Remote-Controlled Ambidextrous Robot Hand Concept

In the development of robotic limbs, the side of members is of importance to define the shape of artificial limbs and the range of movements. It is mainly significant tbr biomedical applications concerning patients suffering arms or legs injuries, fn this paper, the concept of an ambidextrous design lbr robot hands is introduced. The fingers can curl in one xvay or another, to imitate either a right hand or a left hand. The advantages and inconveniences of different models have been investigated to optimise the range and the maximum force applied by fingers. Besides, a remote control interthce is integrated to the system, allowing both to send comrnands through internet and to display a video streaming of the ambidextrous hand as feedback. Therefore, a robotic prosthesis could be used for the first time in telerehabilitation. The main application areas targeted are physiotherapy alter strokes or management of phantom pains/br amputees by/earning to control the ambidextrous hand. A client application is also accessible on Facehook social network, making the robotic limb easily reachable for the patients. Additionally the ambidextrous hand can be used tbr robotics research as well as artistic performances.     

Consequences and conjectures in preordered sets

In a preordered set, or preset, consequence operators in the sense of Tarski, defined on families of subsets, are introduced. From them, the corresponding sets of conjectures, hypotheses, speculations and refutations are considered, studying the relationships between these sets and those previously defined on ortholattices. All the concepts introduced are illustrated with three particular consequence operators, whose behavior is studied in detail. The results obtained are applied to the case of fuzzy sets endowed with the usual pointwise ordering.     

High-Impact PLA in Compatibilized PLA/PCL Blends: Optimization of Blend Composition and Type and Content of Compatibilizer

In this work, the effectiveness of seven commercial compatibilizers is tested in polylactide (PLA)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) blends with different compositions to obtain a high-impact PLA. None of the compatibilizers is effective for 90/10 and 80/20 PLA/PCL compositions, as no improvement of the impact strength is observed. For the 70/30 composition, compatibilizers having glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and acrylate groups in their structure are proved the most effective, as the morphological change towards co-continuity induced by them leads to significant impact strength improvements (of ≈345% and 90% with respect to the neat PLA and the noncompatibilized PLA/PCL 70/30 blend, respectively). The 70/30 PLA/PCL composition, as it shows the best balance of properties, and the best compatibilizer (ElvaloyPTW) are chosen to carry out the optimization of the compatibilizer content. It is found that adding 6 phr to the blend results in highly toughened and ductile blends while maintaining a high modulus and yield strength values. Larger compatibilizer contents lead to even higher impact strength values, but the low-strain mechanical properties are notably reduced. Thus, in this work, a simple and easily scalable method to produce high-impact PLA is shown, as it implies the compounding of three commercially available components without involving any toxic solvents.     

Unprecedented Improvement of Single Li‐Ion Conductive Solid Polymer Electrolyte Through Salt Additive

Solid‐state lithium metal (Li°) batteries (SSLMBs) are believed to be the most promising technologies to tackle the safety concerns and the insufficient energy density encountered in conventional Li‐ion batteries. Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) inherently own good processability and flexibility, enabling large‐scale preparation of SSLMBs. To minimize the growth of Li° dendrites and cell polarization in SPE‐based SSLMBs, an additive‐containing single Li‐ion conductive SPE is reported. The characterization results show that a small dose of electrolyte additive (2 wt%) substantially increases the ionic conductivity of single Li‐ion conductive SPEs as well as the interfacial compatibility between electrode and SPE, allowing the cycling of SPE‐based cells with good electrochemical performance. This work may provide a paradigm shift on the design of highly cationic conductive electrolytes, which are essential for developing safe and high‐performance rechargeable batteries.     

Understanding the impact of texture on the micromechanical anisotropy of laser powder bed fused Inconel 718

Journal of Materials Science - The manufacturability of metallic alloys using laser-based additive manufacturing methods such as laser powder bed fusion has substantially improved within the last...     

Real-time monitoring and diagnosing in wire-electro discharge machining

This paper presents the design and development of a real-time monitoring and diagnostic system for diagnosing the degraded behaviour in wire-electro discharge machining. The detection in advance of the degraded behaviour is crucial since this can lead to the breakage of the cutting tool (the wire), reducing the process productivity and the required accuracy (Ho et al., Tools Manuf 44:1247–1259, 2004). This work presents the design and development of a real-time monitoring system that alerts the degraded behaviour. It can detect different types of degraded behaviours that have been previously identified during the analysis phase. Unlike other works found in the literature review, which are focussed on proprietary hardware, the present paper proposes a flexible real-time platform based on a commercial data acquisition board that can be easily configured for different purposes. It has been applied to develop a real-time monitoring and diagnostic system that uses virtual sensors to diagnose the degradation of the process. The results of this work show a satisfactory performance of the presented approach.     

Relationships between cheese-processing conditions and curd and cheese properties to improve the yield of Idiazabal cheese made in small artisan dairies: A multivariate approach

Very diverse cutting and cooking intensity processes are currently used in small artisan dairies to manufacture Idiazabal cheese. The combination of the technical settings used during cheese manufacturing is known to affect cheese composition and yield, as well as whey losses. However, the information regarding the effect on microstructure and texture of cheese is scarce, especially in commercial productions. Therefore, the effect of moderate- and high-intensity cutting and cooking processes on whey losses, curd-grain characteristics, microstructure and cheese properties, and yield were analyzed. Three trials were monitored in each of 2 different small dairies during the cheesemaking of Idiazabal cheese, which is a semihard cheese made from raw sheep milk. The role and know-how of the cheesemakers are crucial in these productions because they determine the cutting point and handle semi-automatic vats. The 2 dairies studied used the following settings: dairy A used moderate-intensity cutting and cooking conditions, and dairy B used high-intensity cutting and cooking settings. Multiple relationships between cheese-processing conditions and curd, whey, and cheese properties as well as yield were obtained from a partial least square regression analysis. An increased amount of fat and casein losses were generated due to a combination of an excessively firm gel at cutting point together with high-intensity cutting and cooking processes. The microstructural analysis revealed that the porosity of the protein matrix of curd grains after cooking and cheese after pressing was the main feature affected, developing a less porous structure with a more intense process. Moderate-intensity cutting and cooking processes were associated with a higher cheese yield, regardless of the longer pressing process applied. No significant differences were observed in cheese composition. After 1 mo of ripening, however, the cheese was more brittle and adhesive when the high-intensity cutting and cooking process was applied. This could be associated with the composition, characteristics, and size distribution of curd grains due to differences in the compaction degree during pressing. These results could help to modify specific conditions used in cheesemaking, especially improving the process in those small dairies where the role of the cheesemaker is crucial.     

Evaluation of Coupling Agents in Poly(propylene)/Fly Ash Composites: Effect on Processing and Mechanical Properties

Composites containing 50 wt.‐% fly ash in a PP homopolymer were prepared via batch mixing and compression moulding. The following coupling agents were evaluated: Lubrizol Solplus C800, N,N′‐(1,3‐phenylene)dimaleimide, γ‐methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and maleic‐anhydride‐grafted PP. At the filler level investigated, C800 gave the best balance of composite strength and toughness. In the latter case filler‐matrix adhesion appeared weaker relative to γ‐MPS, BMI and m‐PP, all of which gave excessively strong filler‐matrix adhesion leading to a reduction in composite toughness. The unexpected weakness of the C800/fly ash interaction may be related to removal of surface calcium ions from the fly ash via reaction of a single calcium ion with two C800 molecules.