A laboratory was built at Prairie Swine Centre Inc. (PSCI) to study air quality in swine barns and its effect on pigs and people. The first focus of that research program was to design and test a manure handling system to control the air contamination from the excreta. The goal was to get close to zero air contamination from manure with these systems, in order to measure the contamination from other sources, and to also have a range of contamination levels for future health and productivity testing. Two manure handling systems were designed and tested: a washing gutter system with pressurized heated wash water periodically directed across the dunging area, and a washed inclined conveyor belt used directly as a dunging area. Ammonia emissions were used as a measure of the air contamination originating from the excreta in two experimental chambers. Ammonia originates only from the manure and is released quickly from any manure (especially urine) in contact with the air. Both systems were tested with 30 kg pigs at running time intervals of 30, 60 and 120 minutes. Trials lasted one week, with three trials completed at each frequency. The average ammonia emissions from the washing gutter and the conveyor belt systems were 48.7 mg day-1 kgpig-1 and 57.0 mg day-1 kgpig-1, respectively. Even though these emissions were 38% and 47% lower than previous observations from grower-finisher rooms with a pit plug design in the same swine building, both systems failed to give the desired close-to-zero contamination. This means another system will have to be found to totally eliminate air contamination from manure in the chambers when testing for the origin of the individual contaminants. There were no differences at a statistically significant level (P>0.05) between the ammonia emissions from the two manure handling systems or the three frequencies tested. However, the washing gutter system was simpler and easier to run, and is recommended for future studies dealing with the effects of different ranges of air quality on pigs and people.

A laboratory was built at Prairie Swine Centre Inc. (PSCI) to study air quality in swine barns and its effect on pigs and people. The first focus of that research program was to design and test a manure handling system to control the air contamination from the excreta. The goal was to get close to zero air contamination from manure with these systems, in order to measure the contamination from other sources, and to also have a range of contamination levels for future health and productivity testing. Two manure handling systems were designed and tested: a washing gutter system with pressurized heated wash water periodically directed across the dunging area, and a washed inclined conveyor belt used directly as a dunging area. Ammonia emissions were used as a measure of the air contamination originating from the excreta in two experimental chambers. Ammonia originates only from the manure and is released quickly from any manure (especially urine) in contact with the air. Both systems were tested with 30 kg pigs at running time intervals of 30, 60 and 120 minutes. Trials lasted one week, with three trials completed at each frequency. The average ammonia emissions from the washing gutter and the conveyor belt systems were 48.7 mg day-1 kgpig-1 and 57.0 mg day-1 kgpig-1, respectively. Even though these emissions were 38% and 47% lower than previous observations from grower-finisher rooms with a pit plug design in the same swine building, both systems failed to give the desired close-to-zero contamination. This means another system will have to be found to totally eliminate air contamination from manure in the chambers when testing for the origin of the individual contaminants. There were no differences at a statistically significant level (P>0.05) between the ammonia emissions from the two manure handling systems or the three frequencies tested. However, the washing gutter system was simpler and easier to run, and is recommended for future studies dealing with the effects of different ranges of air quality on pigs and people.

This thesis experimentally investigates the effects of buffer regulation on the delivery of randomly spaced objects through a multi-conveyor system according to a demanded throughput and spacing. A regulator is developed and tested in conjunction with on ongoing research project at Georgia Tech investigating the automated transfer of live birds. In this thesis, an algorithm is proposed to identify and compensate for the spacing deviations of objects entering a system comprised of three serially connected conveyors. The regulator acts to delay the time each object spends on the middle conveyor, eliminating spacing variations by the time objects exit the system. The system is experimentally tested to determine how effectively the algorithm can locate and deliver objects onto specific moving points. The limits of the regulator and the considerations for practical implementation are investigated. The proposed buffering regulator has immediate applications in the poultry processing industry, wherein live birds must be sorted and hung on a uniform shackle line moving at a constant speed.

A second-generation CMOS current controlled conveyor (CCCII) and a tunable IF bandpass filter based on the CCCII are developed. The high frequency property and the control ability of the current conveyor makes the bandpass filter tunable in the range between 55MHz~410MHz, which is suitable for the IF filter application that is around 200MHz~300MHz. The Q-factor is also tunable and has a maximum value up to 800.

This diploma work deals with a design of the accumulated chain conveyor with circuit palette. The work is concentrated on the design of workings and functional and strenght caltulations. The drawing dokumentacions are within the range detail drawings and assembly drawings.

As colleges and trade schools across the United States attempt to increase the number of interactive elements in their Engineering and Engineering Technology departments, many smaller institutions are having trouble accumulating enough funding to purchase the necessary robotic systems and supporting components. In addition to the lack of funding, the market for “classroom” sized manufacturing systems is virtually nonexistent. Many students must find internships outside of their institutions to gain the higher levels of experience that they desire. To provide its students with more real-life education, the robotics lab at East Tennessee State University is trying to simulate an industrial work environment, where robotic arms can interact with conveyor belts. The conveyor belt workstations currently in the lab cost tens of thousands of dollars and only include a few small conveyor belts, a hand full of sensors and actuators, and their control boards. These workstations are not only expensive, but they are limited in their functions and potential configurations. The best approach to solving these issues is to create various small-scale, or modular, systems out of inexpensive parts from reliable sources. This method allows institutions to inexpensively replicate the systems that are commonly seen in manufacturing. At present, only the basic, horizontal, conveyor belt module has been designed and tested. The goal of this sub-project will be to add a vertical conveyor belt module. The main function of this module will be to raise and lower items, so that the modular systems can be multi-level using the least amount of space possible. This will be accomplished by modifying the hardware from the base conveyor and experimenting with different belt designs to ensure the items will be able to be carried up without slipping off. The use of multilevel and overhead conveyor systems is a popular space maximization method in industry. The current systems rely on sloped conveyors to move materials to higher levels, wasting valuable space and time. A vertical conveyor belt would decrease the time and distance required to carry materials to various levels.

