Zhuming Bi, Guoping Wang, Li Da Xu, Matt Thompson, Raihan Mir, Jeremy Nyikos, Armela Mane, Colton Witte and Cliff Sidwell
The purpose of this paper is to develop an information system which is based on the Internet of things (IoT) and used to support the communication and coordination in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an information system which is based on the Internet of things (IoT) and used to support the communication and coordination in a cooperative robot team.
Design/methodology/approach
The architecture of the IoT applications for decision-making activities in a complex system is elaborated, the focus lies on the effective implementation of system interactions at the device-level. A case study is provided to verify system performances.
Findings
The IoT concept has been introduced in an information system of a football robot team to support the coordination among team players. Various sensors are used to collect data from IoT, and data are processed for the controls of robotic players to achieve the better performance at the system level. The field test has shown the feasibility and effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
To investigate how IoT can be utilized in an information system for making complex decisions effectively, the authors use the decision-support system for a football robot team to illustrate the approaches in developing data acquisition infrastructure, processing and utilizing real-time data for the communication and coordination of robot players in a dynamic competing environment. While the presented work has shown the feasibility of an IoT-based information system, more work are needed to integrate advanced sensors within the IoT and develop more intelligent algorithms to replace manually remote control for the operations of robot players.
Practical implications
The proposed system is specifically for a football robot team; however, the associated approaches are applicable to any decentralized system for developing an information system to support IoT-based communication and coordination within the system in the real-time mode.
Originality/value
The exploration of IoT applications is still at its early stage, existing relevant work is mostly limited to the development of system architecture, sensor networks, and communication protocols. In this paper, the methods on how to use massive real-time data for decision-making of a decentralized team have been investigated, and the proposed system has its theoretical significance to developing other decentralized wireless sensor networks and decision-making systems.
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Chensen Ding, Xiangyang Cui, Chong Li, Guangyao Li and Guoping Wang
Traditional adaptive analysis based on a coarse mesh, using finite element method (FEM) analysis, produces the original solution. Then post-processing the result and figuring out…
Abstract
Purpose
Traditional adaptive analysis based on a coarse mesh, using finite element method (FEM) analysis, produces the original solution. Then post-processing the result and figuring out the regions should be refined and these regions refined once. Finally, this new mesh is used to get the solution of first refinement. After several iterations of above procedures, we can achieve the last result that is closer to the true solution, which takes time, making adaptive scheme inpractical to engineering application. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper based on FEM proposes a multi-level refinement strategy with a refinement strategy and an indicator. The proposed indicator uses value of the maximum difference of strain energy density among the elements that associated with one node, and divides all nodes into several categories based on the value. A multi-level refinement strategy is proposed according to which category the node belongs to refine different elements to different times rather than whether refine or not.
Findings
Multi-level refinement strategy takes full use of the numerical calculation, resulting in the whole adaptive analysis that only need to iterate twice while other schemes must iterate more times. Using much less times of numerical calculation and approaches, more accurate solution, making adaptive analysis more practical to engineering.
Originality/value
Multi-level refinement strategy takes full use of the numerical calculation, resulting in the whole adaptive analysis only need iterate twice while other schemes must iterate more times. using much less times of numerical calculation and approaches more accurate solution, making adaptive analysis more practical to engineering.
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Zhuming Bi, Guoping Wang and Li Da Xu
– The purpose of this paper is to present a visualization platform to control and monitor wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in manufacturing applications.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a visualization platform to control and monitor wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in manufacturing applications.
Design/methodology/approach
To make the platform flexible and versatile, a modular framework is adopted in modeling and visualizing WSNs. The Eclipse programming environment is used to maximize the scalability and adaptability of the platform. A set of the core functional modules have been designed and implemented to support the system operation. The platform is validated through a case study simulation.
Findings
The platform is capable of accommodating different operating systems such as Windows and Linux. It allows integrating new plug-ins developed in various languages such as Java, C, C++, and Matlab. The Graphic User Interface has been applied to process and visualize the acquired real-time data from a WSN, and the embodied methodologies can be used to predict the behaviors of objects in the network.
Research limitations/implications
The work has shown the feasibility and potential of the proposed platform in improving the real-time performance of WSN. However, the number of the developed functional modules is limited, and additional effort is required to develop sophisticated functional modules or sub-systems for a customized application.
Practical implications
The platform can be applied to monitor and visualize various WSN applications in manufacturing environments such as automated workcells, transportation systems, logistic, and storage systems.
