Automation of Capacitor Discharge Welding (CDW) has not been investigated in industry due to the limited understanding of the process. The US Department of Energy's Albany Research Center (ALRC) has done an extensive study of the process and reported applications of welds in the manufacture of electro-mechanical products such as relays and circuit-breakers. The main purpose of this work was to investigate automation of the load/unload cycle of CDW. An automatic CDW machine was built with real-time quality monitoring capabilities. Tooling and fixtures were fabricated for joining silver to brass components used in a circuit breaker assembly. A machine controller was used to automatically sequence the process and the actuators. Computer-based instrumentation was developed for on-line data acquisition and quality monitoring of the weld. This demonstrational setup shows that the equipment can be compact and the process can be easily automated for high production rates. The automation architecture developed can be used as a general model for automating CDW operations in other environments. The automated CDW system was tested by welding silver contacts to brass brackets at different parameter settings. Metallographic examination of the resultant capacitor discharge (CD) welds (made by the automated CDW system) revealed the formation of continuous metallurgical bonds between silver and brass. A comparison of CD welds made by the manual and the automated system was performed to determine the effect of CDW automation on weld quality. The welds were also found to be superior to resistance welds. / Graduation date: 1997

No description available.

This is a bachelor thesis in the course Industrial Automation, PPU301, commissioned by Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna. This thesis treats how we can increase the effectiveness of production in roadside construction through automation. The report presents different concepts of automation and in the end of the report you can read about the concept I recommend and why. The work has been divided into different stages. In the first stage I have collected information by reading articles and by site visits. The black top process has been identified though a storyboard. The focus is on which machine that would benefit the most from automation. After identifying the process and the customer’s needs, I get a clear view of what the machines should be able to do. After studying both the paver and compactor, I decided to focus on the compactor. There are significant potential for further development of the compactors in regards of automation. I will present a concept of a totally autonomous compactor. The compactor must, among other things, be able to position and identify objects, like machines, workers and other road users. The compactor needs to get a clear signal when the road piece is finished with compaction. The packing operation is automatic controlled depending on the type of mix of asphalt, thickness and speed. There are different solutions to make the compactor autonomous. In the report, I have detailed the different concepts and the sensors needed to realize an autonomous machine.

Past automation research has focused primarily on machine-related factors (e.g., automation reliability) and human-related factors (e.g., accountability). Other machine-related factors such as type of automation errors, misses or false alarms, have been noticeably overlooked. These two automation errors correspond to potential operator errors, omission (misses) and commission (false alarms), which have proven to directly affect operators trust in automation. This research examined how automation-error-type affects operator trust and reliance in and perceived reliability of automated decision aids. This present research confirmed that perceived reliability is often lower than actual system reliability and that false alarms significantly reduced operator trust in the automation more so than do misses. In addition, this study found that there does not appear to be an effect on the level of subjective trust within each experimental condition (i.e., type of automation error) based on age. There does, however, appear to be a significant difference in the reliance on automation between older and younger adult participants attributed to differences in perceived workload.

In the construction industry, one of the aspects that affect the productivity of the construction crew is the availability of tools and supplies. Unavailability of tools and supplies results in a delay of the project, which in turn increases the cost of the project. If any such delays on job sites could be reduced, it would help the construction industry in reduction of time and cost losses. The construction industry is in need of a technology that would improve the presentday tool management system (TMS) to reduce the construction costs from delays in projects. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology offers the possibility that tools and supplies, tagged with RFID devices, could be tracked down automatically. Although the potential of RFID is real, it does have limitations like any other technology. Without understanding and working with the limitations of RFID, this technology may disappoint many before its true and significant capabilities are realized. Before the technology is executed fullfledged, it needs to be tested for reliability on construction sites in particular. Researchers, from many parts of the world, have performed tests to understand the reliability of the RFID technology considering variables like metal interferences, reading range, multiple tag identification, etc. But these tests conducted could not discuss all the factors that may affect the reliability of the technology. This paper identifies other factors that might affect the reliability of RFID technology and tests are conducted to understand the influence of these factors on the readability of the RFID tags. Number of tools and the velocity with which tools are taken across the portal are two variables that are tested for reliability of RFID. Tests are conducted using the experiment setup that resembles a construction site tool management room entrance/exit. Results show a radical decrease in the readability of tags, while the numbers of the tools are increased gradually. And also, when the tools were taken across the RFID portal with gradual increasing velocity, the readability reduced. These results prove that both the tested parameters have an effect on the reliability of RFID technology for tool tracking.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. Directed by Gregory M. Corso. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-153).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation develops a methodology for automated trajectory control of a spacecraft about a non-maneuvering target. The methodology utilizes relative orbital elements (ROEs), combined with guidance laws based upon artificial potential functions (APFs), to perform automated trajectory planning and maneuver design. The investigation provides a definitive reference on the definition and use of ROEs for relative proximity operations. The detailed derivation of ROEs is provided, along with transformations between ROEs and relative Cartesian state elements, characteristics of unforced motion in terms of ROEs, and the effect of impulsive maneuvers on ROEs. Operationally-useful guidance algorithms utilizing ROEs are developed and demonstrated. These ROE-based algorithms for rendezvous, circumnavigation and station-keeping provide a toolkit for relative proximity operations mission planning. A new approach for APF formulation using ROEs as the target variables is developed. While previous approaches allowed targeting of a specified relative position, the present approach allows the targeting of relative orbit geometries. The approach capitalizes upon the orbital dynamics represented through the ROEs, and retains the computational simplicity offered by the APFs. Formulations for the APF targeting of individual ROEs, as well as simultaneous targeting of a set of ROEs, are established. An approach for combining ROE targeting using APFs with obstacle avoidance is presented. The trajectory guidance algorithm performance is evaluated using a flight-like guidance, navigation and control simulation environment, including orbital perturbations. Algorithm performance is established through a set of operationally relevant scenarios. The guidance algorithms are shown to be capable of correcting for environmental disturbances, while meeting the targeted relative orbits in an automated fashion.

GUI test automation is a popular and interesting subject in the testing industry. Many companies plan to start test automation projects in order to implement efficient, less expensive software testing. However, there are challenges for the testing team who lack experience performing GUI tests automation. Many GUI test automation projects have ended in failure due to mistakes made during the early stages of the project. The major work of this thesis is to find a solution to the challenges of establishing new test automation projects and determine an appropriate method to build GUI tests automation. Due to the particularity of GUI tests automation, keyword driven test approach is introduced in this thesis. The advantages and disadvantages are shown by undertaking comparison with the Record and replay testing method and the data driven testing method. The research also includes a feasibility study of GUI tests automation. The analysis report points out which kinds of test projects should be automated and which kinds should not be automated. Test automation tool selection is a critical step for an test automation project. This thesis shows the correct procedure for selecting a testing tool and explains the strategies of testing tool selection. It also summaries the mistakes made during the tool selection process. Several classical types of testing tools which support Qt software testing are compared and evaluated. Based on the in-depth analysis and comparison of testing tools, the thesis explains how the different tools fit with the different test projects. The implementation procedure of a test automation is demonstrated in this thesis. The procedure includes test case design and testing framework implementation. The test script is created based on the structure of a keyword driven test framework. The thesis also discusses several interesting topics related to GUI tests automation for future research.