Automated inspection system for headlamp reflectors

Up to now the quality control of headlamp reflectors for vehicles has been visually made by inspectors (100%-control). The results depend on the daily constitution and attention of the inspectors. In many cases, those “human factors” lead to dissatisfactory quality control and rejects due to assumed defects. To avoid this and to accordingly reduce production costs and save the environment, a manufacturer of image processing systems and the three biggest manufacturers of car reflectors in Europe have initiated a project with the intention of solving the current problems. This article gives an overview of the project under the aspect of the economical automation of the whole process of the car reflector inspection. The project began in May 2002 and finished in December 2004 and was supported by the European Commission under the 5th framework competitive and sustainable growth, FINDER, project no. G6RD-CT-2002-00668 [EC-research-program, 2001, Fast intelligent defect recognition system (FINDER)]. The work described in this paper is a summary of the technical reports from the authors made for this project [4–8].     

Automated tolerance analysis for CAPP system

Various computer-aided process planning (CAPP) systems can produce different process plans, but few of them can deal with the specified design tolerances that have a significant influence on the process selection, machine selection, set-up and datum selection, operation sequencing, cutting condition decisions, and time and cost calculations; nor can they provide exact information on fixture/datum and the coordinates of the tool movements that are the necessary data for automated NC programming. The focus of this paper is on the discussion of an automated tolerance based analysis approach of CAPP systems.     

Automated chronometric system

An automated chronometric system is developed for assessing the difficulty of machining operations in manufacturing. The system facilitates and improves labor organization and standardization in the machine-tool shop.     

Automated system for shock and vibration tests

An automatic system for shock and vibration tests is described. This compact system permits the creation of considerable impact forces, with the measurement, recording, and analysis of the test results. Oscillograms of elastic impacts of strikers on electronic circuit boards are presented.     

混匀配料自动控制系统及故障诊断

分析了原混匀配料系统不能实现全自动配料作业的原因,提出了有针对性的改进措施,介绍其组织实施的情况和取得的成效。     

Automated luminescent topographic system

A new optical-scanning technique with a spatial resolution of 10 mum has been developed for the observation of surface luminescence. The photoluminescence topographic technique is a fully automated system capable of measuring luminescence intensity from a surface area as large as 25.8 cm(3) as well as the actual luminescence spectra from a spot as small as 10 mum in diameter. The system consists of an Ar-ion laser for excitation, a bidirectional scanner with focusing lens, a spectrometer for high spectral resolution, and a photomultiplier for photon counting. Experimental control and data acquisition and display are performed by a Hewlett-Packard 9820A calculator and interface package. Applications of the technique in the analysis of impurity segregation in semiconductor wafers are illustrated.     

Automated battery test system

Battery testing is required for a wide range of applications. This includes quality assurance, design verification and performance assessment purposes for battery manufacturers, validation purposes for battery users, and battery behavioural research purposes for engineers developing behavioural prediction algorithms. Regardless of the application, determining the behavioural characteristics of batteries is a non-trivial problem. The electrochemical processes of a battery are complex, involving many parameters that are non-linearly interrelated. Therefore it is important that a test system designed for investigating battery behaviour provides accurate and reliable control and data acquisition. Manual testing is a labour intensive and time-consuming process. Automated testing can alleviate the labour requirements, with the added advantages of limiting human error (through limited human involvement), maintaining consistency between tests and providing flexibility in test conduction time and test routine.

This paper presents the architecture of an automated battery test system. The paper begins by providing details on battery testing procedures. A typical test cycle, where the battery passes through all operating phases of charge, float charge and discharge, is described. The battery testing technique of accelerated thermal ageing, a special case of cyclic testing, is also described. This allows the identification of the parameters that are to be acquired and controlled and hence provides the specification for the battery test system.

A specific battery test system solution is presented, which was designed for conducting valve regulated lead acid battery behavioural research. The system employs commercial off the shelf (COTS) components. Versatility is a key attribute of the system. This versatility extends from the ability to accommodate various battery configurations (different number of blocks per string and number of strings) and battery types (single cells through to mono-blocks) to the ability to vary the way the test is conducted and the criteria for data acquisition.     

Automated microscopy system for mosaic acquisition and processing

An automatic mosaic acquisition and processing system for a multiphoton microscope is described for imaging large expanses of biological specimens at or near the resolution limit of light microscopy. In a mosaic, a larger image is created from a series of smaller images individually acquired systematically across a specimen. Mosaics allow wide‐field views of biological specimens to be acquired without sacrificing resolution, providing detailed views of biological specimens within context. The system is composed of a fast‐scanning, multiphoton, confocal microscope fitted with a motorized, high‐precision stage and custom‐developed software programs for automatic image acquisition, image normalization, image alignment and stitching. Our current capabilities allow us to acquire data sets comprised of thousands to tens of thousands of individual images per mosaic. The large number of individual images involved in creating a single mosaic necessitated software development to automate both the mosaic acquisition and processing steps. In this report, we describe the methods and challenges involved in the routine creation of very large scale mosaics from brain tissue labelled with multiple fluorescent probes.     

