Search results

To setup a theoretical model for grasping cutting pieces of garment better, which will help to design a special soft gripper and push forward the automated level of garment manufacturing.

This paper first analyzed the mechanics of the grasping process and concluded the main factors that affect the success of grasping. A theoretical model named grasping fabric model (GFM) was constructed to show the mechanical relationship between the soft gripper and the fabric pieces. Subsequently, two fabric samples were selected and tested for their friction properties and critical buckling force, and the test data were substituted into the theoretical model GFM to obtain the grasping parameters required for fabric grasping layer by layer.

It was found that (1) the critical buckling force of the fabric is mainly influenced by the bending stiffness and the deformation length of the fabric during grab. (2) The difference between the friction between the soft gripper and the fabric and the friction between the fabric, that is DF1-2, has an important influence on the accuracy of grasping layer-by-layer.

It showed that the grasping parameters provided by GFM enable the two samples to be more effectively separated layer by layer, which verifies that the GFM model is strong enough for the possible application in garment automated production.

There are many safety hazards in construction workplaces, and inattention to the hazards is the main reason why construction workers failed to identify the hazards. Reasonably allocating attention during hazard identification is critical for construction workers’ safety. However, adverse working environments in job sites may undermine workers’ attention. Previous studies failed to investigate the impacts of environmental factors on attention allocation, which hinders taking appropriate measures to eliminate safety incidents when encountering adverse working environments. This study aims to examine the effects of workplace noise and heat exposure on workers’ attention allocation during construction hazard identification to fill the research gap.

This study applied an experimental study where a within-subject experiment was designed. Fifteen construction workers were invited to perform hazard identification tasks in panoramic virtual reality. They were exposed to three noise levels (60, 85 and 100 dBA) in four thermal conditions (26°C, 50% RH; 33°C, 50% RH; 30°C, 70% RH; 33°C, 70% RH). Their eye movements were recorded to indicate their attention allocation under each condition.

The results show that noise exposure reduced workers’ attention to hazardous areas and the impacts increased with the noise level. Heat exposure also reduced the attention, but it did not increase with the heat stress but with subjects’ thermal discomfort. The attention was impacted more by noise than heat exposure. Noise exposure in the hot climate should be more noteworthy because lower levels of noise would lead to significant changes. These visual characteristics led to poorer identification accuracy.

This study could extend the understanding of the relationship between adverse environmental factors and construction safety. Understanding the intrinsic reasons for workers' failed identification may also provide insights for the industry to enhance construction safety under adverse environments.

Safety warnings remind construction workers about dangers and guide them to take necessary actions to avoid potential injuries, which could encourage their safe behavior. Workers’ behavior compliance with the safety warnings would be impacted by the risk perception levels induced by the warnings. This study aims to examine whether the design of safety warnings would impact the induced risk perception of workers

This study compared the risk perception levels of construction workers when processing two forms of safety warnings, i.e., safety signs and safety comics, which are commonly used in construction workplaces. Construction workers (n = 20) volunteered for an experiment with an implicit paradigm to probe how they perceive these safety warnings, using event-related potentials (ERPs) features collected by an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor to indicate the risk perception level

The results demonstrated that the design of safety warnings would impact the induced risk perception. The safety signs and safety comics performed differently in inducing the workers’ risk perception. The safety signs representing prohibition and caution warnings induced significantly higher risk perception than the comics, and there were no significant differences regarding direction warnings

This is the first study to compare the risk perception levels between various forms of safety warnings presenting safety information in different ways. The findings would help to expand the knowledge of the relationship between the design of safety warnings and workers’ safety behavioral compliance

This paper aims to solve the problem of uncertain position and attitude between unstructured terrain robot and grasped target and insufficient control accuracy in extreme environment, a grasping mechanism based on attraction domain relationship is proposed, which can realize autonomous positioning, capturing and grasping of robot under low control accuracy.

The grasping mechanism was designed, taking inspiration from fishing behavior this mechanism introduces attraction domains and flexible-elastic structures through the active and passive ends to achieve automatic positioning and capture. After the capture is completed, the grasping mechanism connects the active end and the passive end, simultaneously relying on the gravity of the target object to achieve locking and release between the robot and the target object. This paper adopts theoretical, simulation and experimental verification methods to conduct theoretical and simulation analysis on the autonomous positioning and grasping process of the mechanism, and produces grasping experimental prototypes with different positions and postures.

The experiment shows that the gripping mechanism designed in this paper can achieve automatic positioning capture and gripping of large deviation situations under low control accuracy, with a displacement deviation of up to 10 mm (about 1/6 diameter of the end of the mechanism) and an angle deviation of up to 3°. The scientific research task in the extremely high altitude environment has finally been successfully accomplished.

