ISO Technical Committee Research Articles

GPS&V Textual Language

The ISO Technical Committee 213 (TC 213) develops standards about geometrical product specifications and verification (GPS&V). Those standards define both the meaning (semantic) and the writing (syntax) of specification indications used in Technical Product Documentation to control the size, geometry and surface texture deviation allowance on a mechanical part. The specification indications are defined as graphical symbols whose dimension and proportion are described in different ISO standards. The arrangement of those symbols is standardized so that reliable if not univocal information can be conveyed from the writer of the specification indication to the readers of the specification indication. This set of standardized rules constitutes a Graphical Language, primarily developed for humans widely used on two dimensional drawings or in three dimensional models. However, since the specifications are becoming more and more complex it is foreseen that the machines will be more involved in the communication process of the geometrical tolerancing information in the future. This paper describes in some details a context-free grammar that has been written to test the feasibility of a machine-readable Textual Language development.The grammar is based on the Universal Coded Character set (UCS). It shall be able to convey the same information as the current Graphical Language defined in ISO standards. The paper also reports on some testing tools that have been developed and made publicly available through a web interface. While this paper is only concerned with the syntax of the specification indications, some proposals are presented for an extended use of the grammar to check also semantic rules.

The impact of ISO/TC 37 standards on technical communication

Abstract Rather than just profiting from digitalization efforts such as the implementation and improvement of automated content delivery processes, technical communication itself currently has the opportunity of becoming a major driver in digitalization. The essence of technical communicators’ work is to create representations of products under the aspect of product use. In order to convey how a product functions and how it shall be used, they build concepts that reflect its structure and the structure of the domain to which it belongs. These concepts and their interrelations represent the underlying architecture of information that is rendered into ‘technical documentation’ in the course of the information development process which parallels the product development process. To harmonize concepts for information on products to be launched and in its proper domain, as well as to ensure interoperability between digital resources, technical communication relies on a range of standards created within and published by ISO Technical Committee 37, Language and Terminology (ISO/TC 37).

Update on ISO standards in condition monitoring and vibration

This paper presents an update on further progress in International Standards on Condition Monitoring (CM), and International Standards related to CM techniques including: vibration monitoring (VM), infra-red thermography (IRT), acoustic emission (AE), ultrasonics (UT), tribology and tribology and lubrication (LUB). Vibration and Condition Monitoring Standards are within the scope of ISO Technical Committee 108 ‐ Mechanical vibration, shock and condition monitoring (ISO/TC 108). ISO/TC 108 has a portfolio of 196 ISO Standards including 28 relating to condition monitoring and 56 relating to vibration of machines, vehicles and structures. (at March 2023) Since 2020, 29 documents have been issued revised or renumbered in ISO/TC 108's portfolio. This paper gives the latest status of a selection of these documents.

The ISO technical committee on reference materials (ISO TC 334): Annual meeting 2022 and ISO future developments

The ISO technical committee on reference materials (ISO TC 334): Annual meeting 2022 and ISO future developments

Creation of and first meeting of the new ISO technical committee for reference materials (ISO/TC 334)

On 14 December 2020, the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) took the decision to transform ISO/REMCO, the ISO Committee for Reference Materials, and to create a new technical committee (ISO/TC 334). The main reason for this decision was to facilitate the transformation of the ISO/REMCO Guides, developed for the production and use of reference materials, into other ISO deliverables, most probably international standards. The inaugural meeting of the committee took place on 8 and 9 September 2021 and the resolutions from the first meeting was approved at a subsequent meeting on 16 November 2021. The most important decisions that were taken during this meeting included the approval of the title and scope of work of the committee and the plan of action for the transformation of the ISO/REMCO Guides into international ISO standards.

Update of ISO Technical Committee 209 Cleanrooms and Associated Controlled Environments

Abstract International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 209’s first meeting was held in November 1993.The focus was on cleanrooms and controlled environments and the activities within cleanrooms. The TC has moved in recent years to generic operations documents such as a systematic approach for procuring disposables and particle deposition rate monitoring to improve the quality of products manufactured in a cleanroom. ISO stresses development of standards with requirements to support sustainability. A recently published standard on energy management in a cleanroom supports that need. ISO has a range of publication formats with different rigor in balloting to reduce document development being considered by the TC. ISO/TC 209 begins its third decade taking a more integrated approach to standardization with the goal of responding to the needs of industry.

