WorldWideScience

Sample records for include active sensors

  1. Resource Discovery in Activity-Based Sensor Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bucur, Doina; Bardram, Jakob

    This paper proposes a service discovery protocol for sensor networks that is specifically tailored for use in humancentered pervasive environments. It uses the high-level concept of computational activities (as logical bundles of data and resources) to give sensors in Activity-Based Sensor Networ....... ABSN enhances the generic Extended Zone Routing Protocol with logical sensor grouping and greatly lowers network overhead during the process of discovery, while keeping discovery latency close to optimal.......This paper proposes a service discovery protocol for sensor networks that is specifically tailored for use in humancentered pervasive environments. It uses the high-level concept of computational activities (as logical bundles of data and resources) to give sensors in Activity-Based Sensor Networks...... (ABSNs) knowledge about their usage even at the network layer. ABSN redesigns classical network-level service discovery protocols to include and use this logical structuring of the network for a more practically applicable service discovery scheme. Noting that in practical settings activity-based sensor...

  2. Resource Discovery in Activity-Based Sensor Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bucur, Doina; Bardram, Jakob

    This paper proposes a service discovery protocol for sensor networks that is specifically tailored for use in humancentered pervasive environments. It uses the high-level concept of computational activities (as logical bundles of data and resources) to give sensors in Activity-Based Sensor Networks...... (ABSNs) knowledge about their usage even at the network layer. ABSN redesigns classical network-level service discovery protocols to include and use this logical structuring of the network for a more practically applicable service discovery scheme. Noting that in practical settings activity-based sensor...

  3. Activity Recognition Invariant to Sensor Orientation with Wearable Motion Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yurtman, Aras; Barshan, Billur

    2017-08-09

    Most activity recognition studies that employ wearable sensors assume that the sensors are attached at pre-determined positions and orientations that do not change over time. Since this is not the case in practice, it is of interest to develop wearable systems that operate invariantly to sensor position and orientation. We focus on invariance to sensor orientation and develop two alternative transformations to remove the effect of absolute sensor orientation from the raw sensor data. We test the proposed methodology in activity recognition with four state-of-the-art classifiers using five publicly available datasets containing various types of human activities acquired by different sensor configurations. While the ordinary activity recognition system cannot handle incorrectly oriented sensors, the proposed transformations allow the sensors to be worn at any orientation at a given position on the body, and achieve nearly the same activity recognition performance as the ordinary system for which the sensor units are not rotatable. The proposed techniques can be applied to existing wearable systems without much effort, by simply transforming the time-domain sensor data at the pre-processing stage.

  4. Electro-active sensor, method for constructing the same; apparatus and circuitry for detection of electro-active species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buehler, Martin (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    An electro-active sensor includes a nonconductive platform with a first electrode set attached with a first side of a nonconductive platform. The first electrode set serves as an electrochemical cell that may be utilized to detect electro-active species in solution. A plurality of electrode sets and a variety of additional electrochemical cells and sensors may be attached with the nonconductive platform. The present invention also includes a method for constructing the aforementioned electro-active sensor. Additionally, an apparatus for detection and observation is disclosed, where the apparatus includes a sealable chamber for insertion of a portion of an electro-active sensor. The apparatus allows for monitoring and detection activities. Allowing for control of attached cells and sensors, a dual-mode circuitry is also disclosed. The dual-mode circuitry includes a switch, allowing the circuitry to be switched from a potentiostat to a galvanostat mode.

  5. Integrated active sensor system for real time vibration monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Qijie; Yan, Xiaoqin; Liao, Xinqin; Cao, Shiyao; Lu, Shengnan; Zheng, Xin; Zhang, Yue

    2015-11-05

    We report a self-powered, lightweight and cost-effective active sensor system for vibration monitoring with multiplexed operation based on contact electrification between sensor and detected objects. The as-fabricated sensor matrix is capable of monitoring and mapping the vibration state of large amounts of units. The monitoring contents include: on-off state, vibration frequency and vibration amplitude of each unit. The active sensor system delivers a detection range of 0-60 Hz, high accuracy (relative error below 0.42%), long-term stability (10000 cycles). On the time dimension, the sensor can provide the vibration process memory by recording the outputs of the sensor system in an extend period of time. Besides, the developed sensor system can realize detection under contact mode and non-contact mode. Its high performance is not sensitive to the shape or the conductivity of the detected object. With these features, the active sensor system has great potential in automatic control, remote operation, surveillance and security systems.

  6. Active node determination for correlated data gathering in wireless sensor networks

    OpenAIRE

    Karasabun, Efe

    2009-01-01

    Ankara : The Department of Computer Engineering and the Institute of Engineering and Science of Bilkent University, 2009. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2009. Includes bibliographical references leaves 53-55. In wireless sensor network applications where data gathered by different sensor nodes is correlated, not all sensor nodes need to be active for the wireless sensor network to be functional. However, the sensor nodes that are selected as active should form a co...

  7. A sensor and video based ontology for activity recognition in smart environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, D; Morrow, Philip J; Nugent, Chris D

    2014-01-01

    Activity recognition is used in a wide range of applications including healthcare and security. In a smart environment activity recognition can be used to monitor and support the activities of a user. There have been a range of methods used in activity recognition including sensor-based approaches, vision-based approaches and ontological approaches. This paper presents a novel approach to activity recognition in a smart home environment which combines sensor and video data through an ontological framework. The ontology describes the relationships and interactions between activities, the user, objects, sensors and video data.

  8. Using Sensors to Study Home Activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Jiang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Understanding home activities is important in social research to study aspects of home life, e.g., energy-related practices and assisted living arrangements. Common approaches to identifying which activities are being carried out in the home rely on self-reporting, either retrospectively (e.g., interviews, questionnaires, and surveys or at the time of the activity (e.g., time use diaries. The use of digital sensors may provide an alternative means of observing activities in the home. For example, temperature, humidity and light sensors can report on the physical environment where activities occur, while energy monitors can report information on the electrical devices that are used to assist the activities. One may then be able to infer from the sensor data which activities are taking place. However, it is first necessary to calibrate the sensor data by matching it to activities identified from self-reports. The calibration involves identifying the features in the sensor data that correlate best with the self-reported activities. This in turn requires a good measure of the agreement between the activities detected from sensor-generated data and those recorded in self-reported data. To illustrate how this can be done, we conducted a trial in three single-occupancy households from which we collected data from a suite of sensors and from time use diaries completed by the occupants. For sensor-based activity recognition, we demonstrate the application of Hidden Markov Models with features extracted from mean-shift clustering and change points analysis. A correlation-based feature selection is also applied to reduce the computational cost. A method based on Levenshtein distance for measuring the agreement between the activities detected in the sensor data and that reported by the participants is demonstrated. We then discuss how the features derived from sensor data can be used in activity recognition and how they relate to activities recorded in time

  9. Efficient sensor selection for active information fusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yongmian; Ji, Qiang

    2010-06-01

    In our previous paper, we formalized an active information fusion framework based on dynamic Bayesian networks to provide active information fusion. This paper focuses on a central issue of active information fusion, i.e., the efficient identification of a subset of sensors that are most decision relevant and cost effective. Determining the most informative and cost-effective sensors requires an evaluation of all the possible subsets of sensors, which is computationally intractable, particularly when information-theoretic criterion such as mutual information is used. To overcome this challenge, we propose a new quantitative measure for sensor synergy based on which a sensor synergy graph is constructed. Using the sensor synergy graph, we first introduce an alternative measure to multisensor mutual information for characterizing the sensor information gain. We then propose an approximated nonmyopic sensor selection method that can efficiently and near-optimally select a subset of sensors for active fusion. The simulation study demonstrates both the performance and the efficiency of the proposed sensor selection method.

  10. Active and Passive Hybrid Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carswell, James R.

    2010-01-01

    A hybrid ocean wind sensor (HOWS) can map ocean vector wind in low to hurricane-level winds, and non-precipitating and precipitating conditions. It can acquire active and passive measurements through a single aperture at two wavelengths, two polarizations, and multiple incidence angles. Its low profile, compact geometry, and low power consumption permits installation on air craft platforms, including high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

  11. A triboelectric motion sensor in wearable body sensor network for human activity recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hui Huang; Xian Li; Ye Sun

    2016-08-01

    The goal of this study is to design a novel triboelectric motion sensor in wearable body sensor network for human activity recognition. Physical activity recognition is widely used in well-being management, medical diagnosis and rehabilitation. Other than traditional accelerometers, we design a novel wearable sensor system based on triboelectrification. The triboelectric motion sensor can be easily attached to human body and collect motion signals caused by physical activities. The experiments are conducted to collect five common activity data: sitting and standing, walking, climbing upstairs, downstairs, and running. The k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) clustering algorithm is adopted to recognize these activities and validate the feasibility of this new approach. The results show that our system can perform physical activity recognition with a successful rate over 80% for walking, sitting and standing. The triboelectric structure can also be used as an energy harvester for motion harvesting due to its high output voltage in random low-frequency motion.

  12. Validation of mercury tip-switch and accelerometer activity sensors for identifying resting and active behavior in bears

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jasmine Ware,; Rode, Karyn D.; Pagano, Anthony M.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Robbins, Charles T.; Joy Erlenbach,; Shannon Jensen,; Amy Cutting,; Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey,; Amy Hash,; Owen, Megan A.; Heiko Jansen,

    2015-01-01

    Activity sensors are often included in wildlife transmitters and can provide information on the behavior and activity patterns of animals remotely. However, interpreting activity-sensor data relative to animal behavior can be difficult if animals cannot be continuously observed. In this study, we examined the performance of a mercury tip-switch and a tri-axial accelerometer housed in collars to determine whether sensor data can be accurately classified as resting and active behaviors and whether data are comparable for the 2 sensor types. Five captive bears (3 polar [Ursus maritimus] and 2 brown [U. arctos horribilis]) were fitted with a collar specially designed to internally house the sensors. The bears’ behaviors were recorded, classified, and then compared with sensor readings. A separate tri-axial accelerometer that sampled continuously at a higher frequency and provided raw acceleration values from 3 axes was also mounted on the collar to compare with the lower resolution sensors. Both accelerometers more accurately identified resting and active behaviors at time intervals ranging from 1 minute to 1 hour (≥91.1% accuracy) compared with the mercury tip-switch (range = 75.5–86.3%). However, mercury tip-switch accuracy improved when sampled at longer intervals (e.g., 30–60 min). Data from the lower resolution accelerometer, but not the mercury tip-switch, accurately predicted the percentage of time spent resting during an hour. Although the number of bears available for this study was small, our results suggest that these activity sensors can remotely identify resting versus active behaviors across most time intervals. We recommend that investigators consider both study objectives and the variation in accuracy of classifying resting and active behaviors reported here when determining sampling interval.

  13. Development of SERS active fibre sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polwart, Ewan

    2002-01-01

    Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is sensitive and selective and when coupled with fibre-optics could potentially produce an effective chemical sensing system. This thesis concerns the development of a single-fibre-based sensor, with an integral SERS-active substrate. A number of different methods for the manufacture of SERS-active surfaces on glass substrates were investigated and compared. The immobilisation of metal nanoparticles on glass functionalised with (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane emerged as a suitable approach for the production of sensors. Substrates prepared by this approach were characterised using UV-visible spectroscopy, electron microscopy and Raman mapping. It was found that exposure of substrates to laser radiation led to a decrease in the signal recorded from adsorbed analytes. This speed of the decrease was shown to depend on the analyte, and the exciting wavelength and power. SERS-active fibre sensors were produced by immobilisation of silver nanoparticles at the distal end of a (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane-derivatised optical fibre. These sensors were used to obtain spectra with good signal to noise ratios from 4-(benzotriazol-5-ylazo)-3,5-dimethoxyphenylamine and crystal violet. Sensing of dyes in effluent was also investigated. The development of sensors for the measurement of pH, by treating the SERS-active fibre tip with pH sensitive dyes is also described. Spectral changes were observed with these sensors as a response to the pH. Partial least squares regression was used to produce linear calibration models for the pH range 5-11 from which it was possible to predict the pH with an accuracy of ∼0.2 pH units. Some of the limitations of these sensors were explored. The feasibility of using these sensors for measurement of oxygen and thiols, was investigated. The measurement of oxygen using methylene blue as a transducer was demonstrated. Two transduction methodologies--reactions with iron porphyrins and pyrrole-2,5-diones

  14. Wearable sensor glove based on conducting fabric using electrodermal activity and pulse-wave sensors for e-health application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Youngbum; Lee, Byungwoo; Lee, Myoungho

    2010-03-01

    Improvement of the quality and efficiency of health in medicine, both at home and the hospital, calls for improved sensors that might be included in a common carrier such as a wearable sensor device to measure various biosignals and provide healthcare services that use e-health technology. Designed to be user-friendly, smart clothes and gloves respond well to the end users for health monitoring. This study describes a wearable sensor glove that is equipped with an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor, pulse-wave sensor, conducting fabric, and an embedded system. The EDA sensor utilizes the relationship between drowsiness and the EDA signal. The EDA sensors were made using a conducting fabric instead of silver chloride electrodes, as a more practical and practically wearable device. The pulse-wave sensor measurement system, which is widely applied in oriental medicinal practices, is also a strong element in e-health monitoring systems. The EDA and pulse-wave signal acquisition module was constructed by connecting the sensor to the glove via a conductive fabric. The signal acquisition module is then connected to a personal computer that displays the results of the EDA and pulse-wave signal processing analysis and gives accurate feedback to the user. This system is designed for a number of applications for the e-health services, including drowsiness detection and oriental medicine.

  15. First Results from Cherwell, a Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor for Particle Physics

    CERN Document Server

    Nooney, Tamsin; Borri, Marcello; Crooks, Jamie; Headspith, Jon; Inguglia, Gianluca; Kolya, Scott; Lazarus, Ian; Lemmon, Roy; Mylroie-Smith, James; Turchetta, Renato; Velthuis, Jaap; Wilson, Fergus

    2014-01-01

    Cherwell is a CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor (MAPS) developed for digital calorimetry and charged particle tracking applications. Here, we outline the initial tests carried out to charac- terise the performance of Cherwell, give details of the test beam carried out at CERN and include the first results from this analysis. Three variations of the chip were tested; Type A, a high re- sistivity, low noise sensor, Type B, a standard resisivity, low noise sensor and Type C, a standard resistivity, standard noise sensor. The sensors yield an average RMS noise value per pixel of 9.6 e

  16. Active design method for the static characteristics of a piezoelectric six-axis force/torque sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jun; Li, Min; Qin, Lan; Liu, Jingcheng

    2014-01-02

    To address the bottleneck issues of an elastic-style six-axis force/torque sensor (six-axis force sensor), this work proposes a no-elastic piezoelectric six-axis force sensor. The operating principle of the piezoelectric six-axis force sensor is analyzed, and a structural model is constructed. The static-active design theory of the piezoelectric six-axis force sensor is established, including a static analytical/mathematical model and numerical simulation model (finite element model). A piezoelectric six-axis force sensor experimental prototype is developed according to the analytical mathematical model and numerical simulation model, and selected static characteristic parameters (including sensitivity, isotropic degree and cross-coupling) are tested using this model with three approaches. The measured results are in agreement with the analytical results from the static-active design method. Therefore, this study has successfully established a foundation for further research into the piezoelectric multi-axis force sensor and an overall design approach based on static characteristics.

  17. Thin n-in-p planar pixel sensors and active edge sensors for the ATLAS upgrade at HL-LHC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terzo, S; Macchiolo, A; Nisius, R; Paschen, B

    2014-01-01

    Silicon pixel modules employing n-in-p planar sensors with an active thickness of 200 μm, produced at CiS, and 100-200 μm thin active/slim edge sensor devices, produced at VTT in Finland have been interconnected to ATLAS FE-I3 and FE-I4 read-out chips. The thin sensors are designed for high energy physics collider experiments to ensure radiation hardness at high fluences. Moreover, the active edge technology of the VTT production maximizes the sensitive region of the assembly, allowing for a reduced overlap of the modules in the pixel layer close to the beam pipe. The CiS production includes also four chip sensors according to the module geometry planned for the outer layers of the upgraded ATLAS pixel detector to be operated at the HL-LHC. The modules have been characterized using radioactive sources in the laboratory and with high precision measurements at beam tests to investigate the hit efficiency and charge collection properties at different bias voltages and particle incidence angles. The performance of the different sensor thicknesses and edge designs are compared before and after irradiation up to a fluence of 1.4 × 10 16 n eq /cm 2

  18. Sensor Development for Active Flow Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahng, Seun K.; Gorton, Susan A.; Mau, Johnney C.; Soto, Hector L.; Hernandez, Corey D.

    2001-01-01

    Presented are the developmental efforts for MEMS sensors for a closed-loop active flow control in a low-speed wind tunnel evaluation. The MEMS sensors are designed in-house and fabricated out of house, and the shear sensors are a thermal type that are collocated with temperature and pressure sensors on a flexible polyimide sheet, which conforms to surfaces of a simple curvature. A total of 6 sensors are located within a 1.5 by 3 mm area as a cluster with each sensor being 300 pm square. The thickness of this sensor cluster is 75 pm. Outputs from the shear sensors have been compared with respect to those of the Preston tube for evaluation of the sensors on a flat plate. Pressure sensors are the absolute type and have recorded pressure measurements within 0.05 percent of the tunnel ESP pressure sensor readings. The sensors and signal conditioning electronics have been tested on both a flat plate and a ramp in Langley s 15-Inch Low-Turbulence Tunnel. The system configuration and control PC is configured with LabView, where calibration constants are stored for desired compensation and correction. The preliminary test results are presented within.

  19. A Low Power, Parallel Wearable Multi-Sensor System for Human Activity Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yuecheng; Jia, Wenyan; Yu, Tianjian; Luan, Bo; Mao, Zhi-Hong; Zhang, Hong; Sun, Mingui

    2015-04-01

    In this paper, the design of a low power heterogeneous wearable multi-sensor system, built with Zynq System-on-Chip (SoC), for human activity evaluation is presented. The powerful data processing capability and flexibility of this SoC represent significant improvements over our previous ARM based system designs. The new system captures and compresses multiple color images and sensor data simultaneously. Several strategies are adopted to minimize power consumption. Our wearable system provides a new tool for the evaluation of human activity, including diet, physical activity and lifestyle.

  20. Development of smart active layer sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Young Sup; Lee, Sang Il; Yoon, Dong Jin; Kwon, Jae Hwa

    2004-01-01

    Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a new technology that will be increasingly applied at the industrial field as a potential approach to improve cost and convenience of structural inspection. Recently, the development of smart sensor is very active for real application. This study has focused on preparation and application study of SAL sensor. In order to detect elastic wave, smart piezoelectric sensor, SAL, is fabricated by using a piezoelectric element, shielding layer and protection layer. This protection layer plays an important role in a patched network of distributed piezoelectric sensor and shielding treatment. Four types of SAL sensor are designed/prepared/tested, and these details will be discussed in the paper. In this study, SAL sensor can be feasibly applied to perform structural health monitoring and to detect damage sources which result in elastic waves.

