University of Fukui has been accredited for ISO14001, so called as environment ISO, since 2003. Major targets of the ISO activities of University of Fukui are as follows; i) saving energy and material, ii) prevention of environmental pollution, iii) environmental education and research, iv) keeping physical and mental health, v) maintaining clean campus, and vi) observance of law and regulation. In this report, outline of the ISO activities of University of Fukui is shown, especially focusing on environmental education and research, and significance of environment ISO in university is discussed. As one of outcomes of this ISO activities, it is demonstrated that energy consumption has been reduced year by year.

View full abstract

The present study focuses on evaluating the potential of machine learning models, specifically autoencoders, for providing a simplified, denoised representation of energy systems data by extracting their most important features. Using electricity consumption data from 28 schools in Miyako city in Japan, we show that the extracted features can be effectively used for detecting abnormal consumptions behaviors precisely in time, as well as for clustering purposes from the features space (latent space), which avoids the curse of dimensionality for data with high dimensions.

View full abstract

This study aims to analyze energy flows for zero carbon society in Akita prefecture. Regional renewable energy such as wind, solar, biomass, and wasted heat from incineration plants can substitute for fossil fuels consumed in four demand sectors; industrial, commercial, residential, and transportation. As a result of case study that huge wind power is installed, total primary energy supply is 96.7 PJ/year in Akita prefecture that is half of conventional energy flow, and about 70 % is wind power. I assume that heat and transportation demand can be covered by electricity, however, heat demand of industry sector needs high-quality heat. Therefore, in next step, the quality of heat demand in each sector and which renewable energy can supply high quality heat should be considered.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop an educational support system for the skill of shielded metal arc welding. To maintain the motivation of the learner, skill information corresponding to the target skill proficiency is required. Therefore, based on the structured skill information proposed by the author, the information corresponding to the required proficiency is weighted. Furthermore, we propose a technique to maintain motivation during learning by presenting skill information corresponding to the proficiency level of the learner and noticing body movements that are important to the skill.

View full abstract

Main trends of manufacturing in the next generation include digital transformation and sustainability. This paper discusses the relationship between these two trends and time-axis design. Time-axis design designs time-axis and/or design objects by considering time-axis. Time-axis design requires designers to forecast temporal changes that will happen in the product service system under designing. Although this is very difficult, the digital transformation will provide solutions for this problem. EU’s Circular Economy policy package is a typical example of sustainability-oriented policy that directly affects manufacturing. Since this package requires manufacturers to execute time-axis design from the viewpoint of product life cycle, the concept of time-axis design can be effectively deployed.

View full abstract

Society keeps existing common sense and rejects new concepts. Regardless of accountability, engineers must explain in an everyday language like a metaphor with ease rather than accuracy based on principles. Clear box is based on the underlying principles. Black box is based on the agreement between the target value and the result. However, the AI box only needs to have a prediction of the near future in the direction of past learning results. Future predictions ba sed on the laws of physics cannot be made, but it can be said to be a fact by always making corrections

View full abstract

In recent years, the number of patent applications in China has increased rapidly, reflecting the sophistication of the manufacturing industry value chain promoted by the Chinese government. Along with this, the number of disputes related to patent rights is rapidly increasing in China. This is also worthy of attention for Japanese companies, where globalization of corporate activities, such as overseas expansion of production and R & D bases, has progressed. However, many Japanese companies have experience in dispute cases in the United States, but have little experience in dispute cases in China. The patent infringement lawsuits in China, Japan, and the United States were analyzed from four perspectives: information disclosure system, legal remedy system, patent invalidation system, and rights interpretation. As a result, it was found that it is effective to file a patent infringement suit in China if the patentee's purpose is to reduce costs and close the suit in a short period of time.

View full abstract