Industrial Technology Commons^™

Dynamic Cushioning Performance And Sustainability Implications Of Recycled-Content Expanded Polyethylene Foams, Jay Singh, Pratish Patel, Emily Recinos, Paulina Goncharov

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The transition toward circular materials in protective packaging requires empirical evidence that recycled-content foams can satisfy stringent shock-attenuation requirements. This study evaluates the dynamic cushioning performance of expanded polyethylene (EPE) foams formulated with 0%, 30% and 40% recycled content under controlled impact conditions following ASTM D1596. A total of 1100 drop tests were conducted across combinations of density, thickness, static load and drop height representative of distribution hazards in parcel and freight supply chains. Peak transmitted acceleration (G) was measured as the primary performance response variable.

Across the configurations evaluated, recycled-content EPE foams exhibited cushioning performance comparable to virgin materials. …

Compression Strength Prediction Of Regular-Slotted-Container Corrugated Fiberboard Boxes Based On Artificial Neural Network Using Multiple Materials And Design Parameters, Tita Archaviboonyobul, Ravipim Chaveesuk, Jay Singh, Tunyarut Jinkarn

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Importance of the work: An accurate compression strength prediction model of RSC corrugated boxes could be used as an effective packaging design tool for industry.

Objectives: This research applied the material and design parameters for RSC corrugated box strength prediction using artificial backpropagation neural network modelling (BPN).

Materials and Methods: Total of 17 material and design factors from 630 commercially corrugated box samples in Thailand were recorded as input parameters along with their box compression test (BCT) values as output parameter. Data was randomly grouped as 80:10:10 during the model development for training set, testing set and validating set, respectively. …

A Screening Life Cycle Analysis Of One-Way And Reusable Crate Designs – Estimating Environmental Impacts Via Lca Software, Nicolas R. Corona

Master's Theses

A comparison analysis conducted via COMPASS life cycle analysis software has indicated that a one-way crate design, rather than a reusable crate design, is in fact the more environmentally friendly packaging system. These results can be interpreted differently, however, as the manufacturer of said crate designs must confirm what impact indicators they would like to reference as environmental goalposts. The conducted analysis provides insight into what the environmental impacts of each packaging system look like as packaging at all three system levels has been identified as a means of reducing environmental impacts globally. As such, the manufacturer of said crate …

Predicting Rheology Of Uv-Curable Nanoparticle Ink Components And Compositions For Inkjet Additive Manufacturing, Cameron D. Lutz

Master's Theses

Inkjet additive manufacturing is the next step toward ubiquitous manufacturing by enabling multi-material printing that can exhibit various mechanical, electronic, and thermal properties. These characteristics are realized in the careful formulation of the inks and their functional materials, but there are many constraints that need to be satisfied to allow optimal jetting performance and build quality when used in an inkjet 3-D printer. Previous research has addressed the desirable rheology characteristics to enable stable drop formation and how the metallic nanoparticles affect the viscosity of inks. The contending goals of increasing nanoparticle-loading to improve material deposition rates while trying to …

Investigating The Influence Of Container Design And A Bulge Reduction Technique In Corrugated Fiberboard Containers Under Static Compression, Jay Singh, Koushik Saha

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This study explored the bulge effect in corrugated fiberboard boxes caused by excessive weight, leading to compromised stacking strength and potential product damage. It investigated how container design, specifically the height variations of regular slotted containers (RSCs), affects bulging under compression and its vulnerability to environmental conditions. Testing met ASTM standards, with samples conditioned according to ASTM and TAPPI protocols, revealing that changes in box height influence bulge displacement. Subsequent research examined the impact of top-to-bottom static compression loads on bulging in tape-reinforced RSC designs, evaluating bulge reduction and compression strength across various tape placements and environments. Notably, previous studies …

Exploring Cognition And Affect During Human-Cobot Interaction, Angelika T. Canete, Javier Gonzalez-Sanchez, Rafael Guerra Silva

