Virtualization of Wiring Harness Manipulation Tasks through the PyChrono Simulation Engine

The purpose of this thesis work is the study and creation of a harness modelling system. The model needs to simulate faithfully the physical behaviour of the harness, without any instability or incorrect movements. Since there are various simulation engines that try to model wiring's systems, this thesis work focused on the creation and test of a 3D environment with wiring and other objects through the PyChrono Simulation Engine. Fine-tuning of the simulation parameters were done during the test to achieve the most stable and correct simulation possible, but tests showed the intrinsic limits of the Engine regarding the collisions' detection between the various part of the cables, while collisions between cables and other physical objects such as pavement, walls and others are well managed by the simulator. Finally, the main purpose of the model is to be used to train Artificial Intelligence through Reinforcement Learnings techniques, so we designed, using OpenAI Gym APIs, the general structure of the learning environment, defining its basic functions and an initial framework.

Creazione della supply chain in una startup: il caso Refuel Solutions

L'obiettivo della tesi mira a sviluppare una soluzione per la catena di fornitura di una startup. La tesi inizia con una revisione sistematica della letteratura per definire prima ciò che sono gli acquisti in generale, per poi cercare di definire teoricamente quelle che sono le migliori strategie per una startup da adottare in ambito supply chain. È importante che venga compreso il contesto aziendale dove opera un’impresa prima di progettare una soluzione che potrebbe quindi non rispecchiare a pieno il modello teorico. Viene inoltre fornito un confronto nell'approccio all'ambito tra una startup e un'impresa consolidata con la descrizione del rapporto che può nascere tra le due. Nella seconda parte della tesi viene presentato il caso reale di Refuel Solutions, inizialmente descrivendo l’azienda e il mercato in cui opera, per addentrarsi poi nelle scelte specifiche che sono state fatte per costruire la catena di fornitura e nel racconto dell’esperienza su alcuni codici di acquisto, analizzandoli nello specifico, per concludere infine con quelli che sono gli obiettivi futuri per l’azienda.

Comparison of different solutions for the hybridization of a motorcycle engine for Formula Student applications and evaluation of the effectiveness on the simulated lap time

Following the latest environmental concerns, the importance of minimising the detrimental effect of emissions of terrestrial vehicles has become a major goal for the whole automotive field. The key to achieve an emission-free long term future is the electrification of vehicle fleets; this huge step cannot be taken without intermediate technologies. In this context, hybrid vehicles are fundamental to reach this goal. Specifically, mild hybrid vehicles represent a trade-off between cost and emissions that could act now as a bridge towards electrification. Like the industry, also student engineering competitions are likely to take the same route: Combustion vehicles may well turn into hybrid vehicles. For this reason, a preliminary design overview is necessary to pinpoint the key performance indicators for the prototypes of the future.