Originality/value
The work is motivated by the scarce research on the development tools for monitoring and visualization of WSNs in manufacturing applications. The proposed platform serves for both of system developers and users. It is modularized with a set of core functional modules; it can be extended to accommodate new functional modules with a minimal effort for a different application.
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Ce Rong, Zhongbo He, Guangming Xue, Guoping Liu, Bowen Dai and Zhaoqi Zhou
Owing to the excellent performance, giant magnetostrictive materials (GMMs) are widely used in many engineering fields. The dynamic Jiles–Atherton (J-A) model, derived from…
Abstract
Purpose
Owing to the excellent performance, giant magnetostrictive materials (GMMs) are widely used in many engineering fields. The dynamic Jiles–Atherton (J-A) model, derived from physical mechanism, is often used to describe the hysteresis characteristics of GMM. However, this model, despite cited by many different literature studies, seems not to possess unique expressions, which may cause great trouble to the subsequent application. This paper aims to provide the rational expressions of the dynamic J-A model and propose a numerical computation scheme to obtain the model results with high accuracy and fast speed.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzes different published papers and provides a reasonable form of the dynamic J-A model based on functional properties and physical explanations. Then, a numerical computation scheme, combining the Newton method and the explicit Adams method, is designed to solve the modified model. In addition, the error source and transmission path of the numerical solution are investigated, and the influence of model parameters on the calculation error is explored. Finally, some attempts are made to study the influence of numerical scheme parameters on the accuracy and time of the computation process. Subsequently, an optimization procedure is proposed.
Findings
A rational form of the dynamic J-A model is concluded in this paper. Using the proposed numerical calculation scheme, the maximum calculation error, while computing the modified model, can remain below 2 A/m under different model parameter combinations, and the computation time is always less than 0.5 s. After optimization, the calculation speed can be enhanced with the computation accuracy guaranteed.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first one trying to provide a rational form of the dynamic J-A model among different citations. No other research studies focus on designing a detailed computation scheme targeting the fast and accurate calculation of this model as well. And the performance of the proposed calculation method is validated in different conditions.
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Guoping Liu and Jerry Sun
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the institutional environment influences auditor reporting.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the institutional environment influences auditor reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs China's anti-corruption campaign as an exogenous shock to its institutional environment and compares auditors' issuance of modified audit opinions (MAOs) to small-profit clients before and during the campaign.
Findings
This study documents that small-profit clients were more likely to receive MAOs during the anti-corruption campaign period than before, indicating that auditors issued more conservative audit opinions to small-profit clients because of the anti-corruption campaign. Additionally, this study finds that increased auditor conservatism was more pronounced for auditors of large clients.
Practical implications
This study suggests that a weak institutional environment adversely affects auditor conservatism. This offers valuable insights for governments and regulators to improve the audit environment and for audit firms to enhance auditors' integrity and independence.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the research on institutional environments and auditing by observing a unique exogenous event.
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Feifei Zhong, Guoping Liu, Zhenyu Lu, Lingyan Hu, Yangyang Han, Yusong Xiao and Xinrui Zhang
Robotic arms’ interactions with the external environment are growing more intricate, demanding higher control precision. This study aims to enhance control precision by…
Abstract
Purpose
Robotic arms’ interactions with the external environment are growing more intricate, demanding higher control precision. This study aims to enhance control precision by establishing a dynamic model through the identification of the dynamic parameters of a self-designed robotic arm.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes an improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) method for parameter identification, which comprehensively improves particle initialization diversity, dynamic adjustment of inertia weight, dynamic adjustment of local and global learning factors and global search capabilities. To reduce the number of particles and improve identification accuracy, a step-by-step dynamic parameter identification method was also proposed. Simultaneously, to fully unleash the dynamic characteristics of a robotic arm, and satisfy boundary conditions, a combination of high-order differentiable natural exponential functions and traditional Fourier series is used to develop an excitation trajectory. Finally, an arbitrary verification trajectory was planned using the IPSO to verify the accuracy of the dynamical parameter identification.
Findings
Experiments conducted on a self-designed robotic arm validate the proposed parameter identification method. By comparing it with IPSO1, IPSO2, IPSOd and least-square algorithms using the criteria of torque error and root mean square for each joint, the superiority of the IPSO algorithm in parameter identification becomes evident. In this case, the dynamic parameter results of each link are significantly improved.