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Collaborative robots (Cobots) have recently gained popularity due to their capability to work collaboratively with human operators. This collaborative relationship has been named under the robotics discipline of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC), in which humans and robots work together to accomplish a common task while also being in the same physical space. An important part of collaboration is the human's decision-making, which is largely affected by their affective and cognitive state. A cobot lacks this fundamental understanding of the human operator. In this research, we utilize a server-client program to communicate the affective states of a human user to a Raspberry …

Cybersecurity In Industrial Automation Lab Design For Ee 435, Jules Khalil Emile Hajjar, Emily Zhou

Electrical Engineering

This project involves the creation of an instructional laboratory aimed at teaching cybersecurity for industrial automation applications. Specifically tailored for Electrical Engineering students at Cal Poly, the experiment focuses on configuring the Modicon M580, a PLC from Schneider Electric, and serves to introduce students to relevant cybersecurity protocols and techniques. This project will be implemented into the EE435 (Industrial Power Control and Automation) course curriculum upon Cal Poly’s transition to the semester system.

Compact In-Rack Dielectric Immersion Cooling System, Salvador Landeros Jr, Joshua M. Hannaman, Marshall D. Reid

Mechanical Engineering

The Compact Dielectric Cooling team consisting of Josh Hannaman, Marshall Reid, and Salvador Landeros worked with Aria Technologies to create a thermal management system for data centers that can easily implement liquid cooling into current infrastructure for high density computing servers. The project was to design, build, and test a compact immersion cooling system for a senior project at California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo. Immersion cooling is a liquid-cooling process that involves the immersion of electrical IT equipment and the removal of heat from the hot IT components using dielectric liquid. The goal was to build a …

Development Of A Marine Biodegradable Target Balloon, Blake Samuel Robinson, Arash Sam Akhavi, David Leonardo Albarran-Martinez

Materials Engineering

The US Navy utilizes PVC target balloons, known as Killer Tomatoes, that are inflated onboard a naval vessel then deployed into the ocean to calibrate a variety of weaponry. The Navy has requested the investigation of biodegradable polymers to replace the PVC in attempts to reduce ocean waste that is generated from the leftover PVC material. After communicating with American Pacific Plastic Fabricators (APPF), the current manufacturer of the Killer Tomatoes, we gained an understanding of the manufacturing process and the material requirements that would allow a new material to be integrated into their current process. Two proprietary, trial polymers …

Inventory Locating With Quuppa: The Design And Development Of A Real-Time Process Monitoring Web Application Solution, Dylan C. Moreland, Trevor J. Howell, John W. Takiff, Patrick S. Dillon, Theo E. Fritz, William K. Mcintyre

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Viasat, Inc. requires precise inventory tracking at their production facility in San Diego, CA. Viasat has installed the Quuppa indoor real-time locating system (RTLS), which it uses to track the real-time position of high-value work-in-process items. In its current state, the system only displays in-the-moment location information, with no available functionality for storing historical data for review, analysis, or visualization. In addition, the data displayed is noisy and prone to significant random error. This paper provides an overview of RTLS methods and technologies, assesses alternative solutions to Viasat’s issue, demonstrates our RTLS integrated web app solution, analyzes its impact, and …

University Startup Accelerators: Startup Launchpads Or Vehicles For Entrepreneurial Learning?, Lynn E. Metcalf, Thomas M. Katona, Jonathan L. York

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Over the past decade, universities have invested heavily in startup accelerator programs; however, their role in the university entrepreneurial ecosystem is ambiguous. Are university startup accelerators intended to educate or are they created to facilitate business starts and to contribute to regional economic development? In contrast, most private-sector startup accelerators serve a consistent and differentiated role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem—they provide programming and resources to startups to increase the probability of a return on investment. Understanding the role of university startup accelerators is an important precursor to evaluating their impact and whether or not the return is worth the considerable …

An Analysis Of The Influence Of Hand Hole And Ventilation Hole Design On Compressive Strength Of Corrugated Fiberboard Boxes By An Artificial Neural Network Model, Tita Archaviboonyobul, Ravipim Chaveesuk, Jay Singh, Tunyarut Jinkarn

