Integrated intelligent design and assembly planning: A survey

This paper reviews the relevant literature of the development of methodologies and systems for integrated intelligent design of assembled products and processes. Based on a combination of the concurrent engineering approach and artificial intelligence techniques, an assembly oriented intelligent scheme for the integration of design and planning is proposed, in which the following components or activities are considered and carried out concurrently and intelligently: assembly modelling and design (conceptual design; preliminary design; detailed design), assembly process planning, assembly system layout and design, assembly simulation, econo-technical (e.g. assembl-ability, assembly time and cost) and ergonomic analysis and evaluation. The literature is reviewed and discussed in relation to the methodologies and systems of implementing the above components or activities and an integrated environment to support them. In addition, some research of our group on this topic is introduced.     

Model-based disturbance attenuation for CNC machining centers incutting process

A disturbance attenuation method in a control system, called the model-based disturbance attenuator (MBDA), is proposed, and its properties are studied. The MBDA makes the plant performs similarly to the nominal plant, as much as possible, using a compensator. Then, a controller is designed based on the nominal plant. It is shown that the MBDA is extremely robust with respect to large variations of load inertia. The MBDA is implemented in a position control system of a computer numerical control (CNC) machining center, where the velocity control system is composed of a servo-pack (PI controller), a servo motor, and a load. The MBDA attenuates external disturbances significantly in the cutting process containing high-frequency components, as well as the frictional forces containing large DC component. Several other controllers are also implemented in a position control system of a CNC machining center in a similar way as the MBDA, and the experimental results are compared with one another     

Stochastic optimal LQR control with integral quadratic constraintsand indefinite control weights

A standard assumption in traditional (deterministic and stochastic) optimal (minimizing) linear quadratic regulator (LQR) theory is that the control weighting matrix in the cost functional is strictly positive definite. In the deterministic case, this assumption is in fact necessary for the problem to be well-posed because positive definiteness is required to make it a convex optimization problem. However, it has recently been shown that in the stochastic case, when the diffusion term is dependent on the control, the control weighting matrix may have negative eigenvalues but the problem remains well-posed. In this paper, the completely observed stochastic LQR problem with integral quadratic constraints is studied. Sufficient conditions for the well-posedness of this problem are given. Indeed, we show that in certain cases, these conditions may be satisfied, even when the control weighting matrices in the cost and all of the constraint functionals have negative eigenvalues. It is revealed that the seemingly nonconvex problem (with indefinite control weights) can actually be a convex one by virtue of the uncertainty in the system. Finally, when these conditions are satisfied, the optimal control is explicitly derived using results from duality theory     

Discrete time LQG controls with control dependent noise

This paper presents some studies on partially observed linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) models where the stochastic disturbances depend on both the states and the controls, and the measurements are bilinear in the noise and the states/controls. While the Separation Theorem of standard LQG design does not apply, suboptimal linear state estimate feedback controllers are derived based on certain linearizations. The controllers are useful for nonlinear stochastic systems where the linearized models include terms bilinear in the noise and states/controls and are significantly more accurate than if the bilinear terms are set to zero. The controllers are calculated by solving a generalized discrete time Riccati equation, which in turn has properties relating to well posedness of the associated LQG problem.     

Performance study of close-loop power control algorithms for acellular CDMA system

Performance of a reverse link code-division multiple-access (CDMA) system with fast close-loop power control algorithms is studied. It is found that if the fast close-loop power control algorithm functions effectively, the speed of the mobile unit is in the range such that its Doppler frequency is less than one tenth of the power control updating rate. This paper also proposes a new predictive power control algorithm with better performance in terms of system capacity than the conventional and adaptive step size algorithms. An increase in system capacity as high as 22% compared with the conventional algorithm can be achieved depending on the mobile velocity     

A power-factor controller for single-phase PWM rectifiers

A novel power-factor controller for single-phase pulsewidth modulated rectifiers is proposed. The unity power-factor controller for a sinusoidal input current is derived using the feedback linearization concept. Two active switches and two diodes are utilized for AC-to-DC power conversion. Experimental results obtained on a 4 kW prototype are discussed     

A 16-bit carry-lookahead adder using reversible energy recoverylogic for ultra-low-energy systems

In this paper, we describe an energy-efficient carry-lookahead adder using reversible energy recovery logic (RERL), which is a new dual-rail reversible adiabatic logic. We also describe an eight-phase, clocked power generator that requires an off-chip inductor. For the energy-efficient design of reversible logic, we explain how to control the overhead of reversibility with a self-energy-recovery circuit. A test chip was implemented with a 0.8 μm CMOS technology, which included two 16-bit carry-lookahead adders to allow fair comparison: an RERL one and a static CMOS one. Experimental results showed that the RERL adder had substantial advantages in energy consumption over the static CMOS one at low operating frequencies. We also confirmed that we could minimize the energy consumption in the RERL circuit by reducing the operating frequency until adiabatic and leakage losses were equal     

The effect of crystalline morphology of poly (butylene terephthalate) phases on toughening of poly(butylene terephthalate)/epoxy blends

In an effort to investigate the effect of the crystalline morphology of a poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) phase on the toughening of PBT/epoxy blends, the blends, having different degrees of perfectness of the PBT crystalline phase, were prepared by blending PBT and epoxy at various temperatures ranging from 200 to 240 °C. As the blending temperature decreases, the degree of perfectness of the PBT crystalline phase increases as a result of the increase of crystal growth rate. For PBT/epoxy blends, the change in crystalline morphology induced by processing may be the most important cause for the dependency of the fracture energy on blending temperatures. It has been found that PBT phases with a well-developed Maltese cross are most effective for epoxy toughening. This dependency reveals the occurrence of a phase transformation toughening mechanism. Also, the higher relative enhancement of fracture energy of a higher molecular weight epoxy system is further indirect evidence for a phase transformation toughening mechanism. Some other toughening mechanisms observed from the fracture surfaces, such as crack bifurcation, crack bridging, and ductile fracture of PBT phases, have been found to also be affected by the blending temperatures.     

Development of Expert System for Concurrent Product Design and Planning for Assembly

This paper addresses the development of an expert system for concurrent product design and assembly planning (CDAPFAES) including conceptual design, detailed design, assemblability analysis and design for assembly, assembly system design, assembly process planning and stimulation, and technical–economics justification. This approach is implemented through an agent-based framework with concurrent integration of multiple cooperative knowledge sources and software. This intelligent system can offer systematic assistance for assembly design and planning in the early stage of product development and facilitate, as far as possible, the use of flexible assembly equipment, including robots. Finally, this new design methodology is illustrated with a successful implementation of a switch product design.