Machines. Technologies. Materials.
Vol. 11 (2017), Issue 11

Table of Contents

  • MACHINES

    • FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. ROBOTS AND PRODUCTION AUTOMATION WITH ELEMENTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

      pg(s) 515-518

      The present research is devoted to the coexistence and communication of a person with machines, equipment and robots that possess elements of artificial intelligence. The new conditions lead to revolutionary changes in the automation of various activities in and outside the industry. Changes are multifaceted and the disclosure of trends allows planning and protecting of legal long-term activities to achieve useful outcomes effectively.

    • PATH PLANNING AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE REGIME FOR A MULTI-AGENT SYSTEM IN INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

      pg(s) 519-522

      Industry 4.0 which creates “smart factories” present a recent trend in development. The area represents a merge of cyberphysical systems and Internet of Things, which aims to improve manufacturing technologies. Industry 4.0 strives to boost the algorithms and technologies used in industrial processes during the production processes, process preparations, and products delivery. Our intention is to improve the robotics transport system in factory floor. There are a lot of different research approaches in this area for further improvement. Our approach is to deal with multi-agent systems control, because of the great potential it has in practical applications in industrial robotics. The strive for minimizing the work time and maximizing the efficiency can be satisfied through the usage of multiple coordinated agents to achieve the end goal. The use of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), combined with concepts for task planning of multiple agents broadened during the late 20th century. In this paper, the multi-agent system consists of several mobile robots, in other words platforms, which need to transport materials in a workhouse. The goal of each mobile platform is to carry the specified object to a set position. These appointed goals are not predefined and can be changed according to the needs of the user. Working in a dynamic environment, numerous agents with different tasks to complete can be exposed to many obstacles which may be the cause of accidents. For this reason, a careful path planning is required in such environments. The suggested path planning algorithm for this system is A*. A* is a fast path finder, which can navigate quite well in a planar environment, but it is not favorable for dynamical settings. Therefore, a combination of the A* algorithm with a collision avoidance method is proposed for overcoming these difficulties. By doing this, the A* algorithm is expanded to work in dynamical situations and can assure the convergence of any agent towards their goal. This fusion of both, the path finding algorithm and the collision avoidance method, can aid the cooperation of the agents and improve the efficiency of the system as a whole.

    • PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS OF PACKAGING

      pg(s) 523-527

      Manufacturing facilities employing the elements of intellectual technologies can be encountered in various industries. The given paper provides examples of intelligent devices of manufacturing packaging systems. It shows how to maintain operational performance in case of unforeseen changes in the properties of an intelligent manufacturing system by changing the operation algorithm, changing the program behavior or searching for optimal or effective solutions and states during operation.

    • VEHICLES AND EXHAUST EMISSION: A REVIEW OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENTS

      pg(s) 528-532

      Vehicles growth has continuous negative influence on air pollution problem especially in urban areas. Exhaust emissions from vehicles contribute for a significant amount of toxic air polluters, harmful both for the environment and health. This underlines the need for development and implementation of technological measures aimed towards emission control and reduction. Technological measures are under continuous research and innovative development, and as a result vehicles have the opportunity to be equipped with different solutions for emission control. Used technological measures at the moment, as well as the next generation measures are all included in the categorized review presented is this paper. Also, a suitable kind of technological measures for countries like Macedonia without industry for car production and with older vehicle fleet are presented.

  • TECHNOLOGIES

    • ANALYSIS OF MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS WITH USE OF SIMULATION SOFTWARE

      pg(s) 533-536

      Knowledge gained from the Digital factory field needs to be expanded and further disseminated. The use of the Digital factory concept is mainly in laboratory conditions. It is essential for new knowledge to be made it more accessible for further experiments and for acquiring new knowledge for faster and easier deployment. The visualization of machines, devices, and entire manufacturing systems allows for almost faultless design of such systems. It is an expense saving and time-efficient solution. The article represents an experiment aimed at exploring simulation methods used in design and development of production systems by use of simulation digital tool. Comparison of the results obtained by examining the simulation model and real model will be made for acquisition of deviation between virtual model and real model. The task of optimization is, in this case, to create an optimal timetable for individual production lines by increasing flexibility and lowering costs, with prediction that the conditions are met and all orders will be made on time, minimize downtime, reduce production of waste and consider the efficient use of electricity.