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This research aimed at developing a high-performing corrugated fiberboard box compression strength prediction model and to analyze the influences of ventilation and hand hole designs for these containers on the box compression test (BCT) by applying artificial neural network (ANN) modeling. The input variables considered in this study are composed of nine parameters including box dimension as well as shapes, sizes, positions, and locations of ventilations and hand holes of a regular slotted container (RSC, FEFCO 0201). Back propagation algorithms (BPNs) of ANN models were developed from 970 BCT testing data points (single wall boards, C flute, 205/112/205 g/m2). Tested …

Evaluation Of A Bulge Reduction Technology For Corrugated Fiberboard Containers Under Static Compression, Daan Peleman, Jay Singh, Koushik Saha, Soma Roy

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This research examines the effect of top-to-bottom static compression load on the bulge of RSC containers. The study compares a control regular slotted container (RSC) constructed with corrugated fiberboard to tape-reinforced designs. The bulge reduction, achieved using various tape placements and conditioning environments, were measured. Currently, no research on the effect of reinforcement tape towards reduction in the out-of-plane displacement (bulging) of the corrugated fiberboard panels has been undertaken. Samples related to four different container designs, varying by presence, quantity and the position of the reinforcement tape on the vertical panels, were tested and analyzed. The study involved the use …

Influence Of Fiberboard Container Design On Compression Bulge Displacement, Koushik Saha, Shane Messner, John Dizon, Nirav Chhajed, Jay Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Bulge effect is the out-of-plane displacement of a panel of a corrugated fiberboard box from its original position. This bulge effect often is the result of excessive weight being placed on a box that rests at the bottom of a palletized load. Panels that are out-of-plane reduce the stacking strength of the box and can result in damage to products inside the containers. This study was designed to find the influence of fiberboard container design on its bulging performance when under compression. The objective of the study was to determine if change in height of a regular slotted container will …

Keeping Humans In The Loop: Pooling Knowledge Through Artificial Swarm Intelligence To Improve Business Decision Making, Lynn E. Metcalf, David A. Askay, Louis B. Rosenberg

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This article explores how a collaboration technology called Artificial Swarm Intelligence (ASI) addresses the limitations associated with group decision making, amplifies the intelligence of human groups, and facilitates better business decisions. It demonstrates of how ASI has been used by businesses to harness the diverse perspectives that individual participants bring to groups and to facilitate convergence upon decisions. It advances the understanding of how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to enhance, rather than replace, teams as they collaborate to make business decisions.

Application Of Big Data Analytics In Agriculture Supply Chain Management, Sankara Narayanan Mangalam Ananthapadmanabhan

Master's Theses

The increasing trend in frequency of natural disasters in tandem with globalization of business makes the agricultural supply chain significantly vulnerable to disruption. This thesis presents a pragmatic approach for creating a Business Continuity Model that can notify supply chain planners when there is an increase in risk of agriculture supply chain disruption due to natural disasters. The methodology presented in this thesis applied big data analytics and machine learning algorithms along with agriculture product related exponential decay function to create a regionalized composite risk score, that incorporated both direct and indirect risk associated with the Agriculture Fresh Supply Chain. …

Amplifying The Collective Intelligence Of Teams With Swarm Ai, David Askay, Lynn E. Metcalf, Louis B. Rosenberg, Gregg Willcox, David Baltaxe

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Group decision-making is strengthened by the varied knowledge and perspectives that each member brings, yet teams often fail to capitalize on their diversity. This paper describes how Swarm AI, a novel collaborative intelligence technology modeled on the decision-making process of honey bee swarms, enables networked human groups to more effectively leverage their combined insights. Through an empirical study conducted on 60 small teams, each of 3 to 6 members, we demonstrate the capacity of Swarm AI to significantly amplify the collective intelligence of human groups. A well-known testing instrument—the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test —was used to …

Enhancing Group Social Perceptiveness Through A Swarm-Based Decision-Making Platform, David A. Askay, Lynn E. Metcalf, Louis Rosenberg, Gregg Willcox