Originality/value
A new parameter identification model was proposed and validated. Based on the experimental results, the stability of the identification results was improved, providing more accurate parameter identification for further applications.
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Jia-Neng Cheng, Yan Liu, Hongwei Che, Guoping Yan, Xinghai Liu, Xiaojing Liu, Xiaoyan Wang and Bo Bi
The purpose of this investigation was to study a transparent coating based on organic silicone resins prepared by the hydrolysis and condensation of methyltriethoxysilane and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this investigation was to study a transparent coating based on organic silicone resins prepared by the hydrolysis and condensation of methyltriethoxysilane and tetraethoxysilane.
Design/methodology/approach
The coating film was characterized by IR, UV, thermal gravity analysis, scanning electron microscope and an automatic contact angle meter. Some properties of the coating film, such as adhesion, impact resistance and wear-resistance also were evaluated.
Findings
These uniform, clear and smooth coating films possessed the high transparent and light transmittance, high density, high hydrophobicity, good adhesion, hardness and anti-corrosion.
Originality/value
The coating may be considered as a protective film for the surfaces of the metals and plastics.
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Yinhua Liu, Shiming Zhang and Guoping Chu
This paper aims to present a combination modeling method using multi-source information in the process to improve the accuracy of the dimension propagation relationship for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a combination modeling method using multi-source information in the process to improve the accuracy of the dimension propagation relationship for assembly variation reduction.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a variable weight combination prediction method, the combination model that takes the mechanism model and data-driven model based on inspection data into consideration is established. Furthermore, the combination model is applied to qualification rate prediction for process alarming based on the Monte Carlo simulation and also used in engineering tolerance confirmation in mass production stage.
Findings
The combination model of variable weights considers both the static theoretical mechanic variation propagation model and the dynamic variation relationships from the regression model based on data collections, and provides more accurate assembly deviation predictions for process alarming.
Originality/value
A combination modeling method could be used to provide more accurate variation predictions and new engineering tolerance design procedures for the assembly process.
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Jerry Sun and Guoping Liu
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether client‐specific litigation risk affects the audit quality differentiation between Big N and non‐Big N auditors. Specifically, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether client‐specific litigation risk affects the audit quality differentiation between Big N and non‐Big N auditors. Specifically, the authors examine whether higher quality audits of Big N auditors relative to non‐Big auditors is more pronounced for clients with high litigation risk than for clients with low litigation risk.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop the hypothesis based on auditors' potential monetary and reputational losses, collect the data of US listed companies from the Compustat and CRSP databases, and conduct regression analyses.
Findings
The authors find that the higher effectiveness of Big N auditors over non‐Big N auditors in constraining earning management is greater for high litigation risk clients than for low litigation risk clients, suggesting that clients' high litigation risk can force big auditors to perform more effectively.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by providing novel evidence on the effect of client‐specific litigation risk on the audit quality differentiation between Big N and non‐Big N auditors. The authors' findings complement the extant research on the relationship between the audit quality differentiation and country‐level litigation risk.
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Qing Zhou, Yuanqing Liu, Xiaofeng Liu and Guoping Cai
In the post-capture stage, the tumbling target rotates the combined spacecraft system, and the detumbling operation performed by the space robot is required. To save the costly…
Abstract
Purpose
In the post-capture stage, the tumbling target rotates the combined spacecraft system, and the detumbling operation performed by the space robot is required. To save the costly onboard fuel of the space robot, this paper aims to present a novel post-capture detumbling strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
Actuated by the joint rotations of the manipulator, the combined system is driven from three-axis tumbling state to uniaxial rotation about its maximum principal axis. Only unidirectional thrust perpendicular to the axis is needed to slow down the uniaxial rotation, thus saving the thruster fuel. The optimization problem of the collision-free detumbling trajectory of the space robot is described, and it is optimized by the particle swarm optimization algorithm.
Findings
The numerical simulation results show that along the trajectory planned by the detumbling strategy, the maneuver of the manipulator can precisely drive the combined system to rotate around its maximum principal axis, and the final kinetic energy of the combined system is smaller than the initial. The unidirectional thrust and the lower kinetic energy can ensure the fuel-saving in the subsequent detumbling stage.
Originality/value
This paper presents a post-capture detumbling strategy to drive the combined system from three-axis tumbling state to uniaxial rotation about its maximum principal axis by redistributing the angular momentum of the parts of the combined system. The strategy reduces the thrust torque for detumbling to effectively save the thruster fuel.