Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The continuous growth in the world’s population together with the increasing scarcity of water resources, especially drinkable water, has cultivated an environmentally-conscious society. As consumers are looking for eco-friendly alternatives or methods, manufacturers are including environmentally-friendly (EF) products in their product mix to address this topic. However, there seems to be a disconnect between manufacturers of EF product solutions and consumers. Consumers are either not aware of EF products or they are still hesitant in adopting environmentally-friendly products as the perception is that they are either too expensive or there is something amiss with the product’s functionality. It is up to suppliers and marketers of EF goods to do a better job of educating consumers about their products. This research study was conducted to understand the domestic consumer’s ecological behaviour and key influencing factors when purchasing water-efficient fittings. The literature review in this study gives us background on the status quo in terms of climate change, the green consumer, and water supply issues. A survey was conducted amongst domestic consumers in the plumbing retail environment to test their willingness to purchase water-efficient fittings based on their profile, habits and key influencing factors. The profile of the respondent showed a consumer who is more affluent. The water-efficient consumer’s primary concern is to save costs by reducing their water bill. Cost saving is the key influencing driver in terms of consumer’s willingness to purchase water-efficient fittings.

Flexible manufacturing is something that most companies is aiming to accomplish due to the increased demand for variety and a competitive global market. This thesis report includes an introduction to the automation concept and the development towards flexible automation. A general flexible assembly cell is presented and its content and requirements are discussed. The work has been done with focus on an assembly process with dedicated fixtures at VCE (Volvo Construction Equipment). Based on the literature review and the general example, a list of actions to take while planning and implementing a process is developed. The actions roughly include: mapping of the process, defining goals, investigation of automation level, holistic view while planning, definition of the need for flexibility, investment plan, designing and comparing concepts, investigation of possible issues and implementation in small scale. The current manual process at VCE is presented and analysed. Three concepts are designed with product flexibility as an alternative to processes in which traditional dedicated fixtures are used. The designed concepts are a fully automated concept, a hybrid concept with separated workspace and a human-robot collaboration. Finally, the concepts are analysed and compared based on following parameters: productivity, product cost, investment, flexibility, space requirement and setup time. One final comparing summary of the concepts is done. The analysis shows that a fully automated concept is to prefer in this case. However, a human-robot collaboration could be appropriate to use if the process is expected to improve with the human workforce. Examples of when it could be reasonable to use human-robot collaboration despite this are: if the task provides better quality when conducted by human or if the task is complex to automate.

This dissertation presents a novel concept of a hard real-time telerobotic control system using sensory-based assistive functions combining autonomous control mode, force and motion-based virtual fixtures, and scaled teleoperation. The system has been implemented as a PC-based multithreaded, real-time controller with a haptic user interface and a 6-DoF slave manipulator. A telerobotic system is a system that allows a human to control a manipulator remotely and the human control is combined with computer control. A telerobotic control system with sensor-based assistance capabilities enables the user to make high-level decisions, such as target object selection, and it enables the system to generate trajectories and virtual constraints to be used for autonomous motion or scaled teleoperation. The design and realization of a telerobotic system with the capabilities of sensing and manipulating objects with haptic feedback, either real or virtual, require utilization of sensor-based assist functions through an efficient real-time control scheme. This dissertation addresses the problem of integrating sensory information and the calculation of sensor-based assist functions (SAF's) in hard real-time using PC-based resources. The SAF's calculations are based on information from a laser range finder, with additional visual feedback from a camera, and haptic measurements for motion assistance and scaling during the approach to a target and while following a desired path. This research compares the performance of the autonomous control mode, force and motion-based virtual fixtures, and scaled teleoperation. The results show that a versatile PC-based real-time telerobotic platform adaptable to a wide range of users and tasks is achievable. A key aspect is the real-time operation and performance with multithreaded software architecture. This platform can be used for several applications in areas such as rehabilitation engineering and clinical research, surgery, defense, and assistive technology solutions.

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: error proofing; foolproofing; poka-yoke; free-form surfaces; fixture. Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-78).

This study measured the actual water consumption of sanitary fixtures installed in restrooms of a university building while most studies have been based on the manufacturer's reported flow rate. Furthermore, this study analyzed the appropriateness of retrofitting with low-consumption water closets and urinals based on the actual water consumption. The purpose of this study is to analyze the cost-effectiveness of water savings from retrofitting water closets and urinals in restrooms of the Langford Architecture building A at Texas A&M University. The researcher directly measured the actual water-volume per flush of as-is, tune-up, low-consumption manual, and low-consumption automatic water closets and urinals. The data collected by these observations was analyzed, and the researcher evaluated the water savings of retrofitting water closets and urinals. Finally, this study provides the actual water-consumption data of sanitary fixtures and proves that retrofitting with low-consumption fixtures can save on water costs. The results will present practical standards to facility managers and other building professionals and will also contribute to determining the feasibility of retrofitting water closets and urinals.

