Hybrid system of expert system and artificial neural networks for objective evaluation of product sensuous quality

Basic problems and the bottleneck of current approaches for objective assessment of product sensuous quality (PSQ) are discussed. As a solution, a new approach, an expert system (ES) based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) is proposed, in which the ES and ANNs co-operate in a superiority compensation way. T he knowledge base of the system can be effectively built and the evaluation of PSQ can be conducted on-line. As a case study, the new approach has been applied in leather handle test and it proves that the approach is capable of handling non-linear relationships among multiple measured PSQ parameters

Enhancement of speed and efficiency of an Internet based gear design optimisation

An internet-based gear design optimisation program has been developed for geographically dispersed teams to collaborate over the internet. The optimisation program implements genetic algorithm. A novel methodology is presented that improves the speed of execution of the optimisation program by integrating artificial neural networks into the system. The paper also proposes a method that allows an improvement to the performance of the back propagation-learning algorithm. This is done by rescaling the output data patterns to lie slightly below and above the two extreme values of the full range neural activation function. Experimental tests show the reduction of execution time by approximately 50%, as well as an improvement in the training and generalisation errors and the rate of learning of the network

Network support for integrated design

A framework of network support for utilization of integrated design over the Internet has been developed. The techniques presented also applicable for Intranet/Extranet. The integrated design system was initially developed for local application in a single site. With the network support, geographically dispersed designers can collaborate a design task through out the total design process, quickly respond to clients’ requests and enhance the design argilty. In this paper, after a brief introduction of the integrated design system, the network support framework is presented, followed by description of two key techniques involved: Java Saverlet approach for remotely executing a large program and online CAD collaboration

Evolutionary optimization within an intelligent hybrid system for design integration

An intelligent hybrid approach has been developed to integrate various stages in total design, including formulation of product design specifications, conceptual design, detail design, and manufacture. The integration is achieved by blending multiple artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and CAD/CAE/CAM into a single environment. It has been applied into power transmission system design. In addition to knowledge-based systems and artificial neural networks, another AI technique, genetic algorithms (GAs), are involved in the approach. The GA is used to conduct optimization tasks: (1) searching the best combination of design parameters to obtain optimum design of gears, and (2) optimization of the architecture of the artificial neural networks used in the hybrid system. In this paper, after a brief overview of the intelligent hybrid system, the GA applications are described in detail

EU-China collaboration in design: research in Web-enabled collaborative design supported by the Asia-Link and Asia IT&C projects

The research of Web-enabled collaboration in total design supported by the European Union's Asia Link project [1] and Asia IT&C project is reported in this paper. The two projects both aim at enhancing research collaboration between the EU and China. The Virtual Research Institute (VRI) is described first, which is the platform for the collaboration for the Asia Link project and is established by utilizing the advanced Web techniques; and then, the framework for the collaboration and the Web techniques involved in the research are presented which represent the major research of the Asia IT&C project. The effective collaboration between the project partners and the impacts of the project outcome on the partnership are also discussed

Integration, management and communication of heterogeneous design resources with WWW technologies

Recently, advanced information technologies have opened new pos-sibilities for collaborative designs. In this paper, a Web-based collaborative de-sign environment is proposed, where heterogeneous design applications can be integrated with a common interface, managed dynamically for publishing and searching, and communicated with each other for integrated multi-objective de-sign. The CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) is employed as an implementation tool to enable integration and communication of design application programs; and the XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is used as a common data descriptive language for data exchange between heterogeneous applications and for resource description and recording. This paper also intro-duces the implementation of the system and the encapsulating issues of existing legacy applications. At last, an example of gear design based on the system is il-lustrated to identify the methods and procedure developed by this research

Renormalization of the Sigma-Omega model within the framework of U(1) gauge symmetry

It is shown that the Sigma-Omega model which is widely used in the study of nuclear relativistic many-body problem can exactly be treated as an Abelian massive gauge field theory. The quantization of this theory can perfectly be performed by means of the general methods described in the quantum gauge field theory. Especially, the local U(1) gauge symmetry of the theory leads to a series of Ward-Takahashi identities satisfied by Green's functions and proper vertices. These identities form an uniquely correct basis for the renormalization of the theory. The renormalization is carried out in the mass-dependent momentum space subtraction scheme and by the renormalization group approach. With the aid of the renormalization boundary conditions, the solutions to the renormalization group equations are given in definite expressions without any ambiguity and renormalized S-matrix elememts are exactly formulated in forms as given in a series of tree diagrams provided that the physical parameters are replaced by the running ones. As an illustration of the renormalization procedure, the one-loop renormalization is concretely carried out and the results are given in rigorous forms which are suitable in the whole energy region. The effect of the one-loop renormalization is examined by the two-nucleon elastic scattering.Comment: 32 pages, 17 figure

Study on the thermal stability of Polystyryl surfactants and its modified clay nanocomposites

Five oligomeric styrene surfactants, N,N,N-trimethylpolystyrylammonium, N,N-dimethyl-N-benzylpolystyrylammonium, N,N-dimethyl-N-hexadecylpolystyrylammonium, 1,2-dimethyl-3-polystyrylimidazolium, and triphenylpolystyrylphosphonium chlorides were synthesized and used to prepare organically modified clays. Both styrene and methyl methacrylate nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending and the type of nanocomposite was evaluated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal stability of the organically modified clays and the nanocomposites were studied by thermogravimetric analysis; these systems do give clays which have good thermal stability and may be useful for melt blending with polymers that must be processed at higher temperatures

Crossover from the pair contact process with diffusion to directed percolation

Crossover behaviors from the pair contact process with diffusion (PCPD) and the driven PCPD (DPCPD) to the directed percolation (DP) are studied in one dimension by introducing a single particle annihilation/branching dynamics. The crossover exponents $\phi$ are estimated numerically as $1/\phi \simeq 0.58\pm0.03$ for the PCPD and $1/\phi \simeq 0.49 \pm 0.02$ for the DPCPD. Nontriviality of the PCPD crossover exponent strongly supports non-DP nature of the PCPD critical scaling, which is further evidenced by the anomalous critical amplitude scaling near the PCPD point. In addition, we find that the DPCPD crossover is consistent with the mean field prediction of the tricritical DP class as expected