Inspired by fishing behavior, this paper proposes a positioning, capturing and grasping mechanism. The attraction area built with permanent magnets, coupled with the flexible connection, enables precise capture under low control, while the grasping mechanism can also rely on gravity to self-lock and release.

Within food industry several changes and innovations are affecting the management of the entire supply chain (production, logistics, etc.). As strategy for the survival and competition, digitalization has assumed a crucial role during the pandemic emergence by causing the reconfiguration of traditional chains and business models. Framed in these premises, the research analyses how digital technologies have innovated the sub-chains of bakery products and pasta within food industry with reference to customers' interactions, delivery and marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic emergence.

Moving from a critical literature review about the perspectives of digital technologies within the tradition of food industry, action research has been adopted to analyze in deep a case study of the start-up “ArteBianca Delivery” located in South Italy. Through this method, researchers have been deeply involved within the start-up to face the challenge of transforming the marketing and customer care into digital ones due to the COVID-19 restriction.

Findings provide empirical evidence about the reconfiguration of the traditional business model of a family firm in the food sector into a digital one with the start-up “ArteBianca Delivery”. The marketing, delivery, e-commerce and customer care components of the business models have been supported and enhanced through the adoption of digital tools, such as mobile applications and social technologies useful both for users and for a more urgent digitization of company.

Implications for practice can be identified into the pattern of digital transformation implemented as well as in the opportunity of replication and contextualization of the results to other companies looking for setting up a digital strategy.

Elements of original contribution can be identified into: (1) the exploration of digital transformation in food family firms caused by the pandemic emergence, (2) the contextualization of the digital transformation to the sub-chains of bakery and pasta and (3) the geographical location of the case.

This study aims to investigate how environmentalism in photovoltaic (PV) substitution and nationalism in PV rivalry with the USA are associated with the trade-offs made by young consumers in Lanzhou when selecting Chinese brand portable solar power banks.

In this study, the choice-based conjoint survey was conducted to investigate mobile power bank consumers aged 18–28 in Lanzhou urban districts. A total of 2,004 valid questionnaires were collected and 1,813 sample was used in analyses. Logit and ordinary least squares regression models were run for empirical analyses.

The research results show that consumers tend to sacrifice certain levels of affordability for moderate technological capability, a reputable brand, better portability and advanced charging functions or sacrifice certain levels of technological capabilities for a moderate price. Consumers with stronger environmentalism in PV substitution tend to prioritize median price levels, larger battery capacity and better portability, while being less sensitive to brand and showing less preference for advanced charging functions. Consumers with stronger nationalism in PV rivalry tend to prioritize reasonably higher prices, bigger brands, enhanced portability, more solar panels and advanced charging functions.

This research sheds light on consumer trade-offs between price, brand, portability, technological capability and charging function. It also explores how environmentalism and nationalism sentiments are associated with consumer decision-making. These insights carry valuable policy implications for fostering product innovation, supporting brand-building initiatives for small and medium-size enterprises, promoting market competition and preventing the weaponization of consumer nationalism.

As an emerging solar power product, the portable solar power bank holds significant potential for widespread adoption as a means to drive energy transition. Within the current context, two notable sentiments have surfaced: environmentalism, which pertains to the adoption of PV technology as a substitute for conventional energy sources and nationalism, which manifests in the PV rivalry between China and the USA. This research aims to investigate consumer preference related to this emerging product, specifically focusing on its relationship with these two sentiments.

This study aims to explore the relationship between elderly users' trust in public digital cultural services (PDCS) and their intention to use PDCS, and reveal the factors affecting their intentions from the perspective of trust to make recommendations that will increase their intention to use PDCS.

Combined with the trust building model and social exchange theory, this study constructed a conceptual model of elderly users' intention to use PDCS. Data collected from Chinese elderly users who have reached the age of 60 through questionnaire surveys were tested using the structural equation model with partial least squares. Finally, the authors proposed a model of elderly users' intention to use PDCS.

This study finds that elderly users' trust positively affects their intention to use PDCS from two aspects: service features and user features of PDCS. Concerning the service features, system quality directly affects elderly users' trust in PDCS most significantly, followed by information quality and service reputation. Concerning the user features, perceived value has a higher impact on elderly users' trust than that of service features, and information literacy and information quality directly affect perceived value.

This study adds new knowledge to the users' behavior of PDCS and enriches the prior description of PDCS. The recommendations made in this study provide a series of strategies for practitioners and researchers to improve the elderly users' intention to use PDCS and bridge the silver digital divide, which offers new ideas for improving the efficiency of PDCS.