products' quality we propose introduction of the VR in the early stages of the design process. In this paper we show how the use of VR can be beneficial in new product development. In this case we focus on the design of smart material grasper.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and Logistic

Design of compliant joints for large scale structures

Large scale structures can benefit from the design of compliant joints that can provide flexibility and adaptability. A high level of deformation is achieved locally with the design of flexures in compliant mechanisms. Additionally, by introducing contact-aided compliant mechanisms, nonlinear bending stiffness is achieved to make the joints flexible in one direction and stiff in the opposite one. All these concepts have been explored in small scale engineering design, but they have not been applied to large scale structures. In this paper the design of a large scale compliant mechanism is proposed for novel design of a foldable shipping container. The superelasticity of nickel titanium is shown to be beneficial in designing the joints of the compliant mechanism.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Transport Engineering and Logistic