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Robotic haptics has been and continues to be an area of intense research, primarily in medical and exploration industries. This is due to an ability to provide high data throughput between human and machine. In medical applications, it is possible to detect and compensate errors such as a hand tremor in a surgeon. It is possible to apply scaling factors to assist in microsurgery situations, and can allow leading experts to perform procedures from anywhere on the globe. As part of a collaboration to develop a robotic method of femur fracture realignment between Auckland University, Auckland District Health Board, and Massey University, the project seeks to provide a haptic driven HMI for the realignment system. To reduce construction required, an existing manipulation arm (Mitsubishi RV-M1) is used as the hardware interface device. A new motor controller is designed to provide additional functionality as the standard controller provides no force control or real-time feedback of position. A software interface is developed (using version 3 of the C# programming language, developed by Microsoft, and version 3.5 of the Microsoft .NET Framework) with the ultimate specification of becoming being the primary interface platform for the realignment system. The interface has been implemented to the point of providing a simulated environment for the haptic device. It was found that the configuration of the RV-M1 provides a tight area of high dexterity as a haptic device, and as such, similar kinematic configurations are poor candidates for practical implementation. The implication of which, is that a new manipulator should be designed which grants a larger volume of high dexterity space.

The design of automatic systems for steering a ship presents difficult challenges because of their dynamic properties which vary considerably within the range of sailing conditions. Automatic steering of ships has its origin at the beginning of the century and was prompted by the introduction of the gyrocompass. Until the earlier 70s almost all autopilots for a ship were based on the proportional-derivative-integral (PID) controller. The main disadvantage with PID controllers is that the optimal parameters setting can be achieved only for a particular sailing condition. This shortcoming was and is still dealt with in the framework of adaptive theory where the controller parameters are adjusted in the attempt to seek the optimum of a pre-set performance function. Despite such a potential advantage, at present adaptive control theory is limited to linear plants and requires a certain amount of a-priori information for a successful application. This thesis is concerned with the applicability of intelligent control techniques to the problem of designing course-keeping and course-changing autopilots for ships. For this reason the framework of intelligent control theory is introduced and a pragmatic definition of intelligent controllers is stated. The learning and adaptive features of neural networks and fuzzy logic systems are exploited and used to solve advantageously the control design problem. Adaptive networks are used as a unifying structure where different kinds of neural networks and fuzzy logic paradigms can be described. In this framework, comparisons between neural networks and fuzzy logic systems are made and results from one field can be easily extended to the other. Although the use of such systems for the design of autopilots is in its early stage, the majority of the contributions which have appeared in literature have focused on the use of feedforward networks trained with the back-propagation algorithm. The main contributions of this thesis are the critical analysis of the feedforward network controller trained with the back-propagation algorithm, the proposition of an alternative controller architecture based on the use of radial basis function networks and to give conditions under which the stability analysis of the intelligent controllers so designed can be evaluated.

Afin d’optimiser le coût des éoliennes, on choisit souvent d’insérer entre la turbine et la génératrice un multiplicateur de vitesse mécanique à engrenages. Son intérêt est de réduire le coût de la génératrice électrique via la réduction de son couple mécanique. Malheureusement, les multiplicateurs mécaniques sont sujet à des défaillances qui augmentent le coût de fonctionnement de l’éolienne. Ainsi les coûts de maintenance peuvent devenir si importants que certains industriels cherchent à se passer de ce composant, tout particulièrement dans les applications offshore.Parmi les solutions alternatives aux chaînes de conversion à multiplicateur mécanique, une voie innovante consiste à remplacer le multiplicateur à engrenages par une technologie magnétique. Pour évaluer de façon pertinente une telle solution, il est indispensable d'adopter une approche transversale mécatronique considérant à la fois les aspects magnétiques et mécaniques. Une telle approche est originale et pour la mener à bien, il a été nécessaire de développer des modèles multi-physiques afin d’évaluer les performances. Ainsi, les travaux de cette thèse ont porté sur l'élaboration de modèles électromagnétiques, mécaniques et thermiques de deux architectures de multiplicateurs magnétiques. Pour mener à bien une optimisation globale, ces modèles doivent être très performants en termes de compromis temps de calcul / précision. Nous avons enfin réalisé une optimisation globale des parties magnétiques et mécaniques d'un multiplicateur magnétique pour éolienne multi-mégawatt et montré qu'une approche mécatronique permettait d'obtenir de meilleurs résultats qu'une méthode traditionnelle consistant à découpler les dimensionnements magnétiques et mécaniques. / Non communiqué.

