This paper presents a comprehensive virtual simulation model for CNC systems. The Virtual CNC (VCNC) has a modular architecture, allowing a real CNC to be prototyped quickly from standard library functions for feed drive models, feedback devices, axis control laws, and trajectory interpolation. Additional CNC modules can easily be prototyped and integrated to the VCNC by the user. Various appli...

This paper considers the design and implementation of an electro-hydraulic control system for a robotic excavator, namely the Lancaster University Computerised and Intelligent Excavator (LUCIE). The excavator is being developed to autonomously dig trenches without human intervention. Here, a gain scheduling design, based on Proportional-Integral-Plus (PIP) control methods, is utilised to regula...

Traditional computerised inventory control systems usually rely on exponential smoothing to forecast the demand for fast moving inventories. Practices in relation to slow moving inventories are more varied, but the Croston method is often used. It is an adaptation of exponential smoothing that 1) incorporates a Bernoulli process to capture the sporadic nature of demand and 2) allows the average...

Solid state devices are used more and more to provide computerised control and sensing in high temperature environments. The market for electronics, in instrumentation and control systems in down-hole applications for petroleum exploration, requires increased performance from electronic components in terms of both duration and temperature. Substantial improvements in performance and cost of com...

tunnelling through cities underlain by soft soil, commonly associated with soil movement around the tunnels and subsequent surface settlement. the predication of ground movement during the tunnelling and optimum support pressure could be based on analytical, empirical or the numerical methods. the commonly used earth pressure balance (epb) tunneling machines, uses the excavated soil in a pressu...

The present study assessed the impact of computerised spirometry interpretation expert support on the diagnostic achievements of general practitioners (GPs), and on GPs' decision making in diagnosing chronic respiratory disease. A cluster-randomised controlled trial was performed in 78 GPs who each completed 10 standardised paper case descriptions. Intervention consisted of support for GPs' spi...