Abstract: Reaction Systems modeling is a compact, discrete, and qualitative modeling method for dynamic systems, including biochemical systems. In this paper, the G1/S checkpoint of the human cell cycle is modeled by Reaction Systems. This specific checkpoint is important since it plays role in tumor formation. Modeling discrete dynamic systems with Reaction Systems has many advantages over other modeling tools, i.e., the model is very small, deterministic and it is easy to use in simulations without any specific software package.

Keywords: Cell Cycle; G1/S checkpoint; Reaction Systems; Simulation

Abstract: This paper presents the research we have performed on networking technology as a review and summary of our doctoral study. Our work’s use is to define real-time communications that are transmitted across the Internet, and we have developed a high-resolution work concerning the logic that underlies the routing phenomenon. Routing features were analyzed with respect to current trends and demands that imply the usefulness of resources. Much research exists and is constantly being developed for routing technology at fine grain or grosser scale. As the world needs more and more a means to make way and find paths through the millions of interconnected devices, we have proposed a fault-tolerance methodology that implies reasoning, as well as a concise requirement engineered approach for ensuring QoS. In quality of service, there is the discrepancy of knowing that resources are available and are constantly kept as reserved while different autonomous systems suffer from inadequate resource pooling as a whole. Measurement units such as bits/second, erlangs, and other quantifiable data units have been enabled for the measurement of given networking ability. These abilities are properties of infrastructures or network segments in being capable to send data and all of them fail in front of the dynamic nature of the Internet. As it will be presented, our approach shows that all these units can be more understandably put to use if Queueing Theory, Markov Chains, statistical evaluation, and inter-momentary discrete events are analyzed for the exact context or case that requires an optimal routing decision.

Keywords: real-time; communications; infrastructure; session; measurement

Abstract: Reliability, maintainability, and availability analysis of Computerized Numerical Control Machine Tools (CNCMT) is vital as they are widely used in manufacturing industries for mass production. This paper proposes a generalized framework for Time-Between-Failure (TBF) and Time-To-Repair (TTR) data analysis, integrated with Markov chains for estimating the system’s Steady State Availability (SSA). A case study of a typical CNCMT illustrates the applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed framework. The effect of variation of sub-systems' failure and repair rates on the availability of the CNCMT is studied. The critical sub-systems from reliability, maintainability, and availability point of view are identified. The analysis reveals that the CNCMT’s failure and repair rates are nearly constant and the CNCMT fails four times per year. The Lubrication Sub-system (LS) is the utmost severe sub-system as far as maintainability aspect is concerned and Turret Sub-system (TS) is the utmost severe sub-system from a reliability perspective.

Keywords: steady-state availability; reliability; maintainability; computerized numerical control machine tool; Markov chains

Abstract: This study aims to determine and compare first-year engineering students’ mental cutting ability, into two new parts, among the students of two universities in Tehran and Debrecen, concerning final mathematical exams and their gender, in order to understand whether the students of the two universities have sufficient spatial abilities. For that purpose; the Mental Cutting Test is applied to first-year engineering students to determine their mental cutting ability, in a current situation. In our research, we separate the tests into two parts, “Polyhedrons” and “Curved Surfaces”. The separate tests results have been statistically evaluated and conclusions formulated. According to obtained data, the results are: First-year engineering female students of Debrecen and male students of Tehran, are more successful at Curved Surfaces than Polyhedrons; in addition, male students of Debrecen and female students of Tehran are more successful at Polyhedrons than Curved Surfaces. There is a significant correlation between the male students Polyhedrons and Curved Surfaces solutions, in both countries, but not for the female population.

