With the emergence of Industry 4.0, digitalization and intelligent manufacturing are vital to ensure competitivity, especially for manufacturers reliant on legacy machines. Upgrading legacy machines with cyber physical technology under Industry 4.0 frameworks can enable connection of these machines to existing IoT networks to allow the sharing and exchange of production information. In this paper, a legacy machine used in sheet metal folding operations is upgraded by integrating switch sensors which provide detailed data on the machine status to stakeholders, enabling in-depth analysis of the production activity before and after the implementation of lean manufacturing methods. Furthermore, it is shown that the data collected can be applied to conduct dynamic value stream mapping (DVSM) in near real time to provide deeper level insight into manufacturing processes. More detailed mapping enables identification of wastes involved with labour and design. Therefore, an innovative graphical technique is proposed to improve the flattened pattern to reduce manual handling and ease bottlenecks identified by VSM. From the collected VSM data, a leanness measure was established to provide objective and quantitative evaluation of the process performance.
Biology is a source of inspiration for many functional aspects of engineered systems. Fish can provide guidance for the design of animal-like robots, which have soft elastic bodies that are a continuum of actuator, sensor, and information processor. Fish respond to minute pressure changes in water, generating thrust and gaining lift from obstacles in the current, altering the shape of body and fins and using sensory nerves in their muscles to control them. Dielectric Elastomer (DE) artificial muscles offer a mechanism for a fish muscle actuator. DE devices have already been shown to outperform natural muscle in terms of active stress, strain, and speed[1-3]. DE's also have multi-functional capabilities that include actuation, sensing, logic and even energy harvesting, all achievable through appropriate control of charge [4,5]. But DE actuators must be designed so that they provide enough torque to drive the tail and develop useful forward thrust.In this study bench-top measurements of maximum torque and deflection data for DE actuators have been collected and compared with active torques measured using an instrumented stepper motor driven robotic fish based on the New Zealand Snapper (Pagrus auratus). The rear half of the robot was driven at the mid-section by a stepper motor and a torque sensor interposed between motor and robot body measured swimming torque for a range of speeds and tail amplitudes. The candidate DE actuators were based on a double cone device first described by Choi and co workers [6], consisting of two convex conical membrane actuators held apart by a stiff central pin. Actuation on one side resulted in rotation of the robotic segment as depicted in figure 1.Two actuator designs were evaluated: Model 1 supported 6 actuators, three each side (figure 1). For the second design we substituted a long tent-shaped actuator in the place of the trio of conical actuators. Instead of pins, rectangular pieces of acrylic (Model 2) held the membrane tents on opposing faces apart. A double thickness muscle for the Model 2 actuator was also tested. 3M 4905 VHB acrylic tape (St. Paul, USA) was used f 500 µm the tape was stretch carbon powder (XC72 GPface electrodes. Each actua tive and protective layer on electrodes to a power suppl Of the two designs, Mod also doubled the blocked to also had a much greater ran segments.The robotic fish tail was realistic tail amplitudes of torque per cycle was 0.08 N ±22° of angle. Out of the w showed that friction could a These results suggest th magnitude required to drive and under evaluation. In pa sensing: an important step o
Ginkgo biloba, an extract of the ginkgo tree, may prevent or lessen symptoms of acute mountain sickness in humans. The mechanism of this effect is poorly understood. One hypothesis is that ginkgo alters nitric oxide (NO) metabolism, possibly by scavenging NO or altering nitric oxide synthase expression and thereby lessening the vasodilatory effects of NO. To date, an effect of Ginkgo biloba on NO metabolism has not been demonstrated in humans. We measured exhaled nasal NO output in humans (n = 9) during normoxia and then during acute normobaric hypoxia (goal oxyhemoglobin saturation 75% to 85%) before and after administration of a standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba (120 mg twice daily for 5 days). Oxygen saturation, heart rate, and minute ventilation were similar before and after Ginkgo biloba administration. Exhaled nasal NO output was increased during normoxia following ginkgo (p < 0.02) and reduced during normobaric hypoxia both before (p < 0.02) and following (p < 0.003) ginkgo. Exhaled nasal NO output during normobaric hypoxia was lowest following ginkgo (p < 0.003). We conclude that Ginkgo biloba increases exhaled nasal NO output during normoxia and enhances reduced exhaled nasal NO output during normobaric hypoxia. Our results suggest that Ginkgo biloba may act to reduce AMS through an effect on NO metabolism.
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