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Swarm Intelligence is natural phenomenon that enables social animals to make group decisions in real-time systems. This process has been deeply studied in fish schools, bird flocks, and bee swarms, where collective intelligence has been observed to emerge. The present paper describes swarm.ai—a collaborative technology that enables swarms of humans to collectively converge upon a decision as a real-time system. Then we present the results of a study investigating if groups working as “human swarms” can amplify their social perceptiveness, a key predictor of collective intelligence. Results showed that groups reduced their social perceptiveness errors by more than half when …

Measuring Group Personality With Swarm Ai, Gregg Willcox, David Askay, Louis Rosenberg, Lynn Metcalf, Bryan Kwong, Richard Liu

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The aggregation of individual personality tests to predict team performance is widely accepted in management theory but has significant limitations: the isolated nature of individual personality surveys fails to capture much of the team dynamics that drive real-world team performance. Artificial Swarm Intelligence (ASI), a technology that enables networked teams to think together in real-time and answer questions as a unified system, promises a solution to these limitations by enabling teams to take personality tests together and converge upon answers that best represent the group’s disposition. In the present study, the group personality of 94 small teams was assessed by …

Amplifying The Social Intelligence Of Teams Through Human Swarming, Louis Rosenberg, Gregg Willcox, David Askay, Lynn Metcalf

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Artificial Swarm Intelligence (ASI) is a method for amplifying the collective intelligence of human groups by connecting networked participants into real-time systems modeled after natural swarms and moderated by AI algorithms. ASI has been shown to amplify performance in a wide range of tasks, from forecasting financial markets to prioritizing conflicting objectives. This study explores the ability of ASI systems to amplify the social intelligence of small teams. A set of 61 teams, each of 3 to 6 members, was administered a standard social sensitivity test —"Reading the Mind in the Eyes” or RME. Subjects took the test both as …

Investigation Of Compression Strength Of Bliss Style Corrugated Fiberboard Boxes, Javier De La Fuente, Jay Singh, Rebecca Kisch, Soma Roy, Daan Peleman

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The global demand for corrugated fiberboard is projected to experience a significant upsurge in the near future. Based on the end-use, packaging for processed and fresh food categories accounted for approximately 39% of the overall consumption of corrugated fiberboard in 2015. With key advantages such as providing an uninterrupted bottom, laminated corners for higher stacking strength, increased material use efficiency, side cutout options for display at retail and a wide range of styles over other styles of containers, Bliss style boxes find prominence in the agriculture sector. While numerous predictive strength models associating corrugated fiberboard material specifications to the box …

Developing A Greenometer For Green Manufacturing Assessment, Ahmed H. Salem, Ahmed M. Deif

Industrial Technology and Packaging

In this paper a toolbox (Greenometer) to assess the greenness level of manufacturing companies is proposed. The assessment approach is based on capturing the relative greenness position of any company among other industries from different sectors as well as within the same sector. The assessment was based on selected greenness attributes and their composing indicators at each of the two levels of the developed Greenometer. Geometric Mean Method (GMM) was adopted to be the generic assessment technique for cross industries greenness evaluation, while Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to assess the greenness level of intra-industries layer. Three different industrial …

Measurement And Analysis Of Transport Vibration For Ltl Freight Utilizing Stowage Optimization Equipment, Jay Singh, Koushik Saha, David Leinberger, John Antle

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The random vibration spectra typically used in lab based simulations towards developing and validating optimized packages for distribution have been developed through past research that have studied global transport vibration environments. Approximately 67% of all the freight tonnage moved in the U.S. utilizes heavy duty Class 8 trucks. While the floor (suspension) based vibration simulation profiles for these types of trucks are available towards lab based simulation, there have been no studies investigating the impact of shelving and stacking systems typically used for optimization of freight stowage in truck trailers by many freight companies. It is important to quantify how …

Evaluation Of Career Readiness At An Industrial Technology Program Using A Fuzzy Approach, Ahmed Deif, Cameron Stark, Kathryn Butler, Eric Olsen

