The energy crisis, an increasing concern of the industrial sector, is characterized by increased energy costs and low energy availability. As part of an effort to increase energy efficiency, the present study assessed the impact of applying lean tools on the energy consumption of a manufacturing organization. Using the Kaizen approach, the organization’s processes were analyzed to identify the main vulnerabilities and make the required changes to increase consumption performance. Several technical improvements were performed to reach increased energy efficiency. Results showed an energy efficiency increase; consumption was reduced by up to 7.5% in the production line, 3.5% in the extruder stage, and up to 20% for the injection stage of the manufacturing process. The results suggest that the organization’s energy reduction targets have been achieved. Standardization of procedures was useful in the development of Kaizen projects which could be applied with certain limitations. The implications of these results for understanding energy consumption reduction are discussed.

Manual window cleaning in high-rise urban buildings is labor-intensive, risky, and resource-inefficient. This study addresses these challenges by investigating a resource-aware mechatronic architecture through the design, development, and experimental validation of a modular Automated Window Cleaning System (AWCS). Unlike conventional open-loop solutions, the AWCS integrates mechanical scrubbing with a closed-loop fluid management system, featuring precise dispensing and vacuum-assisted recovery. The system is governed by a deterministic finite state machine implemented on an ESP32 microcontroller, enabling low-latency IoT connectivity and autonomous operation. Two implementation variants—integrated and retrofit—were validated to ensure structural adaptability. Experimental results across 30 cycles demonstrate a cleaning efficiency of ~2 min/m², a water consumption of 95% reduction compared to manual methods), and an optical cleaning efficacy of 96.9% ± 1.4%. Safety protocols were substantiated through a calculated mechanical safety factor of 6.12 for retrofit applications. This research establishes the AWCS as a sustainable, safe, and scalable solution for autonomous building maintenance, contributing to the advancement of resource-circular domestic robotics and smart home automation.

Autonomous robotic systems operating in residential environments must maintain safe, reliable, and adaptive performance under heterogeneous conditions characterized by environmental uncertainty. Achieving this performance is difficult because such systems must simultaneously cope with variable contact states and complex subsystem interactions. Conventional component-oriented engineering approaches often fail to capture how internal faults, external disturbances, and architectural decisions interact to generate system-level instabilities and hazards. This paper proposes a Systems Thinking-based Safety-by-Design framework to support the sustainable early-stage design of autonomous residential robotic systems. The methodology formalizes the relationships among internal faults (F), environmental variability (E), system behaviour (S), architecture (A), instabilities (I), hazards (H), and safety barriers (B) through the dependencies S = f(F,E), I = g(S,A), and H = h(I,B). Environmental variability is treated as an active design driver influencing system behaviour, architectural decisions, and safety requirements. The framework is evaluated as a proof-of-concept, semi-quantitative analytical demonstration, rather than an experimentally validated result, using an autonomous window-cleaning robot: its functional subsystems are mapped to the conceptual model and fault-dominated, environment-dominated, and coupled degradation scenarios are assessed through a semi-quantitative index. The results show that risk emerges from subsystem interactions rather than isolated component failures and that adaptive architectures reduce instability propagation under uncertain operating conditions. The proposed framework supports early engineering decisions that improve robustness, resilience, safety, maintainability, and sustainability.

Over the years, patients with partial hand loss have relied on expensive prosthetics to recover some of the hand functionality. Fortunately, advancements in additive manufacturing desktop solutions allow transitional prosthetics prices to decrease. Therefore, the present work focused on providing a basic overview of the field and available low-cost 3D-printed upper-limb prosthetic devices. The aim was to develop a basic frame of reference on the field of transitional partial hand prosthetics. Concomitantly, this study also highlights additive manufacturing techniques on which further research can be done whilst helping to provide a new variant for an upper limb prosthetic device. The initial stages, current practices, and future possibilities were considered. Researchers and industry can utilize these findings to develop additional variants for the benefit of patients suffering from partial hand loss.