    • INFLUENCE OF FRICTION COEFFICIENT ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES IN PROCESS OF COLD BULK FORMING

      pg(s) 537-540

      Bulk forming is one of the most effective and efficient manufacturing processes. Mass production of many of the items without any defects has been possible because of the advancements in cold bulk forming. The characteristic of a lubricant, especially coefficient of friction influences the interfacial friction during the forming process. This friction causes defects and many difficulties and has to be kept within limits so the proper choice of lubrication is very important for the quality of the formed product. The influence of lubricant’s coefficient of friction on different mechanical and electrical properties of cold extruded material has been investigated and described in this paper by performing many different tests and measurements for mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the formed material. Coefficients of friction for four different lubricants were first obtained by ring test, and then these lubricants were used in cold extrusion process. The obtained experimental results describing the effect of lubrication on material properties were presented in a form of diagrams and have shown that choice of lubrication could influence some material properties.

    • IMPROVEMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN RAIL AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

      pg(s) 541-544

      Until Currently in the countries of Europe there is an intensification of the introduction of modern microprocessor systems of railway automation and the increase of their functional capabilities. The introduction of additional functions of control and monitoring systems, tightening of the requirements for the safety of their operation, mutual integration and unification of systems for various purposes, the complication of the implementation of processing of logical dependencies require fundamentally new approaches to the development of software and hardware of a new generation. In this regard, scientific and applied research aimed at the development of appropriate technologies is being conducted, based on the common methods and tools used in the formation of control and monitoring systems for various objects of the railway transport infrastructure. The proposed material contains the main results of such studies conducted over the past five years, as well as the main directions for further improving the development of microprocessor-based rail automation systems.

    • PERFORMANCE OF GARMENT SEAMS STRENGTHENED WITH THERMOPLASTIC STITCHED RAINFORCED TAPE

      pg(s) 545-548

      The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of increasing seam performance by insertion of thermoplastic stitched reinforced tape in seam construction. The seam quality was evaluated by seam slippage, seam strength and seam efficiency. Two groups of specimens were investigated to determine the effect of thermoplastic stitched reinforced tape on seam quality. Specimens sewn according the standard were in the first group and specimens sewn by the industrial practice were in the second group. The obtained results show that with the insertion of thermoplastic stitched reinforced tape in the seam construction seam slippage strength increases in both groups of specimens, but the percentage of seam slippage increasing is higher for the group of specimens sewn according to the industrial practice. Seam efficiency is increased in the group of specimens sewn according to the industrial practice.

    • ANISOTROPY OF THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HOT ROLLED STEEL COILS FOR WELDED PIPES

      pg(s) 549-552

      Hot rolled steel coils, as a result of the history of production, respectively processing, shows anisotropy of the mechanical properties, i.e. different mechanical properties in different direction. Therefore, the mechanical properties of hot rolled steel coils should be known in advance, respectively prior to its use as raw material for the production of various final products, particularly for spiral and longitudinal welded steel pipes, where mechanical anisotropy of hot rolled steel coils even more appears during the formation of hot rolled coils into the pipe. Mechanical testing of the hot rolled steel coils in transversal (T) and longitudinal (L) direction related to the rolling, were conducted.

      The aim of this paper is to investigate anisotropy of the mechanical properties of the hot rolled steel (S355 EN 10025:2004) coils, used for the production of spiral and longitudinal welded steel pipes.

    • DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY THE TRAFFIC PROBLEMS OF THE EXISTING NETWORK AND APPLICATION OF SOFTWARE FOR SOLUTION PROPOSALS, A CASE STUDY

      pg(s) 553-556

      The development of information technologies are taking part in all spheres of human lives. In the traffic engineering shows a big need for application of advanced computing tools.

      Softwares for traffic analysis except that allow precise, visual and multifactor analysis of the imagined or proposed traffic solutions, they save time and money as opposed to the site testing. For proper development of the traffic, it is needed detailed and comprehensive planning of the process that will contribute to improving the traffic infrastructure.

      One of the crucial steps before using any software for traffic analysis is the collection of data with purpouse to establish the relevant traffic loads for the examined area. Namely, to get the real realistic picture of the traffic situation, it is necesarry recording the traffic to get daily, monthly and annual imbalance on traffic intensity in the investigated location. From the data obtained, the software will use the relevant data that realistically reflect the traffic situation.

      In the present work will be shown simulation of the most critical crossroads in the town of Gostivar in the two versions of existing and newly-condition situation using the software tool PTV VISSIM 7. Here will be analysed the most important parameters of the current traffic flow – the time losts in order to indicate the need of change the way of the traffic management of this intersection.

  • MATERIALS