Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones, are expected as a next industry and several developments are carried over the world. For the indoctrination, safety aspects are indispensable. In this paper, experimental evaluations for protective gloves and eyewears are reported. The effectiveness of existing safety standards related to these protective gloves and eyewears are discussed based on the experimental results. For safety management issue, Safety Management System(SMS) framework for aeronautical industry and Occupational Health and Safety Management System(OHSMS) for general industries are compared based on the related standard documents. The comparison indicates that both SMS and OHSMS have similar requirements. The development of safety standard of drone Personal Protective Equipments(PPEs) and detail comparison of SMS and OHSMS are further issues. When preparing the manuscript, read and observe carefully this sample as well as the instruction manual for the manuscri

It is predicted that the opportunities for workers to collaborate with industrial robots specialty in collaboration (collaborative robot) will increase in the future. We believe that detailed clarification of quantification indices on the worker side regarding collaboration between industrial robots and workers will lead to smoother and more rewarding collaborative work for the workers. In this presentation, we introduce a method for quantifying and analyzing the characteristics of individual worker behavior as a behavioral topography by capturing the worker's movements in the work environment and in their interactions with industrial robots that perform the same tasks. When studying the relationship between industrial robots and worker collaboration, industrial safety behavior analysis studies may be used to help analyze how industrial robots are related to worker behavior as environmental stimuli for workers, rather than just numerical values such as the number of tasks completed or the speed of work. Behavioral topography of workers is easily available using visual inspection of data such as scatter plot.

As technology advances rapidly nowadays, integrated production systems in manufacturing and/or construction sites so on and collaborative robots have been introduced to the field, and work styles have undergone major changes. Such introduction of new technologies to worksites such as robots and ICT devices expects to advantage improvement of work efficiency, elimination of unnecessary movements, and reduction of stress of workers are mentioned. However, the evaluations for feeling such as comfortability, workload, safety feeling and happiness of workers working at work sites introducing new technologies, so far are quite limited and the most are subjective using questionnaires. Now we have been trying to propose a systematic and scientific procedure of measurement and evaluation of safety behavior analysis expressing "two kinds" of well-being, Subjective well-being and Psychological well-being of workers at work from the standpoint of occupational safety. In this presentation, we show the results of recent experiments and outline the importance of 1) dividing well-being into two kinds and 2) evaluating well-being with objective indicators.

Although measures to prevent occupational accidents based on the risk assessment for machinery (hereinafter referred to as RA) has been promoted, activities at small-scale business sites still remain insufficient. As one of the measures to support small business sites in implementing RA, we propose an easy method.

In this paper, the effects of the operation of braking devices by sliding friction against rails (rail brake) on the dynamic characteristics of operator cabins of gantry cranes after runaway caused by unexpected wind gust were analyzed. The operating characteristics of the rail brakes were defined by the increase ratio of the pressing load of the brake shoe, d_PB/dt, the maximum value of the pressing load, P_Bmax, and the timing that the operation starts. Under the analysis conditions of this paper, in the case where d_PB/dt is large, the maximum acceleration in the runaway direction of the operator cabin became large when the rail brakes started to operate. In the case where P_Bmax is large, the maximum acceleration amplitude of the residual vibration of the operator cabin became large after the runaway of the crane ended. It is advisable to decrease the maximum value and maximum amplitude of the acceleration of the operator cabin by adjusting appropriately d_PB/dt and P_Bmax from a viewpoint of discomfort reduction of the operators.

The implementation of risk assessment (hereafter, “RA”) at the design stage of machinery is essential to prevent the use of machine from being the causes of industrial accidents, however, the diffusion and embeddedness of RA among machine manufacturers in Japan are impeded by the difficulty of “hazard identification” which is regarded as the most important step in the whole RA process. In order to establish an effective support measure for inexperienced design engineers to adequately carry out the hazard identification, this study focuses on the facts that its difficulty is comprised of two aspects and the utilization of requirements stated in the international standards related to safety of machinery can solve both. A hazard identification support tool substantiating the above-mentioned concept is proposed and specification and functions of its prototype under development are described in this paper.

Conventional linear notch mechanics, proposed in the 1980s, clarifies the distinction between the fracture zone and non-fracture zone of notched materials and is useful for evaluating the fracture strength of brittle materials. While linear fracture mechanics, a method for evaluating the strength of cracked materials, requires only one measure of severity, the stress intensity factor K, this conventional linear notch mechanics requires two measures. The two measures are the maximum stress at the bottom of the notch and the notch radius. In this study, we clarify the effectiveness of an improved linear notch mechanics that uses the stress gradient at the bottom of the notch instead of the notch radius, and refer to the extension of applicability.

Recently, there have been frequent automobile collisions with pedestrians on sidewalks, and there is a movement to review the role of the sidewalk-driveway boundary column (car stop) from the viewpoint of crashworthiness. In this study, material models were obtained for SS400, SPCC and FCD450 with using Tanimura-Mimura model 2009, which can represent the response of viscoplastic materials subjected to impact loading, and the finite element model of the column were built to carry out numerical simulations of car collision with column. The collision velocity was varied from 20 km/h, 40 km/h, and 60 km/h. The deformation and fracture behavior of that FE model were investigated using the dynamic FEM code LS-DYNA. From the viewpoint of crashworthiness, the effects of material properties on histories of velocity, deceleration, and kinetic energy were focused on. The effects of the geometry and placement of the column were also examined in a parametric study. With one sidewalk-driveway boundary column, the SS400 and SPCC ones were able to stop a numerical model car at 20 km/h. When the column failed, the bending failure occurred at the root anchored to the ground. The FCD450 one was broken at all collision velocities. The SS400 one reduced the velocity and kinetic energy the fastest, but also had the greatest deceleration, albeit to a lesser extent.

The demands of heat cycles are increasing in the recent society where high performance of electronics or comfortability of our life are required. In order to use them safely and efficiently, the thermal accidents caused by high speed destruction or explosion have to be avoided. The usage of a pressure relief valve is one of effective measures. For an instance it can safely exhaust high-pressure combustible gas generated as a diesel engine like explodes in an air conditioner compressor. In this study histories of strain and pressure growing process that was referred as diesel explosion process in the compressor were estimated and measured. Then it was found that the pressure reached to a maximum at 4 msec after the valve was opened, due to the heat supply from the combustion gas inside the compressor, and that these phenomena induced the overshoot of valve pressure. These phenomena were estimated by analyses and experiments, it was found that this overpressure caused the delay of functional removement of the valve. Finally, these information were applied to product design, and these knowledges were able to avoid pressure vessel breakage.

In recent years, the building industry has been focusing on creating new value by combining data collected in buildings with advanced analytical technologies such as AI and digital twin. In particular, there are high expectations for energy conservation, as indicated by keywords such as ZEB and carbon neutral. This study combines BEMS data and machine learning to build a simulation model that predicts the indoor environment and air conditioner energy, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality in office buildings. We have constructed a simulation model to predict energy consumption of indoor environment and air conditioners by combining BEMS data and machine learning, and confirmed that the model can predict the indoor environment and air conditioner energy with high accuracy.

In recent years, the aging of infrastructure facilities, such as power generation and chemical plants, has been a serious social problem. When defects are detected by the inspections, it is required to repair them. Our research group have developed the advanced repair technique using the laser metal deposition method. In the future, it will be necessary to clarify how the repair process applied to a part of component affects the deformation behavior and stress on the whole structure. In this study, we develop the methodology to analyze the repaired structure using the transfer matric method, which has been developed in our research group. Firstly, we extended fundamental theory to that for the repaired element, and converted into a code based upon Python language. In order to check the verification, some examples of statically indeterminate structural with the repaired part were solved.

When an inexperienced worker operates a mechanical device, it can be roughly divided into work that can be understood by repeating the number of times and work that takes time due to structural problems. The use of equipment by inexperienced workers without understanding the task contributes to inducing unsafe behavior. In this research, we focus on work that induces unsafe behavior, and confirm the influence of changing the design of equipment on safe behavior through experiments. In this report, we changed the design of the device as a countermeasure against unsafe behavior confirmed by previous research.

When a sample return capsule enters into the Earth's atmosphere, a strong shock wave is generated in front of the capsule, and it is subjected to severe aerodynamic heating. One of the thermal protection methods used to protect the capsule from the heating is the ablation method. In the future, the capsule is expected to become larger and the re-entry speed will increase. In this case, the capsule will be exposed to more severe aerodynamic heating. In order to investigate the fundamental heating behaviors of carbon-based and silicon-based materials, the authors have systematically conducted the heating experiments of these materials in high-temperature plasmajets.

Spectroscopic measurements of low-pressure microwave-discharged nitrogen plasma in the wavelength region of 410 to 790 nm were conducted by changing the flow rate and the net incident power of microwave. The N₂ 2+ and N₂⁺ 1－ bands in shorter wavelength region and the N₂ 1+ band in longer wavelength region were observed. In this study, radiation from N₂ B ³Π_g state on v′> 12 in the N₂ 1+ band, which normally observed in such as Lewis-Rayleigh afterglow, was investigated in detail. As a result, it was found that the intensity tends to relatively increase as the flow rate increases.

Inflatable membrane aeroshell has the potential ability to deliver higher payload in planetary exploration missions. Receiving in-flight aerodynamic force, the membrane surface undergoes large deformation affecting the flow. To investigate the behavior, a coupled aero-structural interactions analysis is required. This paper aims to present a model based on fluid solver SU2, structural solver CalculiX, and coupling library preCICE in a partitioned-coupled manner. The computed results demonstrated that the membrane surface elastically deformed due to the substantial variation in pressure distribution around the aeroshell. Transient behavior has been observed in the aerodynamic coefficients as a result of the small amplitude oscillation of the capsule. This oscillation was induced by the large wake formed behind the vehicle. Wrinkling of the surface caused by the high aerodynamic force shows circumferential movement tendency with time. This study indicated that the analysis model can sufficiently reproduce the coupled aero-structural interaction, which provides insight for developing a flexible structure reentry vehicle.

As a novel thermal protection system (TPS) for re-entry vehicles, a carbon monolith ablator (CMA) was fabricated by impregnation of acrylic resin into porous carbon monolith. To evaluate their performance of CMA and porous carbon monolith, thermal response and recession resistance were evaluated using an arc wind tunnel. Compared to carbon monoliths without impregnation resin, CMAs showed that heating rate of surface temperature decreases owing to the decomposition of acrylic resin, which is an endothermic reaction and well known as a factor of ablation effect. The temperature at 20 mm and 30 mm depth from surface increased with the increase of density. On the other hand, the effective ablation heat, which is an indicator of the recession resistance improved at low heat flux (<5 MW/m²). Contrary, the effective ablation heat of CMA for heat flux of >5 MW/m² is not improved compared to carbon monolith and discussion will be carried out for this phenomenon.

During the atmospheric reentry phase, the communication between a vehicle and a ground station is interrupted. This phenomenon is called reentry blackout. A strong shock wave in front of the capsule can cause aerodynamic heating and ionize the gas. This plasma can block the propagation of electromagnetic waves emitted from its surface. It is necessary to reduce the number density of electrons near the capsule to mitigate the communication blackout. We focused on a new mitigation approach, which is the effect of air film. Cold gas injected from the surface forms a thin heat insulating layer. Electromagnetic waves can propagate inside the layer because of the low degree of ionization. In this study, we investigate the blackout mitigation effects using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) at a large-scaled arc- heated wind tunnel. The computational results indicated that injection gas forms the air film and works as a propagation path of the electromagnetic waves.

Aerospace vehicles are exposed to a high temperature environment by aerodynamic heating during re-entry. A thermal protection system (TPS) such as ablator is required to protect the spacecraft from this environment. In previous studies, porous carbon ablator (hereafter denoted as PCA) composed of three-dimensional networked porous carbon (here after denoted as TNPC) substrate and resin with a low residual carbon ratio is fabricated. An experimental performance of PCA is performed by arc-jet test and recession behavior is evaluated. Although the experimental evaluation on TNPC and PCA have been conducted, analytical evaluation is not established well. In the present study, the heat conduction analysis of TNPC and PCA is performed by finite element method. Thermal and mechanical properties of TNPC and PCA is obtained by experiments. As a result, the analytical results are generally in agreement with the experimental values. From the obtained temperature distribution, the thermal stress distribution is also evaluated. The result suggests that the design of ablator for the decrease of not only heat conduction, but also internal stresses are required.

During reentry into the planetary atmosphere, the vehicle is surrounded by ionized and dissociated plasma caused by aerodynamic heating. The high-dense plasma near the vehicle blocks the electromagnetic wave propagation for telecommunication, and then, communication with the ground station is prevented. This problem is known as a reentry blackout. One method of mitigation of reentry blackout is air film technique, in which low-temperature gas is blown out of the vehicle to form a path for electromagnetic waves propagation. In this study, to clarify the effect of air film for blackout mitigation, the plasma flow around an experimental model conducted in the DLR was reproduced by a computational fluid dynamics approach. In the present analysis, three cases with different mass flow rates were analyzed. In the two cases with low mass flow rates, oscillations of the air film were observed. In the case with the highest mass flow rate, the results approached steady state with time. This indicated that a high mass flow rate can ensure a stable low electron number density region and mitigate reentry blackouts. In the future, it is necessary to apply the effect of air film to the reentry capsule shape and evaluate the effect on the mitigation of communication blackout and aerodynamic characteristics.

The purpose of this study is to develop teaching materials and teaching tools for raising the ability to think and judge scientifically and to evaluate and utilize them, while encouraging the understanding according to the developmental stage, taking energy situation and environmental problem of Japan and the world which are tense recently as a subject. In this study, the development of the ocean current power generation equipment is proposed with the aim of scientifically recognizing the necessity of the introduction of the renewable energy and technical problems in proportion to the developmental stage, and acquiring the ability to appropriately evaluate and utilize the technology. The developed equipment is composed of a hull and a power generation turbine. On the hull, the hull stabilization is attempted by arranging two floats made of foamed polystyrene side by side. The turbine was designed by 3D CAD and fabricated by 3D printer. Created. On the power generation turbine, after the students themselves designed it using simple 3DCAD and printed it by 3D printer, they intend to improve it so that it becomes more efficient through experiment and measurement in this experimental equipment.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the mankind has achieved astonishing technological innovation and economic development. Recently, the environmental pollution and global warming caused by a large amount of consumption of fossil fuels have become apparent. From such a background the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include climate change measures, were adopted at the UN Summit in 2015. On the other hand, Japan's energy self-sufficiency rate is 11.8%, which is low among developed countries, and Japan is dependent on imports of most fossil fuels from other countries. Besides the Stirling engines is not necessarily require the combustion of fossil fuels and is therefore low polluting. From this point, the Stirling engines attracts, attention in recent years. But one of the problems preventing the practical use of the Stirling engine is that it is more difficult to miniaturize than a conventional internal combustion engine. Another disadvantage is that the output response is poor. In this study, we focused on the Stirling engine as an engine that uses renewable energy and designed and manufactured a Stirling engine that can be operated even when snow or ice is used as the low-temperature heat source. And, we use a room temperature as the high-temperature heat source. The aim of this research is to make effective use of low-temperature heat sources that have not been used until now.

The Alternative ☆ Energy Contest was launched in 2008 as the new energy utilization contest for students of universities and National Institute of Technologies, which was held in collaboration with Technology and Society Division, The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. In this report, the number of applications, participants and sponsoring companies were investigated in the 14th Alternative ☆ Energy Contest held at College of Engineering, Nihon University on Saturday, October 16, 2021. In addition, we classified the energy sources and energy conversions in the presentation.

Efforts to increase the amount of renewable energy introduced are accelerating in order to reduce CO₂ emissions. Especially in cold regions such as Hokkaido, it is important to reduce not only electric power but also CO₂ emissions related to heat demand such as heating. Therefore, we have been studying an algorithm for finding the optimum arrangement of renewable energy equipment to be installed in the power and heat supply network. This search program is developed by a genetic algorithm. As a result of conducting a case study targeting Hokkaido, CO₂ was reduced by 20%. Since education on the consumer side is also important for further reduction, we considered a power supply and demand programming contest for students. However, programming using a genetic algorithm requires a huge amount of calculation time, and the accuracy of the solution is not certain, so we decided that it would be difficult to establish it as a contest. Therefore, in the compulsory subjects, we started to create a task that can be educated step-up on the search algorithm of renewable energy equipment that reduces CO₂.

Graduation research subjects in the field of engineering education have academic significance in order to summarize the learning of the bachelor's program. On the other hand, the number of students is diversifying as the 18-year-old population declines and the entire enrollment era is reached. In order to solve these problems, it is important to practice class reforms and accumulate improvements. In addition, it is necessary to consider situations such as the Pandemic. Therefore, in this research, we report on the actual situation of graduation research subject guidance including lesson improvement measures in Pandemic in a certain department of a private technical university, and also describe future issues.

A simple and inexpensive approach to making the on-demand type learning contents while giving the face-to-face lecture in the class was reported. Screen images of the video projector in the classroom and explanation voices of the teacher are recorded as a video file. The teacher uses the Bluetooth headset to allow moving away from the computer connected to the projector. The wireless ring mouse is also used to indicate the contents and make slides work. The recorded files are placed on the learning management system after the class so that the students who could not attend the face-to-face class due to anxiety about COVID-19 and other unavoidable reasons could take a lecture in the form of the on-demand type distance learning. It was demonstrated that the reported approach is useful for preparing the distance learning contents to avoid significant deterioration of content quality without taking much time and effort.

The ability to achieve the optimum design based on specifications is a skill that should be trained in mechanical engineering education. We have developed an engineering educational scheme for designing, creating, and evaluating via the spontaneous participation of students themselves. The most significant feature is to provide experiences such as machining for creating “real (not virtual)” parts to assemble and form real products on one’s hand. Achievement of this goal needs to encourage students to repeat the design cycle to avoid any mistakes in the final products. In the recent case, we took a smartphone stand as the targeted subject and the instructors provided the specifications to third-year undergraduate students at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology. Students designed and analyzed with 3D CAD and created component drawings. Through the analyses (e.g. evaluating stress distribution and entire shape deformation) of the suggested design, they evaluated the feasibility of their design. If not satisfied, they were encouraged to modify in 3D-CAD and then analyze again. Repeating this cycle, students learned the process of optimization of the design, which is often experienced in the real manufacturing process. Once the shape of the parts was finalized, students transferred their CAD design to a laser cutter to cut cardboard, then assembled all to have the final product. The assembled product was then evaluated through the application of the load (for instance) to check whether the product fulfills the specifications. If not, they shall consider an alternative way and propose the idea for the second round of revision,. Such ideas were summarized in their reports to submit to the instructors on the final day of the class. Entire achievements of designing, creating, and evaluating were graded with oral presentations and submitted materials like reports. Adopting the repetitive cycle learning method as above, the students developed their CAD, CAM, and CAE skills while improving their ability to achieve the optimum design based on specifications.

Technical writing education was practiced in collaboration with faculty members specializing in Japanese language education. In engineering universities, the ability to write technical documents such as experiment reports, graduation theses, etc. is required. However, for students who are familiar with short text exchanges on social media it is difficult to write technical documents consisting of multiple paragraphs. In this paper, we describe our teaching practice using handy fan as teaching material. After the paragraph writing on disassembly procedure, operation mechanism and performance test of the handy fan, the students completed a research report on the handy fan. Finally, the effectiveness of education is discussed based on the results of questionnaire on the class.

Elementary school textbooks say that in a curved river, the flow is slow on the inside and fast on the outside. On the other hand, from a fluid-dynamic point of view, the inside is fast and the outside is slow. We have investigated why such a contradiction occurs. Previous measurements in downstream rivers have confirmed that sedimentation occurs inside bends in plain rivers, and many rivers slow inside. In this report, measurements were taken in the upstream river. As a result, we observed several cases in which the inner part was faster and the outer part was slower in the upper reaches. Further experiments are needed to confirm this result. In addition, since most people usually see rivers in the lower reaches, it is speculated that elementary school textbooks have described that the inside of the river is slow.

The number of applicants for the Faculty of Engineering, which has been decreasing since 1999, has been increasing since 2007. While the number of applicants for the Faculty of Information Engineering is increasing, the field of Mechanical Engineering which has a strong image of hardware is on the decline in popularity. However, the vast majority of "things" that enrich our lives are produced by Mechanical Engineering. In order to support people's safe and secure lives in the future, it is necessary to secure human resources who aspire to Mechanical Engineering. Therefore, in this paper, we considered how to increase the number of children who aspire to Mechanical Engineering by using the questionnaire results in the experiential learning for students in the junior high school and high school ages.

Recent years, the programing and the robot assembly exercise class are established at many tutoring schools “Juku” for elementary and junior high school students, because of starting the programing education at the elementary and junior high school. The primal purpose of these exercise are grow up the logical thinking ability and skill. On the other hand, these exercises are almost less mechanical engineering factor, although using robot educational kit. In this study, I carried out the open seminar for elementary and junior high school students using FDM type 3D printer and open source 3D CAD. The primal purpose of the open seminar is make opportunity to experience about 3D modelling and additive manufacturing such as 3D printing.

Mechanical engineering has often developed by fusing with information technology in recent years. We have been developing a coffee roasting machine for mechanical engineering education. We can study machine design, metalworking, and heat transfer engineering in the process of developing a coffee roasting machine. In this paper describes an application development to learn coffee roasting degree and coffee bean production area. In the application to learn the roasting degree, click on the image of the roasted beans according to the button of the eight roasting degrees and explain the roasting degree by computer voice. In the application to learn the production area indicates the position on the map with a marker by clicking on the major coffee producing countries in the world, and explains the characteristics of the coffee production area by computer voice.

The video explaining how to cook steamed custard pudding also explains steam saturated vapor pressure. The video is streamed by YouTube channel of Oita University, and the content of the video should be understand by common Japanese. Although the bubble in a custard pudding may not be fail in the world, the bubble in a custard pudding is fail in Japan, and the bubble is called “su”. The video explains how to suppress the bubble generation. Cooking method of caramel source is not explained in the video. The cooking method of caramel source is explained in the video description of the web page in YouTube. The video introduces 4 points for cooking steamed custard pudding without too much bubble which is called “su” by Japanese. The four points are , avoiding steam condensation on pudding surface, pressure release of steamer, temperature estimation by observing steam behavior, and confirming pudding coagulation by observation.

Smartphones are one of the most convenient tools, and applying them to physics experiments can be expected to improve educational effects. In this research, we attempted to utilize a system that connects an ultrasonic sensor and a smartphone to measure the position and behavior of objects in real time. We focused on the collision of two objects. Two methods of contact between two objects, a method using a spring and a method using clay, were conducted. People can experience how the law of conservation of momentum and the law of conservation of mechanical energy change depending on the contact method. It is expected that this will enable us to understand the phenomenon clearly.

It is important to further improve autonomous driving technology from the viewpoint of not only reducing vehicle accidents, but also reducing the burden on drivers, improving public transportation, and solving the labor shortage at logistics sites. Therefore, there is an urgent need to train engineers who understand autonomous driving technology and learn how to use it. Engineers involved in autonomous driving are required to have not only vehicle dynamics and control, but also expertise in information systems, as well as knowledge and experience in autonomous driving using AI. The authors have developed educational materials for AI autonomous driving technology, and practiced using the teaching materials according to classroom lectures on vehicle motion and AI. We aimed to develop human resources that contribute to the new development of the industry by holding competitions that compete for comprehensive performance of vehicle motion, control, AI, etc. using these AI-equipped vehicle learning materials. Information system department and mechanical system department participated in this trial of new utilization. This paper describes the practice of an AI automated driving competition with the participation of students from multiple departments as a cross-disciplinary competition and its effects.

In recent years, spreadsheet software has been gaining recognition as an easy way to obtain results in mechanical design studies. However, Python, which is a representative of modern programming languages, is capable not only of design study, but also of controlling equipment to test whether the finished product meets design requirements, such as creating comparative 3D models for inspection drawings and inspection models in STL. Recently, 3D printers and CNC machines that enable prototyping from 3D models without using drawings have become common, and the usefulness of programming languages such as python, which is widely effective for design, is expected to increase. Furthermore, Python can be used not only on personal PCs, but also on RaspberryPI, which can be installed anywhere and consumes little power, and can be used not only for education in developing regions, but also on board ships during ocean voyages and in outer space. The choice of which of these spreadsheet software and programming languages to use for desk research is up to the individual engineer. We hope that the choices presented in this report will help students and engineers in educational institutions to make good choices.

Many Pendulum Clocks are installed in the tower of churches, on the walls of city halls and other public spaces all over the world. In Ecuador, a country in South America just below of the equator, it has been confirmed by authors and others that there are over 163 tower clocks. Some are from overseas and some of others are made in Ecuador. Some of them have mechanical parts replaced with electrical ones. These clocks have a cultural value as, thank to them, we can learn about the history of Ecuador’s industry and culture. The preservation of the peculiar characteristics to the tower clock attracts significant attention. We were granted the opportunity to make restorations to one of Ecuador’s pendulum clock and measure pendulum oscillation of the clock. The pendulum clock is installed on the tower of Church of San Vicente, in El Pan, Azuay Province. We developed a measuring system accurate to 1pps by using a satellite GPS signal and verified the period of the pendulum’s oscillation without damage antique clock. We report the results of measurement. The measuring system can determine the time precision in a few minutes which is helpful for preservation of the clock. We think that cultural heritage preservation is important, and, with this paper, we would like to contribute to the preservation cultural properties.

Foreign ships came into the territorial seas forced the shogunate to revitalize the plan of defending the country. Defending with cannons were planned as a strategic choice and manufacturing of cannons was promoted. Material processing under manufacturing has already been researched. Cannons require structures for their deployment, mainly batteries, generally called Daiba. They were constructed on the sea and by the seashore all over the country. Manufacturing and construction of cannons and structures are separated in general, but both must be completed for existence as things. They are generally in a divisional system based on materials and processing, and all of them must be comprehensively managed in a system. Cannons and batteries are generally deployed in an integrated plan, so how they were deployed relatedly is another important issue. The aim of this paper is to research how manufacturing and construction of cannons and batteries were systematically managed and how cannons and batteries were deployed.

Since the early 1930s, demand for mass-produced machine tools has increased in Japan with the development of the aircraft and automobile industries. Bat, the domestic technology of machine tools was immature, and most of the precision machines and press machines were imported products. However, it is also a fact that some private companies have been moving to promote domestic production in anticipation of the future. For example, Kiichiro Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Motor Corporation, ordered and introduced various machines from domestic manufacturers at the same time as the construction of a new factory in 1937. This time, one of them, a 40T press machine manufactured by Aida Iron Works was disassembled and investigated. At that time, Japan was at the stage of imitating machine tools made in the US, and the quality of iron was inferior to that of the US. Therefore, instead of simply imitating, we can see some ingenuity in how to make a good machine after understanding Japan's technological capabilities. It can be said that the domestic press machines at that time were in the stage of searching for the "independence period" from the "imitation period".

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the presence and characteristics of a neck pillow on head and neck posture in the resting sitting position with eyes closed. Sitting posture maintenance tests were conducted on four subjects using a middle-back office chair. The head and neck postures in the normal sitting posture and in the sitting posture with two types of neck pillows were recorded for 15 minutes with closed eyes. The motion amount of the center of gravity of the head and neck was similar among conditions. However, the variation of the center of gravity position of the head and neck throughout the test tended to be smaller when a comfortable neck pillow was used.

SAQ (speed, quickness and agility) is an important fundamental ability in a majority of field and team sports. However, SAQ has not been researched extensively in terms of technical skill of the accelerating body movements in junior athlete. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlative relationship between sprint ability and initial body movements via a 9 m sprint test. The research was conducted on 51 female junior athletes in a primary school. The mean (SD) age of the athletes was 10.6 ± 1.6 years. The correlation coefficient between sprint ability (9 m sprint time) and length of first step stride, second step contact time, center of gravity movement speed from the starting position in an upright posture to the lowest point, and 0-3 m movement acceleration were −053 (p < 0.01), 0.43 (p < 0.01), −0.67 (p < 0.01) and −0.95 (p < 0.01), respectively. The findings of this study indicate that the body movements to the first step, especially center of gravity movement speed, are related to sprint ability (SAQ performance) in junior athlete.

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive, thought, and personality factors that cause competition anxiety in college student archery athletes, and a questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the relationship between these three factors and competition anxiety. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the individual personality traits of emotional instability, changeable mood, and a fixation on success or fear of failure were factors that increased competition anxiety. Meanwhile factors that reduced competition anxiety were associated with the perception that one was successful in situations that resembled past successes. The results indicate that factors that reduce competition anxiety are associated with the perception of succeeding in similar situations in the past.

The transportation equipment industry is flourishing in the western part of Shizuoka prefecture, and many manufacturers of automobile parts are concentrated. In recent years, due to the weight reduction and safety improvement of transportation equipment, high-strength and difficult-to-process high-strength steel plate stamped parts have been widely used in automobiles. Improving the molding technology is a major issue for the region. Here, "Hamamatsu UHSS Research Group," a collaborative group of industry, academia and government to improve the cold press manufacturing technology for high-strength steel sheets in the region is introduced.

Japanese manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have long supported the backbone of the Japanese economy based on their superior technologies and on-site capabilities; however, they are currently at a major crossroads in today's severe and rapidly changing environment. One of Japanese SMEs, Nissin Precision Machines (Nissin), with precision die making technology at its core, is attempting to bring innovation to its manufacturing site to combat the challenges of the current economic and business climates and to position itself for the long-term. Nissin has introduced its innovation strategies to achieve autonomous and sustainable development to withstand any environmental changes. To name a few examples: Nissin engages in open and collaborative innovation activities with its rival die manufacturers along with notable academic institutions, collaborative productions with designers that have incorporated design concepts into its works, and deliberately strengthens production management through the bottom-up approach enhanced by its front-line members and utilization of DX.

Renewable energy is expected to contribute to the revitalization of local community because large portion of the renewable energy resources reside in the countryside．Aizu Electric Power Company has been trying to utilize renewable energy for that purpose．In this paper，examples of on-going developments are exhibited and key findings are shared．Economics to materialize business viability is more of an issue than technologies.

Paddy rice agriculture is one of the main industries in the Asahikawa region. Due to the shortage of successors, reducing the workload of the elderly is an urgent issue. As one of these measures, there is a need for a device that automates the water supply and drainage of rice fields. Most of the devices currently being developed are not widespread because the cost of the entire system is high or the type of water supply and drainage is performed by an underdrain method. Therefore, in our laboratory, we are developing a device that can supply and drain water directly from a general open-ditch irrigation canal. The feature of this device is that it is automated by using an electric cylinder for the opening and closing mechanism of the floodgate and using the wedge gate method for sealing the floodgate. In addition, one of the factors that cause the flood to increase in scale is drainage from rice fields during heavy rains, and we are studying ways to apply this device to flood mitigation systems.

This paper introduces a woody biomass heat energy system built for heat supply to a large-scale mushroom production farm in Iwate prefecture in Japan. The characteristic feature of this system is to use cheap waste wood bark with high water content as the raw material, supplying hot water and steam from biomass boilers for heating the mushroom cultivation houses. During the period when the heat demand of the cultivation house decreases, it is possible to produce high calorific value dry wood fuel from raw wet biomass utilizing boiler surplus heat. This dry wood fuel is stored on site and can be flexibly used within the plant as needed. It is also possible to deliver the stored dry wood fuel to other local boilers or cogeneration facilities in the surrounding area as fuel.

It is expected to aim for a sustainable society only in regions where the birthrate is declining and the population is aging, but in the current situation of declining industrial vitality in the region, the formation of a sustainable society and the development of human resources are important issues. Among them, it is important to get the generation who will bear the future of the region interested in the field of science and engineering from the viewpoint of solving social issues, and we will introduce examples of this approach conducted in Akita Prefecture.

In recent years, there has been an "octopus pot" in the area of specialty that has become an issue. To address this issue, we aim to solve the problem by achieving "synthesis" (synthesis) that transcends specialized fields in order to acquire a bird's-eye view.The "purpose, ambition, and curiosity" originating from individual energy, "dialogue" with members of a group and different fields, and "fusion of intersubjectivity" are necessary, and these were understood as “the soul of engineers".The role of the manufacturing industry should be developed as a foundation for co-education. To do this, we would like to transform the company into a place where each engineer can create value, a place where “WAKU-WAKU” (Passion, Empathy, Agile) can take place, and a place where all people involved can grow, based on the concept of “the soul of engineers”.

This paper introduces a case study in which students who have experienced regular dialogue sessions through university seminar activities work on a project with a local community using their communication skills. Through dialogue to gain new insights and ideas into diverse relationships, the students are collaborating with Chizu town residents in Tottori prefecture and proactively working toward increasing outsiders’ interest in the town for the town's sustainable development. This paper discusses how their dialogue technique has been reflected in the project activities. Through the content analysis of the students' narratives, this paper argues that dialogues between the students and the town residents will lead to new insights and identification of the project's objectives. However, there are issues regarding the burden on both students and the town residents by running the dialogue-based project without setting a clear goal and duration of the project in advance. Since the project is still in progress, it is necessary to examine what outcomes the project will bring to the town and how it will contribute to the growth of the students.

While some failures or inadequate operations have been pointed out for a final research project done by senior students of undergraduate engineering education, the possibility of PBL (problem-based learning) programs in the curricula set in HEI has attracted prospects to nurture problem-solving skill and attitude among future engineers. The authors have been in charge of directing college students to tackle PBL projects as a regular and obligatory subject in the newly implemented program. At the opening of the curriculum, it was considered that differences between the technological or scientific fields of collaborating firms or organizations and the students’ majors or interests could be of the biggest barrier to successful PBL, however, we observed some cases the students rather acquired problem-solving skill based on the interdisciplinary point of view so effectively even with these gaps as a result. This paper compares PBL cases with the “well-matched goal” and the “ill-defined problem” of the project presented to the student, and shows the hopeful perspective of PBL in undergraduate engineering programs reflecting on problem-set research projects that might not raise students’ independency and/or interdisciplinarity.