Innovations Induced by Research in Technical Systems

Authors propose a method to classify the antipatterns, allowing their further definition for manual and automatic usage. We apply antipatterns in quality assessment as a negative quality reference. This enables counting and measuring similarity to predictable errors (antipatterns), automatic identification of erroneous structures found in mechanical designs, or anomalies in machine operations. We present approaches in which innovative use of antipatterns allows technical employees to improve their existing processes. In essence, we have found that antipatterns are useful in design, monitoring, and quality assurance of machine elements during their design, operations, and maintenance.

Designing machine tool bodies is a difficult task due to their complexity and requires a thorough knowledge of the phenomena accompanying the cutting process. It has therefore been a common practice to base design on proven generational structures, where the vast majority of machine tool bodies are assembled from materials such as steel or gray cast iron. More restrictive requirements impose the use of new materials for new constructions, related to increases in efficiency, accuracy and simultaneous reduction of energy consumption, as well as the level of noise emitted. There is a tendency to use composite materials characterized by low mass and very good damping properties. This article presents a method for modelling steel beams filled with a polymer concrete, as basic components of recently designed machine tool bodies. The modelling procedure was based on the finite element method. The accuracy of the proposed model was verified experimentally, resulting in less than 3% relative error in terms of natural frequencies. Next, on the basis of developed beam model, machine tool body consisting of steel beams filled with a polymer concrete material was modelled, resulting in 2.2% mean relative error. This paper presents the validity of the proposed model in allowing accurate prediction of the dynamic behaviour of machine tool bodies composed of steel beams filled with polymer concrete material. The presented method was used in the design process of a vertical lathe body.

Manufacturing process variables influence the quality of products substantially. It is unquestionably difficult to model the manufacturing processes that include a large number of variables and responses. Development of the multi-objective surrogate models for the manufacturing processes could be computationally and economically expensive. In this article, a generic multi-objective surrogate-coupled heuristic algorithm is employed that needs small amount of experimental data as input, and predicts precise responses with quick Pareto solutions. The proposed algorithm is verified with different cases collected from the literature based on the CNC turning, centerless cylindrical grinding, and micro milling machining and shown to produce some interesting results.

The article is devoted to the issues of finishing machining, in which changes on the cutting edge significantly affect the quality of the machined surface. In tests EN 100Cr6 hardened steel has been used with a hardness of 60 HRC. The cutting tool material for turning tests were coated cemented carbides. Cutting parameters were selected so as not to exceed the permissible value of blade wear. The shortening of the tool has been evaluated from measurement of workpiece surface realized by stylus profilometer along the cutting length. This made it possible to obtain detailed information on blade wear over time. During cutting, the F_c, F_f and F_p components of the cutting forces were measured using a piezoelectric sensor and vibration signal was measured with a seismic sensor. The collected measurement data were then analyzed for diagnostic purposes using the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT). First the stabilized process pattern was elaborated for one-second time windows. This pattern has been used to distinguish the excited states of the system including states of increased blade wear. Two wear intensity indicators have been determined for each of the recorded signals: mean deviation from the pattern and data dispersion. A moving average of wear intensity indicators has been applied for process state analysis.

The goal of this paper is to unravel a quality problem, mainly the quality improvement of a process by employing statistical methods. The normality test utilized in the case is cumulative frequency distribution with regression analysis. The statistical process control (SPC) technique control charts reveal that the process is centered and meets the acceptance criteria and the regression analysis reveals that the recorded data follow a normal distribution. In this paper the results of the K-S, Anderson-Darling and Shapiro-Wilk tests are analyzed and discussed since these tests are, according to the literature more powerful statistical tools for detecting most departures from normality. In order to estimate more accurately if the tested data came from a normally distributed population, three goodness of fit tests were performed on the same collected values: Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Anderson-Darling and Shapiro-Wilk. Then, the results were analyzed, discussed and compared. Since the tests are more sensible to detect most departures from normality, they allow a more accurate assessment of the collected data – in turn increases the confidence in the control chart.

In recent years, manufacturing processes have interacted with sustainability which are implemented in the cost-effective ways to minimalize energy, decrease negative impact on the environment and are safe for society. However, the attention has been on separate sustainability assessment methods combining energy Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to evaluate environmental impact, Life Cycle Cost to analyze costs, and Social Life Cycle Assessment to consider energy in human resources through mapping them in “energy LCA-based value stream map” (eVSM). In this paper, the energy LCA-oriented sustainability assessment approach is used to visualize the energy sustainability of the milk processing in terms of technologies. It enables interventions in the considered technologies through the effective analysis of energy flow. The results pictured that the appropriate integration of technologies into eVSM offers LCA-indicators database regarding the energy sustainability.