Mål: En rapport har utförts för att undersöka om vad den aktuella slagkraften samt tryckkraft är från OCS två overhead conveyor-system, OCS 150 och OCS 500. Slagkraften uppmättes för att kartlägga en av de krafter som genereras från systemets olika kombinationer av fjädrar, vikt och hastighet. Tryckkraften undersöktes med samma uppsättningar av fjädrar, vikt och hastighet som slagkraftsmätningarna för att se om kravet på 150 N i tryckkraft från den nya standarden SS-EN 619:2022 uppfylls eller ifall systemet behövs ses över för att möta dom skärpta kraven. Metod: Med hjälp av en kraftmätare tillsammans med en upphängning vid en specifik punkt i systemen mäts krafterna från kollision mellan produktbärare och stillastående objekt samt tryckkraften som krävs för att hålla emot en drivande produktbärare. Detta dokumenterades för att sedan skapa en visualisering av resultaten. Resultat & diskussion: Mätningarna på de två systemen visade att OCS 150 klarade kravet på 150 N för alla uppsättningar förutom en. OCS 500 uppfyllde kravet för hälften av uppsättningarna. Resultaten ansågs ha en stor variation men ändå godtyckligt där man kunde se både fjädrarnas samt hastigheternas påverkan till slag- och tryckkraft. Faktorer till variationen har kunnat vara ojämn friktion från band/axel, hjul, fjädrarnas påverkan samt låg mätfrekvens på kraftmätaren. Fyra vetenskapliga artiklar hittades som argument emot den nya standarden på 150 N i tryckkraft och i alla fyra ansågs det vara mer begränsande, där sannolikheten för personskada var väldigt låg i AIS-skalan vid icke-klämd kollision för OCS standardhastigheter. / Objective: A report has been carried out to investigate what the actual impact force and compressive force are from two OCS overhead conveyor systems, OCS 150 and OCS 500. The impact force was measured to map one of the forces generated from the system's different combinations of springs, weights and speeds. The compressive force was investigated with the same sets of springs, weights and speeds as the impact force measurements to see if the requirement of 150 N in compressive force from the new standard SS-EN 619:2022 is met or if the systems needs to be revised to meet the stricter requirements. Method: Using a force meter together with a suspension at a specific point in the systems, the forces from collisions between product carriers and stationary objects are measured, as well as the force required to hold against a moving product carrier. This was documented to then create a visualization of the results. Results & Discussion: The measurements on the two systems showed that the OCS 150 met the requirement of 150 N for all sets except one. The OCS 500 met the requirement for half of the sets. The results were considered to have a large variation but still arbitrary where you could see the influence of both the springs and the speeds on impact and pressure. Factors for the variation could have been uneven friction from the belt/axle, wheels, the influence of the springs and low measurement frequency on the force meter. Four scientific papers were found arguing against the new standard of 150 N in thrust and in all four it was considered more restrictive, with the likelihood of injury being very low on the AIS scale in non-clamped collisions for OCS standard speeds.

Working around conveyor belts is the cause of numerous accidents each year that are costly to the mining industry. Current safety training practices generally include the use of slide show presentations, lectures, videos, and paper material before sending each worker onto site with an experienced person for on-the-job task training. These training methods are passive in nature and do not allow for an actual realization of consequences resulting from ignoring safety practices during interaction between the employee and the environment. It is with this in mind that virtual reality (VR) is being proposed as an added effective method of safety training. In order to prove this hypothesis, a working VR prototype application of a mining environment has been developed. The application is designed in two modules. The first consists of an instructional based module, where the user is given all relevant information based on background research dealing with safety issues, hazard awareness, conveyor maintenance, and conveyor components and assemblies. The second module is a task-based training session that then tracks the user's performance as they complete assigned tasks. An evaluation scheme was performed on the prototype to determine the usability and usefulness and identify areas in need of improvement. First, industry professionals were presented the application in an informal setting where the types of information and overall concept were examined and perceived usefulness was discussed. Secondly, users, both novice and industry professionals, were asked to go through the prototype training application and rate their agreement with statements based on the user interface and usability of the application. Finally, subjective interviews were performed to record perceived benefits of the virtual reality application over typical training material. This final stage consists of using both industry professionals and novice experience individuals and documenting their perceptions of benefits and challenges of using both typical methods of training and the designed prototype. This document consists of an explanation of the research steps and papers that are published (or in press) detailing certain areas of the research, compiled findings, conclusions, and future research suggestions. / Master of Science

Conveyors are an integral part of modern devices. In this thesis, a slew of areas oscillators and function generators with current and voltage conveyors. Individual applications are categorized according involvement with conveyors and other elements. The functionality of the need for involvement in the program PSpice simulation. As a current conveyor is used OPA861, EL2082, further use of RC circuits and opto-CNY 17.

The aim of this thesis is to design a mechanical manipulator. Work includes variants kinematics stroke belt conveyor, belt functional calculations belt and roller conveyor and risk analysis (the basis for the Declaration of Conformity) and FMEA analysis.