Four generations of quality: “measuring up”

John Hammond continues his series of Quality Matters Columns looking at Four Generations of Quality, with one on the developments of the ISO Technical Committee responsible for reference materials to its latest incarnation as a Technical Committee.

Progress with the work program of ISO/REMCO during 2020

The 43rd meeting of the Reference Material Committee of ISO, ISO/REMCO, that was scheduled to take place in Milan, Italy, from 30 June to 3 July 2020 with Accredia, the Italian accreditation body and INRIM, the Italian Metrology Institute as the hosts, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report shares the details of the important decision that was taken by the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) in December 2020 to transform ISO/REMCO into an ISO technical committee, ISO/TC 334, Reference materials. The background that led to the decision is provided as well as the implications of the decision for the future of the development of guidance for the production and use of reference materials. The report also gives an update on the progress with the work program of the committee during the past year and the strategy for the future work of the committee.

The Convergence of Technologies, Generates Convergence in the Regulations

The convergence of nanotechnologies generates synergies among different technologies to say,nano technologies, neuro technologies, computers and biotechnologies, the setechnologies must converge in their regulations, the application of medical devicesin nanotechnologies should lead us to a link between the technical committee TC 210and ISO technical committee 229 link that does not exist in our work in this moment. In this do an analysis of the management of risk from an optical NC-ISO 14971.Studying the global trend in this respect as imported for manufacturers medical Devices worldwide.

“Technical interoperability”: ISO/TC46/SC4 annual meeting

The author reviews the key events and projects held and discussed within the framework of the ISO/TC46/SC4 plenary meeting. The meeting was held as part of the 47th annual ISO/TC46 meeting week held in London 2020. The subject scope of ISO/TC46 covers a wide range of issues related to document management, indexing and abstracting services, and information science. Due to COVID19 pandemic, all the meetings were moved to online. The committee’s annual meeting was held in this format for the first time. The subcommittees and working groups discussed issues related to international standardization and ongoing projects in this area. The author discusses in detail the presentations by the participants in the plenary meeting ISO/TC46/SC4, held on May 12, 2020. The ISO/TC46/SC4 subcommittee conducts a number of projects to ensure the technical compatibility of library information systems with information science standards in related fields, which are developed by other ISO Technical Committees, as well as other authoritative organizations, i.e. DCMI and W3C. At ISO/TC46/SC4 plenary meeting, the working groups’ chairs reported on the state of the art in corresponding projects of international standards, plans for future were discussed. Subcommittee’s internal activities as well as issues of cooperation with other organizations were also covered.

ISO Human-Computer Interaction Standards: Finding Them and What They Contain

An HFES Task Force is considering if, when, and which, HFES research publications should require the citation of relevant standards, policies, and practices to help translate research into practice. To support the Task Force activities, papers and reports are being written about how to find relevant standards produced by various organizations (e.g., the International Standards Organization, ISO) and the content of those standards. This paper describes the human-computer interaction standards being produced by ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 (Information Technology). Subcommittees 7 (Software and Systems Engineering) and 35 (User Interfaces), and Technical Committee 159, Subcommittee 4 (Ergonomics of Human-System Interaction), in particular, the contents of the ISO 9241 series and the ISO 2506x series. Also included are instructions on how to find standards using the ISO Browsing Tool and Technical Committee listings, and references to other materials on finding standards and standards-related teaching materials.

Roundtable Discussion: The Challenge of Developing Effective Sterilization and Reprocessing Instructions for Use.

Roundtable Discussion: The Challenge of Developing Effective Sterilization and Reprocessing Instructions for Use.

New matrix for geometrical product specifications on coordinate basis

This study is devoted to the recent problem of quality assurance of technical products in the design process. However, it is impossible to solve this problem by using international standards ISO and geometrical product specifications developed by ISO technical Committee ISO/TC 213. They lack a reference system of geometrical characteristics, i.e. the coordinate systems of the products are not applied. On the other hand, the technical committee ISO/TC 184 – "Industrial automation systems and integration" introduced in their standards coordinate systems for the design of machine tools with numerical control, which made parts of products, 40 years ago, since neither design nor manufacture, nor the development of control programs or the control of parts after processing can be without coordinate systems. At the beginning of the XXI century, the same technical committee developed a series of international standards for the implementation of electronic geometrical 3D models of products, in the structure of which coordinate systems were introduced. Consequently, the coordinate system of products should be introduced in the standards for geometrical specifications ISO-GPS. With that study purpose, a new matrix of common GPS standards of a higher level on a coordinate basis was recommended.