  1. Wearable Wide-Range Strain Sensors Based on Ionic Liquids and Monitoring of Human Activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shao-Hui Zhang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Wearable sensors for detection of human activities have encouraged the development of highly elastic sensors. In particular, to capture subtle and large-scale body motion, stretchable and wide-range strain sensors are highly desired, but still a challenge. Herein, a highly stretchable and transparent stain sensor based on ionic liquids and elastic polymer has been developed. The as-obtained sensor exhibits impressive stretchability with wide-range strain (from 0.1% to 400%, good bending properties and high sensitivity, whose gauge factor can reach 7.9. Importantly, the sensors show excellent biological compatibility and succeed in monitoring the diverse human activities ranging from the complex large-scale multidimensional motions to subtle signals, including wrist, finger and elbow joint bending, finger touch, breath, speech, swallow behavior and pulse wave.

  2. Low Power Camera-on-a-Chip Using CMOS Active Pixel Sensor Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossum, E. R.

    1995-01-01

    A second generation image sensor technology has been developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a result of the continuing need to miniaturize space science imaging instruments. Implemented using standard CMOS, the active pixel sensor (APS) technology permits the integration of the detector array with on-chip timing, control and signal chain electronics, including analog-to-digital conversion.

  3. Activity classification based on inertial and barometric pressure sensors at different anatomical locations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moncada-Torres, A; Leuenberger, K; Gonzenbach, R; Luft, A; Gassert, R

    2014-07-01

    Miniature, wearable sensor modules are a promising technology to monitor activities of daily living (ADL) over extended periods of time. To assure both user compliance and meaningful results, the selection and placement site of sensors requires careful consideration. We investigated these aspects for the classification of 16 ADL in 6 healthy subjects under laboratory conditions using ReSense, our custom-made inertial measurement unit enhanced with a barometric pressure sensor used to capture activity-related altitude changes. Subjects wore a module on each wrist and ankle, and one on the trunk. Activities comprised whole body movements as well as gross and dextrous upper-limb activities. Wrist-module data outperformed the other locations for the three activity groups. Specifically, overall classification accuracy rates of almost 93% and more than 95% were achieved for the repeated holdout and user-specific validation methods, respectively, for all 16 activities. Including the altitude profile resulted in a considerable improvement of up to 20% in the classification accuracy for stair ascent and descent. The gyroscopes provided no useful information for activity classification under this scheme. The proposed sensor setting could allow for robust long-term activity monitoring with high compliance in different patient populations.

  4. Activity classification based on inertial and barometric pressure sensors at different anatomical locations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moncada-Torres, A; Leuenberger, K; Gassert, R; Gonzenbach, R; Luft, A

    2014-01-01

    Miniature, wearable sensor modules are a promising technology to monitor activities of daily living (ADL) over extended periods of time. To assure both user compliance and meaningful results, the selection and placement site of sensors requires careful consideration. We investigated these aspects for the classification of 16 ADL in 6 healthy subjects under laboratory conditions using ReSense, our custom-made inertial measurement unit enhanced with a barometric pressure sensor used to capture activity-related altitude changes. Subjects wore a module on each wrist and ankle, and one on the trunk. Activities comprised whole body movements as well as gross and dextrous upper-limb activities. Wrist-module data outperformed the other locations for the three activity groups. Specifically, overall classification accuracy rates of almost 93% and more than 95% were achieved for the repeated holdout and user-specific validation methods, respectively, for all 16 activities. Including the altitude profile resulted in a considerable improvement of up to 20% in the classification accuracy for stair ascent and descent. The gyroscopes provided no useful information for activity classification under this scheme. The proposed sensor setting could allow for robust long-term activity monitoring with high compliance in different patient populations. (paper)

  5. Pulse-driven magnetoimpedance sensor detection of cardiac magnetic activity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shinsuke Nakayama

    Full Text Available This study sought to establish a convenient method for detecting biomagnetic activity in the heart. Electrical activity of the heart simultaneously induces a magnetic field. Detection of this magnetic activity will enable non-contact, noninvasive evaluation to be made. We improved the sensitivity of a pulse-driven magnetoimpedance (PMI sensor, which is used as an electric compass in mobile phones and as a motion sensor of the operation handle in computer games, toward a pico-Tesla (pT level, and measured magnetic fields on the surface of the thoracic wall in humans. The changes in magnetic field detected by this sensor synchronized with the electric activity of the electrocardiogram (ECG. The shape of the magnetic wave was largely altered by shifting the sensor position within 20 mm in parallel and/or perpendicular to the thoracic wall. The magnetic activity was maximal in the 4th intercostals near the center of the sterna. Furthermore, averaging the magnetic activity at 15 mm in the distance between the thoracic wall and the sensor demonstrated magnetic waves mimicking the P wave and QRS complex. The present study shows the application of PMI sensor in detecting cardiac magnetic activity in several healthy subjects, and suggests future applications of this technology in medicine and biology.

  6. Active Design Method for the Static Characteristics of a Piezoelectric Six-Axis Force/Torque Sensor

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Jun; Li, Min; Qin, Lan; Liu, Jingcheng

    2014-01-01

    To address the bottleneck issues of an elastic-style six-axis force/torque sensor (six-axis force sensor), this work proposes a no-elastic piezoelectric six-axis force sensor. The operating principle of the piezoelectric six-axis force sensor is analyzed, and a structural model is constructed. The static-active design theory of the piezoelectric six-axis force sensor is established, including a static analytical/mathematical model and numerical simulation model (finite element model). A piezo...

  7. Dealing with the Effects of Sensor Displacement in Wearable Activity Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oresti Banos

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Most wearable activity recognition systems assume a predefined sensor deployment that remains unchanged during runtime. However, this assumption does not reflect real-life conditions. During the normal use of such systems, users may place the sensors in a position different from the predefined sensor placement. Also, sensors may move from their original location to a different one, due to a loose attachment. Activity recognition systems trained on activity patterns characteristic of a given sensor deployment may likely fail due to sensor displacements. In this work, we innovatively explore the effects of sensor displacement induced by both the intentional misplacement of sensors and self-placement by the user. The effects of sensor displacement are analyzed for standard activity recognition techniques, as well as for an alternate robust sensor fusion method proposed in a previous work. While classical recognition models show little tolerance to sensor displacement, the proposed method is proven to have notable capabilities to assimilate the changes introduced in the sensor position due to self-placement and provides considerable improvements for large misplacements.

  8. Development of radiation hard CMOS active pixel sensors for HL-LHC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pernegger, Heinz

    2016-01-01

    New pixel detectors, based on commercial high voltage and/or high resistivity full CMOS processes, hold promise as next-generation active pixel sensors for inner and intermediate layers of the upgraded ATLAS tracker. The use of commercial CMOS processes allow cost-effective detector construction and simpler hybridisation techniques. The paper gives an overview of the results obtained on AMS-produced CMOS sensors coupled to the ATLAS Pixel FE-I4 readout chips. The SOI (silicon-on-insulator) produced sensors by XFAB hold great promise as radiation hard SOI-CMOS sensors due to their combination of partially depleted SOI transistors reducing back-gate effects. The test results include pre-/post-irradiation comparison, measurements of charge collection regions as well as test beam results.

