The cyber-physical e-machine manufacturing system : virtual engineering for complete lifecycle support

Electric machines (e-machines) will form a fundamental part of the powertrain of the future. Automotive manufacturers are keen to develop emachine manufacturing and assembly knowledge in-house. An on-going project, which aims to deliver an e-machine pilot assembly line, is being supported by a set of virtual engineering tools developed by the Automation Systems Group at the University of Warwick. Although digital models are a useful design aid providing visualization and simulation, the opportunity being exploited in this research paper is to have a common model throughout the lifecycle of both the manufacturing system and the product. The vision is to have a digital twin that is consistent with the real system and not just used in the early design and deployment phases. This concept, commonly referred to as Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), is key to realizing efficient system reconfigurability to support alternative product volumes and mixes. These tools produce modular digital models that can be rapidly modified preventing the simulation, test, and modification processes forming a bottleneck to the development lifecycles. In addition, they add value at more mature phases when, for example, a high volume line based on the pilot is created as the same models can be reused and modified as required. This research paper therefore demonstrates how the application of the virtual engineering tools support the development of a CPS using an e-machine assembly station as a case study. The main contribution of the work is to further validate the CPS philosophy by extending the concept into practical applications in pilot production systems with prototype products

A literature survey of energy sustainability in learning factories

Commercial competence to satisfy customer demands requires companies to provide the necessary skilled engineering staff and fight against time to achieve that. Learning Factories (LF) aim to provide training and education so that the manufacturing facility can respond to its production aims. However, the implementation of learning factories concept is taking different styles especially with the rise of Industry 4.0. On the other hand, sustainability concerns are becoming more serious and need to be fulfilled due to the recent climate changes. In this paper, a literature survey of the recent developments in this field is conducted with regards to energy sustainability. In particular, an analysis of the pedagogical aspect in terms of the applied learning theories, curriculum design and learning environment is explored. Further, some critics based on the analysis are put forward, and some research topics are suggested in relation to both the pedagogical and technical aspects

Virtual engineering in the support of sustainable assembly systems

Virtual Engineering (VE) has always been a great aid in the design phase of manufacturing systems in terms of structural system description, behaviour simulation and interfacing between the different subsystems. To this end, virtual engineering capabilities have a strong potential to be employed in manufacturing system sustainability at different phases of the system life cycle beyond the design phase. In response to the sustainable manufacturing requirements (namely 6R), this paper discusses the opportunities VE provides to support sustainable manufacturing over the life cycle phases considering the latest industrial developments in manufacturing i.e. Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing. A framework of virtual engineering tools integration with 6R is introduced, then a discussion of the expected contributions follows. To demonstrate the applicability of the previously mentioned concepts, a case study of an on-going industrial project is exemplified with its results discussion

Maintenance and digital health control in smart manufacturing based on condition monitoring

Smart manufacturing is the modern form of manufacturing that utilises Industry 4.0 enablers for decision making and resources planning by taking advantage of the available data. Therefore, the state of the art technologies are either replaced or improved using the newly introduced manufacturing paradigm. In practice, condition monitoring is an on-going activity that preserves the manufacturing facility capability to deliver its production aims and decrease the production discontinuity as much as possible. Against this background, this paper discusses the state of the art condition monitoring and proposes a framework of fault detection and decision making at different levels namely component and station. The introduced framework relies on Virtual Engineering (VE) and Discrete Event Simulation (DES) in smart manufacturing environments. The application of the suggested methodology and its implementation is demonstrated in a case study of a battery module assembly line

Modelling the helicopter rotor aerodynamics at forward flight with free wake model and URANS method

The presented work is dedicated to the numerical study of the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter rotor. Two approaches to modeling of the rotor are applied: the free wake model developed by the Authors with using steady airfoil characteristics and the Unsteady RANS method based on the Ansys Fluent software. The modes of hovering and horizontal flight in the range of advancing ratio μ = (0-0.45) are considered. The shapes of the rotor wake, the distributions of the normal force coefficient and the fields of inductive velocities for all considered flight modes are calculated. For a particular case with μ = 0.25 there is a comparison with experimental data. The time needed for calculation of the applied methods is estimated. Accuracy of the used methods in the framework of the solved task is analysed with taking into account used models assumptions. It is shown that in the range of μ = (0-0.25) the free wake model provides a fast and reliable calculation of the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter rotor. For values of μ > 0.35 it is necessary to take into account the unsteady characteristics of the airfoil

Selection of Single Top Events with the CMS Detector at LHC

The detection of single-top events with CMS is discussed. Two selections are proposed, aimed to measure single top production in the Standard Model t- and s-channel, respectively. The perspectives of the measurements for an integrated luminosity of 10 fb-1 are described. The results are based on detailed detector simulations, either based on GEANT4, or on faster techniques. The reconstruction procedures developed by the CMS Collaboration are utilized