The assessment of the integrity of the structure of the concrete mass under the influence of temperature loads was carried out. The purpose of this work is to analyse the change in the amplitude of signals propagating from two entry points into the structure and recorded by AE sensors located in different areas of the structure. The signals are clustered using the Pearson correlation coefficient. An algorithm for the formation of super-signals for each cluster is proposed. Clusters and super-signals are presented at a value exceeding the 0.9 threshold. Based on the super-signals, the state of the concrete mass in time is estimated and the compliance of the actual flow of the experiment is checked. It was possible to establish that the proposed method of analysis leads to a correct assessment of the state of the object.

The main problem of honing of thin wall cylinder liners is a thermal distortion of honed holes. The higher the value of the temperature of the honed workpiece, the greater its holes deformation. The paper presents a method of reducing the temperature occurring in the honing process as a result of the application of a variable honing kinematics conditions with particular emphasis on the analysis of the effect of the value of the sum of radii of curve curvature on honed workpieces temperature. The lower value of the sum of curve curvatures radius of abrasive grain trajectories function affects the honed workpiece temperature decrease for a longer path length. The curve curvature radius of the abrasive grain paths function in the variable kinematic condition of honing of cylindrical holes can be used to improve honing of thin wall cylinder liners due to decreasing of amount temperature received in honing process.

Current changes in the manufacturing techniques, referred to as Industry 4.0, require developing them as cyber-physical systems. And such a cyber physical approach has been used in the elaboration of the vision smart sensor (VSS) applied for the evaluation of machined surface during the cutting process. The VSS was built of several functional elements. The functional integration is based on the 5C architecture – Connection, Conversion, Cyber, Cognition and Configuration Levels. The starting point of the vision smart sensor is the machine vision system. Its components and connections with other levels are presented in a functional setup in the Smart Connection Level. The whole data processing and estimation of image features are described in the Data-to-information Conversion Level and the Cyber Level. The whole architecture of the cyber physical production system is preceded by discussion on elements within the Cognition Level. The vision smart sensor consists of spatially integrated components. The core of the sensor is the data processing unit, based on a PC architecture, to control the data processing, storing the data and communication. Image acquisition control and other auxiliary devices are controlled with this software. The paper concludes with the current research challenges required to expand the application of a cyber physical approach in the vision smart sensor design to machined surface monitoring. As an example, the vision smart sensor was implemented for the surface roughness estimation while cutting hardened steel with PCBN tools.

The publication presents a global outline of the construction of the lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton. The main focus was put on the structure of the exoskeleton’s ankle assembly cooperating with the patient’s ankle joint. Based on the geometrical properties of the assembly a three-dimensional model was developed using the Finite Element Method (FEM) for determining the stresses and displacements of components subjected to variable loads. In the FEM model, finite elements of the 3D-solid type and beam type were used. To determine the external loads an experiment was performed using a dynamometric platform by means which the ground reaction forces, excited by a patient wearing the exoskeleton, were measured. During testing and analysis, particular attention was focused to orthotropic ABS material components manufactured with 3D printing technology. The work contains partial data obtained from strength tests of samples manufactured by a 3D printer. The results of measured strength parameters that describe the mentioned orthotropy are implemented by defining a suitable material model in the FEM model of the tested assembly. As a result of the numerical calculations performed, the stress fields of individual elements of the assembly were obtained. The distribution of stresses depends on the relative position of patient’s foot relative to the ground, on the loads generated by driving modules and inertial forces. Based on these stress values their amplitude variation were determined which enabled selecting parts that met the requirements construction strength, durability and safety of use of rehabilitation exoskeleton.

Industry 4.0 is a way of “designing – producing – delivering – servicing – utilising” products in order to satisfy individualized customer needs and meeting company expectations to “make profit”. Basic characteristic components of this revolution paradigm for production are rapid product development in Cyber Physical System and collaborative networks using modern development strategies Concurrent Engineering and Cross Enterprise Engineering.

For rapid manufacturing, flexible and reconfigurable production and integrated approach to the design of production processes and systems is necessary. The paper presents a systematic approach to formal description of the system and assembly process. In the paper methodology of concurrent development and formal description of products, processes and assembly systems using PLM tools was presented. Integration of the technical production preparation phases covers various planning actions, including the ones executed with the computer systems like Design for Assembly (DFA) analysis, MTM time analysis, and line balancing.