  9. Physical Activity Recognition from Smartphone Embedded Sensors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Prudêncio, João; Aguiar, Ana; Roetter, Daniel Enrique Lucani

    2013-01-01

    The ubiquity of smartphones has motivated efforts to use the embedded sensors to detect various aspects of user context to transparently provide personalized and contextualized services to the user. One relevant piece of context is the physical activity of the smartphone user. In this paper, we...... propose a novel set of features for distinguishing five physical activities using only sensors embedded in the smartphone. Specifically, we introduce features that are normalized using the orientation sensor such that horizontal and vertical movements are explicitly computed. We evaluate a neural network...... classifier in experiments in the wild with multiple users and hardware, we achieve accuracies above 90% for a single user and phone, and above 65% for multiple users, which is higher that similar works on the same set of activities, demonstrating the potential of our approach....

  10. A multi-sensor monitoring system of human physiology and daily activities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doherty, Sean T; Oh, Paul

    2012-04-01

    To present the design and pilot test results of a continuous multi-sensor monitoring system of real-world physiological conditions and daily life (activities, travel, exercise, and food consumption), culminating in a Web-based graphical decision-support interface. The system includes a set of wearable sensors wirelessly connected to a "smartphone" with a continuously running software application that compresses and transmits the data to a central server. Sensors include a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, electrocardiogram (ECG), three-axis accelerometer, and continuous blood glucose monitor. A food/medicine diary and prompted recall activity diary were also used. The pilot test involved 40 type 2 diabetic patients monitored over a 72-h period. All but three subjects were successfully monitored for the full study period. Smartphones proved to be an effective hub for managing multiple streams of data but required attention to data compression and battery consumption issues. ECG, accelerometer, and blood glucose devices performed adequately as long as subjects wore them. GPS tracking for a full day was feasible, although significant efforts are needed to impute missing data. Activity detection algorithms were successful in identifying activities and trip modes but could benefit by incorporating accelerometer data. The prompted recall diary was an effective tool for augmenting algorithm results, although subjects reported some difficulties with it. The food and medicine diary was completed fully, although end times and medicine dosages were occasionally missing. The unique combination of sensors holds promise for increasing accuracy and reducing burden associated with collecting individual-level activity and physiological data under real-world conditions, but significant data processing issues remain. Such data will provide new opportunities to explore the impacts of human geography and daily lifestyle on health at a fine spatial/temporal scale.

  11. Embedded Triboelectric Active Sensors for Real-Time Pneumatic Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Xian Peng; Bu, Tian Zhao; Xi, Feng Ben; Cheng, Ting Hai; Zhang, Chi; Wang, Zhong Lin

    2017-09-20

    Pneumatic monitoring sensors have great demands for power supply in cylinder systems. Here, we present an embedded sliding triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) in air cylinder as active sensors for position and velocity monitoring. The embedded TENG is composed of a circular poly(tetrafluoroethylene) polymer and a triangular copper electrode. The working mechanism as triboelectric active sensors and electric output performance are systematically investigated. By integrating into the pneumatic system, the embedded triboelectric active sensors have been used for real-time air pressure/flow monitoring and energy storage. Air pressures are measured from 0.04 to 0.12 MPa at a step of 0.02 MPa with a sensitivity of 49.235 V/MPa, as well as airflow from 50 to 250 L/min at a step of 50 L/min with a sensitivity of 0.002 μA·min/L. This work has first demonstrated triboelectric active sensors for pneumatic monitoring and may promote the development of TENG in intelligent pneumatic system.

  12. Active Sensor Configuration Validation for Refrigeration Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hovgaard, Tobias Gybel; Blanke, Mogens; Niemann, Hans Henrik

    2010-01-01

    -diagnosis methods falling short on this problem, this paper suggests an active diagnosis procedure to isolate sensor faults at the commissioning stage, before normal operation has started. Using statistical methods, residuals are evaluated versus multiple hypothesis models in a minimization process to uniquely......Major faults in the commissioning phase of refrigeration systems are caused by defects related to sensors. With a number of similar sensors available that do not differ by type but only by spatial location in the plant, interchange of sensors is a common defect. With sensors being used quite...... differently by the control system, fault-finding is difficult in practice and defects are regularly causing commissioning delays at considerable expense. Validation and handling of faults in the sensor configuration are therefore essential to cut costs during commissioning. With passive fault...

  13. Active self-testing noise measurement sensors for large-scale environmental sensor networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domínguez, Federico; Cuong, Nguyen The; Reinoso, Felipe; Touhafi, Abdellah; Steenhaut, Kris

    2013-12-13

    Large-scale noise pollution sensor networks consist of hundreds of spatially distributed microphones that measure environmental noise. These networks provide historical and real-time environmental data to citizens and decision makers and are therefore a key technology to steer environmental policy. However, the high cost of certified environmental microphone sensors render large-scale environmental networks prohibitively expensive. Several environmental network projects have started using off-the-shelf low-cost microphone sensors to reduce their costs, but these sensors have higher failure rates and produce lower quality data. To offset this disadvantage, we developed a low-cost noise sensor that actively checks its condition and indirectly the integrity of the data it produces. The main design concept is to embed a 13 mm speaker in the noise sensor casing and, by regularly scheduling a frequency sweep, estimate the evolution of the microphone's frequency response over time. This paper presents our noise sensor's hardware and software design together with the results of a test deployment in a large-scale environmental network in Belgium. Our middle-range-value sensor (around €50) effectively detected all experienced malfunctions, in laboratory tests and outdoor deployments, with a few false positives. Future improvements could further lower the cost of our sensor below €10.

  14. Characterization of active CMOS sensors for capacitively coupled pixel detectors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirono, Toko; Gonella, Laura; Janssen, Jens; Hemperek, Tomasz; Huegging, Fabian; Krueger, Hans; Wermes, Norbert [Institute of Physics, University of Bonn (Germany); Peric, Ivan [Institut fuer Prozessdatenverarbeitung und Elektronik, Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie, Karlsruhe (Germany)

    2015-07-01

    Active CMOS pixel sensor is one of the most attractive candidates for detectors of upcoming particle physics experiments. In contrast to conventional sensors of hybrid detectors, signal processing circuit can be integrated in the active CMOS sensor. The characterization and optimization of the pixel circuit are indispensable to obtain a good performance from the sensors. The prototype chips of the active CMOS sensor were fabricated in the AMS 180nm and L-Foundry 150 nm CMOS processes, respectively a high voltage and high resistivity technology. Both chips have a charge sensitive amplifier and a comparator in each pixel. The chips are designed to be glued to the FEI4 pixel readout chip. The signals from 3 pixels of the prototype chips are capacitively coupled to the FEI4 input pads. We have performed lab tests and test beams to characterize the prototypes. In this presentation, the measurement results of the active CMOS prototype sensors are shown.

