Networked control system for the guidance of a four-wheel steering agricultural robotic platform

A current trend in the agricultural area is the development of mobile robots and autonomous vehicles for precision agriculture (PA). One of the major challenges in the design of these robots is the development of the electronic architecture for the control of the devices. In a joint project among research institutions and a private company in Brazil a multifunctional robotic platform for information acquisition in PA is being designed. This platform has as main characteristics four-wheel propulsion and independent steering, adjustable width, span of 1,80m in height, diesel engine, hydraulic system, and a CAN-based networked control system (NCS). This paper presents a NCS solution for the platform guidance by the four-wheel hydraulic steering distributed control. The control strategy, centered on the robot manipulators control theory, is based on the difference between the desired and actual position and considering the angular speed of the wheels. The results demonstrate that the NCS was simple and efficient, providing suitable steering performance for the platform guidance. Even though the simplicity of the NCS solution developed, it also overcame some verified control challenges in the robot guidance system design such as the hydraulic system delay, nonlinearities in the steering actuators, and inertia in the steering system due the friction of different terrains. Copyright © 2012 Eduardo Pacincia Godoy et al.

Efficacy of four irrigation needles in cleaning the apical third of root canals

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of irrigation needle gauge and design, and the final root canal diameter on the apical cleaning efficacy. Twelve human mandibular incisors were used. At different stages of root canal widening (sizes 20, 30 and 40 K-files), root canals were filled with radiopaque contrast medium. Four different needles were evaluated: 23G with side opening, 22G with apical opening, 30G with side opening and 30G with apical opening. Irrigation was carried out with 2 mL distilled water. The same tooth was radiographed with a digital system several times to assess the four types of needle in those three stages of canal widening. Pre-irrigation (canals filled with contrast) and post-irrigation (canals with remaining contrast) images were submitted to digital subtraction using the Adobe Photoshop CS4 program. Pre-irrigation (filled with contrast) and subtracted (cleaned by irrigation) areas were outlined by a trained and blinded operator using the Image Tool 3.0 software. Their ratio was calculated to express the percentage of apical cleaning in each stage of canal widening (sizes 20, 30 and 40 K-files) with each of the four needles. Data obtained were subjected to one-way ANOVA and Tukey's tests. The 30G needles with side and apical opening promoted better apical cleaning at all stages of root canal widening (p<0.05). In conclusion, smaller diameter needles were more efficacious in cleaning the apical third of the root canals, regardless of their design.

Estudo experimental da remoção, por jato de ar comprimido, de detritos na superfície de corte de rebolo diamantado durante a retificação da alumina refrigerada pela técnica MQL

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Um sistema com um bloco de teflon e um bastão abrasivo para a limpeza da superfície de corte de rebolos

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEB

Ambiente data cleaning: suporte extensível, semântico e automático para análise e transformação de dados

Pós-graduação em Ciência da Computação - IBILCE

TiO2/PDMS nanocomposites for use on self-cleaning surfaces

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Cleaning Conveyor Belts in the Chicken-Cutting Area of a Poultry Processing Plant with 45 degrees C Water

Conveyor belts are widely used in food handling areas, especially in poultry processing plants. Because they are in direct contact with food and it is a requirement of the Brazilian health authority, conveyor belts are required to be continuously cleaned with hot water under pressure. The use of water in this procedure has been questioned based on the hypothesis that water may further disseminate microorganisms but not effectively reduce the organic material on the surface. Moreover, reducing the use of water in processing may contribute to a reduction in costs and emission of effluents. However, no consistent evidence in support of removing water during conveyor belt cleaning has been reported. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to compare the bacterial counts on conveyor belts that were or were not continuously cleaned with hot water under pressure. Superficial samples from conveyor belts (cleaned or not cleaned) were collected at three different times during operation (T1, after the preoperational cleaning [5 a.m.]; T2, after the first work shift [4 p.m.]; and T3, after the second work shift [1:30 a.m.]) in a poultry meat processing facility, and the samples were subjected to mesophilic and enterobacterial counts. For Enterobacteriaceae, no significant differences were observed between the conveyor belts, independent of the time of sampling or the cleaning process. No significant differences were observed between the counts of mesophilic bacteria at the distinct times of sampling on the conveyor belt that had not been subjected to continuous cleaning with water at 45 degrees C. When comparing similar periods of sampling, no significant differences were observed between the mesophilic counts obtained from the conveyor belts that were or were not subjected to continuous cleaning with water at 45 degrees C. Continuous cleaning with water did not significantly reduce microorganism counts, suggesting the possibility of discarding this procedure in chicken processing.

