Engineering education for mechatronics

This paper defines mechatronics, explains mechatronics philosophy, and describes characteristics of mechatronics products and systems. It reviews some aspects of education and training for mechatronics and compares the two different approaches to engineering education: generalist engineering versus specialist engineering. It also examines the Japanese approach to product development strategies and mechatronics education and training. It also gives a bird's eye view of the mechatronics education in higher education institutions across the world with a specific reference to a typical mechatronics engineering degree program. Finally it concludes that, there will be an increasing need in the future for discipline-based mechatronics engineers

Modelling and simulation of a system of mobile service units for the large-scale event industry

Modelling and simulation of a system of mobile service units for the large-scale event industr

Automatic gravure print feature determination at production speeds

This paper describes the development of a non-contact system for measuring the colour of printed material at web speeds, in addition to gravure-printed dot feature recognition. The system proposed uses a non-contact spectrophotometer based on a holographic grating, in conjunction with a conventional monochrome area scan camera, from which colour spectral data are extracted, while a xenon flash is used to illuminate colour samples. Dot features are captured by a magnification lens, in conjunction with a progressive scan camera. Software and hardware details of the system are given, together with the underlying mathematics for colour space conversion and measurement. Conversion equations from X, Y, Z chromaticity coordinates to the RGB system are presented, and also equations to convert from the L*a*b* colour space to X, Y, Z chromaticity coordinates. Experimental results are presented whereby the non-contact spectral system is shown to perform to a colour tolerance exceeding that of conventional colour video systems, and where performance of the dot feature system is comparable with traditional static examination methods using a microscope

In-process surface profile assessment of rotary machined timber using a dynamic photometric stereo technique

Machining operations have advanced in speed and there is an increasing demand for higher quality surface finish. It is therefore necessary to develop real-time surface inspection techniques which will provide sensory information for controlling the machining processes. This paper describes a practical method for real-time analysis of planed wood using the photometric stereo technique. Earlier research has shown that the technique is very effective in assessing surface waviness on static wood samples. In this paper, the photometric stereo method is extended to real industrial applications where samples are subjected to rapid movements. Surface profiles extracted from the dynamic photometric stereo method are compared with those from the static measurements and the results show that there is a high correlation between the two methods

Analysis of wood surface waviness with a two-image photometric stereo method

This paper describes a two-image photometric stereo (PS) method for analysis of surface waviness on planed wood products. This method is based on an assumption that the wood surface is a Lambertian surface. In addition, owing to the fact that surface waviness on planed wood is mainly composed of cutter marks, which fluctuate only in one dimension, three-dimensional surface topography can reasonably be represented by a two-dimensional surface profile. Accordingly, a surface waviness profile can be extracted from two images of the surface under specifically arranged illumination. Measurement results from the two-image PS method are compared with those from a laser profilometer. Comparison indicates a high correlation between the two methods

Inspection of wood surface waviness defects using the light sectioning method

Surface waviness variations are a major type of defect on planed wood products. A number of methods have been investigated for the inspection of waviness defects on wood surfaces. This paper describes a new implementation of the light sectioning method with the latest structured lighting and machine vision techniques for this purpose. As a reference, a laser profilometer is used. The data from the light sectioning method and from the profilometer are highly correlated

A theoretical analysis of billiard ball dynamics under cushion impacts

The last two decades have seen a growing interest in research related to billiards. There have been a number of projects aimed at developing training systems, robots, and computer simulations for billiards. Determination of billiard ball trajectories is important for all of these systems. The ball’s collision with a cushion is often encountered in billiards and it drastically changes the ball trajectory, especially when the ball has spin. This work predicts ball bounce angles and bounce speeds for the ball’s collision with a cushion, under the assumption of insignificant cushion deformation. Differential equations are derived for the ball dynamics during the impact and these equations are solved numerically. The numerical solutions together with previous experimental work by the authors predict that for the ball–cushion collision, the values of the coefficient of restitution and the sliding coefficient of friction are 0.98 and 0.14, respectively. A comparison of the numerical and experimental results indicates that the limiting normal velocity under which the rigid cushion assumption is valid is 2.5 m/s. A number of plots that show the rebound characteristics for given ball velocity–spin conditions are also provided. The plots quantify various phenomena that have hitherto only been described in the billiards literature

Integration of the Cimosa and high-level coloured Petri net modelling techniques with application in the postal process using hierarchical dispatching rules

Enterprise processes, i.e. business and manufacturing, rely on enterprise modelling and simulation tools to assess the quality of their structure and performance in an unobtrusive and cost-effective way. Each of these processes is a collaboration of inseparable elements such as resources, information, operations, and organization. In order to provide a more complete assessment of enterprise processes, a simulation approach that allows communication and interaction among these elements needs to be provided. The simulation approach requires an analysis of the performance of each element and its influence on other elements in an object-oriented way. It also needs to have the capability to represent the structures and dynamics of the elements mentioned, and to present the performance assessment comprehensively. This will ensure a more holistic simulation modelling task. These simulation requirements have motivated the investigation of the novel integration of two popular enterprise process modelling methods: Cimosa and high-level coloured Petri net. The Cimosa framework is used to formalize the enterprise modelling procedure in the aspects of representing process elements, structure, behaviours, and relationships. The high-level coloured Petri nets method provides the mechanism to simulate the dynamics of objects and their characteristics, and also to enable communication among the objects. The approach is applied on a postal process model, which involves elements from manufacturing processes, i.e. machine processing (sorting), inventory (storage), product flow, and resource planning. Simulation studies based on the hierarchical dispatching rules show that the integrated approach is able to present vital information regarding the communication method, resource management, and the effect of interactions among these manufacturing process elements, which are not provided by the current modelling system in the postal company. The current paper has presented a novel mechanism, i.e. Cimosa—HCTSPN modelling approach, to extract information on process elements and their interactions. It has also presented the novel hierarchical dispatching rules and contributed to the extension of information that can be represented for a postal process

Driver tracking and posture detection using low-resolution infrared sensing

Intelligent sensors are playing an ever-increasing role in automotive safety. This paper describes the development of a low-resolution infrared (IR) imaging system for continuous tracking and identification of driver postures and movements. The resolution of the imager is unusually low at 16 x 16 pixels. An image processing technique has been developed using neural networks operating on a segmented thermographic image to categorize driver postures. The system is able reliably to identify 18 different driver positions, and results have been verified experimentally with 20 subjects driving in a car simulator. IR imaging offers several advantages over visual sensors; it will operate in any lighting conditions and is less intrusive in terms of the privacy of the occupants. Hardware costs for the low-resolution sensor are an order of magnitude lower than those of conventional IR imaging systems. The system has been shown to have the potential to play a significant role in future intelligent safety systems

Machine vision in conjunction with a knowledge-based system for semi-automatic control of a gravure printing process

This paper describes the work carried out to produce an automated print inspection system, which was developed on a gravure printing press within the wall-covering printing industry. The project aim was to produce a system that could continuously monitor the gravure printing process, by examining printed material using machine vision, and then by using a fuzzy knowledgebased system to interpret the machine vision system output and to make recommendations to an operator as to how to correct the process with simple text-based suggestions, avoiding printing of scrap material