Indirect coolant supply is an environmentally friendly replacement for direct coolant supply (flooding) and an alternative to dry cutting. Indirectly supplied coolant circulates through the internal channels of a cutting tool without entering the cutting zone. The channels are designed to effectively dissipate heat generated at the contact point between the tool and the workpiece. So far, indirect coolant supply has been analyzed primarily under continuous cutting conditions (turning). In this study, the effect of indirect coolant supply on cutting temperature and tool wear was investigated under face milling (intermittent cutting) conditions. A special milling tool and a channel-equipped cutting insert were designed and manufactured. Cutting temperature and tool wear data for indirect coolant supply were obtained experimentally by milling SUS 304 stainless steel. The effectiveness of indirect coolant supply was evaluated by comparing these results with those from dry cutting. Additionally, the influence of indirect coolant supply on cutting temperature and tool wear was compared between intermittent and continuous cutting processes. For intermittent cutting, indirect coolant supply significantly reduced cutting tool temperature and tool wear.

In oscillating milling, in which an oscillating motion is superimposed on the milling feed motion, the turning radius of the cutting edge can be actively controlled to achieve highly efficient machining. In this study, the mechanism of the effect of oscillating motion on chatter stability was clarified in terms of process gain and regeneration effect. Furthermore, a simulator that considers the dynamic characteristics of the machine structure was developed, and quantitative analysis was conducted through process analysis.

A simple technique for evaluating the grain size distribution of rocks is required to quickly understand the heat storage and dissipation behavior of rocks, which are inexpensive heat storage materials. We developed the grain size distribution evaluation system using an RGB-D camera. The system uses an image segmentation AI model and a shape completion algorithm to estimate the shape of individual rocks in an RGB-D image and obtain their grain size distribution. The accuracy of the estimation of surface area equivalent diameter and volume equivalent diameter distributions of rocks was verified using rocks with known shapes.

This study develops a technology that automates the volume measurement of roadside snow piles that need to be cleared by taking a video of a vehicle and SfM/MVS. In our previous report, we proposed a method for automatically recognizing road signs that can be used as reference points for aligning point clouds between summer and winter using deep learning and image conditions for the stable reconstruction of snow-covered areas from videos. This report presents the automated processing results of aligning point clouds between summer and winter measurements using the recognized signs as ground reference points.

In this paper, we propose a method to detect building equipment (lighting, air conditioning, etc.) using laser reflection intensity to automatically construct detailed BIM from point clouds of buildings by mobile laser scanners (MLS). First, the effect of scanning distance and incident angle included in the reflection intensity was eliminated based on polynomial approximation, and the reflection intensity value of flat ceilings and walls made of the same material was approached to a constant value. Furthermore, thresholding and morphological processing were performed using the corrected reflection intensity, and it was demonstrated that the method can detect building equipment without omissions.

Shield machines have been developed to excavate tunnels several meters in diameter, but they are all large in size and have limited applications. Moles, on the other hand, are only a few centimeters long and can dig dozens of meters a day. This study aims to develop a mole-like underground excavation robot using biomimetics technology, and to develop a compact excavation mechanism with a diameter of several centimeters by using soft actuators in the excavation mechanism.

This study analyzed the feed force and shaft rotation force in a shaft-like material feeder, and found that they are related to the pressing force.

The Lundberg-Palmgren life formula, which is widely used in the design of rolling machine elements, is generally used for normal sized rolling bearings, but it is not applicable to small bearings in many cases, making it difficult to accurately estimate the life at the design stage. In this experiment, life is estimated from the vibration frequency generated by small bearings under radial load, and the L10 life obtained by Weibull distribution is compared with the theoretical life obtained from the Lundberg-Palmgren life calculation formula.

The conventional accuracy management of hypoid gear tooth surfaces relies on an empirical method using marking compounds, which depends on the observer’s skill. This study aims to propose a quantitative evaluation method using infrared analysis. By controlling lubricant distribution with an airbrush, we investigated whether temperature rise trends on the tooth surface could be observed under varying oil quantities. As a result, consistent oil quantities were maintained in experiments, enabling the observation of temperature rise trends based on oil amount differences.

Couplings are an important component in the modeling of mechanical systems, where accurate measurement of the torsional stiffness can contribute to modeling accuracy. However, the torsional stiffness is difficult to measure by the coupling component tests due to the effect of the shaft to be fastened. In this study, the torsional stiffness of the coupling is measured through experiments and analyses considering the shaft to be fastened. The validity of the results is evaluated using the target mechanical systems.

In recent years, researches and applications have been progressing in which physical models expressed in cyber space can be used to operate actual machines, and the importance of technology to easily and quickly generate precise physical models is increasing. In this paper, we propose a method to easily generate a high-precision simulator using a learning controller, and verify its effectiveness by comparing it with experimental results.

This study aims to automate the bending operations in the brake press process using industrial robots. The existing system faces challenges such as decreased teaching efficiency and limitations in the parts it can handle, leading to insufficient automation and optimization. This research focuses on improving the system by utilizing industrial robots to enhance efficiency. It reports on the development of CAM software that generates robotic hand positions and motion data based on the dimensions of the workpieces, and automatically creates motion programs.

The authors have proposed inclined planetary machining for drilling CFRP, which can produce higher-quality holes than conventional drills and helical machining. A portable inclined planetary machining device has been developed. Conventional inclined planetary machining devices were designed to incline the entire tool spindle and required manual adjustment. In this study, the tool tilting mechanism was automated, and a structure was created in which only the tool part could be tilted, thereby reducing vibration. The device design and mechanism were verified in this report.