Utilising web-based digital twin to promote assembly line sustainability

The shift towards utilising web-based technologies is trending as a reflection of the new business model of modern manufacturing. Web-based digital twin (WDT) has great potential for promoting sustainability in industrial cyber-physical systems. The current work demonstrates the mechanism by which a WDT architecture is established and utilised for improving sustainability. This is achieved by: a) accessing the control parameters that influence energy consumption, b) logging the energy consumption data and c) producing predictions by means of a computational algorithm. The objective is to support the system developer in delivering verified machine functionality along with trusted productivity and sustainability. The implementation is exemplified by an industrial case study adopted from a battery assembly production line

Virtual engineering and commissioning to support the lifecycle of a manufacturing assembly system

Prior to the physical build of the industrial automation system, some challenges arise, such as processes’ cycle times calculations, ergonomics and safety evaluation, and the integration of separate machines to the complete production shops. This, in turn, requires reconfiguring the processes and component parameters. As a result, the lifecycle of the system development is prolonged, and the potential for erroneous performance increases. In modern digital manufacturing environments, virtual engineering (VE) and virtual commissioning (VC) serve as effective tools to tackle the aforementioned problems and their consequences. The virtual models developed for VE and VC not only assist system developers in the physical build stage but also in the following stages of the system lifecycle by providing a common virtual model, a digital twin (DT), of the manufacturing processes and the product. This developed model should possess the ability to simulate the system behaviour, e.g., the mechanics, kinematics, speed and acceleration profiles. Three stakeholders are involved in the development process: the machine builder, system integrator and end user. The current work focuses on the virtual engineering approach to support the entire lifecycle of a manufacturing system from the machine builder, system integrator and end user perspectives. For this purpose, it puts forward a systematic methodology of implementing VC and VE using a toolset developed by the Automation Systems Group at the University of Warwick within an industrial project. The suggested methodology is illustrated in a case study where a digital twin of a physical station was modelled, developed and tested in parallel with the physical machine development and build. Finally, the benefits and limitations are highlighted based on the gained outcomes and the implemented activities

Pancreatic cyst fluid harbors a unique microbiome

__Background:__ It is clear that specific intestinal bacteria are involved in the development of different premalignant conditions along the gastrointestinal tract. An analysis of the microbial constituents in the context of pancreatic cystic lesions has, however, as yet not been performed. This consideration prompted us to explore whether endoscopically obtained pancreatic cyst fluids (PCF) contain bacterial DNA and to determine the genera of bacteria present in such material. __Methods:__ Total DNA was isolated from 69 PCF samples. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene-specific PCR was performed followed by Sanger sequencing and de novo deep sequencing for the V3-V4 variable region of 16S rRNA gene. __Results:__ We observed that 98.2% of the samples were positive in conventional PCR, and that 100% of selected PCF samples (n = 33) were positive for bacterial microbiota as determined by next generation sequencing (NGS). Comprehensive NGS data analysis of PCF showed the presence of 408 genera of bacteria, of which 17 bacterial genera were uniquely abundant to PCF, when compared to the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) database and 15 bacterial microbiota were uniquely abundant in HMP only. Bacteroides spp., Escherichia/Shigella spp., and Acidaminococcus spp. which were predominant in PCF, while also a substantial Staphylococcus spp. and Fusobacterium spp. component was detected. __Conclusion:__ These results reveal and characterize an apparently specific bacterial ecosystem in pancreatic cyst fluid samples and may reflect the local microbiota in the pancreas. Some taxa with potential deleterious functions are present in the bacterial abundance profiles, suggesting that the unique microbiome in this specific niche may contribute to neoplastic processes in the pancreas. Further studies are needed to explore the intricate relationship between pathophysiological status in the host pancreas and its microbiota

Whole Genome Analysis of Epidemiologically Closely Related Staphylococcus aureus Isolates

The change of the bacteria from colonizers to pathogens is accompanied by a drastic change in expression profiles. These changes may be due to environmental signals or to mutational changes. We therefore compared the whole genome sequences of four sets of S. aureus isolates. Three sets were from the same patients. The isolates of each pair (S1800/S1805, S2396/S2395, S2398/S2397, an isolate from colonization and an isolate from infection, respectively) were obtained within <30 days of each other and the isolate from infection caused skin infections. The isolates were then compared for differences in gene content and SNPs. In addition, a set of isolates from a colonized pig and a farmer from the same farm at the same time (S0462 and S0460) were analyzed. The isolates pair S1800/S1805 showed a difference in a prophage, but these are easily lost or acquired. However, S1805 contained an integrative conjugative element not present in S1800. In addition, 92 SNPs were present in a variety of genes and the isolates S1800 and S1805 were not considered a pair. Between S2395/S2396 two SNPs were present: one was in an intergenic region and one was a synonymous mutation in a putative membrane protein. Between S2397/S2398 only one synonymous mutation in a putative lipoprotein was found. The two farm isolates were very similar and showed 12 SNPs in genes that belong to a number of different functional categories. However, we cannot pinpoint any gene that explains the change from carrier status to infection. The data indicate that differences between the isolate from infection and the colonizing isolate for S2395/S2396 and S2397/S2398 exist as well as between isolates from different hosts, but S1800/S1805 are not clonal