  15. Human Activity Recognition from Body Sensor Data using Deep Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassan, Mohammad Mehedi; Huda, Shamsul; Uddin, Md Zia; Almogren, Ahmad; Alrubaian, Majed

    2018-04-16

    In recent years, human activity recognition from body sensor data or wearable sensor data has become a considerable research attention from academia and health industry. This research can be useful for various e-health applications such as monitoring elderly and physical impaired people at Smart home to improve their rehabilitation processes. However, it is not easy to accurately and automatically recognize physical human activity through wearable sensors due to the complexity and variety of body activities. In this paper, we address the human activity recognition problem as a classification problem using wearable body sensor data. In particular, we propose to utilize a Deep Belief Network (DBN) model for successful human activity recognition. First, we extract the important initial features from the raw body sensor data. Then, a kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) are performed to further process the features and make them more robust to be useful for fast activity recognition. Finally, the DBN is trained by these features. Various experiments were performed on a real-world wearable sensor dataset to verify the effectiveness of the deep learning algorithm. The results show that the proposed DBN outperformed other algorithms and achieves satisfactory activity recognition performance.

  16. Performance of active edge pixel sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bomben, M.; Ducourthial, A.; Bagolini, A.; Boscardin, M.; Bosisio, L.; Calderini, G.; D'Eramo, L.; Giacomini, G.; Marchiori, G.; Zorzi, N.; Rummler, A.; Weingarten, J.

    2017-05-01

    To cope with the High Luminosity LHC harsh conditions, the ATLAS inner tracker has to be upgraded to meet requirements in terms of radiation hardness, pile up and geometrical acceptance. The active edge technology allows to reduce the insensitive area at the border of the sensor thanks to an ion etched trench which avoids the crystal damage produced by the standard mechanical dicing process. Thin planar n-on-p pixel sensors with active edge have been designed and produced by LPNHE and FBK foundry. Two detector module prototypes, consisting of pixel sensors connected to FE-I4B readout chips, have been tested with beams at CERN and DESY. In this paper the performance of these modules are reported. In particular the lateral extension of the detection volume, beyond the pixel region, is investigated and the results show high hit efficiency also at the detector edge, even in presence of guard rings.

  17. Bio-Inspired Carbon Monoxide Sensors with Voltage-Activated Sensitivity

    KAUST Repository

    Savagatrup, Suchol

    2017-09-27

    Carbon monoxide (CO) outcompetes oxygen when binding to the iron center of hemeproteins, leading to a reduction in blood oxygen level and acute poisoning. Harvesting the strong specific interaction between CO and the iron porphyrin provides a highly selective and customizable sensor. We report the development of chemiresistive sensors with voltage-activated sensitivity for the detection of CO comprising iron porphyrin and functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (F-SWCNTs). Modulation of the gate voltage offers a predicted extra dimension for sensing. Specifically, the sensors show a significant increase in sensitivity toward CO when negative gate voltage is applied. The dosimetric sensors are selective to ppm levels of CO and functional in air. UV/Vis spectroscopy, differential pulse voltammetry, and density functional theory reveal that the in situ reduction of FeIII to FeII enhances the interaction between the F-SWCNTs and CO. Our results illustrate a new mode of sensors wherein redox active recognition units are voltage-activated to give enhanced and highly specific responses.

  18. Active Magnetic Shielding with magneto-impedance sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okazaki, Yasuo; Yanase, Shunji; Sugimoto, Noriko

    2002-01-01

    Active shielding effect was examined in a negative feedback circuit system consisting of a magneto-impedance effective sensor, an amplifier and a canceling coil to compensate external magnetic field noise. The phase difference between the input and output sensor signals in a loop was less than 90 degree up to 20,000 Hz. An excellent frequency characteristic of active shielding effectiveness, 48 dB was obtained for the external magnetic field at the frequency of 0 - 2,000 Hz. (Author)

  19. Genetically encoded proton sensors reveal activity-dependent pH changes in neurons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph Valentino Raimondo

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The regulation of hydrogen ion concentration (pH is fundamental to cell viability, metabolism and enzymatic function. Within the nervous system, the control of pH is also involved in diverse and dynamic processes including development, synaptic transmission and the control of network excitability. As pH affects neuronal activity, and can also itself be altered by neuronal activity, the existence of tools to accurately measure hydrogen ion fluctuations is important for understanding the role pH plays under physiological and pathological conditions. Outside of their use as a marker of synaptic release, genetically encoded pH sensors have not been utilised to study hydrogen ion fluxes associated with network activity. By combining whole-cell patch clamp with simultaneous two-photon or confocal imaging, we quantified the amplitude and time course of neuronal, intracellular, acidic transients evoked by epileptiform activity in two separate in vitro models of temporal lobe epilepsy. In doing so, we demonstrate the suitability of three genetically encoded pH sensors: deGFP4, E2GFP and Cl-sensor for investigating activity-dependent pH changes at the level of single neurons.

  20. Genetically encoded proton sensors reveal activity-dependent pH changes in neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raimondo, Joseph V; Irkle, Agnese; Wefelmeyer, Winnie; Newey, Sarah E; Akerman, Colin J

    2012-01-01

    The regulation of hydrogen ion concentration (pH) is fundamental to cell viability, metabolism, and enzymatic function. Within the nervous system, the control of pH is also involved in diverse and dynamic processes including development, synaptic transmission, and the control of network excitability. As pH affects neuronal activity, and can also itself be altered by neuronal activity, the existence of tools to accurately measure hydrogen ion fluctuations is important for understanding the role pH plays under physiological and pathological conditions. Outside of their use as a marker of synaptic release, genetically encoded pH sensors have not been utilized to study hydrogen ion fluxes associated with network activity. By combining whole-cell patch clamp with simultaneous two-photon or confocal imaging, we quantified the amplitude and time course of neuronal, intracellular, acidic transients evoked by epileptiform activity in two separate in vitro models of temporal lobe epilepsy. In doing so, we demonstrate the suitability of three genetically encoded pH sensors: deGFP4, E(2)GFP, and Cl-sensor for investigating activity-dependent pH changes at the level of single neurons.

