Tuong Quan Vo

Bioinspired robotic fish have garnered significant interest in recent decades due to their agile maneuverability and diverse marine applications. However, accurate modeling and physical prototyping of flexible fan-shaped membranous pectoral fins remain challenging. This paper presents the mathematical framework, modular design, and fabrication of an underwater robotic fish propelled by a pair of single-degree-of-freedom (DOF) membranous fins. To capture the complex fluid-structure interactions, the Morison force model is applied to establish a dynamic formulation that couples the fin motion, the robot body, and the surrounding fluid. A crank-rocker mechanism is proposed to drive the fin rays, generating fan-shaped membrane undulations for backward fluid propulsion while allowing straightforward phase shift adjustments. Experimental results demonstrate that the fabricated prototype achieves a peak forward swimming speed of approximately 0.59 body lengths per second (BL/s) and a turning radius of 0.14–0.53 BL. Furthermore, the modular architecture accommodates a water-quality monitoring payload, thereby demonstrating its capability for in situ measurement of total dissolved solids (TDS) and turbidity. This work provides a validated computational and experimental framework for advanced control and environmental monitoring in aquatic applications.

Automated Overhead Rail Systems (AORs) have a key role in warehouse and in-house industry, as well as in the modern hospital, where efficient shuttle dispatching directly impacts throughput and reliability. This paper presents a quadratic control model formulated in symmetric quadratic matrix form to capture balanced interactions between shuttles, tasks, and priorities. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) is employed to solve the optimization problem, with operators adapted to exploit quadratic symmetry, for faster convergence and stable performance. Simulation results on a microcontroller-based testbed demonstrated that the proposed model achieved shorter dispatching times, reduced waiting costs, and more symmetrically distributed workloads compared with conventional heuristic approaches. The study shows that symmetry is not only a modeling feature, but also a design principle, supporting future extensions such as emergency handling and multi-priority dispatching.

Optimizing Flow Path Design (FPD) is a popular research area in transportation system design, but its application to Overhead Transportation Systems (OTSs) has been limited. This study focuses on optimizing a double-spine flow path design for OTSs with 10 stations by minimizing the total travel distance for both loaded and empty flows. We employ transportation methods, specifically the North-West Corner and Stepping-Stone methods, to determine empty vehicle travel flows. Additionally, the Tabu Search (TS) algorithm is applied to branch the 10 stations into two main layout branches. The results obtained from our proposed method demonstrate a reduction in the objective function value compared to the initial feasible solution. Furthermore, we explore how changes in the parameters of the TS algorithm affect the optimal result. We validate the feasibility of our approach by comparing it with relevant literature and conducting additional tests on layouts with 20 and 30 stations.

Research and development on a global scale have been conducted on overhead hoist transportation systems (OHTSs) in recent years. The majority of these systems are utilized in manufacturing facilities that are either semiautomated or fully automated. By using stochastic models to evaluate medication distribution and product delivery processes in automated delivery systems, hospitals can reduce patient waiting times and drug response times. Warehouses are being transformed into fully automated fulfillment factories by using conveyors and shelf-lifting mobile robots, which reduce waiting times and improve efficiency. Modern warehouses are increasingly becoming fully automated fulfillment facilities as a response to the significant development of e-commerce. A significant number of organizations are using mobile robots or conveyor systems to transport shelves. The parts-to-picker model is used to transport stock-keeping units (SKUs) to stationary pickers at picking workstations. The aim of this study is to analyze and organize the relationship between transportation system families. They are utilized in various fields, such as warehouses, hospitals, airports, cross-dockings, etc. Furthermore, this study categorizes a range of synchronization issues that arise from minor variations in workstation configurations within different warehouse settings. Next, we identify a multistation ATS (automatic transportation system) that switches lines to different stations by using overhead conveyors and active line-switching devices. Vietnam’s automated freight problem can be solved with this potential solution. Our study’s findings suggest that enhancing the workstation layout can significantly enhance throughput performance. As a result, the benefits of synchronization can surpass those provided by other well-studied decision tasks.

Overhead hoist transportation systems (OHTS) have been the subject of worldwide research and development in recent years. The majority of these systems are utilized in semi-automated or fully automated factories. This article proposes a new solution for OTHS based on the concept of the modulation of mobile units that can move on a railway structure from one point to another. The OHTS mentioned in this article is a group of shuttles that can operate independently but which also have the ability to cooperate together to complete the desired tasks. By using the space below the ceiling, this system can operate without affecting the original design of the factories. There are many potential fields of application for picking-up and delivering, such as the medical field, the food and beverage fields, automotive and electrical appliances, etc. Moreover, by applying Dijkstra’s algorithm in the controller design, the transportation speed among the stations in the whole system can be improved. The real prototype of the whole system, including three shuttles, is also manufactured to explore and assess the design and operation of the proposed system and its controller.

In considering the problem of saving spaces during the transportation of items from one station to another, for example, in warehouses, factories, hospitals, etc., an automatic transportation system (ATS) that could take advantage of the above ceiling spaces for the transportation of products is considered. Such a system guarantees that the activities occurring in the floor area will be maintained as usual. To achieve this requirement, the ceiling spaces of a building are used to construct an automatic multi-station multi-container (MSMC) transportation system. This system can transport items from one place to another in the whole system. This system is designed to utilize the spaces above the ceiling, and it has the advantage of saving floor space for transportation operations. This will increase the operational capability of the industries and also improve the productivity of the industry in which this system is implemented. The entire transportation system includes (1) the essential conveying system (which is a functional conveyor module with a specified number of containers); (2) the control block that can monitor and operate the system; and (3) the sensor block for detecting and identifying the containers. The content of this article focuses on the introduction of the mechanical system (1); the control system (2); and the operating principle of the whole system (3).

Over the years, face recognition has been the research topic that has attracted many researchers around the world. One of the most significant applications of face recognition is the access control system. The access control system allows authorized persons to enter or exit certain or restricted areas. As a result, it will increase the security situation without over-investment in staff security. The access information can be the identification, time, and location, etc. It can be used to carry out human resource management tasks such as attendance and inspection of employees in a more fair and transparent manner. Although face recognition has been widely used in access control systems because of its better accuracy and convenience without requiring too much user cooperation, the 2D-based face recognition systems also retain many limitations due to the variations in pose and illumination. By analyzing facial geometries, 3D facial recognition systems can theoretically overcome the disadvantages of prior 2D methods and improve robustness in different working conditions. In this paper, we propose the 3D facial recognition algorithm for use in an access control system. The proposed algorithm includes the preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification stages. The application of the proposed access control system is the automatic sliding door, the controller of the system, the web-based monitoring, control, and storage of data.

Currently, Tempura shrimp consumption is very high in most Japanese restaurants all over the world. There are many companies that produce Tempura shrimp to provide for many restaurants as well as to sell in many supermarkets in many countries. In fact, the benefits of this product are enormous for the seafood industry in Vietnam as well as in other countries. However, most of the companies that produce the Tempura shrimps manually by workers. There are a lot of workers who fry shrimp manually to keep the company productive. The quality of this product also bases on the skill of the workers. And, to satisfy the condition of mass production, the enterprise also needs the very large area to set up the workplace for the workers. Secondly, this situation leads to the practical results that the quality of Tempura shrimp is not identical, unstable and the amount of waste is very high. Therefor, the requirement for the application of automatic control system in this tempura field can help the company to solve these difficult problems. This issue is the primary focus of this document. It is the situation of the Tempura fried shrimp companies which lead them to implement automated systems to replace unskilled workers. This paper presents the design of the whole semi automation single-side Tempura shrimp frying production line to propose some innovation about the shrimp tempura frying process. The entire Tempura semi automation production line consists of 3 main modules. Each module can operate as an independent machine. The workers just put the coated shrimp in the molds and then the frying process will perform the remaining steps automatically. The first module (Module 1) is the shaping module or the first time frying module. The powder solution also installed with this module. The second module (Module 2) is the finished frying module. Finally, the oil drainning module (Module 3) using the technique of the hot heating airflow system to drain the excess oil inside the Tempura shrimps.

Nowadays, the applications of automatic control systems have been developing very fast in many diversify of the industry fields. One of the most significant industry that is needed to care and focus to develop this automation technology in order to reduce the huge number of workers and increase the productivity is the seafood industries. Normally, the seafood industry has a lot of workers to carry out everything manually. There still remain many research topics relating to this field to help this industry to develop in the trend of 4.0 ages. The semi–automation shrimps Tempura frying production line is a system to make Tempura shrimps with high productivity. The workers simply put the shrimps into the serial of chain frying molds and the system will automatically do the whole production process to produce the completed Tempura shrimps. The whole process to produce Tempura shrimps includes the following steps: (1) Shaping shrimp and cover with powder solution by automatic powder solution spraying system; (2) Complete frying to make the shrimps to be cooked; (3) Oil draining system to remove the remain oil inside the shrimp and the powder cover. Then the finished products will be put into the frozen system to preserve. The whole production line will be separated into 3 main modules: Module 1: The shaping module (first time frying) and powder solution spraying module; Module 2: The deep fry module (second time frying); Module 3: The oil draining module. This paper introduces about the control system for each module and the controller of the whole system to make a complete semi-automation shrimp tempura frying production line. Some controller technology as On/Off, PID control algorithms are proposed to apply for the whole production line as: speed control of the stainless-steel chain conveyors, temperature control of the cooked tanks, quantitative control of the powder solution amount to be sprayed on the shrimps, the oil draining conveyor speed, the heat and air flow control of the oil draining module.

In this paper, we recommend a dynamic model for a fish robotinspired by fish using flexible non-uniform pectoral fins.