Le verrou de l'intégration de la simulation multi-physique dans la conception des systèmes mécatroniques est lié, entre autres, aux problèmes d'interopérabilité entre les outils de simulation. Ces problèmes engendrent des difficultés pour assurer des optimisations multidisciplinaires. Dans cette thèse, nous avons développé une approche de conception intégrée permettant de franchir cet obstacle. Cette approche s'appuie sur l'utilisation d'une plateforme d'intégration permettant de coupler divers outils de modélisation et de simulation. La modélisation du comportement multi-physique des composants au niveau détaillé est assurée par les méta-modèles, également utilisés pour l'optimisation multidisciplinaire des composants du système mécatronique. Ces méta-modèles permettent aussi d'intégrer le comportement multi-physique des composants et des modules mécatroniques pour la simulation au niveau système. Cette approche a été validée avec une modélisation d'un véhicule électrique. Ainsi, le niveau conceptuel de modélisation a été effectué avec le langage de modélisation des systèmes SysML et la véri_cation d'un test de performance d'accélération a été réalisée avec le langage de modélisation Modelica. Le module de conversion de puissance électrique du véhicule avec les fils de bonding a été modélisé avec la CAO 3D et son comportement multi-physique a été vérifié avec la méthode des éléments finis. Des méta-modèles sont ainsi élaborés en utilisant les techniques de surfaces de réponse et les réseaux de neurones de fonctions à base radiale. Ces méta-modèles ont permis ensuite d'effectuer des optimisations géométriques bi-niveaux du convertisseur de puissance et des fils de bonding. Le comportement électro-thermique du convertisseur de puissance et celui thermo-mécanique des fils de bonding ont été alors intégrés au niveau système à travers les méta-modèles. Les résultats montrent la flexibilité de l'approche du point de vue échange des méta-modèles et optimisation multidisciplinaire. Cette approche permet ainsi un gain très important du temps de conception, tout en respectant la précision souhaitée. / Difficulty of integrating multi-physics simulation in mechatronic system design is related, among others, to issues of interoperability between design tools, which lead to difficulties to ensure multidisciplinary optimizations. In this thesis, we have developed an integrated design approach to overcome this obstacle. This approach relies on the use of integrating platforms for coupling various design tools. Capture of multi-physics behaviour of components at detailed level is provided by meta-models which are also used for multidisciplinary optimization. These meta-models are therefore used to integrate multi-physics behaviour of mechatronic components and modules in system-level simulations. This approach has been validated with a design case of an electric vehicle. Conceptual design level has been performed with the Systems Modeling Language SysML and a verification of an acceleration performance test has been achieved with modeling language Modelica. Electric power converter with wire bondings has been modeled using 3D CAD and the multi-physics behaviour has been verified with finite elements method. Meta-models have then been developed for the power converter and wire bondings using techniques of response surfaces and neuronal networks of radial basis functions. These meta-models have been used to perform geometric bi-level optimizations of the components. Electro-thermal behavior of the power converter and thermo-mechanical behavior of the wire bondings have been integrated at system level through meta-models. Results show flexibility of the approach used in terms of exchange of meta-models and multidisciplinary optimization. Thus, this approach allows an important gain of design time while maintaining the desired accuracy.

