Embedded Integrated Intelligent Systems for Manufacturing
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Wolfson Sch of Mech, Elec & Manufac Eng
Abstract
This proposal seeks to provide a platform for strategic research and impact activities within the embedded integrated intelligent systems (EIIS) domain. This research area covers all aspects of designing and developing products and processes that can demonstrate adaptation and learning (i.e. in terms of self - organising, adapting, configuring, optimising, protecting and healing), at the system or service level based upon intelligent sensing and actuation at the granularity of the individual components. The multidisciplinary nature of the domain is challenging since successful deployment and adoption within the harsh industrial environment requires advancements in several areas (e.g. (1) materials, antennae design, embedded power sources, energy harvesting, real-time software architectures, embedded processing and robust wireless communications protocols at the device level and (2) optimisation, visualisation, analytics, machine learning and digital manufacturing at the systems science and services level).
The EIIS group at Loughborough University was founded in 2007 and currently comprises 35 staff (academics (A), post doctoral research associates (PDRA) and postgraduate research students (PhD)). This proposal will enable the team to develop the EIIS strategic research agenda in line with industrial collaborators' (e.g. automotive, electronics, aerospace, sport, healthcare and end of life processing), EPSRC and Government strategies via "ideas factory" colloquia, short-term feasibility studies into "hot topics" and multi-disciplinary responsive-mode submissions to funding bodies (e.g. EPSRC, innovateUK, EU, APC/BIS, Wellcome).
The funding will also support the development of a pipeline of expertise in EIIS for UK industry and academia. Undergraduates will be supported via internships in industry or academia to expose the next generation of talent to the EIIS opportunities and challenges and also provide research resource for junior members of the EIIS group. Current EIIS members will also be funded to attend technical, business and innovation courses provided by academia and / or industry and encouraged to take long term (i.e. 3 month) sabbaticals within industry and alternative world leading academic or technology transfer institutions to enable the group to identify best global practices and determine relevant benchmarks for success of the research.
The EIIS group at Loughborough University was founded in 2007 and currently comprises 35 staff (academics (A), post doctoral research associates (PDRA) and postgraduate research students (PhD)). This proposal will enable the team to develop the EIIS strategic research agenda in line with industrial collaborators' (e.g. automotive, electronics, aerospace, sport, healthcare and end of life processing), EPSRC and Government strategies via "ideas factory" colloquia, short-term feasibility studies into "hot topics" and multi-disciplinary responsive-mode submissions to funding bodies (e.g. EPSRC, innovateUK, EU, APC/BIS, Wellcome).
The funding will also support the development of a pipeline of expertise in EIIS for UK industry and academia. Undergraduates will be supported via internships in industry or academia to expose the next generation of talent to the EIIS opportunities and challenges and also provide research resource for junior members of the EIIS group. Current EIIS members will also be funded to attend technical, business and innovation courses provided by academia and / or industry and encouraged to take long term (i.e. 3 month) sabbaticals within industry and alternative world leading academic or technology transfer institutions to enable the group to identify best global practices and determine relevant benchmarks for success of the research.
Planned Impact
UK Plc, in particular the automotive, aerospace, electronics, energy and ICT sectors (i.e. current collaborator domains) will benefit from reductions in cost & time and improvements in quality afforded by the deployment of products and processes comprising embedded intelligent components and services. Healthcare providers will benefit from the transfer of relevant performance monitoring components & services to chronic (e.g. renal, cardiovascular, diabetes) and rehabilitation from injury domains. Transport authorities and local government will also benefit from the deployment of next generation personalised transport components and services that are integrated with in-vehicle and Digital Cities information systems. (Note: the deployment of next generation electric bicycles is the focus of current EIIS embedded intelligence research sponsored by Ford).
The Engagement with Catapults (e.g. Digital, High Value Manufacturing, Energy Systems), High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute (HSSMI) (the Chief Technology Officer Dr. Axel Bindel was a member of EIIS from 2008-2012) and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) (the Informatics leader Dr. Lina Huertas as a member of EIIS from 2007-2011) will ensure that outcomes of EIIS research can be integrated with and evaluated at higher TRL/MRL levels projects / demonstrators. Prof. West (as a member of the Strategy Board) and Dr. Mason are responsible for LU engagement with the Advanced Propulsion Centre funded Digital Engineering and Test Centre located within Loughborough University in London which will ensure that EIIS strategy is aligned with opportunities within next generation propulsion systems design and manufacture and development is autonomous vehicles. Note: DE&Tc Board comprises Directors of Ford, Maclaren, Cosworth, Ford New Holland, Ricardo, AVL, Autodesk and the gaming industries.