Proposed method allows for early detection of mistakes in designs of mechanical constructions. It is based on a numerical classification of a symbolic representation of construction’s features against a set of defined antipatterns (known, incorrect, repeatable data patterns). We present an approach to identify antipatterns described using a symbolic language KXML and a method of intelligent quality assessment enabling calculation of the similarity of the tested element with the antipattern data set. Additionally, we highlight selected properties of numerical models directly supporting analysis of the structure of mechanical constructions.

The present article covers the idea of the examination of the value of the k-th logics of diagnostic information related to the assessment of the states of complex technical items. For this purpose, an intelligent diagnostic system was presented whose particular property is the possibility to select any k-th logic of inference from set {k = 4, 3, 2}. An important part of this study is the presentation of theoretical grounds that describe the idea of inference in the multi-valued logic examined. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the permissible range of the values of the properties of diagnostic signals constitutes the basis of the classification of states in multi-valued logic in the DIAG 2 diagnostic system. For this purpose, a procedure of the classification of states in selected values of multi-valued logic was presented and described. An important element in the functioning of diagnostic systems, i.e. the module of inference was presented, as well. The rules of diagnostic inference were characterized and described based on which the process of inference is realized in the system.

The electropolishing process is a frequently used method of finish surface treatment. This process allows to obtain a shiny surface with small surface roughness values. The paper shows that for electropolished surfaces a fast assessment of the surface texture can be made using the light scattering method. The primary aim of this article is to present the theoretical basis of this method, as well as to show the results of its verification by means of experimental research. Samples made of AISI 304 stainless steel were used for the tests. The samples were electropolished in a solution of sulfuric acid and orthophosphoric acid. The solution were prepared in two different concentrations. During the tests, the evaluation of the surface texture of the samples was carried out after different times of electropolishing. The assessment of the geometrical structure of the samples was made using the scatter method and the obtained results were compared with the reference results obtained from surface measurements by the stylus profilometer. The conducted research has shown that the proposed light scatter method can be used to quickly assess the geometric structure of electropolished surfaces.

The paper presents a method for a biometric image recognition of the human using the vector distance measure. The basis of the proposed method of recognition is a biometric characteristic picture of a man (the image of the eye, hands, etc.). To this end, the classification structure was presented of the biometric image. An important part of this study is to present the theoretical basis of the functioning of the proposed pattern recognition method and the neural network operation algorithm. The neural network engineered is a convenient research tool used in the image analysis. The structure of the image recognition system was illustrated and described. An important part of this system is a module for determining the coordinates of singular points (the image scanning module) and the recognition module that uses a SBM type neural network known as the Simile-Based Methods (SBM), working in three-valued logic.

The paper presents the results of two different control systems for controlling a loader crane in the Master - Slave configuration: 1st configuration is feedforward and feedback, 2nd configuration is feedback. The control object is an upper limb exoskeleton, which is controlled by human muscles by the contact force, which is measured on tensometric beam. The implemented control systems were tested on an object, which contains the upper limb and a prototype of a loader crane, showing the greater efficiency of one control system.

Graphics are used early to express design ideas. Early engineers were often painters, and their drawings pursued vivid images. However, such a drawing method requires a lot of time and effort, and this graphics technique is difficult to grasp by ordinary engineers. Until the “Descriptive Geometry” by Monge came out, the method of expressing the spatial object by orthogonal projection on the plane was adopted by the majority of engineers. With the development of computer technology, engineering graphics now have more expression approaches and can more effectively express innovative design ideas. The engineering graphics course should develop students’ capabilities of spatial imagination, machine expression, drawing software application, and preliminary innovative design. The cultivation of the first three abilities is relatively easy to achieve since these are the traditional teaching goal of the engineering graphics course, but the cultivation of innovative design ability is relatively difficult. This paper investigates the development of graphics technologies, classifies the graphics technologies according to the information dimensions, and studies the effect of different graphic technologies on the expression of innovative design. From the perspective of student learning, three transitions of the learning method to become an excellent engineer are required to achieve: from passive learning to active learning, from subject learning to project learning, from definitive learning to tentative learning. The teaching practice shows that, the innovative design based on graphic technology is an effective way to realize the transitions of the learning method, and the graphics technology has significantly cultivated students’ innovative design ability.