A generally accepted goal in orthopaedic surgery today is to maximize conservation of tissue and reduce tissue damage. Bone-conserving implants have bone-mating surfaces that reproduce the natural curvature of bone structures, requiring less bone removal. No small, reliable, inexpensive and universal bone sculpting technique currently exists, however, that can both create and accurately align such complex surfaces. The goal of this thesis was to develop a haptic hard surface emulation mechanism that could be applied to curvilinear bone sculpting using a surgical robot. A novel dynamic physical constraint concept was developed that is able to emulate realistic hard constraints, smooth surface following, and realistic surface rigidity, while allowing complete freedom of motion away from the constraints. The concept was verified through the construction of a two-link manipulator prototype. Tests were run on nine users that involved each user tracing out five different virtual surfaces on a drawing surface using the prototype. The primary purposes of prototype testing were to obtain subjective data on how effectively the dynamic physical constraint concept simulates simple surfaces, to assess how it reacts to typical user interactions and to identify any unexpected behaviour. Users were 100% satisfied with the prototype’s ability to emulate realistic and stiff hard surfaces and with its ease of manipulation. The amount of incursion into each of the virtual surfaces by all the users was measured to assess the precision of the system with the goal of deciding whether this new haptic concept should be further developed specifically for precision applications such as surgery. For curvilinear surfaces, 90% of the cumulative distribution of the measured data was less than 2mm, while for linear surfaces it was less than 6mm. Four behavioural effects were noticed: lateral deflection, reverse ‘stickiness’, hysteresis and instability in certain areas. These effects were studied in detail to determine how to either eliminate them or to minimize them through system design optimization. A computer simulation was also used to model the behaviour of the prototype and to gain further understanding of these effects. These analyses showed that the concept can be successfully used in curvilinear bone sculpting.

The aim of this study is to identify the opportunities that currently exist in the Egyptian market in order for Franke to make a decision on the expansion of their business into this market. In order for the Board of Directors to make a quality decision they require good and accurate information. In line with the Franke growth strategy Franke South Africa was given the clear directive to grow the market share on the African continent. With this continent being as diverse as it is and suffering from many years of poverty, a focused strategy is required. With this in hand a study of the African continent was undergone and a couple of markets were identified as targets for either a take-over or new formation. With the information gathered on Egypt it became clear that this would be the ideal market to establish another Franke operation. Egypt has many positive issues that attract a decision like this of which the local market size, geographical position, COMESA membership and the fact that the market is well structured form the backbone. Based on this Business Plan, which researches all the relevant issues required to make a quality decision, an investment could be qualified and supported. It focuses on the possible target as well as elaborates on the medium term forecasted performance of the new setup. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This thesis presents a method for the prediction of final peak-to-valley (PTV) surface profile variation for face turning of rings of non-uniform cross section. An analytical method relates initial part form, part deflection during workholding and machining, and part elastic recovery to final PTV surface profile variation. Finite element method is used to supplement the analytical model, and experiments are conducted to validate both the analytical and finite element approaches. Analytical and finite element results correspond well with experimental observations, with average relative errors of 11.6 and 7.2 percent, respectively.

A generally accepted goal in orthopaedic surgery today is to maximize conservation of tissue and reduce tissue damage. Bone-conserving implants have bone-mating surfaces that reproduce the natural curvature of bone structures, requiring less bone removal. No small, reliable, inexpensive and universal bone sculpting technique currently exists, however, that can both create and accurately align such complex surfaces. The goal of this thesis was to develop a haptic hard surface emulation mechanism that could be applied to curvilinear bone sculpting using a surgical robot. A novel dynamic physical constraint concept was developed that is able to emulate realistic hard constraints, smooth surface following, and realistic surface rigidity, while allowing complete freedom of motion away from the constraints. The concept was verified through the construction of a two-link manipulator prototype. Tests were run on nine users that involved each user tracing out five different virtual surfaces on a drawing surface using the prototype. The primary purposes of prototype testing were to obtain subjective data on how effectively the dynamic physical constraint concept simulates simple surfaces, to assess how it reacts to typical user interactions and to identify any unexpected behaviour. Users were 100% satisfied with the prototype’s ability to emulate realistic and stiff hard surfaces and with its ease of manipulation. The amount of incursion into each of the virtual surfaces by all the users was measured to assess the precision of the system with the goal of deciding whether this new haptic concept should be further developed specifically for precision applications such as surgery. For curvilinear surfaces, 90% of the cumulative distribution of the measured data was less than 2mm, while for linear surfaces it was less than 6mm. Four behavioural effects were noticed: lateral deflection, reverse ‘stickiness’, hysteresis and instability in certain areas. These effects were studied in detail to determine how to either eliminate them or to minimize them through system design optimization. A computer simulation was also used to model the behaviour of the prototype and to gain further understanding of these effects. These analyses showed that the concept can be successfully used in curvilinear bone sculpting.

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: Accessibility; CAM; CAD; Integration; Fixture Design. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-109).gh