The general public will benefit from more cost efficient, reliable products and the improved health benefits (via improved services from healthcare providers and the adoption of healthier lifestyles promoted by, for example, electric bicycles at the home, hospital or rented within city centres) that exploitation of intelligent performance monitoring components and services can provide. Deployment of intelligent embedded components within energy / materials usage applications with the manufacturing supply chain and throughout product / process lifecycles will result in optimised resource utilisation and subsequent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions improved end of life services and processes. Loughborough University enterprise will benefit from increased consultancy, marketing and exploitation of the components and services via commercial activities.
Dissemination of the results via networking (LU, LUiL, HSSMI and the MTC) at and outreach events (including popular science conferences, fairs, National Science Week) open to industry, academia and the public and the development of interactive website linked to various social media will ensure awareness is maximised. This will be supported via international, national and local TV and radio via the University's public relations office. All EIIS Group members will be involved in impact activities with collaborative partners in industry, catapults and academia. Dissemination will be via national and international academic and trade conferences, journals, REF case studies and standards organisations (e.g. ISO, IEEE, ASME, PAS, ADHESA). Targeted journals include IJPR, IJCIM, I.Mech. E. Part B and Part O, ISR, RESS, IEEE Trans and IEEE sponsored ECTC, ESTC, IEMTS, EPTC, ECIS, ESREL and EMAP conferences. Newsletters and brochures will be published and distributed to attendees and visitors. An IP register will log all IP, patents, registered designs and processes and licensed / exploited via current (e.g. EIIS, SmartWeights, Trakk-IT) or additional spin out companies as appropriate.
The Engagement with Catapults (e.g. Digital, High Value Manufacturing, Energy Systems), High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute (HSSMI) (the Chief Technology Officer Dr. Axel Bindel was a member of EIIS from 2008-2012) and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) (the Informatics leader Dr. Lina Huertas as a member of EIIS from 2007-2011) will ensure that outcomes of EIIS research can be integrated with and evaluated at higher TRL/MRL levels projects / demonstrators. Prof. West (as a member of the Strategy Board) and Dr. Mason are responsible for LU engagement with the Advanced Propulsion Centre funded Digital Engineering and Test Centre located within Loughborough University in London which will ensure that EIIS strategy is aligned with opportunities within next generation propulsion systems design and manufacture and development is autonomous vehicles. Note: DE&Tc Board comprises Directors of Ford, Maclaren, Cosworth, Ford New Holland, Ricardo, AVL, Autodesk and the gaming industries.
The general public will benefit from more cost efficient, reliable products and the improved health benefits (via improved services from healthcare providers and the adoption of healthier lifestyles promoted by, for example, electric bicycles at the home, hospital or rented within city centres) that exploitation of intelligent performance monitoring components and services can provide. Deployment of intelligent embedded components within energy / materials usage applications with the manufacturing supply chain and throughout product / process lifecycles will result in optimised resource utilisation and subsequent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions improved end of life services and processes. Loughborough University enterprise will benefit from increased consultancy, marketing and exploitation of the components and services via commercial activities.
Dissemination of the results via networking (LU, LUiL, HSSMI and the MTC) at and outreach events (including popular science conferences, fairs, National Science Week) open to industry, academia and the public and the development of interactive website linked to various social media will ensure awareness is maximised. This will be supported via international, national and local TV and radio via the University's public relations office. All EIIS Group members will be involved in impact activities with collaborative partners in industry, catapults and academia. Dissemination will be via national and international academic and trade conferences, journals, REF case studies and standards organisations (e.g. ISO, IEEE, ASME, PAS, ADHESA). Targeted journals include IJPR, IJCIM, I.Mech. E. Part B and Part O, ISR, RESS, IEEE Trans and IEEE sponsored ECTC, ESTC, IEMTS, EPTC, ECIS, ESREL and EMAP conferences. Newsletters and brochures will be published and distributed to attendees and visitors. An IP register will log all IP, patents, registered designs and processes and licensed / exploited via current (e.g. EIIS, SmartWeights, Trakk-IT) or additional spin out companies as appropriate.
Organisations
- Loughborough University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Cancer Research UK (Collaboration)
- Ford Motor Company (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- S2S Limited (Collaboration)
- Toyota Motor Corporation (Collaboration)
- Rolls-Royce (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- IBM (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- S2S Ltd (Project Partner)
- Manufacturing Technology Centre (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- HSSMI Ltd (Project Partner)
- Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd (Project Partner)
- BAE Systems (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Sharpe R
(2018)
Cyber-Physical Systems in the re-use, refurbishment and recycling of used Electrical and Electronic Equipment
in Journal of Cleaner Production
Sinclair, M.A.
(2019)
The identification of knowledge gaps in the technologies of Cyber-Physical Systems, with recommendations for closing these gaps
in Systems Engineering (online)
Torres-Sanchez C
(2020)
Physico-chemical characterisation of Ti-Nb-Sn alloys surfaces and their osteogenic properties
in Surface and Coatings Technology
Torres-Sanchez C
(2023)
Electrochemical removal of secondary roughness on selective laser melted titanium with an ethylene-glycol-based electrolyte
in Materials Letters
Torres-Sanchez C
(2021)
In-silico design and experimental validation of TiNbTaZrMoSn to assess accuracy of mechanical and biocompatibility predictive models.
in Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials
Torres-Sanchez C
(2021)
Comparison of Selective Laser Melted Commercially Pure Titanium Sheet-Based Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces and Trabecular-Like Strut-Based Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering
in Advanced Engineering Materials
Torres-Sanchez C
(2022)
Comparison of Selective Laser Melted Commercially Pure Titanium Sheet-Based Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces and Trabecular-Like Strut-Based Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering
in Advanced Engineering Materials
Torres-Sánchez C
(2020)
Addition of Sn to TiNb alloys to improve mechanical performance and surface properties conducive to enhanced cell activity.
in Materials science & engineering. C, Materials for biological applications
Torres-Sánchez C
(2019)
Design and manufacture of functional catalyst-carrier structures for the bioorthogonal activation of anticancer agents
in New Journal of Chemistry
| Description | Keynote speech at Jaguar Land Rover Predictive Maintenance Exploitation Event |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Development of Strategic Initiative for Predictive Maintenance Activities at Jaguar Land Rover |
| Description | Representation at the EPSRC Manufacturing the Future Priorities workshop |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/events/mtf-strategy-refresh-research-priorities-workshop/ |
| Description | Consultancy project about RFID tags |
| Amount | £3,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 05/2018 |
| Description | High Entropy Alloys: Design, Manufacture and Validation for their application in various industrial sectors |
| Amount | £30,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Alloyed |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2021 |
| End | 09/2024 |
| Description | Re-Imagining Engineering Design: Growing Radical Cyber-Physical-Socio Phenotypes |
| Amount | £7,355,902 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V007335/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2021 |
| End | 01/2026 |
| Title | Development of system to collect and send asset and environmental data via GSM to a cloud server for storage in a database |
| Description | Data from an instrumented van collected though a number of wireless sensors for environmental conditions and asset presence, sent via GSM. This data is then collected and stored in a relational database with key value pairs to ensure data is kept correctly linked to relevant customers and can only be accessed by relevant personnel. The model utilises a VPN, password protection and user access restrictions to maintain data security. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Secure data management and advanced traceability of assets, ensuring data integrity for better asset security during transport. |
| Title | Supplementary Information files for: In-silico design and experimental validation of TiNbTaZrMoSn to assess accuracy of mechanical and biocompatibility predictive models |
| Description | Supplementary Information files for: In-silico design and experimental validation of TiNbTaZrMoSn to assess accuracy of mechanical and biocompatibility predictive modelsNumerical design of TiNbTaZrMoSn alloy preceded its manufacture and mechanical, physico-chemical and in vitro characterisation. The specifications of the alloy required a multi-objective optimisation including lower modulus of elasticity than c.p.Ti, high strength, stabilised ? crystal structure with a low martensitic start temperature, a narrow solidification range and high biocompatibility. The results reveal that there was a good match between the bulk mechanical properties exhibited by the alloy experimentally and those predicted. Regarding surface properties, independent of roughness effects, the oxide thickness and surface zeta-potential, measured in biologically relevant electrolytes and at physiological pH, appear as important factors in osteoblastic activity (i.e., cell proliferation, measured via DNA, protein and metabolite content, and differentiation, via ALP levels), but not in cell adhesion and viability. The thinner oxide layer and lower absolute value of surface zeta-potential?on the TiNbTaZrMoSn alloy explain its lesser osteogenic properties (i.e., inhibition of ALP activity) compared to the c.p. Ti. This study demonstrates that the numerical models to predict microstructure and bulk mechanical properties of ?-Ti alloys are robust, but that the prediction of cellular bioactivity lags behind and still requires parameterisation to account for features such as oxide layer composition and thickness, electro-chemical properties and surface charge, and topography to optimise cell response in silico before committing to the costly manufacture and deployment of these alloys in regenerative medicine. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supplementary_Information_files_for_In-silico_design... |
| Title | Supplementary Information files for: In-silico design and experimental validation of TiNbTaZrMoSn to assess accuracy of mechanical and biocompatibility predictive models |
| Description | Supplementary Information files for: In-silico design and experimental validation of TiNbTaZrMoSn to assess accuracy of mechanical and biocompatibility predictive modelsNumerical design of TiNbTaZrMoSn alloy preceded its manufacture and mechanical, physico-chemical and in vitro characterisation. The specifications of the alloy required a multi-objective optimisation including lower modulus of elasticity than c.p.Ti, high strength, stabilised ? crystal structure with a low martensitic start temperature, a narrow solidification range and high biocompatibility. The results reveal that there was a good match between the bulk mechanical properties exhibited by the alloy experimentally and those predicted. Regarding surface properties, independent of roughness effects, the oxide thickness and surface zeta-potential, measured in biologically relevant electrolytes and at physiological pH, appear as important factors in osteoblastic activity (i.e., cell proliferation, measured via DNA, protein and metabolite content, and differentiation, via ALP levels), but not in cell adhesion and viability. The thinner oxide layer and lower absolute value of surface zeta-potential?on the TiNbTaZrMoSn alloy explain its lesser osteogenic properties (i.e., inhibition of ALP activity) compared to the c.p. Ti. This study demonstrates that the numerical models to predict microstructure and bulk mechanical properties of ?-Ti alloys are robust, but that the prediction of cellular bioactivity lags behind and still requires parameterisation to account for features such as oxide layer composition and thickness, electro-chemical properties and surface charge, and topography to optimise cell response in silico before committing to the costly manufacture and deployment of these alloys in regenerative medicine. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supplementary_Information_files_for_In-silico_design... |
| Title | Supplementary information files for Physico-chemical characterisation of Ti-Nb-Sn alloys surfaces and their osteogenic properties |
| Description | Supplementary information files for Physico-chemical characterisation of Ti-Nb-Sn alloys surfaces and their osteogenic propertiesmplanted tissue engineering devices interact with the host tissue through their surface in the first instance. Surface chemistry triggers cell activities that stimulate bone tissue-formation mechanisms for osteoblast maturation. In this work, the bioactivity of binary Ti-40Nb and Ti-10Sn and ternary Ti-10Nb-5Sn alloys, candidates for bioengineering applications, has been studied on their surface with a view to establish their osteogenic potential compared to that of c.p. Ti. Cellular population growth was used to assess proliferative and differentiative phenotypes (via protein and Alkaline Phosphatase markers), coupled with gene expression (i.e. Runx2 and OCN) to confirm maturation. The results show that Sn-containing alloys support cell bioactivity, increase metabolic activity (i.e. metabolites content) that indicate their preferred glycolytic pathway, promote cell attachment, differentiation and osteoblast maturation. Ti-40Nb, although also non-cytotoxic, retards osteoblastic differentiation and maturation. To elucidate the features that underpin this difference, their physical (i.e. wettability, electrical state near the surface) and chemical properties (i.e. oxide layer thickness and composition) were analysed independently from topology and roughness. It was concluded that composition (esp. TiO2 % content) is a more important factor than wettability and oxide layer thickness, and that although a negatively-charged surface (represented by the surface ? potential) was preferential for cell bioactivity given its protein-adsorption readiness, its magnitude was not a defining cause. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supplementary_information_files_for_Physico-chemical... |
| Title | Supplementary information files for Physico-chemical characterisation of Ti-Nb-Sn alloys surfaces and their osteogenic properties |
| Description | Supplementary information files for Physico-chemical characterisation of Ti-Nb-Sn alloys surfaces and their osteogenic propertiesmplanted tissue engineering devices interact with the host tissue through their surface in the first instance. Surface chemistry triggers cell activities that stimulate bone tissue-formation mechanisms for osteoblast maturation. In this work, the bioactivity of binary Ti-40Nb and Ti-10Sn and ternary Ti-10Nb-5Sn alloys, candidates for bioengineering applications, has been studied on their surface with a view to establish their osteogenic potential compared to that of c.p. Ti. Cellular population growth was used to assess proliferative and differentiative phenotypes (via protein and Alkaline Phosphatase markers), coupled with gene expression (i.e. Runx2 and OCN) to confirm maturation. The results show that Sn-containing alloys support cell bioactivity, increase metabolic activity (i.e. metabolites content) that indicate their preferred glycolytic pathway, promote cell attachment, differentiation and osteoblast maturation. Ti-40Nb, although also non-cytotoxic, retards osteoblastic differentiation and maturation. To elucidate the features that underpin this difference, their physical (i.e. wettability, electrical state near the surface) and chemical properties (i.e. oxide layer thickness and composition) were analysed independently from topology and roughness. It was concluded that composition (esp. TiO2 % content) is a more important factor than wettability and oxide layer thickness, and that although a negatively-charged surface (represented by the surface ? potential) was preferential for cell bioactivity given its protein-adsorption readiness, its magnitude was not a defining cause. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supplementary_information_files_for_Physico-chemical... |
| Title | Supporting Information Files for: Comparison of SLM cpTi sheet-TPMS and trabecular-like strut-based scaffolds for tissue engineering |
| Description | Supporting Information Files for: Comparison of SLM cpTi sheet-TPMS and trabecular-like strut-based scaffolds for tissue engineeringThis systematic comparison between sheet-based-TPMS and strut-based ordered and disordered Lattice topologies offers insights into parametric designs for tissue engineering scaffolds intended as implants in regenerative medicine. The study explores the effect of topology on compressive properties and in vitro osteoblastogenesis. TPMS-sheet Gyroid and IWP, Voronoi-tessellation with varying levels of sharpness and BCC-orthogonal Lattices were studied. Disparities between the design intent and the as-manufactured scaffolds that are intrinsic to the SLM manufacturing process are considered to ensure actual porosity and surface-area-per-unit-volume, two important factors in tissue engineering, are consistent across the set. Surface analysis reports the presence of a micro-porosity created by partlysintered cpTi particles. The TPMS topologies display a stretching-dominated deformation and the strut-based disordered ones a bending-dominated double-shear failure. Although the trabecular-like structures exhibit an enhanced compressive behaviour when the designed topology was smoothed, they are more prone to printing imperfections with the sharper 2 finishes. The in vitro studies reveal that the trabecular-sharp topology displays a faster proliferation rate, explained by concavity-driven cellular growth, but its smooth counterpart promotes a larger differentiation extent, outperforming TPMS, as it is aided by larger pore throats lined with a micro-porosity at the scale of osteoblastic geometric features. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supporting_Information_Files_for_Comparison_of_SLM_c... |
| Title | Supporting Information Files for: Comparison of SLM cpTi sheet-TPMS and trabecular-like strut-based scaffolds for tissue engineering |
| Description | Supporting Information Files for: Comparison of SLM cpTi sheet-TPMS and trabecular-like strut-based scaffolds for tissue engineeringThis systematic comparison between sheet-based-TPMS and strut-based ordered and disordered Lattice topologies offers insights into parametric designs for tissue engineering scaffolds intended as implants in regenerative medicine. The study explores the effect of topology on compressive properties and in vitro osteoblastogenesis. TPMS-sheet Gyroid and IWP, Voronoi-tessellation with varying levels of sharpness and BCC-orthogonal Lattices were studied. Disparities between the design intent and the as-manufactured scaffolds that are intrinsic to the SLM manufacturing process are considered to ensure actual porosity and surface-area-per-unit-volume, two important factors in tissue engineering, are consistent across the set. Surface analysis reports the presence of a micro-porosity created by partlysintered cpTi particles. The TPMS topologies display a stretching-dominated deformation and the strut-based disordered ones a bending-dominated double-shear failure. Although the trabecular-like structures exhibit an enhanced compressive behaviour when the designed topology was smoothed, they are more prone to printing imperfections with the sharper 2 finishes. The in vitro studies reveal that the trabecular-sharp topology displays a faster proliferation rate, explained by concavity-driven cellular growth, but its smooth counterpart promotes a larger differentiation extent, outperforming TPMS, as it is aided by larger pore throats lined with a micro-porosity at the scale of osteoblastic geometric features. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supporting_Information_Files_for_Comparison_of_SLM_c... |
| Description | Biochemical studies on devices manufactured for the catalysis of a prodrug |
| Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
| Department | Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We designed, manufactured and characterised the devices for the Edinburgh team to test their catalytic potency and test in invitro conditions in their labs. |
| Collaborator Contribution | PDRA time (approx 20%fte for 1 years), access to reagents, equipment, tissue cultures and bioengineering labs. |
| Impact | 1 international journal paper published in the RSC New Chemistry Journal, doi: 10.1039/C8NJ05704D |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Ford collaboration |
| Organisation | Ford Motor Company |
| Department | Ford UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Conducting research and physical and digital testing for predictive maintenance and digital twin research activities (two PhD students and student projects), formulating models, testing protocol, evaluating readiness and status of industry, reporting and analysis of results and dissemination internally within appropriate team members and collaborating partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Part funding for PhD studentships, access to data and equipment as well as expertise and industrial input for requirements and testing. |
| Impact | Development of a digital twin framework (ongoing) Test rig development and testing, predictive twin models and data creation / analysis tool kits in development. Multidisciplinary across mechanical engineering and physics researchers. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | S2S Electronics on-site testing of RFID Enabled Van Service |
| Organisation | S2S Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Discussion over and trial of the development of an intelligent, RFID enabled van service with accompanying web service for the increased security and visibility of assets in transport. Further development of a prototype system with design improvements and changes to increase the robustness and reliability of a solution. Development of a web service, database solution and physical implementation of an RFID enabled van service, tested in real-world conditions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Discussion of future work and input of company protocols currently in place to secure assets in transport. Supply of transport with built in power supply and sign off for real-world system and application testing. Development of end user requirements and industrial constrains to be imposed on the system. |
| Impact | This collaboration is multi-diciplinary |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Toyota IoT student projects |
| Organisation | Toyota Motor Corporation |
| Department | Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Providing data analytic support and expertise in IOT sensor instrumentation to support their predictive maintenances activities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Providing access to machine data and historic maintenance reports to support research activities, and supporting undergraduate and student PhD projects within the research group. |
| Impact | Undergraduate student projects |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Title | Decision Support Semantic Toolset for Remanufacturing |
| Description | An RDF/OWL ontology defining service inputs, outputs, requirements and relationships of each component of a remanufacturing environment, including the reasoning of value versus cost of remanufacture combined with SPARQL server to query and reason output. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | An RDF representation of linked data can be stored on the web, validated, rapidly reasoned and accessed remotely through the use of the SPARQL query and update languages. |
| Title | Domain Ontology of RFID Systems for Tagging Manufactured Assets |
| Description | A reasoned RDF/OWL ontology defining service inputs, outputs, requirements and relationships of RFID systems that can be used in indoor environments to monitor and trace manufactured assets. To be used in supporting decision making when identifying the appropriate tags and readers to employ according to the dimensions and materials of the asset and some environmental factors. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | An RDF representation of linked data can be stored on the web, validated, rapidly reasoned and accessed remotely through the use of the SPARQL query and update languages. |
| Title | Energy monitoring algorithm |
| Description | Algorithm developed as part of PhD research using hidden Markov models to predict energy signatures from G-Code and detection of potential defects caused by worn tools using energy signatures non-invasive energy monitoring |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The research has generated one published journal paper with subsequent further 2 papers in development. |
| Title | Hololens Tracking Web Service and AR Toolset |
| Description | Using node-red, node.js and mqtt to develop a service to visualise the location of a hololens and display this on a room map, offering the location as a clickable link for the user to select a location and beacon this back to the hololens wearer to be displayed in AR. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The web service offers the ability to monitor the hololens in use and send the wearer to a specific location in the room. |
| Title | Inertial Measurement Unit Location System |
| Description | The program enables data collection from multiple IMU units simultaneously via an MQTT broker, extracts their ground component and estimates a dead reckoning location. The unit also updates this location based on RFID tag information at gateways in known locations. This process is all conducted in real time and can be accessed anywhere through use of a VPN. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | The program can be used as a basis for inertial indoor location services, however at current is in a prototype stage. The program needs formalising and stress testing with a larger number of IMU units. |
| Title | PPE ontology |
| Description | An RDF/OWL ontology defining service inputs, outputs, requirements and relationships of the relationship between Health and Safety and PPE |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | An RDF representation of linked data can be stored on the web, validated, rapidly reasoned and accessed remotely through the use of the SPARQL query and update languages. |
| Title | RFID Enabled Transport System User Interface - Web Application |
| Description | User interface for real time and historical data relating to product location and transport status for increased visibility of products in transit. Interacts with an RFID enabled asset traceability solution installed in a van. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | There is increased customer interest in a future service however the system is currently still in prototype phase so there is no quantifiable impact. |
| Description | "FLEXINET: standardisation development leading to ISO 20534 -'Formal Semantic Models for the configuration of global production networks' " Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Contributed to Standardisation workshop at Interop-VLab meeting in Brussels on June 27th 2018. Presentation entitled "FLEXINET: standardisation development leading to ISO 20534 -'Formal Semantic Models for the configuration of global production networks' ". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Cyber Physical Fabric Summit 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Attended the Cyber Physical Fabric Summit 2021, an online workshop discussing the concept of a national digital twin. Attended by a mixture of academic, industry and policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Enhanced condition monitoring of the machining process using wavelet packet transform - Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Attended the European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL) 2018, Trondheim, Norway, 17-21 June 2018 and presented a paper titled 'Enhanced condition monitoring of the machining process using wavelet packet transform'. Attendees were a mix of academic and industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Factory site visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | visit to a manufacturing site at a prospect sponsor company that may be interested in the outcomes of the research and future work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Ford visit to Loughborough University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Ford's strategic management visited Loughborough University to discuss collaboration research in autonomous vehicles. Members of the EIIS research group presented work and attended follow on meetings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | GLOBAL MANUFACTURING INNOVATION: MANUFACTURING INNOVATION SHOWCASE (Jaguar Land Rover) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 36 organisations were invited by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to the British Motor Museum to showcase their vision of future manufacturing and demonstrate technology collaboration. This gave the opportunity to showcase our research and network with JLR staff and other organisations in attendance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | I-ESA Workshop on Flexible Configurable Manufacturing in a Digitised World |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentations and discussions on interoperability and how this can be improved. I ran a discussion session on state of the art of digital twins. Purpose was to gauge state of the art in industry and to promote good practice. Outcomes were new contacts being made and general dissemination of ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://iesa2020.enit.fr/ |
| Description | IESA conference and workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The IESA conference is being attended by MS, PG, RW, HC. MS is presenting a conference paper, PG is presenting a workshop introduction. All are running a workshop regarding digital twins that will be attended by special interest parties at the conference. The conference may host over 500 people and the workshop may be up to 50. This is a fantastic networking and ideation opportunity to engage across academia and industry and nations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | INTEROP-VLab General assembly meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | INTEROP-VLab is an international group of academics and professional practitioners with the collective aim to develop networked research with critical mass in the Enterprise Interoperability (EI) and associated domains. The general meeting was held in Brussels where group members and external parties presented current work and offered networking opportunities to form collaborations for EU funded project proposals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | IOF Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Academics from around the world attending a workshop on a newly formed group titled Industrial Ontologies Foundary (IOF) at NIST in the USA. Research from Loughborough University was presented with regards to the use and need of ontologies within systems being developed for the End Of Life domain. LU will be represented again at the IOF in 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://sites.google.com/view/industrialontologies/ |
| Description | IOF Workshop 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Academics from around the world attending a workshop to meet as part of the group titled Industrial Ontologies Foundary (IOF) in Washington DC in the USA. Research from Loughborough University was presented with regards to the use and need of ontologies within systems being developed for the End Of Life domain. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://sites.google.com/view/industrialontologies/ |
| Description | Industrial Ontology Foundry (IOF) workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Industrial Ontology Foundry (IOF) workshop was a two-day event held in Gaithersburg, USA, to present, discuss with and update members of the IOF with current research activities and discuss future work direction. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Industry 4.0 in electronics manufacture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Professor Andy West presented a Keynote address entitled "Industry 4.0 in electronics manufacture" to the Institute of Circuit Technology Annual Symposium, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Interviews with industry experts on the subject of benefits and problems of adopting Digital Twin technology. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of the interviews was to hear from industry experts about the state of the art of Digital Twin technology in industry and to find out what issues are involved in its adoption. The discussion served a two-way outcome - I gained valuable up to date knowledge and the interviewees found out about recent research. The discussion also facilitated frank discussions between the experts themselves who would not normally have the time to evaluate their business and technology objectively. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Manufacturing Enterprise Interoperability Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Organised workshop on "Manufacturing Enterprise Interoperability" at Interop-VLab meeting in Brussels on June 26th 2018 - no publications |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Meeting industrial collaborators re predictive maintenance and digital twin projects (Ford and Toyota) (ongoing) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Discussions with industrial collaborators regarding ongoing project work and requirements for digital twins and predictive maintenance. Involves regular virtual meetings and on site visits with collaborators. Discussions involve various members of the research group depending on the expertise and skills required and involve dissemination of results, elicitation of requirements and development of network / connections with industrialists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Organised an industrial workshop at I-ESA 2018 on March 20th in Berlin. The title being "From Embedded Intelligence to Directed Manufacturing Decision