Applying multivariate linear regression and multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network to design an energy consumption baseline in a low density polyethylene plant

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate and analysis of energy consumption for this industry. The core part of any energy management system (EnMS) in industry is to perfectly monitor the energy consumption of significant users and to continuously improve the energy performance. In petrochemical plants, production deals with energy-intensive processes, and measuring energy performance for recognition and assessment of potentials for saving is critical.Design/methodology/approachThe required data are exploited for the period of March 2011-August 2016 (data set: 2,012 days). Multivariate linear regression (MLR) and multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network (ANN) methods are separately used to anticipate the energy consumption. The baseline will be assumed as a reference to be compared with the actual data to estimate the real saving values. Finally, cumulative summations (CUSUM) are proposed and applied as an effective indicator for measurement of energy performance in an LDPE.FindingsIn this study, two statistical methods of MLR and ANN were used to design and develop a comprehensive energy baseline representing the predicted amounts of energy consumption based on the recognized drivers. Although both models imply robust outcomes, when the relative errors are taken into account, performance of ANN models appears fairly superior compared to the MLR model.Originality/valueIt is highly suggested to the ISO technical committee dealing with energy management standards, to consider the proposed model for baseline development in the future version of the standard ISO 50006 as the supplementary extension for the ISO 50001 for measuring energy performance using EnB and EnPI. As for future studies, the research can be extended to investigate the uncertainty and the model could also become completed applying more advanced ANNs such as recurrent neural networks.

Geographic Information Metadata—An Outlook from the International Standardization Perspective

Geographic information metadata provides a detailed description of geographic information resources. Well before digital data emerged, metadata were shown in the margins of paper maps to inform the reader of the name of the map, the scale, the orientation of the magnetic North, the projection used, the coordinate systems, the legend, and so on. Metadata were used to communicate practical information for the proper use of maps. When geographic information entered the digital era with geographic information systems, metadata was also collected digitally to describe datasets and the dataset collections for various purposes. Initially, metadata were collected and saved in digital files by data producers for their own specific needs. The sharing of geographic datasets that required producers to provide metadata with the dataset to guide proper use of the dataset—map scale, data sources, extent, datum, coordinate reference system, etc. Because of issues with sharing and no common understanding of metadata requirements, the need for metadata standardization was recognized by the geographic information community worldwide. The ISO technical committee 211 was created in 1994 with the scope of standardization in the field of digital geographic information to support interoperability. In the early years of the committee, standardization of metadata was initiated for different purposes, which culminated in the ISO 19115:2003 standard. Now, there are many ISO Geographic information standards that covers the various aspect of geographic information metadata. This paper traces an illustration of the development and evolution of the requirements and international standardization activities of geographic information metadata standards, profiles and resources, and how these attest to facilitating the discovery, evaluation, and appropriate use of geographic information in various contexts.

Priorities for development of standard test methods to support the commercialization of cellulose nanomaterials

With the growing number of producers and users of cellulose nanomaterials (CNMs), there is an increasing need to develop standard test methods to control production and quality of CNMs. In 2014, a Task Group was formed within the ISO Technical Committee 6 Paper, board and pulps to begin addressing the need for standards. This Task Group, TG 1, was tasked with reviewing existing standards and identifying the need for additional standards to characterize CNMs. In March 2018, TG 1 launched a survey to ask CNM producers around the world about the importance of having standard procedures to measure and quantify a variety of CNM properties, both physical and chemical. Producers were asked to identify the type(s) of CNM they produced and their scale of production, and to rank the properties for which they felt standard test methods were most important. In this paper, we summarize the survey responses and identify those properties of highest interest for producers of both cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nano- and microfibril-based materials (CNFs/CMFs). Properties of importance can be divided into three broad groups: i) a standard has either been developed or is under development, ii) a currently used standard could be adapted for use with CNMs, or iii) no standard is currently available and further R&D and consultation with industry is needed before a suitable and well-validated standard can be developed. The paper also examines the challenges of developing new standard methods for some of the key properties—as well as the feasibility and limitations of adapting exiting standards—to CNMs.

Mapping ISO 19115-1 geographic metadata standards to CodeMeta.

