Over the past thirty years the WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer) user interface paradigm has made the computer into a tool that allows non-specialists to get a variety of tasks done. In recent years, however, the applications available under this interface paradigm have become larger and more unwieldy, in an effort to accomplish distinct functional goals. As a successor to the traditional d...

Real-time Locating Systems (RTLSs) have the ability to precisely locate the position of things and people in real time. They are needed for security and emergency applications, but also for healthcare and home care appliances. The research aims for developing an analytical method to customize RTLSs, in order to improve localization performance in terms of precision. The proposed method is based...

this paper presents the results of a comprehensive study on the efficiency of planar parallel mechanisms, considering their kinetostatic performance and also, their workspace. this aim is approached upon proceeding single- and multi-objective optimization procedures. kinetostatic performances of ten different planar parallel mechanisms are analyzed by resorting to a recent index, kinematic sens...

The problem of information system (IS) workspace design is analysed. Different conceptions for IS workspace structure design are overviewed. Conceptions are based on Oracle CASE method, IDEF and UML application approach. The structure of the output driven requirements specification method is described. An approach to IS workspace design based on information flows specification is proposed. Some...

One of the main advantages of the Gantry-Tau machine is a large accessible workspace/footprint ratio compared to many other parallel machines. The Gantry-Tau improves this ratio by allowing a change of assembly mode without internal link collisions or collisions between the links and the moving TCP platform. However, the optimal kinematic, elastostatic and elastodynamic design parameters of the...

Cable-Driven Parallel Robots (CDPRs) are a special kind of parallel manipulator that uses cables to control the position and orientation mobile platform or end effector. The use instead rigid links offers some advantages over their conventional counterparts. As can only pull but not push, number (n) required command end-effector is always n+1. This configuration known as fully-constrained, it m...

In order to improve arc welding work in a small enclosed workspace, numerical simulations were conducted to find the most appropriate welding and ventilation conditions, such as welding currents, hood position and flow rates with no blowhole formation. In the simulations, distributions of airflow vectors and fume concentrations were calculated for two hood opening positions: one faced a welder'...

A prerequisite for the successful design of the hand-controller, an important element of a telesurgical robotic system, remains i) the knowledge of the forces exerted by the surgical tool, and ii) the workspace required to maneuver the tool during surgical procedures. In this study, we used an image-guided neurosurgical telerobotic system called neuroArm, to quantify both the forces of tool tis...

An optical-based motion sensing system has been developed for real-time sensing of instrument motion in micromanipulation. The main components of the system consist of a pair of position sensitive detectors (PSD), lenses, an infrared (IR) diode that illuminates the workspace of the system, a non-reflective intraocular shaft, and a white reflective ball attached at the end of the shaft. The syst...