Industrial Technology and Packaging

In this research, a quantitative model to measure the “career readiness” performance level of the current curriculum of the Industrial Technology and Packaging program at California Polytechnic State University is proposed. Career readiness is first defined through performance attributes and these attributes are further classified into specific categories and metrics. Using a fuzzy logic computational approach, “career readiness” measures are developed and a “career readiness” score referred to as (CRS) is calculated. The model is designed to be flexible, dynamic and easy to use. It should enable a systematic measurement of career readiness by producing a final integrated unit-less score. …

Insights On Lean Gamifications For Higher Education, Ahmed Deif

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Purpose

There is no argument that using games (gamification) is an efficient way of learning in higher education. The questions, though, are which gamification approach is most suitable at that level and how to assess its suitability? This paper aims to attempt to partially answer these two questions, in the context of lean thinking education.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper offers an assessment criteria to investigate the impact of lean gamification based on the evaluation of motivational, cognitive and social processing during games. In addition, a study is conducted among selected games using these assessment criteria. The study included statistical as well …

Evaluation Of Stability Of Unit Loads For Tilt And Shock Events During Distribution, Jay Singh, Koushik Saha, Tyler Sewell, Landon Newton

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Initiatives to lightweight and reduce packaging materials to achieve sustainability goals have created unit load stability challenges in the transportation and handling of palletized packaged goods. Consequently, an increased focus is being placed on evaluating how current pre-shipment performance tests evaluate load stability. This study was undertaken to address the current need for establishing test methodologies towards observing a unit load’s overall stability during transportation and handling related activities commonly experienced in the distribution environment. With this goal, this study developed two test methods as well as apparatus/measuring tool to observe a palletized load’s overall stability. The experimentation involved unit …

Effect Of Liquid Contamination On Hermeticity And Seal Strength Of Flexible Pouches With Lldpe, Francesca Delle Cese, Koushik Saha, S. Roy, Jay Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Flexible packaging is a growing successful market and the majority of flexible package applications are for the food industry. The demand for process optimization and reduced production costs, has led to an increase in flexible packaging. However, fast production lines can result in contamination in the seal area. For flexible food packaging, contamination is considered any food particle or substance trapped in the seal area. Current quality control processes can detect contamination in the seal area, but it is not determined if seal contamination affects seal quality. Oil-based and sodium based snack foods are two common categories that can be …

Photovoltaic Cooking In The Developing World, Tyler Watkins, Christopher O'Day, Omar Arriaga

Mechanical Engineering

The challenge of clean cooking is faced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. We present a cooking technology consisting of a solar panel directly connected to an electric heater in a well-insulated chamber. Assuming continued decrease in solar panel prices, we anticipate that in a few decades Solar Electric Cooking technologies will be the most common cooking technology for the poor. Appropriate use of insulation reduces the power demand making low-power Insulated Solar Electric Cooking systems already cost competitive.

Life Cycle Assessment Of Non-Alcoholic Single-Serve Polyethylene Terephthalate Beverage Bottles In The State Of California, Dongho Kang, Rafael Auras, Jay Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The aim of this study was to evaluate the environmental burden of non-alcoholic single serving size polyethylene terephthalate beverage bottle systems in the state of California through a life cycle assessment model. A mass flow of polyethylene terephthalate beverage bottle in the U.S., and the state of California is drawn as a Sankey diagram. The life cycle assessment model is designed with five main sections; material production, polyethylene terephthalate bottle production, waste management, environmental benefit, and transportation. The scope is cradle-to-grave with a representative functional unit as the amount of polyethylene terephthalate necessary to deliver 1000 L of beverage, specifically …

Variety And Volume Dynamic Management For Value Creation In Changeable Manufacturing Systems, Ahmed Deif, Hoda A. Elmaraghy

Industrial Technology and Packaging

In today’s uncertain market and continuously evolving technology, managing manufacturing systems are more complex than ever. This paper studies the dynamics of managing variety and volume to enhance value creation in manufacturers implementing system-level advanced and automated manufacturing technology (AAMT). The demand is composed of heterogeneous customers who make purchasing decisions depending on the variety levels and lead times of the firm’s product offerings. The cost structure adopted calculates profit as the difference between customer value creation rate (VCR) and costs associated with the process of creating this value. Reported results contribute to the variety and volume management literature by …