The CodeMeta Project recently proposed a vocabulary for software metadata. ISO Technical Committee 211 has published a set of metadata standards for geographic data and many kinds of related resources, including software. In order for ISO metadata creators and users to take advantage of the CodeMeta recommendations, a mapping from ISO elements to the CodeMeta vocabulary must exist. This mapping is complicated by differences in the approaches used by ISO and CodeMeta, primarily a difference between hard and soft typing of metadata elements. These differences are described in detail and a mapping is proposed that includes sixty-four of the sixty-eight CodeMeta V2 terms. The CodeMeta terms have also been mapped to dialects used by twenty-one software repositories, registries and archives. The average number of terms mapped in these cases is 11.2. The disparity between these numbers reflects the fact that many of the dialects that have been mapped to CodeMeta are focused on citation or dependency identification and management while ISO and CodeMeta share additional targets that include access, use, and understanding. Addressing this broader set of use cases requires more metadata elements.

Visual Noise Revision for ISO 15739

With the publication of the second edition of the ISO 15739 Standard [1] in 2013 the measurement of “visual noise” became a normative part of the standard. Over the years the algorithm has proven to be useful and reliable for the judgement of the visibility of noise in images captured by digital cameras. Nevertheless a few aspects of the measurement procedures were questioned by some experts like e.g. the relation of the contrast sensitivity function (csf) for the luminance and the two chrominance channels. And the resulting weighting factors for the three channels also depend on the csf relation. In addition, some experts would like to use the more common CIELAB space instead of CIELUV. For these reasons the responsible ISO technical committee 42 working group 18 is looking into a revision of the visual noise section of the standard. This paper describes the procedure the group is undertaking to solve the remaining issues in the upcoming revision.

Application of New Generation Geometrical Product Specifications in the practice in Small and Medium Sized enterprises

The increasing development of modern methods of product manufacturing implies an improvement and a new approach to the modern drawing specification in design documentation for design requirements of different parts and assemblies. The ISO Technical Committee 213 has published 148 standards and 48 otherstandards are under development. These standards set out requirements for the accuracy of geometrical characteristics of products. They define requirements for the linear sizes, dimensions different than linear sizes as well as geometric deviations such as form, orientation, location deviations and run-out, and surface roughness and waviness. Ways of indication of these requirements in the drawings are discussed. Many standards are dedicated to the requirements for measuring these characteristics, to measuring instruments for linear sizes and geometrical characteristics. This report reviews the general concept of geometrical product specifications (GPSs), the GPS model, and new terminology by tolerancing linear sizes, geometrical specifications that facilitate communication between design manufacturing and verification and prevent ambiguous interpretation of requirements. Based on the metrological expertise of the drawings in a number of small and mediumsized enterprises, the degree of implementation of the new generation GPS standards and the problems related to it have been analysed.

Size and Shape Distribution of Bipyramidal TiCh Nanoparticles by Transmission Electron Microscopy - an Inter-Laboratory Comparison

Extraction of true, 3D shape (and size) of non-spherical nanoparticles (NPs) is associated with errors by conventional 2D electron microscopy using projection images. Significant efforts within the ISO technical committee TC 229 ‘Nanotechnologies’ are aimed at establishing accurate TEM and SEM measurement of NP size and shape as robust, standard procedures. Study groups have been organizing inter-laboratory comparisons on well-selected NP systems according to the market needs, such as aggregated titania nano-powder for which size and shape distribution of primary crystallites of irregular shape must be measured accurately. To be noticed is e. g. the fact that the measurement procedure allows only manual selection of the particles clearly distinguishable for analysis as well as manual definition of the contour of the imaged NPs. An inter-laboratory exercise on titania NPs (pure anatase, grown by hydrothermal synthesis) of well-defined non-spherical shape, i.e. bipyramidal has been recently started within ISO/TC 229 under similar conditions as for the irregular shaped titania. Overlapped particles were allowed to be considered, as long as they are clearly distinguishable. One decisive NP selection criterion was to analyze only those NPs with a roundness value below 0.7, i.e. the NPs laying on the support foil and, hence, with projection areas clearly deviating from perfect circles (R=1). The overall evaluation (for 15 labs) of the size descriptors (area, Feret, minFeret, perimeter) and shape descriptors (aspect ratio, roundness, compactness, extent) by analysis of variance is just to be finished and included in ISO/WD 21363 Nanotechnologies -- Protocol for particle size distribution by transmission electron microscopy.