Modular system design and control for flexible assembly

Flexible Assembly Systems (FASs) are normally associated with the automatic, or robotic, assembly of products, supported by automated material handling systems. However, manual assembly operations are still prevalent within many industries, where the complexity and variety of products prohibit the development of suitable automated assembly equipment. This article presents a generic model for incorporating flexibility into the design and control of assembly operations concerned with high variety/low volume manufacture, drawing on the principles for Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) and Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery. It is based on work being undertaken in an electronics company where the assembly operations have been overhauled and restructured in response to a need for greater flexibility, shorter cycle times and reduced inventory levels. The principles employed are in themselves not original. However, the way they have been combined and tailored has created a total manufacturing control system which represents a new concept for responding to demands placed on market driven firms operating in an uncertain environment.

Novel 5-HT7 ligands as antidepressants:automated synthesis of N-substituted-N-[1-methyl-3-(4-methylpiperidin-1-yl)propyl]-arylsulfon amides

The 5-HT7 receptor is linked with various CNS disorders. Using an automated solution phase synthesis a combinatorial library of 384 N-substituted N-[1-methyl-3-(4-methylpiperidin-1-yl)propyl]-arylsulfonamides was prepared with 24 chemically diverse amines 1-24 and 16 sulfonyl chlorides A-P. The chemical library of alkylated sulfonamides was evaluated in a receptor binding assay with [3]H-5-CT as ligand. The key synthetic step was the alkylation of a sulfonamide with iodide E, which was prepared from butanediol in 4 synthetic steps. The target compounds 1A, 1B .....24A ... 24P were purified by solvent extraction on a Teacan liquid handling system. Sulfonamide J20, B23, D23, G23, G23, J23 , I24 and O24 displayed a binding affinity IC50 between 100 nM and 10 nM. The crystalline J20 (IC50=39 nM) and O24 (IC50=83 nM) were evaluated further in the despair swimming test and the tail suspension assay. A significant antidepressant activity was found in mice of a greater magnitude than imipramine and fluoxetine at low doses. © 2006 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.

Self-organization of Functioning Process of Expert System with the Use of Subject Domain Ontology

Optimization of design, creation, functioning and accompaniment processes of expert system is the important problem of artificial intelligence theory and decisions making methods techniques. In this paper the approach to its solving with the use of technology, being based on methodology of systems analysis, ontology of subject domain, principles and methods of self-organisation, is offered. The aspects of such approach realization, being based on construction of accordance between the ontology hierarchical structure and sequence of questions in automated systems for examination, are expounded.

Connection of Network Sensors to Distributed Information Measurement and Control System for Education and Research

The development of the distributed information measurement and control system for optical spectral research of particle beam and plasma objects and the execution of laboratory works on Physics and Engineering Department of Petrozavodsk State University are described. At the hardware level the system is represented by a complex of the automated workplaces joined into computer network. The key element of the system is the communication server, which supports the multi-user mode and distributes resources among clients, monitors the system and provides secure access. Other system components are formed by equipment servers (CАМАC and GPIB servers, a server for the access to microcontrollers MCS-196 and others) and the client programs that carry out data acquisition, accumulation and processing and management of the course of the experiment as well. In this work the designed by the authors network interface is discussed. The interface provides the connection of measuring and executive devices to the distributed information measurement and control system via Ethernet. This interface allows controlling of experimental parameters by use of digital devices, monitoring of experiment parameters by polling of analog and digital sensors. The device firmware is written in assembler language and includes libraries for Ethernet-, IP-, TCP- и UDP-packets forming.

A framework for automated construction of resource space based on background knowledge

Resource Space Model is a kind of data model which can effectively and flexibly manage the digital resources in cyber-physical system from multidimensional and hierarchical perspectives. This paper focuses on constructing resource space automatically. We propose a framework that organizes a set of digital resources according to different semantic dimensions combining human background knowledge in WordNet and Wikipedia. The construction process includes four steps: extracting candidate keywords, building semantic graphs, detecting semantic communities and generating resource space. An unsupervised statistical language topic model (i.e., Latent Dirichlet Allocation) is applied to extract candidate keywords of the facets. To better interpret meanings of the facets found by LDA, we map the keywords to Wikipedia concepts, calculate word relatedness using WordNet's noun synsets and construct corresponding semantic graphs. Moreover, semantic communities are identified by GN algorithm. After extracting candidate axes based on Wikipedia concept hierarchy, the final axes of resource space are sorted and picked out through three different ranking strategies. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework can organize resources automatically and effectively.©2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated Problem Domain Cognition Process in Information Systems Design

An automated cognitive approach for the design of Information Systems is presented. It is supposed to be used at the very beginning of the design process, between the stages of requirements determination and analysis, including the stage of analysis. In the context of the approach used either UML or ERD notations may be used for model representation. The approach provides the opportunity of using natural language text documents as a source of knowledge for automated problem domain model generation. It also simplifies the process of modelling by assisting the human user during the whole period of working upon the model (using UML or ERD notations).

