Manufacturing System Simulation & Human Robot Interaction in VR:Manufacturing system simulation: Methodologies, software tools, case study in transportation design

Virtual Reality techniques are relatively new, having experienced significant development only during the last few years, in accordance with the progress achieved by computer science and hardware and software technologies. The study of such advanced design systems has led to the realization of an immersive environment in which new procedures for the evaluation of product prototypes, ergonomics and manufacturing operations have been simulated. The application of the environment realized to robotics, ergonomics, plant simulations and maintainability verifications has allowed us to highlight the advantages offered by a design methodology: the possibility of working on the industrial product in the first phase of conception; of placing the designer in front of the virtual reproduction of the product in a realistic way; and of interacting with the same concept. The aim of this book is to present an updated vision of VM through different aspects. We will describe the trends and results achieved in the automotive, aerospace and railway fields, in terms of the Digital Product Creation Process to design the product and the manufacturing process.

Intelligent DMU creation: Nominal CAD model preparation for automated tolerance allocation

This paper examines the integration of a tolerance design process within the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) environment having identified the potential to create an intelligent Digital Mock-Up [1]. The tolerancing process is complex in nature and as such reliance on Computer-Aided Tolerancing (CAT) software and domain experts can create a disconnect between the design and manufacturing disciplines It is necessary to implement the tolerance design procedure at the earliest opportunity to integrate both disciplines and to reduce workload in tolerance analysis and allocation at critical stages in product development when production is imminent.
The work seeks to develop a methodology that will allow for a preliminary tolerance allocation procedure within CAD. An approach to tolerance allocation based on sensitivity analysis is implemented on a simple assembly to review its contribution to an intelligent DMU. The procedure is developed using Python scripting for CATIA V5, with analysis results aligning with those in literature. A review of its implementation and requirements is presented.

Software Products for Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science

Models and software products have been developed for modelling, simulation and prediction of different correlations in materials science, including 1. the correlation between processing parameters and properties in titanium alloys and ?-titanium aluminides; 2. time–temperature–transformation (TTT) diagrams for titanium alloys; 3. corrosion resistance of titanium alloys; 4. surface hardness and microhardness profile of nitrocarburised layers; 5. fatigue stress life (S–N) diagrams for Ti–6Al–4V alloys. The programs are based on trained artificial neural networks. For each particular case appropriate combination of inputs and outputs is chosen. Very good performances of the models are achieved. Graphical user interfaces (GUI) are created for easy use of the models. In addition interactive text versions are developed. The models designed are combined and integrated in software package that is built up on a modular fashion. The software products are available in versions for different platforms including Windows 95/98/2000/NT, UNIX and Apple Macintosh. Description of the software products is given, to demonstrate that they are convenient and powerful tools for practical applications in solving various problems in materials science. Examples for optimisation of the alloy compositions, processing parameters and working conditions are illustrated. An option for use of the software in materials selection procedure is described.

Assistive software tools for secondary-level students with literacy difficulties.

Study conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of four assistive technology (AT) tools on literacy: (1) speech synthesis, (2) spellchecker, (3) homophone tool, and (4) dictionary. All four of these programs are featured in TextHelp’s Read&Write Gold software package. A total of 93 secondary-level students with reading disabilities participated in the study. The participants completed a number of computer-based literacy tests after being assigned to a Read&Write group or a control group that utilized Microsoft Word. The results indicated that improvements in the following areas for the Read&Write group: (1) reading comprehension, (2) homophone error detection, (3) spelling error detection, and (4) word meanings. The Microsoft Word group also improved in the areas of word meanings and error detection, though performed worse on homophone error detection. The authors contend that these results indicate that speech synthesis, spell checkers, homophone tools, and dictionary programs have a positive effect on literacy among students with reading disabilities. This study was conducted by researchers at the Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland.