Modelling tomato pericarp microstructure as force control reference for harvesting robot.

BACKGROUND: The harvest of fruit can be significantly advanced with the thriving development of intelligent and automated robot technologies. Nevertheless, the picking success rate of tomato fruit still requires improvement as some fruits are unexpectedly damaged inside, which is imperceptible by machine vision. Herein, a modelling method based on modified Voronoi algorithm is proposed to reconstruct the cellular structure of tomato pericarp. RESULTS: Based on the reconstructed micro-model, the compression physical behaviour of the pericarp cells is simulated to observe internal local stress and potential damage. It is revealed that the simulation result for pericarps of tomatoes with different ripeness is highly consistent to the experimental tests, which has well validated the feasibility of this modelling and simulation method. CONCLUSION: A Voronoi-based modelling method is proposed for micro-reconstruction of tomato pericarp, and the corresponding compression simulation results agree well with the experimental tests. Such result can be utilized as reference to improve the grasping force control for harvesting robot to avoid invisible damage induced by accident overload issue. With the predicting result, superior success rate can be achieved to enhance robot performance. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Hollow Notched K-Wires for Bone Drilling With Through-Tool Cooling.

Kirschner wire (K-wire) is a common tool in clinical orthopedic surgery for bone fracture fixation. A significant amount of heat is generated in bone drilling using K-wires, causing bone thermal necrosis and osteonecrosis. To minimize the temperature rise, a hollow notched K-wire in a modified surgical hand drill with through-tool cooling was developed to study the bone temperature, debris evacuation, and material removal rate. The hollow notched K-wire was fabricated by grinding and micro-milling on a stainless steel tube. Bone drilling tests were conducted to evaluate its performance against the solid K-wires. Results showed that compared with solid K-wires, hollow notched K-wire drilling without cooling reduced the peak bone temperature rise, thrust force, and torque by 42%, 59%, and 62% correspondingly. The through-tool compressed air reduced the peak bone temperature rise by 48% with the forced air convection and better debris evacuation. The through-tool water cooling decreased the bone temperature by only 26% due to accumulation and blockage of bone debris in the groove and channel. This study demonstrated the benefit of using the hollow notched K-wire with through-tool compressed air to prevent the bone thermal necrosis. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 37:2297-2306, 2019.

Evaluation of Heat Generation in Unidirectional Versus Oscillatory Modes During K-Wire Insertion in Bone.

Heat generation during insertion of Kirschner wires (K-wires) may lead to thermal osteonecrosis and can affect the construct fixation. Unidirectional and oscillatory drilling modes are options for K-wire insertion, but understanding of the difference in heat generation between the two modes is lacking. The goal of this study was to compare the temperature rise during K-wire insertion under these two modes and provide technical guidelines for K-wire placement to minimize thermal injury. Ten orthopedic surgeons were instructed to drill holes on hydrated ex vivo bovine bones under two modes. The drilling trials were evaluated in terms of temperature, thrust force, torque, drilling time, and tool wear. The analysis of variance showed that the oscillatory mode generated significantly lowered peak bone temperature rise (13% lower mean value, p = 0.036) over significantly longer drilling time (46% higher mean time, p < 0.001) than the unidirectional mode. Drilling time had significant effect on peak bone temperature rise under both modes (p < 0.001) and impact of peak thrust force was significant under oscillatory mode (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that the drilling mode choice is a compromise between peak temperature and bone exposure time. Shortening the drilling time was the key under both modes to minimize temperature rise and thermal necrosis risk. To achieve faster drilling, technique analysis found that "shaky" and intermittent drilling with moderate thrust force are preferred techniques by small vibration of the drill about the K-wire axis and slight lift-up of the K-wire once or twice during drilling. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 37:1903-1909, 2019.

Water transport in leaf vein systems and the flow velocity measurement with a new method.

As an exploration to the nature, research about plants' physiological properties have never been suspended. Water transport in leaf vein systems is an essential part of plant growth and development. In this paper, a simple but efficient method combined the fluorescence labeling technology frequently used in bioresearch and the image-processing technology in the computer realm was developed to measure the flow velocity, which was used as a quantitative description to reveal the regulation of water transport in leaf vein systems. Three ordinary species of plants were selected for the experiments and the influence of the experimental conditions, such as the concentration of fluorescein and illumination intensity of LEDs, was investigated. Differences among the flow velocities of different leaf veins of the same leaf as well as the flow velocities of different species were shown in bar charts. The mean measured flow velocities of the midrib and secondary vein of Ficus virens Ait. var. sublanceolata (Miq.) Corner were 4.549m/h and 3.174m/h. As for Plumeria rubra L. cv. Acutifolia and Hamelia patens, that were 0.339m/h and 0.463m/h, 2.609m/h and 2.586m/h, respectively. With the algorithm developed in this paper, the variation of the flow velocity in leaf veins was investigated by setting a constant time interval. Then a verification of the flow velocity measured by the algorithm was performed. Finally, according to the natural conditions of a plant leaf, a simulation about the water transport in leaf vein systems was carried out, which is especially different from the previous research.