Computer-aided System of Semantic Text Analysis of a Technical Specification

The given work is devoted to development of the computer-aided system of semantic text analysis of a technical specification. The purpose of this work is to increase efficiency of software engineering based on automation of semantic text analysis of a technical specification. In work it is offered and investigated the model of the analysis of the text of the technical project is submitted, the attribute grammar of a technical specification, intended for formalization of limited Russian is constructed with the purpose of analysis of offers of text of a technical specification, style features of the technical project as class of documents are considered, recommendations on preparation of text of a technical specification for the automated processing are formulated. The computer-aided system of semantic text analysis of a technical specification is considered. This system consists of the following subsystems: preliminary text processing, the syntactic and semantic analysis and construction of software models, storage of documents and interface.

Method of Elimination Data Sources Conflicts in Information System

Use of modern object-oriented methods of designing of information systems (IS) both descriptions of interrelations IS and automated with its help business-processes of the enterprises leads to necessity of construction uniform complete IS on the basis of set of local models of such system. As a result of use of such approach there are the contradictions caused by inconsistency of actions of separate developers IS with each other and that is much more important, inconsistency of the points of view of separate users IS. Besides similar contradictions arise while in service IS at the enterprise because of constant change separate business- processes of the enterprise. It is necessary to note also, that now overwhelming majority IS is developed and maintained as set of separate functional modules. Each of such modules can function as independent IS. However the problem of integration of separate functional modules in uniform system can lead to a lot of problems. Among these problems it is possible to specify, for example, presence in modules of functions which are not used by the enterprise to destination, to complexity of information and program integration of modules of various manufacturers, etc. In most cases these contradictions and the reasons, their caused, are consequence of primary representation IS as equilibrium steady system. In work [1] representation IS as dynamic multistable system which is capable to carry out following actions has been considered:

The Complex Unified Evolutionary Approach to the Creation of the Multilevel Distributed Control System of a Gas-transport Company

The objects of a large-scale gas-transport company (GTC) suggest a complex unified evolutionary approach, which covers basic building concepts, up-to-date technologies, models, methods and means that are used in the phases of design, adoption, maintenance and development of the multilevel automated distributed control systems (ADCS).. As a single methodological basis of the suggested approach three basic Concepts, which contain the basic methodological principles and conceptual provisions on the creation of distributed control systems, were worked out: systems of the lower level (ACS of the technological processes based on up-to-date SCADA), of the middle level (ACS of the operative-dispatch production control based on MES-systems) and of the high level (business process control on the basis of complex automated systems ERP).

A proteo-liposome system for the analysis of the intracellular interactome of membrane proteins using amyloid precursor protein as a model

Transmembrane proteins play crucial roles in many important physiological processes. The intracellular domain of membrane proteins is key for their function by interacting with a wide variety of cytosolic proteins. It is therefore important to examine this interaction. A recently developed method to study these interactions, based on the use of liposomes as a model membrane, involves the covalent coupling of the cytoplasmic domains of membrane proteins to the liposome membrane. This allows for the analysis of interaction partners requiring both protein and membrane lipid binding. This thesis further establishes the liposome recruitment system and utilises it to examine the intracellular interactome of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), most well-known for its proteolytic cleavage that results in the production and accumulation of amyloid beta fragments, the main constituent of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Despite this, the physiological function of APP remains largely unclear. Through the use of the proteo-liposome recruitment system two novel interactions of APP’s intracellular domain (AICD) are examined with a view to gaining a greater insight into APP’s physiological function. One of these novel interactions is between AICD and the mTOR complex, a serine/threonine protein kinase that integrates signals from nutrients and growth factors. The kinase domain of mTOR directly binds to AICD and the N-terminal amino acids of AICD are crucial for this interaction. The second novel interaction is between AICD and the endosomal PIKfyve complex, a lipid kinase involved in the production of phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate (PI(3,5)P2) from phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate, which has a role in controlling ensdosome dynamics. The scaffold protein Vac14 of the PIKfyve complex binds directly to AICD and the C-terminus of AICD is important for its interaction with the PIKfyve complex. Using a recently developed intracellular PI(3,5)P2 probe it is shown that APP controls the formation of PI(3,5)P2 positive vesicular structures and that the PIKfyve complex is involved in the trafficking and degradation of APP. Both of these novel APP interactors have important implications of both APP function and Alzheimer’s disease. The proteo-liposome recruitment method is further validated through its use to examine the recruitment and assembly of the AP-2/clathrin coat from purified components to two membrane proteins containing different sorting motifs. Taken together this thesis highlights the proteo-liposome recruitment system as a valuable tool for the study of membrane proteins intracellular interactome. It allows for the mimicking of the protein in its native configuration therefore identifying weaker interactions that are not detected by more conventional methods and also detecting interactions that are mediated by membrane phospholipids.