Keywords: Comparative Analysis; Mental Cutting; Spatial Intelligence; Polyhedrons; Curved Surfaces

Abstract: Parallel robots possess a characteristic type of singularities, called type II or drive singularities, inside their workspace. In the neighborhood of these singularities, the inverse dynamics solution grows unboundedly and the robot becomes uncontrollable. There is growing literature on methods that enable parallel robots to pass through drive singularities. Most of this literature relies on dynamic models that presume rigid joints. However, the flexibility of the drive train elements should also be taken into account for high accuracy. In this paper, we propose a systematic trajectory planning method for enabling flexible-joint parallel robots to pass through drive singular configurations. Our method generates admissible polynomial trajectories of degree eleven. Four conditions are derived and incorporated into the method to prevent undesired back-and-forth motion of the endpoint. This ensures not only an efficient operation of the robot but also the avoidance of unintended multiple occurrences of the same singularity. The boundedness of the inverse dynamics solution is also guaranteed.

Keywords: flexible-joint parallel robot; drive train flexibility; drive singularity; singularity removal; trajectory planning

Abstract: Parallelized Sequential Indexing Tables (parSITs), are classifiers that have been developed for the processing of large volumes of data rapidly. Their base idea is implementing a sequential indexing table structure with parallelization techniques, using a sequence of Lookup Tables in order to build a chain of value combinations. Although the inference (evaluation) method, that it was originally developed for, is very fast, its performance significantly depends on the arbitrary order of the attributes, in multi-class cases, thus, reducing its classification performance. In this work, we introduce a new inference method, that increases the classification performance of the classifier, at the cost of a small increase in computational complexity.

Keywords; Big Data classification; interval-based classification; parallel computing; sequential indexing tables; lookup tables; machine learning

Abstract: For a long journey, the occupants of highly autonomous vehicles (HAV), with non-standard seating, can communicate easier. The question is… Are non-standard seating configurations as safe as standard seating in a frontal crash? The Virthuman model is used to answer this question. It is a multi-body system (MBS) model that helps run simulations faster, however, it lacks some outputs. A 30 km/h frontal acceleration pulse is applied to HAV’s interior and a program determines injury indexes for Virthuman’s body parts, then returns to simulation’ settings, without considering injuries of the bodies’ internal organs. Living Room seating provides safer conditions for its occupants in a frontal crash.

Keywords: fully automated vehicle; Virthuman model; non-standard seating configurations; sledge test simulation; injury index assessment

Abstract: We present a novel application of the D435i, an RGBD camera, designed by Intel. The device can be used by soil scientists, as a low-cost, high-resolution, short-range 3D/4D camera imaging system, producing data similar to a terrestrial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor. The D435i contains a structured light emitter, two infrared cameras, a visible wavelength camera, an Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) combining accelerometer and gyroscope. The affordable camera has 90 frame rate, spatial and depth resolutions which are mm or cm depending on range, and the optimal operating range is 0.5 to ~5m. We describe data collection and basic data analysis routines in an agricultural field, on the long-term experiment, designed to demonstrate the breadth and utility of this new sensor in soil roughness measurment.

Keywords: remote sensing; soil surface roughness; image processing

Abstract: The air transport crisis, caused by the Covid Pandemic, not only forced the limiting of air traffic operations, but also, the verification existing air traffic forecasts. This time can be used for an in-depth look at the existing procedures at the airport, namely the procedures for performing aircraft take-off operations. After the renewed increase in air traffic, the problem of proper positioning of aircraft for take-off will reappear. The capacity problem at airports will return as air traffic increases. Capacity is a parameter that determines the traffic capacity of an airport, expressed as the theoretical maximum number of air operations that the airport is able to handle per unit of time. This parameter may also result from the seasonality of air traffic both throughout the year and changes over single days or even hours. Achieving a certain capacity may require the expansion of airport infrastructure or more efficient management of airport operations. An undesirable effect of increasing air traffic are delays related to airport capacity. The existing queue of aircraft waiting for take-off operations at the runway threshold, could be due to poor management and queuing of aircraft or insufficient airport infrastructure. It is possible to eliminate the queue phenomenon, at the runway threshold, through better sequencing of aircraft push-outs. This makes it possible to determine the order of the take-off of aircraft, already at the stage of push-out. The aim of the article is to present the possibility of a more effective use of the aircraft pushback sequence, increasing the capacity of the airport maneuvering area. The proposed algorithm sequencing of aircraft to taxi in order to minimize delays associated with deviations from the flight plan, the taxiway of the stand to the runway threshold, thereby reducing emissions into the atmosphere. The algorithm is based on the A-CDM project, which unites airports to exchange information necessary to better use the capacity of these airports.