The development of a robotic slit-lamp for remote ophthalmology is the primary purpose of this work. In addition to novel mechanical designs and implementation, it was also a goal to develop a control system that was flexible enough to be adapted with minimal user adjustment to various styles and configurations of slit-lamps. The system was developed with intentions of commercialization, so common hardware was used for all components to minimize the costs. In order to improve performance using this low-cost hardware, investigations were made to attempt to achieve better performance by applying control theory algorithms in the system software. Ultimately, the controller was to be flexible enough to be applied to other areas of human-robot interaction including pediatric rehabilitation via the use of humanoid robotic aids. This application especially requires a robust controller to facilitate safe interaction. Though all of the prototypes were successfully developed and made to work sufficiently with the control hardware, the application of advanced control did not yield notable gains as was hoped. Further investigations were made attempting to alter the performance of the control system, but the components selected did not have the physical capabilities for improved response above the original software implemented. Despite this disappointment, numerous novel advances were made in the area of teleoperated ophthalmic technology and pediatric physical rehabilitation tools. This includes a system that is used to remote control a slit-lamp and lens for examinations and some laser procedures. Secondly, a series of of humanoid systems suitable for both medical research and therapeutic modeling were developed. This included a robotic face used as an interactive system for ophthalmic testing and training. It can also be used as one component in an interactive humanoid robotic system that includes hands and arms to allow use of teaching sign language, social skills or modeling occupational therapy tasks. Finally, a humanoid system is presented that can serve as a customized surrogate between a therapist and client to model physical therapy tasks in a realistic manner. These systems are all functional, safe and low-cost to allow for feasible implementation with patients in the near future.

Desde o final da década de 1990 existe um interesse crescente na aplicação de técnicas de planejamento automático em IA para resolver problemas reais de engenharia. Além das características dos problemas acadêmicos, tais como a necessidade de raciocinar sobre as ações, problemas reais requerem elicitação, engenharia e gerenciamento detalhado do conhecimento do domínio. Para tais aplicações reais, um processo de design sistemático é necessário onde as ferramentas de Engenharia do Conhecimento e de Requisitons têm um papel fundamental. Esforços acadêmicos recentes na área da Engenharia do Conhecimento em planejamento automático vêm desenvolvido ferramentas e técnicas de apoio ao processo de design de modelos do conhecimento. Porém, dada a natural incompletude do conhecimento, experiência prática em aplicações reais, como por exemplo exploração do espaço, tem mostrado que, mesmo com um processo disciplinado de design, requisitos de pontos de vista diferente (por exemplo, especialistas, usuários e patrocinadores) ainda surgem após a análise, geração e execução de planos. A tese central deste texto é que uma fase de análise de pós-design para o desenvolvimento de aplicações de planejamento em IA resulta em modelos do conhecimento mais ricos e, conseqüentemente, aumenta a qualidade dos planos gerados e a performance dos planejadores automáticos. Neste texto, nós investigamos como os conhecimentos e requisitos ocultos podem ser adquiridos e reutilizados durante a fase de análise de plans (posterior ao design do modelo) e como estes conhecimentos afetam o desempenho do processo de planejamento automático. O texto descreve um framework de post-design chamado postDAM que combina (1) uma ferramenta de engenharia de conhecimento para a aquisição de requisitos e avaliação do plano, (2) um ambiente de prototipagem virtual para a análise e simulação de planos, (3) um sistema de banco de dados para armazenamento de avaliações de planos, e (4) um sistema de raciocínio ontológico para o re-uso e descoberta de conhecimento sobre o domínio. Com o framework postDAM demonstramos que a análise de pós-design auxilia a descoberta de requisitos ocultos e orienta o ciclo de refinamento do modelo. Este trabalho apresenta três estudos de caso com domínios conhecidos na literatura e oito planejadores do estado da arte. Nossos resultados demonstram que melhorias significativas na qualidade do plano e um aumento na velocidade dos planejadores de até três ordens de grandeza pode ser alcançada através de um processo disciplinado e cuidados de pós-design. Nós demonstramos também que rationales provenientes dos usuários capturados durante as avaliações de planos podem ser úteis e reutilizáveis em novas avaliações de plano e em novos projetos. Nós argumentamos que esse processo de pós-design é fundamental para a implantação da tecnologia de planejamento automático em aplicações do mundo real. Até onde sabemos, este é o primeiro trabalho que investiga a análise de pós-design em aplicações de planejamento automático da IA. / Since the end of the 1990s there has been an increasing interest in the application of AI planning techniques to solve real-life problems. In addition to characteristics of academic problems, such as the need to reason about actions, real-life problems require detailed knowledge elicitation, engineering, and management. A