  1. A novel bicistronic sensor vector for detecting caspase-3 activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vagner, Tatyana; Mouravlev, Alexandre; Young, Deborah

    2015-01-01

    Apoptosis is involved in pathological cell death of a wide range of human diseases. One of the most important biochemical markers of apoptosis is activation of caspase-3. Ability to detect caspase-3 activation early in the pathological process is important for determining the timing for interfering with apoptosis initiation and prevention of cell damage. Techniques allowing detection of caspase-3 activity at a single cell level show increased sensitivity, compared to biochemical assays; therefore, we developed a novel bicistronic caspase-3 sensor vector enabling detection of caspase-3 activity in individual cells. We employed green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter for caspase-3 activation in our constructs and assessed the functionality of the generated constructs in transiently transfected Neuro2A and HEK293 cells under basal conditions and following application of okadaic acid (OA) or staurosporine (STS) to induce apoptosis. To ensure responsiveness of the new sensor vector to active caspase-3, we co-transfected the sensor with plasmid(s) overexpressing active caspase-3 and quantified GFP fluorescence using a plate reader. We observed an increase in GFP expression in cells transfected with the new bicistronic caspase-3 sensor in response to both OA and STS. We also showed a significant increase in GFP fluorescence intensity in cells co-expressing the sensor with the plasmid(s) encoding active caspase-3. We generated a novel bicistronic caspase-3 sensor vector which relies on a transcription factor/response element system. The obtained sensor combines high sensitivity of the single cell level detection with the possibility of automated quantification. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Wearable motion sensors to continuously measure real-world physical activities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobkin, Bruce H

    2013-12-01

    Rehabilitation for sensorimotor impairments aims to improve daily activities, walking, exercise, and motor skills. Monitoring of practice and measuring outcomes, however, is usually restricted to laboratory-based procedures and self-reports. Mobile health devices may reverse these confounders of daily care and research trials. Wearable, wireless motion sensor data, analyzed by activity pattern-recognition algorithms, can describe the type, quantity, and quality of mobility-related activities in the community. Data transmission from the sensors to a cell phone and the Internet enable continuous monitoring. Remote access to laboratory quality data about walking speed, duration and distance, gait asymmetry and smoothness of movements, as well as cycling, exercise, and skills practice, opens new opportunities to engage patients in progressive, personalized therapies with feedback about the performance. Clinical trial designs will be able to include remote verification of the integrity of complex physical interventions and compliance with practice, as well as capture repeated, ecologically sound, ratio scale outcome measures. Given the progressively falling cost of miniaturized wearable gyroscopes, accelerometers, and other physiologic sensors, as well as inexpensive data transmission, sensing systems may become as ubiquitous as cell phones for healthcare. Neurorehabilitation can develop these mobile health platforms for daily care and clinical trials to improve exercise and fitness, skills learning, and physical functioning.

  3. X-ray imaging characterization of active edge silicon pixel sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ponchut, C; Ruat, M; Kalliopuska, J

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this work was the experimental characterization of edge effects in active-edge silicon pixel sensors, in the frame of X-ray pixel detectors developments for synchrotron experiments. We produced a set of active edge pixel sensors with 300 to 500 μm thickness, edge widths ranging from 100 μm to 150 μm, and n or p pixel contact types. The sensors with 256 × 256 pixels and 55 × 55 μm 2 pixel pitch were then bump-bonded to Timepix readout chips for X-ray imaging measurements. The reduced edge widths makes the edge pixels more sensitive to the electrical field distribution at the sensor boundaries. We characterized this effect by mapping the spatial response of the sensor edges with a finely focused X-ray synchrotron beam. One of the samples showed a distortion-free response on all four edges, whereas others showed variable degrees of distortions extending at maximum to 300 micron from the sensor edge. An application of active edge pixel sensors to coherent diffraction imaging with synchrotron beams is described

  4. A general framework for sensor-based human activity recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Köping, Lukas; Shirahama, Kimiaki; Grzegorzek, Marcin

    2018-04-01

    Today's wearable devices like smartphones, smartwatches and intelligent glasses collect a large amount of data from their built-in sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes. These data can be used to identify a person's current activity and in turn can be utilised for applications in the field of personal fitness assistants or elderly care. However, developing such systems is subject to certain restrictions: (i) since more and more new sensors will be available in the future, activity recognition systems should be able to integrate these new sensors with a small amount of manual effort and (ii) such systems should avoid high acquisition costs for computational power. We propose a general framework that achieves an effective data integration based on the following two characteristics: Firstly, a smartphone is used to gather and temporally store data from different sensors and transfer these data to a central server. Thus, various sensors can be integrated into the system as long as they have programming interfaces to communicate with the smartphone. The second characteristic is a codebook-based feature learning approach that can encode data from each sensor into an effective feature vector only by tuning a few intuitive parameters. In the experiments, the framework is realised as a real-time activity recognition system that integrates eight sensors from a smartphone, smartwatch and smartglasses, and its effectiveness is validated from different perspectives such as accuracies, sensor combinations and sampling rates. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Annotating smart environment sensor data for activity learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szewcyzk, S; Dwan, K; Minor, B; Swedlove, B; Cook, D

    2009-01-01

    The pervasive sensing technologies found in smart homes offer unprecedented opportunities for providing health monitoring and assistance to individuals experiencing difficulties living independently at home. In order to monitor the functional health of smart home residents, we need to design technologies that recognize and track the activities that people perform at home. Machine learning techniques can perform this task, but the software algorithms rely upon large amounts of sample data that is correctly labeled with the corresponding activity. Labeling, or annotating, sensor data with the corresponding activity can be time consuming, may require input from the smart home resident, and is often inaccurate. Therefore, in this paper we investigate four alternative mechanisms for annotating sensor data with a corresponding activity label. We evaluate the alternative methods along the dimensions of annotation time, resident burden, and accuracy using sensor data collected in a real smart apartment.

  6. First experimental results on active and slim-edge silicon sensors for XFEL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pancheri, L.; Benkechcache, M. E. A.; Betta, G.-F. Dalla; Xu, H.; Verzellesi, G.; Ronchin, S.; Boscardin, M.; Ratti, L.; Grassi, M.; Lodola, L.; Malcovati, P.; Vacchi, C.; Manghisoni, M.; Re, V.; Traversi, G.; Batignani, G.; Bettarini, S.; Casarosa, G.; Giorgi, M.; Forti, F.