Court cleaning behavior of the white-bearded manakin (manacus manacus) and a test of the anti-predation hypothesis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Effect of the Etching Duration and Ultrasonic Cleaning on Microtensile Bond Strength Between Feldspathic Ceramic and Resin Cement

This study assessed the effect of different etching durations of feldspathic ceramic with hydrofluoric acid (HF) and ultrasonic cleaning of the etched ceramic surface on the microtensile bond strength stability of resin to a feldspathic ceramic. The research hypotheses investigated were: (1) different etching times would not affect the adhesion resistance and (2) ultrasonic cleaning would improve the adhesion. Ceramic blocks (6 x 6 x 5 mm) (N = 48) were obtained. The cementations surfaces were duplicated in resin composite. The six study groups (n = 8) were: G1Etching with 10% aqueous HF (30 s) + silane; G 210% HF (1 min) + silane; G3-10% HF (2 min) + silane; G4-10% HF (30 s) + ultrasonic cleaning (4 min) in distilled water + silane; G5-10% HF (1 min) + ultrasonic cleaning + silane; G6-10% HF (2 min) ultrasonic cleaning + silane. The cemented blocks were sectioned into microbars for the microtensile test. The etching duration did not create significant difference among the groups (p = .156) but significant influence of ultrasonic cleaning was observed (p = .001) (Two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test, p > 0.05). All the groups after ultrasonic cleaning presented higher bond strength (19.38-20.08 MPa) when compared with the groups without ultrasonic cleaning (16.2117.75 MPa). The bond strength between feldspathic ceramic and resin cement was not affected by different etching durations using HF. Ultrasonic cleaning increased the bond strength between ceramic surface and resin cement, regardless of the etching duration.

Cleaning interactions between shrimps (Palaemonidae) and freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygonidae) in the Parana River, Southeastern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Radiographic evaluation of root canal cleaning, main and laterals, using different methods of final irrigation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Análise comparativa dos métodos MQL, MQL/Água e convencional na retificação cilíndrica do aço ABNT 52100, com rebolo de óxido de alumínio

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEB

Tool condition monitoring of aluminum oxide grinding wheel in dressing operation using acoustic emission and neural networks

The grinding operation gives workpieces their final finish, minimizing surface roughness through the interaction between the abrasive grains of a tool (grinding wheel) and the workpiece. However, excessive grinding wheel wear due to friction renders the tool unsuitable for further use, thus requiring the dressing operation to remove and/or sharpen the cutting edges of the worn grains to render them reusable. The purpose of this study was to monitor the dressing operation using the acoustic emission (AE) signal and statistics derived from this signal, classifying the grinding wheel as sharp or dull by means of artificial neural networks. An aluminum oxide wheel installed on a surface grinding machine, a signal acquisition system, and a single-point dresser were used in the experiments. Tests were performed varying overlap ratios and dressing depths. The root mean square values and two additional statistics were calculated based on the raw AE data. A multilayer perceptron neural network was used with the Levenberg-Marquardt learning algorithm, whose inputs were the aforementioned statistics. The results indicate that this method was successful in classifying the conditions of the grinding wheel in the dressing process, identifying the tool as "sharp''(with cutting capacity) or "dull''(with loss of cutting capacity), thus reducing the time and cost of the operation and minimizing excessive removal of abrasive material from the grinding wheel.

Cleaning capacity promoted by motor-driven or manual instrumentation using ProTaper Universal system: Histological analysis

The aim of this study was to assess the cleaning capacity of the Protaper system using motor-driven or manual instrumentation. Materials and Methods: Ten mandibular molars were randomly separated into 2 groups (n = 5) according to the type of instrumentation performed, as follows: Group 1 - instrumentation with rotary nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) files using ProTaper Universal System (Dentsply/Maillefer); and, Group 2 - instrumentation with Ni-Ti hand files using ProTaper Universal (Dentsply-Maillefer). Afterwards, the teeth were sectioned transversely and submitted to histotechnical processing to obtain histological sections for microscopic evaluation. The images were analyzed by the Corel Photo-Paint X5 program (Corel Corporation) using an integration grid superimposed on the image. Results: Statistical analysis (U-Mann-Whitney - P < 0.05) demonstrated that G1 presented higher cleaning capacity when compared to G2. Conclusions: The rotary technique presented better cleaning results in the apical third of the root canal system when compared to the manual technique.

Effect of polymerization techniques and cleaning solution on flexural resistance of acrylic resin chemically activated

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of different disinfection solutions on flexural resistance of chemically-activated acrylic resin. Test pieces were made of clear acrylic resin using a rectangular mold and employing two techniques: wet polymerization under pressure (n = 20) and dry polymerization under pressure (n = 20). Test pieces were subdivided into four equal groups: distilled water (control), sodium bicarbonate, 1% sodium hypochlorite and effervescent ats. The 30-day cycling technique consisted of immersing the test pieces in 100 ml of solution for 10 min three times a day and placing them in closed containers containing artificial saliva at 37°C. Subsequently, the flexural resistance of samples was tested. Data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with forces serving as the dependent variables and the polymerization technique and cleaning agents as independent variables. Post hoc multiple comparisons were performed using Tukey’s test. There was no statistically significant difference in the flexural strength between the two polymerization techniques. The greatest flexural strength was observed for the effervescent tablets group followed by the control and 1% sodium hypochlorite groups which were statistically similar. Thus, the sodium bicarbonate solution caused the lowest flexural resistance of the test pieces.