systematic design process in which Knowledge and Requirements Engineering techniques and tools play a fundamental role is necessary in such applications. Research on Knowledge Engineering for planning and scheduling has created tools and techniques to support the design process of planning domain models. However, given the natural incompleteness of the knowledge, practical experience in real applications such as space exploration has shown that, even with a disciplined process of design, requirements from different viewpoints (e.g. stakeholders, experts, users) still emerge after plan generation, analysis and execution. The central thesis of this dissertation is that an post-design analysis phase in the development of AI planning applications leads to richer knowledge models and, consequently, to high-performance and high-quality plans. In this dissertation, we investigate how hidden knowledge and requirements can be acquired and re-used during a plan analysis phase that follows model design and how they affect planning performance. We describe a post-design framework called postDAM that combines (1) a knowledge engineering tool for requirements acquisition and plan evaluation, (2) a virtual prototyping environment for the analysis and simulation of plans, (3) a database system for storing plan evaluations, and (4) an ontological reasoning system for knowledge re-use and discovery. Our framework demonstrates that post-design analysis supports the discovery of missing requirements and guides the model refinement cycle. We present three case studies using benchmark domains and eight state-of-the-art planners. Our results demonstrate that significant improvements in plan quality and an increase in planning speed of up to three orders of magnitude can be achieved through a careful post-design process. We also demonstrate that rationales captured during plan evaluations from users can be useful and reusable in further plan evaluations and in new application designs. We argue that such a post-design process is critical for deployment of planning technology in real-world applications. To our knowledge, this is the first work that investigate post-design analysis for AI planning applications.

Propõe o modelo de referência para o processo de desenvolvimento de produtos mecatrônicos, denominado MRM, que consiste em um conjunto de melhores práticas sistematizadas das bibliografias de desenvolvimento de produtos, eletrônica, engenharia de software e projeto de engenharia. Discute o conceito de mecatrônica propondo um conjunto de componentes que caracterizariam esses produtos. Utiliza conceitos de modelagem de empresas para apresentar o MRM. Estrutura o desenvolvimento de produtos mecatrônicos em doze fases intercaladas por pontos de decisão e caracterizadas pelos documentos gerados no final de cada uma. Elabora uma metodologia de aplicação do modelo com base no conceito de capabilidade de áreas de processo. Descreve a aplicação do MRM em uma empresa que desenvolve produtos mecatrônicos. A aplicação abrange todas as fases do modelo e é avaliada por meio de entrevistas com os principais usuários das melhorias aplicadas na empresa. O trabalho utiliza dois procedimentos básicos de pesquisa: a análise de conteúdo no estudo da bibliografia utilizada na pesquisa; e a pesquisa-ação como método de aplicação do modelo. O uso do MRM permitiu à empresa a consecução da certificação ISO 9000 para seu processo de desenvolvimeto de produtos (PDP), assim como o registro de produtos mecatrônicos em órgãos regulatórios nacionais e internacinais. A avaliação realizada ao final da aplicação do trabalho mostra que o modelo melhorou indicadores de custo dos projetos, controle de prazos ao longo dos projetos, assim como reduziu as reclamações dos setores de manufatura com relação às especificações geradas pela engenharia. Os entrevistados consideraram que a capacidade de integração de pessoas novas aos projetos em desenvolvimento é a melhoria mais significativa conseguida com a aplicação do MRM na empresa. Os resultados permitem considerar o modelo coerente com a bibliografia de PDP, indicam que a utilização de modelos de referência podem melhorar o PDP de uma empresa e demonstram haver uma relação entre o aumento da capabilidade de um processo e a melhoria de seus indicadores de desempenho / This thesis proposes the reference model for the mechatronic product development process, called MRM, i.e. a set of best practices about product development, engineering design, electronics and software engineering. It discusses the concept of mechatronic and proposes a set of elements that characterize this kind of products. It takes into account enterprise modeling techniques to present MRM. MRM framework is composed by twelve phases with well defined checkpoints and outputs. The work describes a methodology to apply MRM based on process areas capability indexes. It presents a MRM application in a company that develops mechatronic products. The application is evaluated based on interviews with model users. Research methods are content analysis and action research. The skilled results are ISO 9000 certification and product registration. Inteviews show that cost and schedule control were improved by MRM use. Manufacture disfuctions based on bad engineering specifications were decresed. The evaluation suggests that new engineers and technician integration is the best result of model application. These results allow to verify the effectiveness of reference models to improve product development and demonstrate that there is a relationship between increments of process capability and improvements critical succes factors rates