To accurately assess mechanical properties of micro- and nano-sized specimens, a reliable material testing system is indispensable. However, due to small sizes of these test specimens, in-situ measurement of their mechanical behavior necessitates installing the tester within high-magnification microscopes such as SEM. Traditionally, researchers have used wired methods by placing the tester inside the SEM chamber and connecting it to an external controller via electrical feedthrough. Unfortunately, this approach is cumbersome. In addition, it limits its compatibility with other SEMs. In this study, we developed a compact controller capable of driving 3-axis piezoelectric actuators with nanometer-level displacement control resolution via Bluetooth communication. This innovative setup enables wireless control and data acquisition from outside the closed confines of an SEM chamber. To validate the versatility of our tester, we conducted both a nanoindentation test on a fused silica specimen using a Berkovich indenter in a wired configuration and a copper micropillar compression test wirelessly using a flat punch indenter within an SEM. By installing this tester in various measurement systems, researchers could observe deformation patterns in real time, making it a valuable tool for investigating deformation mechanisms of diverse micro- and nano-sized specimens.

Autonomous robots are commonly operated on rough roads. Thus, it is essential to predict their dynamic characteristics. Even though it is possible to use real hardware to acquire a robot’s dynamic characteristics, this requires a significant amount of time and cost. Therefore, a real-time remote driving simulator must be developed to reduce these risks. Most real-time simulators employ physics engines, which are calculated using simple functional expressions based on particles. However, in this case, there is a limit to reflecting the dynamic characteristics of actual robots. In this study, a multi-body dynamic model of a robot was established. MATLAB Simulink was used to connect the vehicle model with the joystick and calculate user input signals. The PID control system determines the driving torque of the robot to satisfy the calculated signal. Gain value optimization is performed to enable real-time control. This study can be available to analyze the traversability.

Among the monitoring technologies in the metal-cutting process, tool wear is the most critical monitoring factor in real machining sites. Extensive studies have been conducted to monitor equipment breakdown in real-time. For example, tool wear prediction studies using cutting force signals and deducting force coefficient values from the cutting process. However, due to many limitations, those wearable monitoring technologies have not been directly adopted in the field. This paper proposes a novel tool wear predictor using the cutting force coefficient with various cutting tools, and its validity evaluates through cutting tests. Tool wear prediction from the cutting force coefficient should conduct in real-time for adoption in real machining sites. Therefore, a real-time calculation algorithm of the cutting force coefficient and a tool wear estimation method proposes, and they compare with actual tool wear in cutting experiments for validation. Validation cutting tests are conducted with carbon steel and titanium, the most commonly used materials in real cutting sites. In future work, validation will be conducted with different materials and cutting tools, considering the application in real machining sites.

Social interest in the 4th industry, intelligent factories, and smart manufacturing is continually growing along with the core technologies like big data and artificial intelligence, which can generate meaningful information by collecting and accumulating sensor data. Demand for industrial automation equipment is increasing worldwide due to the efforts needed to modernize manufacturing facilities, reduce automation and cycle time, and improve quality. Currently, the majority of research is focused on the development of automation facilities and improving productivity. The research on the contents of real-time data considering the characteristics of the cutting machine plasma machine is insufficient. In this study, based on the current data measured according to cutting current and cutting speed, a reference value for cutting quality is presented and the optimal process parameter has been selected. A model for predicting cutting quality by introducing the Mahalanobis Distance Method is presented. An attempt has been made to derive selection and optimal cutting process variables. Based on the predictive model, threshold values were specified and used in real-time data to consider the correlations between multivariate variables and evaluate the degree of scattering around the average of specific values of each variable. Also, process parameters suitable for surface roughness were calculated.