Tensegrity structure is lightweight and has high rigidity. It’s a structure expected to be apply to various fields from these. As a preliminary step of the drop impact test, so authors made the tensegrity model and improved the test equipment. Comparing the results of the improved experimental method with our previous results, the variance of the results was suppressed to about one third, and the reproducibility of the experiment improved. Our group will continue to improve the reproducibility of the test, and our group will strive to establish a drop impact test method as a new analytical method instead of numerical analysis.

A multiple precision arithmetic method is applied to derive a numerical solution of a system of ordinary differential equations describing static equilibrium of structural systems. First, it is shown that a numerical approach based upon the widely-used fixed precision arithmetic method defined by IEEE 754 can not give a correct solution because of numerical instabilities appearing in a discrete scheme, even if we apply a quadruple precision floating point number. Then, it is clarified that such numerical instabilities can be effectively removed by introducing the multiple precision arithmetic method, which can give us a correct solution.

In a previous report, one of the authors presented a method for efficient motion analysis of multibody systems. The presented method determines the null space matrix for the constraint Jacobian of the system by solving a differential equation and uses it to eliminate the Lagrange multipliers, which represents the joint reaction forces. Thus the presented method does not obtain the reaction forces. In another previous report the authors presented a method to obtain the joint reaction forces by introducing the coordinates which represent the motion prohibited by the constraints. This report presents a method for motion analysis of multibody systems on which friction acts. First, procedure to obtain the joint reaction forces when the system is subjected to friction force is formulated. Then, a method to calculate motion of the system is presented. Finally, validity of the method is confirmed by numerical example.

In this paper, we analize the characteristics of sloshing motion of water tank subjected to horizontal excitation and investigate damping methods to reduce the sloshing motion by giving rotational motion to water tank. We introduce the two-dimensional model of water tank by supposing the imcompressible ideal fluid and show the equation of motion about the antisymmetrical and the symetrical mode of sloshing motion. We propose damping methods to reduce the sloshing motion. We perform the simulation using the acceleration input measured in case of the periodic impulse excitation experiment and in case of car’s running on the road. Furthermore, simulation is performed using the control that detects acceleration and makes water tank parallel to the surface of water. It is found that the control is capable for sloshing reduction.

Many types of base isolation system have been proposed. Some of them are using friction characteristic. The authors have developed a base isolation system with friction for small size objects. Generally, seismic response of the system decreases with the increase of friction coefficient. However, it is observed that acceleration response increases with the increase of friction coefficient in some conditions. In order to examine this phenomenon, seismic response of the system with friction is calculated. The system is modeled as a single-degree-of-freedom system and seismic excitation is modeled as stationary filtered white noises. Using equivalent linearization method, standard deviation of the response is calculated. For displacement response, standard deviation of the response decreases with the increase of friction coefficient. For acceleration response, the standard deviation of the response takes minimum value when the natural period of the system is longer than the predominant frequency of excitation. Standard deviations of the responses are calculated for some natural period. Tendency of standard deviation of the response is same.

This paper deals with response behavior of the high-speed-moving connected vehicles on the running road subjected to seismic excitation. High-speed-moving connected vehicles are modeled by a set of vehicle model that has 21 degrees of freedom per vehicle. Running road is modeled by masses spring, and damper that have 1 degree of freedom in each direction. We investigated the effect of running road on behaviors of vehicles. We assumed ground as running road. We employ modal analysis in which nonlinear restoring force of stopper is considered. Response behaviors of vehicles on running road were different from response behaviors excluding running road. In this study, maximum displacement responses of vehicles on running road were bigger than maximum displacement responses excluding running road. The natural frequency of vehicle was emphasized by grounds. Also, we investigated the effect that the number of cars gives behaviors of vehicles. In this model, response behaviors of vehicles were just a little different, but its difference does not greatly give the safety of the vehicles influence.

In previous reports, we proposed a damping device called switched mass damper (SMD). The SMD consists of a light mass m_a attached to the primary system through a spring ka and a dashpot ca, and another mass mb connected to or disconnected from m_a by a friction clutch. The connection and disconnection are switched according to the displacement of m_a .In the previous reports, we investigated the effects of the parameters of SMD on the damping performance by numerical simulation. In this report, we conduct experiment to confirm the validity of the results of the numerical simulation.

Disk grinder is an electric tool that cuts or polishes the surface of wood or metal. This tool is used by a worker holding a handle. At this time, the worker receives strong vibrations in his hand. As a result, a worker may experience health problems called hand-arm vibration problems. In order to avoid this obstacle, it is necessary to reduce the vibration generated in the handle of the disc grinder. Therefore, in this research, we conducted a driving experiment to clarify the cause of hand-arm vibration of the disk grinder. In addition, a device simulating hand holding was manufactured and a driving experiment was performed. In this paper, we investigate the cause of vibration based on the experimental results and evaluate the manufactured device.

In this study, we propose the method of vibration reduction using sensitivity analysis and reduced modal analysis. Generally, the sensitivities of reference point on the local vibration are high because mass or stiffness of their regional areas or parts are small. It is necessary to extract reference points where structural modification leads vibration reduction efficiently. Therefore, we propose reduced modal analysis to identify modal parameter of main system except local system. This method is identification of one degree of freedom from frequency response function data including multi modal parameters. This result of reduced modal analysis can reconstructed frequency response function except local modal parameters. The difference between the reconstructed and experimental frequency response functions can judge whether reference point is important point or not. The sensitivity analysis can be performed for extracted reference point efficiently. This paper presents the procedure of proposal method using simple mass-spring model and its validation.

Research on reduction of the number of modes has been made to shorten the analysis time when vibration analysis is performed in a frequency band having a high mode density. In the principal modal analysis, which is a previous study, since the similarity of modes is not taken into consideration, the reduction number may be affected in some cases. Although the similarity is considered in the mode grouping method, the reproducibility of the response by the representative mode is not considered. Therefore, one of the authors proposes a representative mode extraction method to solve these problems. In this research, we conducted the representative mode extraction method at multipoint input and confirmed the reproducibility of response. Since the transfer function can not be calculated at multipoint input, the representative mode was extracted from the response waveform on physical coordinates. In addition, since it is considered to be complicated in consideration of the phase difference, it is treated as having no phase difference this time. When compared with the response reproduction result by the principal modal analysis for the multistage beam model, it was confirmed that the response could be reproduced more accurately with the same number.

Coal-fired power plants are responsible for about 40% of electricity generation in the world, and it is expected that the energy demand will be large in the future and will be playing a leading role in energy. So, it has become important to grinding a large amount of coal in the vertical roller mill. However, there is a problem that self-excited vibration occurs when pulverizing coal. We believe that it will occur when powder characteristics and pulverization conditions become specific conditions. Therefore, in this report, we examined the relation between particle size distribution and abnormal vibration by changing the particle diameter ratio, which is one of the powder properties, by rolling experiment. As a result, it was found that the vibration characteristics change when the particle diameter ratio changes. In addition, abnormal vibration was confirmed at a certain ratio, and it was found that there was dependency on the friction characteristics and the degree of slippage.

This study concerns in-plane squeal of disk brake. In disk brake which is used in motor vehicle, as a result of progress in reducing out-of-plane squeal which caused by the coupling of the natural vibration of the out-plane direction of the disk and caliper of natural vibration. In-plane squeal which the disk vibrates in-plane direction and occurs squeal has become a problem. However, in-plane squeal has remained in the confirmation of the phenomenon. The essence of the phenomenon is not clear. And since the deformation, such as expansion and contraction in the in-plane direction of the disk is not transmitted vibration in the air. There is a question of whether not the squeal does not occur. In this study, we focused on the natural vibration which disk brake vibrate in in-plane and out-plane at the same time, as a cause of in-plane squeal. At first, we verify the natural vibration mode by impact for disk brake which in-plane squeal has occurred. Secondly, reproduce the squeal and make the grasp of the in-plane squealing phenomenon by experimental apparatus which simplified a structure of the disk brake. And we measure the disk vibration of out-plane and in-plane when the disk occurs in-plane squeal. After that, we consider the disk vibration mode from the vibration state of the squeal occurred.

This paper presents experiments on the self-excited vibration of a weight on air flow and a trough. In this study, the vibration characteristics and the unstable condition in the case of the support structure as the trough model are examined through experiments. The experiment setup comprised the weight supported by the pressure of air supplied from slits on the upper surface of the trough, where the vibration characteristics were examined. The unsteady fluid force acting on the weight and the trough is examined by measuring unsteady pressure, and the local work done by the unsteady fluid force is clarified. Lastly, instability mechanism of the self-excited vibration is discussed based on the experimental results.

The authors developed the structural design process on the basis of experimental SEA for reducing structure-borne sound. Sensitivity analysis based on the perturbation method was proposed to predict the vibration energy or the sound energy at the evaluation point or subsystem, however, it was difficult to predict them accurately in order not to predict the variation of vibration input power by structural modification. So, the new method with considering the variation of vibration input power was verified through the simple structure like L-shaped plate in the real world experiment. As a result, it can be seen that the values of vibration and sound energy without using the vibration input power for structural modification were overestimated. In this paper, a partial car model with two beam subsystems and five panel subsystems is investigated by FEM analysis.

Measuring or calculating structural intensity (SI) affords us to understand the propagation paths of vibration and the amount of the transmitted power. In the previous paper, a new SI measurement system was developed. That system simultaneously uses many of MEMS sensors to save time. In this paper, the system is useful to specify countermeasure areas from the measured structural intensity. Firstly, we present the numerical application results of the specification and the vibration reduction is demonstrated numerically. Next, we present the experimental application results by using our developed measurement sheet sensor for visualizing structural vibration energy flow. As a result, it is concluded that our measurement sheet sensor is useful to find the countermeasure areas on the shell-structure with ease.

In this study, we discuss about a problem of a noise canceling function on an earphone. In general, the noise canceling function reduces unwanted ambient sounds using active noise controls. However, in windy condition, the noise canceling control makes a wind noise larger. To solve this problem, we study a root cause of the increasing wind noise by the noise canceling function. Experimental results show that differences of transfer characteristics between a normal noise and the wind noise is the root cause of this problem.

In cabin design such as automobiles, agricultural machines and construction machines, it is necessary to consider acoustic characteristics, and its analysis becomes important. However, while medium frequency of 300 to 1000 Hz is important in cabin design, at present it can only analyze to 0 to 300 Hz in numerical analysis using FEM and so on, and the analysis method in the mid frequency domain has not been established yet. Generally when evaluating the loss factor of a cabin or the like, a plurality of loss coefficients must be used for a sound field in a three-dimensional space. Therefore, in this study, we propose a method to give a uniform loss by using the mode strain energy method and confirmed its validity by comparing with the experimental value. Finally, we compare it with the classical method using room constants and demonstrate the superiority to the classical method.

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a very important technology to realize the sustainable society. Various researches are being conducted for SHM, and it is very effective because the technology can predict the possibility of damage of the structures. We have proposed an SHM method for a layered structure, in which the abnormal hierarchy of the structure is identified by strain measurement. First, in the normal condition, the location where the strain is almost 0 on the outer wall of each hierarchy is specified. Then, when an abnormality occurs in a certain hierarchy, a significant value of strain appears in the abnormal hierarchy where the strain was originally 0. And the validity of the method was confirmed by numerical simulation in the previous study. In this research, we checked the applicability of the method by experiment for an actual three-layer structure. As a result, it was shown that the method was possible to identify the hierarchy where an abnormality occurred.

The damage identification analysis based on filtering theory has a potentially effectiveness as a global monitoring both for identifying the damage locations and for estimating the extent of damage. In the computation process, the natural frequencies are utilized as observation data, and then the inverse analysis are performed recurrently to obtain the estimate values of system parameters. However, it is difficult to experimentally measure a large number of natural frequencies accurately. The purpose of this study is to develop a ranking approach to estimating structural damages. In this method, it requires only a few lower natural frequencies which can be measured experimentally. Although the location and extent of damages cannot be determined, the damage potential rankings are obtained as minimum required information to detect damage locations. In this paper, we conducted a damage experiment on straight piping and proposed and studied a new calculation algorithm to improve calculation accuracy. In addition, we investigated a method of estimating damaged position using the damage coefficient.

In recent years, miniaturization and weight reduction of mechanical structures have been advanced, however since the vibration sensitivity of the machine increases and the space for arranging the vibration damping material also decreases, vibration enough to hinder the original function is excited a problem arises. Therefore, it is considered that the development of vibration damping materials that small amounts and exhibit high vibration damping properties is useful. It is known that damping characteristics are improved by composing fine particles in a viscoelastic material, however its mechanism is unknown. From the previous research, we obtained knowledge that the loss factor changes depending on fiber orientation for composite natural rubber with fiber-shaped PET particles. From this, it is conceivable that the interface state of the filler / matrix and the strain distribution of the test piece change depending on the fiber orientation. Therefore, in this research, to investigate the filler / matrix interface, an X - ray CT image was obtained with a tensile load applied to the test piece, and the interface state observed. As a result, it was confirmed that voids were generated or grown at the fiber ends when the fiber orientation coincided with the tensile orientation. When the fiber orientation was orthogonal, it was impossible to confirm the generation and growth of voids. From the above results, it was found that separation and interfacial slippage in the fiber end and these phenomena largely influenced the strain amplitude dependence of the attenuation characteristic at composite rubber with fiber-shaped particles.

We have developed a flexible impact force sensor using piezoelectric film. Flexibility of the sensor is achieved by the metal mesh sheet which covers entire surface of the sensor elements. Piezoelectric films of small dimensions are distributed inside the sensor. There is no electrical wiring in the sensor. The output signal of the sensor element is obtained from the metal mesh sheet via upper and lower electrode of the elements. This sensor intends to measure the impact force at the dummy doll head of a car crash test or at the hard surface of the robot body.

This paper presents an approach to deal with the identification of continuous-time Wiener systems, characterized by a series connection of a linear dynamic element and a static nonlinear element. The static nonlinear element is a sum of known basis functions and the linear dynamic element is a parametric rational transfer function. The proposed method is based on the projection of input-output data onto the finite dimensional parameter space whose basis is determined by the structure of an overparameterized representation of the Wiener model. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed continuous-time identification method.

Ultrasonic levitation is a phenomenon of capturing an object at the position of the node of the sound pressure of the standing wave. The purpose of our research is to measure the Young's modulus of the levitated thin film at the node of the sound pressure of the standing wave generated between the Langevin transducer and the reflector facing it. In order to measure the Young's modulus of the levitated thin film and compare it with the theoretical value, it is necessary to quantitatively evaluate the behavior of the levitated thin film. First of all, as a simple model, experiments are conducted on the relationship between the sound pressure of the levitating position and the levitating position of the object, as a target of levitation of a spherical Styrofoam instead of a thin film. Then, the same experiment is carried out by inverting the position where the Langevin transducer and the reflector are fixed, and the phenomenon of the levitation of the object and the phenomenon of the acoustic streaming are compared.

There is a way of measuring the ground structure called seismic prospecting. In this way, the seismic center excites the ground with measuring the excitation timing, and the seismographs on the ground receive the seismic wave with measuring receiving timing. From the seismic wave data, we can analyze the seismic wave speed and understand the ground structure from the past report. However, this way is very costly and needs the large-scale preparing. Therefore, we need the easier and cheaper way of the structure measuring. In our research, we adopted the miniature boring machine as the source of exciting seismic wave. In this research, we examined the effect of the way of data processing called Stacking. We changed the number of data for using Stacking and examined the minimum measuring time. In this research, we found that when we set at least 7 seconds for measuring, we could get the similar result with the conventional measurement result.

Machines and structure are generally constructed with many elements and a junction area exists between elements. Various methods such as welding and riveting can be cited as a joining method of joining elements, and the method which widely used is the fastening by bolted joint. The static property of the jointed part was relatively well proved, for example, Rotscher cone of influence, while the dynamic property has not been cleared yet. In this study, we aim to propose a finite element model of bolted joint using structural analysis software ANSYS. The test piece is a structure in which two frame type structures are fastened using bolts and nuts and a numerical analysis result obtained by adjusting the contact condition of the two boards with the impact test result is prepared is prepared. And the contact condition of the two plates is proposed using the ratio between the optimum fixed area and the one of Rotscher cone of influence.

Recently, the appliances are demanded to reduce noise and vibration due to the lifestyle and the life environment change such as increasing a household in which both husband and wife work, women’s social advancement. Especially, the washing machine is demanded to reduce noise and vibration because it is used every day and consumers want to use it during even night without troubling somebody. This vibration problem is caused by the unbalanced weight of clothes. Especially, its unbalance force increases during drying process. To suppress the unbalance force, a fluid balancer is used in the washing machine. But dynamic characteristics are not clarified. It is designed by heuristic. In this study, the purpose is to create an analysis model of the washing machine.

The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient detection method of difference in the physical property between an actual structure and a numerical model for the precise numerical modeling of the structure. We had proposed a fundamental detection method, but it has turned out that it is sensitive to measurement noise. Therefore, we propose a reduction method of degrees of freedom at the coupling dofs by using singular value decomposition which reduces influences of measurement error. We confirmed that the influence of noise by the boundary constraint method is greatly reduced in the simplified structure model and the validity of the proposed method is confirmed.

This reserch aims to construct a dynamic model of rolling resistance for wheelchair tires. The tire was modeled as an elastic body. It is considered that no slip originally occurs between the tire and the road surface. The relative displacement caused by the speed difference is thought to cause slippage. However,we thought that the circumferential spring of the tire worked so as not to cause slippage by shear deformation. I think that shear deformation occurs as rolling of the tire. Simulation of the rolling resistance force showed that the tendency to the vertical displacement of the tire was consistent. However,the calculated value of the rolling resistance force was 10 times larger than the measured value.

The vibrations of a bowed violin string have been studied since the 19th century. The string was found to oscillate in a simple triangular pattern described by Helmholtz. Today these vibrations are known as stick and slip vibrations caused by friction and have been studied by many researchers. Stick-slip vibrations are self-sustained oscillations induced by dry friction. The theoretical analysis of stick-slip vibrations was solved by Cellular Automaton Method during prior research. However, it is not solved by Modal Analysis Method. In this research, stick-slip vibration is solved by Modal Analysis Method. At the time of slip, as a result of the simulation, it was possible to obtain results by Modal Analysis Method which is reasonable compared with Cellular Automaton Method.

Symptoms of a hand-arm vibration syndrome are caused by long-term use of hand-held vibrating tools, such as rock drills, impact drills and tamping rammers, and by excessive exposure to hand-arm vibrations. The purpose of this study is to develop a very low-vibrational tool using self-synchronization phenomena in order to decrease the risk of the hand-arm vibration syndrome. In the previous study, a prototype typing rammer based on an impact model with four oscillators has been developed. It was confirmed that the synchronous vibration which is able to achieve a good balance between vibration control of handgrips and the excitation of impact plates can be generated. In this study, an attempt was made to redesign the prototype with high power DC motors in order to improve the compacting performance and the vibration reduction more than ever. The sand compaction tests for measuring the daily vibration exposure values and the impact forces are conducted to estimate the performance of the optimized apparatus.

In recent years various diseases exist in the world. In this study, we target at Pulmonary Hypertension that is known as the intractable disease. The treatment at appropriate timing is particularly essential to the intractable disease. At present, blood flow velocity and blood pressure are measured using an invasive catheter and the phase difference between them is measured to calculate pulmonary artery occlusion degree. However, in recent years noninvasive diagnosis is considered desirable. Therefore, in this research, we will conduct a study to propose a noninvasive diagnostic method using ultrasound diagnostic imaging equipment. Measure blood flow velocity and blood vessel outer diameter using ultrasonic waves. It was confirmed that the phase angle differs according to the degree of vascular occlusion by comparison of simulation results, experimental results using silicone tubes, and clinical data.

Sit-to-stand motion (STS) is said to be the most fundamental and burdensome activity of daily living. Elderly persons decrease lower-limb muscle strength as aging and become difficult to stand up alone. For that reason, rehabilitation to improve the remaining capacity is more and more important in aging society. The existing research of STS has been conducted on technological development such as controlling the posture and automatically recognizing the intention. However, the spontaneous contraction of the muscles and individual differences of STS have not been discussed so. In author's preceding study (authors), we aim to assist STS by focusing on trajectory. However, the interaction of force on hip and current standing assistance device is not examined. In this study, we measure the STS of the subject and derive the trajectory with reduced hip load. As a result, it was found that the maximum moment on the optimized trajectory is smaller than that on original trajectory by focusing on the moment of hip. And we developed a standing assistance device that reproduces the trajectory.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. Evacuation plans are required to allow people in buildings and underground shopping areas to evacuate promptly when disasters such as fires and earthquakes occur. Therefore, it is necessary to use evacuation simulations. In this study, we modeled humans using a distinct element method.In a conventional evacuation simulation, human behavior cannot be expressed perfectly. Therefore, we paid attention to the human avoidance area. In this study, we set the radius of the avoidance area (which we called Pseudo radius) and its angle for each evacuee. In a previous study we have used constant values for the Pseudo radius and angles, but in this study we treated these as variables depending on the relative velocity of the avoidance subject. Then, we performed walking tests of overtaking and passing through which the relationship between the relative velocity, the Pseudo radius, and the angle was obtained. Additionally, in the conventional evacuation simulation, the spring constant was a constant value. However, the evacuator's moving velocity becomes faster, which means that evacuees are placed in a more tensed psychological state. Therefore, we considered that the spring constant, which determines the repulsive force received from the people around the subject, changes depending on the velocity of the evacuees themselves. Therefore, the relationship between the velocity and the spring constant was obtained from the results of the walking experiment. From the above two points, we propose a simulation model that is closer to the actual walking trajectory than the conventional simulation model.

In recent years, an active safety system that recognizes a danger beforehand and carries out a danger avoidance is attracting a great deal of attention. It has been proposed that the automatic braking system and the crash avoidance system in the lane change at the straight road. The problem is one of low avoidance performance in the lane change at the sharp curve. The purpose of this study is to create the high avoidance performance system at the sharp corner. When the driver proceed the lane change at the sharp corner despite there are the parallel traveling vehicle, the proposed system controls the vehicle to avoid the crash. We studied the performance of proposed system with the experiments of the model car.

It is one of the causes of the serious accident that the technique of the driver is unskilled. The present lane keep system controls a rudder so that a vehicle runs the center of the road. However, a dropping accident may be generated when a walker or a bicycle reach the narrow road. The purpose of this study is to develop the prevent system of dropping accident on the narrow road. The effectiveness of this system was inspected by experimentally.

This paper deals with response behavior and rollover resistance of heavy duty truck in cornering. Our goal of research is to prevent the truck from rollovering by incorporating the rollover prevention device into the truck. In this study, the truck is expressed by nonlinear-four-wheel model that has 3 degree of freedom, that is, roll angle, yaw angular speed and side slide angle. The equations of motion include the nonlinear property of the tire lateral force. These equations are solved by numerical calculation, and running locus and wheel load are caluculated. We use the rate of decrease of wheel load as the index for judging rollover. We perform parameter study about the height of center of gravity, the running speed and so on, and investigate the degree of the risk of rollover. Furthermore, by comparing the model with the rollover prevention device utilizing semiactive suspension and that without it, we show the usefulness of this device.

Measurements and theoretical studies related to wheel/rail noise have been carried out widely and thoroughly. The wheel/rail noise from 250 Hz to 4 kHz significantly influences the wayside noise along railway lines. However, when a train runs on a sharply curved track, squeal noise due to wheel and rail interactions in the frequency range of 1 kHz to 5 kHz has greater contribution to the total wayside noise. In this paper, scale model tests using simplified wheel and rail are carried out in order to develop a prediction model of squeal noise. It is found that the scale model apparatus could simulate squeal noise. Furthermore, at the range of attack angle from 0° to 3°, the vibration of the disk is greater as the angle is lager. This is due to the axial force between the disk and the roller.

To simulate squeal noise at curved sections in railway lines and develop measures for the noise, prediction numerical model is required. In this study, numerical model for the disk and roller, which modeled and simplified a railway wheel and a rail, is developed. The model is based on wheel vibration derived from modal analysis and the forces between the disk and roller. The vibration related to squeal noise is occurred due to feedback between the wheel vibration and the forces. By using the numerical model, the wheel vibration related to squeal noise are simulated and the peaks in the frequency domain are observed. These results agree with the experimental results. This model has potential to simulate the squeal noise. The model includes parameters related to wheel vibration characteristics, rail vibration characteristics and friction forces between a rail and a wheel. These indicate that some measures on both wheel and rail may reduce the squeal noise.

We have already developed a speech-driven embodied entrainment CG character system called InterActor, which automatically generates communicative motions and actions such as nods for entrained interaction from speech rhythm based on only voice input. However, the conventional InterActor character generates only positive actions. Therefore, in the case of a negative speech with high speech activity, the system may promote the negative speech by performing positive gestures in response to negative verbal content. In this paper, we develop an advanced speech-driven embodied entrainment character system that makes the behavior according to the state estimated by the speech activity and the semantic orientations of words in utterance. In the system, the speaker's words are converted to text by speech recognition, and the speaker's state is estimated from the speech activity and the character strings in the converted text. The system uses a database that quantifies each word and estimates the emotion associated with it. Then, the system automatically generates embodied entrainment motions or soothing and activated motions based on the speech activity and the semantic orientations of words in utterance. Furthermore, we evaluate the system by sensory evaluations.

In order to maintain machines, there are more things to consider regarding disassembling operations than assembling ones. Therefore disassembling machines is a difficult operation, and making a mistake in the disassembling process may cause damage to machines and the injury of operators. In order to prevent these problems, parts list and operation manuals have been used. However, to deal with various situations, operators must have significant experience. If the machines have a million parts, the parts list includes one million lines, and many operation manuals are necessary. In order to solve these problems, a method is proposed for 3D visualization of connecting relations and illustrating the disassembling process. The description of connecting relations between parts was systematized; then, a method of inferring disassembling process was developed. Three conditions were considered for the inference of the disassembling process; parts should not fall off, parts should not become suspended, and some parts can be removed collectively as a unit. The disassembling process in which all parts meet these three conditions is inferred in this method. The method was implemented on a computer. A case study was conducted using the system, and it showed that a beginner operator can disassemble parts safely and smoothly by referring to the inferred process.

In contemporary manufacturing, it is necessary to design innovative products continuously. Thus, a methodology to create innovative product ideas is proposed. It can be used to create product ideas by synthesizing a product and a situation that is different from the situation in which the product is conventionally used. The design methodology, by focusing on situations, was systemized from a relationship between products, functions, and situations. In order to investigate the effectiveness of the design methodology by focusing on situations, an experiment in which the subjects create new product ideas was conducted. The subjects were divided into two group: an experimental group was given situations, and a control group was not given situations in advance. Then, the subjects thought of an existing product's function and created new product ideas. The ideas were evaluated preliminarily from the viewpoints of originality and practicality. In the evaluation, product ideas created by both groups were evaluated higher than 0. This suggests the effectiveness of the methodology. The fact that the value of practicality of the product ideas created by the experimental group was higher than the one of the control group might imply that the situation in which product will be used was imagined more concretely. On the other hand, the value of originality was lower than for the control group, indicating that the expansion of the thought space was inhibited in the case of focusing on situations.