Keywords: Sequencing aircraft; capacity; taxiing; modelling

Abstract: An early model-based fault detection was developed, based on the wind turbine's power curve to detect the degradation (faults) in gearbox efficiency, resulted from the existing mechanical losses (torque losses) through the low-speed shaft and the high-speed shaft, then to assist in implementing predictive maintenance strategy. The detection was performed on two levels; the first level represents a slight and progressive degradation in the gearbox efficiency. The other one represents a radical (abrupt) degradation in the efficiency. Artificial SCADA data for different measurements (wind speed and active power) in both fault-free and faulty operating modes were generated using a FAST-NREL simulator. The wind turbine power curves' parameters were estimated, then power residuals were generated from each power point. Finally, an on-line CUSUM statistical change detection algorithm was used to evaluate and detect small changes in power residuals generated from the model. The presented fault detection system successfully detected faults in both detection levels under realistic wind turbulence and with a fault magnitude of 2% efficiency degradation for the progressive degradation level.

Keywords: fault detection; SCADA; wind turbine; condition monitoring; change-point detection; simulation; optimization

Abstract: SLAM can be categorized into two groups: laser-based SLAM and visual-based SLAM. They are used to identify surrounded objects of a robot. This paper proposes a combination of visual-based SLAM algorithm and laser-based SLAM. The purpose is to reduce effort but still provides the high quality 3D-reconstructed map. First, this paper presents visual-based SLAM and laser-based SLAM separately. Then, two techniques are integrated into one system. In addition, bi-direction RRT* path planning algorithm is developed to create a feasible and optimal trajectory. A self-tuning Fuzzy-PID controller also is introduced for driving the robot to follow the trajectory precisely. The simulations and real experiments are conducted in order to illustrate the superiority of the proposed approach.

Keywords: SLAM; mapping; 3D point cloud; sensor fusion; autonomous robot

Abstract: This work deals with the improvement of selected manufacturing processes in the finishing activities of the foundry and the solution to a specific problem involving the bottleneck in the blasting area. The aim of this article is to improve the selected blasting and handling processes. In the practical part, the current status of the finishing operation, by using process analysis, is determined and proposed herein is the approach to improve the process. In the project section, industrial methods were used, such as, workshops and brainstorming. By synthesis of the outputs from the analysis and workshops we have elaborated a catalog for the improvement of the blasting process in the following sections, including the handling process. This work includes a proposal for the technical adjustment of the blasting equipment, which leads to an increase in the efficiency of the entire production process.

Keywords: shot-blasting; efficiency; improving; performance; workshop; process; process analysis; DMAIC

Abstract: Over the last few decades, the steel industry has focused efforts on the improvement of by-product recovery, based on sustainable solutions. These activities have led the steel industry to save natural resources and to reduce its environmental impact. In fact, the by-product recovery is perceived as improving the environmental sustainability of the steel production by saving primary raw materials and costs related to by-products and waste landfilling. The iron- and steelmaking industry is also looking at residues from other industrial sectors such as mining and mineral processing. The objective is to develop viable practices, combining different mining and mineral processing wastes in high quality pellets and reducing environmental impacts and operating costs in steelmaking. Reuse these wastes allows for their beneficial application, whereas, recycling extracts resource ingredients or converts waste into valuable products in a long term perspective. Laboratory phase experiments carried out on the possibilities of valuing ferrous sludges and dusts, leads to the production of experimental by-products - pellets, usable as raw material in the steel industry in the steel production sector. Related to the recovery technologies of ferrous waste for the purpose of “greening” the industrial environment, our research has focused on identifying possibilities for the recovery of industrial iron containing, small size and powdery waste, which are landfilled, in very large quantities, in the Hunedoara area of Romania and beyond.

Keywords: raw materials; iron & steelmaking industry; waste recovery; pellets/ pelletizing