Support". |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Organised an industrial workshop at I-ESA 2018 on March 20th in Berlin. The title being "From Embedded Intelligence to Directed Manufacturing Decision Support". The workshop involved 22 participants in knowledge cafe style discussion and included 4 presentations, with one from Andy. The paper supporting the presentation and the workshop results were published in "Enterprise Interoperability: Smart services and business impact of enterprise interoperability" as part of the Systems and Industrial Engineering Series. Edited by Martin Zelm, Frank-Walter Jaekel, Guy Doumeingts and Martin Wollschlaeger. Published by Wiley, 2018. ISBN 978-1-78630-373-8. The specific papers were: P Goodall, H Lugo, R Sharpe, K Van-Lopik, S Pease, A West and B Young "Exploiting Embedded intelligence in Manufacturing Decision Support" pp 9-16 B Young, P Goodall, R Sharpe, K Van-Lopik. S Pease and G Bhullar "Summary: Embedded Intelligence Discussion" pp 3-8 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://iesa2018.ipk.fraunhofer.de/4956/ |
| Description | Presentation and leading discussion on ontologies at I-ESA 2018 Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Led discussions to clarify the manufacturing business requirements for ICT solutions to offer a directed trans-disciplinary information and knowledge sharing capability, identify the core issues that must be resolved to meet these requirements and propose potential solution paths that should be explored to resolve these issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://iesa2018.ipk.fraunhofer.de/4941/ |
| Description | Presentation of my research interests to the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | October 15th 2018: Presentation of my research interests to the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Presentation to Nanjing University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Bob Young gave a presentations on his areas of research including ontologies to the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Presenting paper on building Digital Twins at I-ESA 2022 conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I presented my paper on Digital Twin creation at the I-ESA conference in Valencia. The purpose was to promote the work that had been done and to make contacts and to further the research by hearing others' views in the networking sessions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://i-esa2022.webs.upv.es/index.htm |
| Description | Program Committee for 9th International Workshop on Formal Ontologies meet Industry (FOMI) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Reviewing conference papers submitted to FOMI, engaging with researchers and industrial practitioners with a wide range of ontology expertise and implementation experiences using formal ontologies for knowledge modelling and sharing and reliable information exchange |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://carv2018.ec-nantes.fr/fomi-general-information-234063.kjsp |
| Description | Project Meeting with Ford - Predictive Maintenance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Several meetings were had with both Ford and Liebherr discussing progress made and further steps from all parties with reference to the predictive maintenance project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
| Description | SMR University Research Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Workshop to discuss potential academic collaboration with Rolls Royce in their small modular reactor programme, including networking with other academic collaborators and providing initial response to challenges posed by Rolls Royce. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Talk on digital twins |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Norman Swindells presented to the research group as part of an IMechE network event with the international standards organisation that was arranged by Hazel Carlin (PhD researcher). 10 people attended to hear a presentation on Digital Twins and STEP and discuss applications within the research group and associated collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Towards an ontological infrastructure for manufacturing interoperability |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Contributed to an Ontology workshop at Interop-VLab meeting in Brussels on June 26th 2018. Presentation entitled "Towards an ontological infrastructure for manufacturing interoperability" - no publications |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Toyota visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Attended an event organised by Toyota (Derby) and Loughborough with the aim of identifying future research projects and collaboration potential. Toyota organised tours of their factory and highlighted areas they are wish to seek university support. I represented our research group, identifying areas which our group maybe able to support. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Visit to present plan of action and initial solution for improving asset traceability in transport |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Met with an industrial sponsor and an SME to present a system design and plan for prototype system for an improved traceability system for instrumented transport solution. The system was designed to meet the customer specifications and the draft was developed do meet both academic and industrial requirements. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | international Ontology Foundry (IOF) Workshop at DNV GL. Oslo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Feb 4-7, 2019: Contribution to "the international ontology foundry (IOF)" workshop at DNV GL, Oslo |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | meetings with Ford to discuss future work |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meetings and workshop with representatives at Ford motor company to discuss future development of existing research within the AIIM team to support improved customer experience and agile business response. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |