A approach to forming control using a forming process model of rheological food dough is presented. Manipulative operations of rheological objects can be found in many industrial fields such as the food industry and the medical product industry. For example, automatic operations of rheological objects such as food dough are eagerly required in food industry. Since food dough deforms during operation processes, it is necessary to estimate their deformation for the automatic operations. We propose a forming control of rheological food dough using a forming process model. First, an extensional forming system of food dough is developed. Second, we examine the deformations of actual food dough. Third, we propose a forming process model consisting of the expansion, part and the residual part. Finally, we propose forming control using forming process model and demonstrate the validity of the proposed forming control experimentally.

Manipulative operations of rheological objects can be found in many industrial fields such as food industry and medical product industry. Automatic operations of rheological objects are eagerly required in these fields. In this paper, we realize a vision-based automatic forming of rheological objects using deformation transition graphs. First, we develop a forming machine of rheological objects with multi-degrees of freedom. Next, we analyze the forming processes of rheological objects. Then we introduce a deformation transition graph so that the forming processes can be described in a systematic manner. Finally, we propose a forming control method of a rheological object based on the deformation transition graph.

Manipulative operations of rheological objects can be found in many industrial fields such as food industry and medical product industry. Automatic operations of theological objects are eagerly required in these fields. In this paper, deformation transition graphs are proposed for the forming operations of rheological objects. First, a novel forming machine with multi degrees of freedom is developed for the automatic forming of rheological objects such as dough and paste. Second, we will introduce a deformation transition graph so that the forming process can be described. We will then develop a method to generate the deformation transition graph through experiments. Finally, we will explain a forming control method of a rheological object based on the deformation transition graph.

A systematic approach to the modeling of deformable rodlike objects is presented. Various rodlike objects such as cords and wires are manipulated in many manufacturing processes. In such processes, it is important for successful manipulation to evaluate their shapes on a computer in advance because their shapes can be changed easily and their deformation often shows hysteresis properties. In this paper, we develop an analytical method to model the shape of deformable rodlike objects including hysteresis properties. First, we investigate the mechanism of hysteresis. Second, the potential energy of a rodlike object and the geometric constraints imposed on it are formulated. The shape of the object can be derived by minimizing the potential energy under the geometric constraints. Thirdly, a procedure to compute the shape of a deformed rodlike object is developed by applying a non-linear programming technique. Finally, we show some numerical examples with hysteresis using our proposed method.

Since viscoelastic objects deform during operation processes, it is necessary to simulate the behavior of the objects and to estimate their deformation for the automatic operations. Consequently, a model of a viscoelastic object is needed for the simulation and the estimation of its deformation. We propose a lattice structure based modeling method for viscoelastic object deformation. First, the behavior of four element models is briefly explained. Next, a viscoelastic object is modeled as a lattice structure, where mass points are connected through four element models. We simulate shape deformation of the model when force input is applied to it. Validity of the model is then discussed. We also introduce a nonlinear damper (NLD) into a four element model in order to solve a discrepancy between an actual viscoelastic object and its linear model. By comparing the behavior of the two models, we show the validity of the model using NLDs.