Automated setup and fixture planning system for box-shaped parts

The topic of the research is related to the domain of computer-aided manufacturing process planning. This paper deals with the problem of setup and fixture planning for the machining of box-shaped parts on the horizontal machining centres. The setup and fixture planning involves the definition of setups, the setup sequence and conceptual design of fixtures for each setup. The central topic of this research is the automation of the conceptual design of fixtures. This topic is interconnected with the setup planning, and accordingly, the aim of the author has been the integrated handling of tasks of setup and fixture planning and the finding of solution in an integrated system. Based on the workpiece model, the developed system automatically determines the setup sequence, the content of setups and the conceptual solution of fixture for each setup. The paper presents the problems of fixture solutions and the partial tasks of workpiece holding, the typical solution of partial tasks and the conditions of their application and finally offers a new method, which makes the integrated handling of tasks of setup and fixture planning and finding solution in an integrated system possible.     

可展回转型装配体管道展开技术

提出了一种基于中间模型的可展回转型装配体展开和自动化出图方法,以保持可展回转型装配体二维图纸与三维模型的一致性.通过引入中间模型的概念,将三维空间的回转型装配体展平到平面状态,以方便投影出图.给出了管道系统展开的通用方法,设计了圆柱形和圆台形装配体到中间模型的坐标转换算法,采用管道离散化后进行坐标转换,再进行管道重构的方法实现了管道的展开;针对企业标准定制了出图模板,利用附着在中间模型上的几何位置和属性信息,实现了部分自动化的二维出图.通过将所开发的系统应用在某航天企业中,表明了所提方法的正确性和实用性.     

Automated production system for reagents used in water and wastewater processing

The development of a high-efficiency automated system for continuous electrochemical synthesis of reagents used in water and wastewater purification is considered.     

超声辅助电火花铣削电火花放电系统设计

利用Visual C++软件开发了超声辅助放电软件系统,该系统能够实现上位机和脉冲电源之间的通信控制。基于关系模型的超声电火花工艺数据库有效解决了超声电火花加工中工艺参数的选择、存储和管理问题,同时设计了简单宜人的操作界面。该系统能够满足应用需要并能安全稳定工作。     

Automated design system for a rotor with an ellipse lobe profile

An internal lobe pump (ILP) is suitable for machine tool oil hydraulics, automotive engines, compressors, and various other devices. In particular, the ILP is an essential component of an automotive engine, used to feed lubricant oil through the system. The main components of an ILP are its rotors. The outer rotor is typically characterized by lobes with an elliptical shape, and the inner rotor profile is a conjugate to the outer profile. This paper describes a theoretical analysis of an ILP and the development of an integrated automated system for rotor design. This system is composed of three main modules and has been developed using AutoLISP for the AutoCAD program. The system generates a new lobe profile and automatically calculates flow rate and flow rate irregularity according to the lobe profile generated. Results obtained from the analysis can enable oil pump designers and manufacturers to become more efficient.     

A current monitoring system for diagnosing electrical failures in induction motors

Induction motors are critical components in industrial processes. A motor failure may yield an unexpected interruption at the industrial plant, with consequences in costs, product quality, and safety. Many of these faulty situations in three phase induction motors have an electrical reason. Among different detection approaches proposed in the literature, those based on stator current monitoring are advantageous due to its non-invasive properties. One of these techniques resorts to spectrum analysis of machine line current. Another non-invasive technique is the Extended Park's Vector Approach, which allows the detection of inter-turn short circuits in the stator winding. This article presents the development of an on-line current monitoring system that uses both techniques for fault detection and diagnosis in the stator and in the rotor. Based on experimental observations and on the knowledge of the electrical machine, a knowledge-based system was constructed in order to carry out the diagnosis task from these estimated data.     

船舶电气设备水冷系统研究与开发

针对船舶电气设备体积大、功耗高、散热差、噪音高等问题,对船舶电气设备水冷系统的模块化水冷板、传感与控制单元进行了研究,对电气设备本体、循环水系统、监控与保护装置的典型特征进行了归纳,提出了一种基于模块化水冷板以及传感与控制技术的船舶电气设备水冷系统,利用联调试验和实船电气设备对该水冷系统的体积、功耗、散热、噪音进行了测试。研究结果表明,该系统可提高船舶电气设备的功率密度、稳定性、冷却效率、噪音水平,可保证船舶电气设备的体积、功耗、散热、噪音优越性。     

CHR3高速动车组故障诊断系统

介绍了CRH3高速动车组的列车编组结构、列车通信网络和列车控制系统,分析了面向高速动车组故障诊断系统的设备和位置编码规则,阐述了CRH3高速动车组诊断系统的总体架构,并详细分析了诊断文件系统的结构和功能,该诊断系统为CRH3高速动车组的安全运行提供了有力的保证.     

滑差补偿控制在电动变桨系统中的应用

在风力发电机组紧急收桨过程中,当桨叶负载较大时传统的V/F控制模式会导致桨叶驱动器驱动电机的速度降低,从而会引起紧急收桨速度降低,不能达到紧急收桨速度要求。针对上述问题,在对比分析紧急收桨速度与电压频率关系基础上,提出了在风力发电电动变桨系统中应用滑差补偿控制方案,大大改善了在大负载时的桨叶紧急收桨速度,并且基于电变桨系统全功能实验平台进行了实验,给出了相关实验结果。实验结果表明,在风力发电机组电动变桨系统中应用滑差补偿控制,能够有效改善大负载时桨叶的紧急收桨速度。     

港口电动牵引车动力传动系统匹配计算

牵引车动力传动性能是反映牵引车牵引能力和经济性的关键指标,本文以电动牵引车动力传动系统为研究对象,对动力传动系统匹配计算原则和方法进行了探讨,给出以锂离子电池为动力的电动牵引车动力传动系统的计算方法,为港口电动牵引车的进一步深入开发提供了参考。