Automated Assessment of Student Activity in Moodle

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2014

Automated Data Retrieval in Distance Learning Quality

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2015

A knowledge based system of principled negotiation for complex business contract

Automated negotiation systems can do better than human being in many aspects, and thus are applied into many domains ranging from business to computer science. However, little work about automating negotiation of complex business contract has been done so far although it is a kind of the most important negotiation in business. In order to address this issue, in this paper we developed an automated system for this kind of negotiation. This system is based on the principled negotiation theory, which is the most effective method of negotiation in the domain of business. The system is developed as a knowledge-based one because a negotiating agent in business has to be economically intelligent and capable of making effective decisions based on business experiences and knowledge. Finally, the validity of the developed system is shown in a real negotiation scenario where on behalf of human users, the system successfully performed a negotiation of a complex business contract between a wholesaler and a retailer. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

A nanoliter volume nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) system using tunneling magneto-resistive (TMR) sensors to recognize biomolecules

The need to incorporate advanced engineering tools in biology, biochemistry and medicine is in great demand. Many of the existing instruments and tools are usually expensive and require special facilities.^ With the advent of nanotechnology in the past decade, new approaches to develop devices and tools have been generated by academia and industry. ^ One such technology, NMR spectroscopy, has been used by biochemists for more than 2 decades to study the molecular structure of chemical compounds. However, NMR spectrometers are very expensive and require special laboratory rooms for their proper operation. High magnetic fields with strengths in the order of several Tesla make these instruments unaffordable to most research groups.^ This doctoral research proposes a new technology to develop NMR spectrometers that can operate at field strengths of less than 0.5 Tesla using an inexpensive permanent magnet and spin dependent nanoscale magnetic devices. This portable NMR system is intended to analyze samples as small as a few nanoliters.^ The main problem to resolve when downscaling the variables is to obtain an NMR signal with high Signal-To-Noise-Ratio (SNR). A special Tunneling Magneto-Resistive (TMR) sensor design was developed to achieve this goal. The minimum specifications for each component of the proposed NMR system were established. A complete NMR system was designed based on these minimum requirements. The goat was always to find cost effective realistic components. The novel design of the NMR system uses technologies such as Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS), Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and a special Backpropagation Neural Network that finds the best match of the NMR spectrum. The system was designed, calculated and simulated with excellent results.^ In addition, a general method to design TMR Sensors was developed. The technique was automated and a computer program was written to help the designer perform this task interactively.^

Signal processing of physiological signals for automated assessment of stress in computer users

The need to provide computers with the ability to distinguish the affective state of their users is a major requirement for the practical implementation of affective computing concepts. This dissertation proposes the application of signal processing methods on physiological signals to extract from them features that can be processed by learning pattern recognition systems to provide cues about a person's affective state. In particular, combining physiological information sensed from a user's left hand in a non-invasive way with the pupil diameter information from an eye-tracking system may provide a computer with an awareness of its user's affective responses in the course of human-computer interactions. In this study an integrated hardware-software setup was developed to achieve automatic assessment of the affective status of a computer user. A computer-based "Paced Stroop Test" was designed as a stimulus to elicit emotional stress in the subject during the experiment. Four signals: the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), the Blood Volume Pulse (BVP), the Skin Temperature (ST) and the Pupil Diameter (PD), were monitored and analyzed to differentiate affective states in the user. Several signal processing techniques were applied on the collected signals to extract their most relevant features. These features were analyzed with learning classification systems, to accomplish the affective state identification. Three learning algorithms: Naïve Bayes, Decision Tree and Support Vector Machine were applied to this identification process and their levels of classification accuracy were compared. The results achieved indicate that the physiological signals monitored do, in fact, have a strong correlation with the changes in the emotional states of the experimental subjects. These results also revealed that the inclusion of pupil diameter information significantly improved the performance of the emotion recognition system. ^