    2016-01-01

    This work presents the first characterization results obtained on a pilot fabrication run of planar sensors, tailored for X-ray imaging applications at FELs, developed in the framework of INFN project PixFEL. Active and slim-edge p-on-n sensors are fabricated on n-type high-resistivity silicon with 450 μm thickness, bonded to a support wafer. Both diodes and pixelated sensors with a pitch of 110 μm are included in the design. Edge structures with different number of guard rings are designed to comply with the large bias voltage required by the application after accumulating an ionizing radiation dose as large as 1GGy. Preliminary results from the electrical characterization of the produced sensors, providing a first assessment of the proposed approach, are discussed. A functional characterization of the sensors with a pulsed infrared laser is also presented, demonstrating the validity of slim-edge configurations.

  7. Ultrasensitive surveillance of sensors and processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wegerich, S.W.; Jarman, K.K.; Gross, K.C.

    1999-01-01

    A method and apparatus for monitoring a source of data for determining an operating state of a working system are disclosed. The method includes determining a sensor (or source of data) arrangement associated with monitoring the source of data for a system, activating a method for performing a sequential probability ratio test if the data source includes a single data (sensor) source, activating a second method for performing a regression sequential possibility ratio testing procedure if the arrangement includes a pair of sensors (data sources) with signals which are linearly or non-linearly related; activating a third method for performing a bounded angle ratio test procedure if the sensor arrangement includes multiple sensors and utilizing at least one of the first, second and third methods to accumulate sensor signals and determining the operating state of the system

  8. Multi-Sensor Fusion for Enhanced Contextual Awareness of Everyday Activities with Ubiquitous Devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John J. Guiry

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the authors investigate the role that smart devices, including smartphones and smartwatches, can play in identifying activities of daily living. A feasibility study involving N = 10 participants was carried out to evaluate the devices’ ability to differentiate between nine everyday activities. The activities examined include walking, running, cycling, standing, sitting, elevator ascents, elevator descents, stair ascents and stair descents. The authors also evaluated the ability of these devices to differentiate indoors from outdoors, with the aim of enhancing contextual awareness. Data from this study was used to train and test five well known machine learning algorithms: C4.5, CART, Naïve Bayes, Multi-Layer Perceptrons and finally Support Vector Machines. Both single and multi-sensor approaches were examined to better understand the role each sensor in the device can play in unobtrusive activity recognition. The authors found overall results to be promising, with some models correctly classifying up to 100% of all instances.

  9. Recognizing Multi-user Activities using Body Sensor Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gu, Tao; Wang, Liang; Chen, Hanhua

    2011-01-01

    The advances of wireless networking and sensor technology open up an interesting opportunity to infer human activities in a smart home environment. Existing work in this paradigm focuses mainly on recognizing activities of a single user. In this work, we address the fundamental problem...... activity classes of data—for building activity models and design a scalable, noise-resistant, Emerging Pattern based Multi-user Activity Recognizer (epMAR) to recognize both single- and multi-user activities. We develop a multi-modal, wireless body sensor network for collecting real-world traces in a smart...... home environment, and conduct comprehensive empirical studies to evaluate our system. Results show that epMAR outperforms existing schemes in terms of accuracy, scalability and robustness....

  10. High-power fiber optic cable with integrated active sensors for live process monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blomster, Ola; Blomqvist, Mats; Bergstrand, Hans; Pålsson, Magnus

    2012-03-01

    In industrial applications using high-brilliance lasers at power levels up to and exceeding 20 kW and similarly direct diode lasers of 10 kW, there is an increasing demand to continuously monitor component status even in passive components such as fiber-optic cables. With fiber-optic cables designed according to the European Automotive Industry fiber standard interface there is room for integrating active sensors inside the connectors. In this paper we present the integrated active sensors in the new Optoskand QD fiber-optic cable designed to handle extreme levels of power losses, and how these sensors can be employed in industrial manufacturing. The sensors include photo diodes for detection of scattered light inside the fiber connector, absolute temperature of the fiber connector, difference in temperature of incoming and outgoing cooling water, and humidity measurement inside the fiber connector. All these sensors are connected to the fiber interlock system, where interlock break enable functions can be activated when measured signals are higher than threshold levels. It is a very fast interlock break system as the control of the signals is integrated in the electronics inside the fiber connector. Also, since all signals can be logged it is possible to evaluate what happened inside the connector before the interlock break instance. The communication to the fiber-optic connectors is via a CAN interface. Thus it is straightforward to develop the existing laser host control to also control the CAN-messages from the QD sensors.

  11. Monitoring system including an electronic sensor platform and an interrogation transceiver

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinzel, Robert L.; Sheets, Larry R.

    2003-09-23

    A wireless monitoring system suitable for a wide range of remote data collection applications. The system includes at least one Electronic Sensor Platform (ESP), an Interrogator Transceiver (IT) and a general purpose host computer. The ESP functions as a remote data collector from a number of digital and analog sensors located therein. The host computer provides for data logging, testing, demonstration, installation checkout, and troubleshooting of the system. The IT transmits signals from one or more ESP's to the host computer to the ESP's. The IT host computer may be powered by a common power supply, and each ESP is individually powered by a battery. This monitoring system has an extremely low power consumption which allows remote operation of the ESP for long periods; provides authenticated message traffic over a wireless network; utilizes state-of-health and tamper sensors to ensure that the ESP is secure and undamaged; has robust housing of the ESP suitable for use in radiation environments; and is low in cost. With one base station (host computer and interrogator transceiver), multiple ESP's may be controlled at a single monitoring site.

  12. Active Sensor for Microwave Tissue Imaging with Bias-Switched Arrays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foroutan, Farzad; Nikolova, Natalia K

    2018-05-06

    A prototype of a bias-switched active sensor was developed and measured to establish the achievable dynamic range in a new generation of active arrays for microwave tissue imaging. The sensor integrates a printed slot antenna, a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and an active mixer in a single unit, which is sufficiently small to enable inter-sensor separation distance as small as 12 mm. The sensor’s input covers the bandwidth from 3 GHz to 7.5 GHz. Its output intermediate frequency (IF) is 30 MHz. The sensor is controlled by a simple bias-switching circuit, which switches ON and OFF the bias of the LNA and the mixer simultaneously. It was demonstrated experimentally that the dynamic range of the sensor, as determined by its ON and OFF states, is 109 dB and 118 dB at resolution bandwidths of 1 kHz and 100 Hz, respectively.

  13. A theoretical approach to photosynthetically active radiation silicon sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamasi, M.J.L.; Martínez Bogado, M.G.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a theoretical approach for the development of low cost radiometers to measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Two alternatives are considered: a) glass optical filters attached to a silicon sensor, and b) dielectric coating on a silicon sensor. The devices proposed are based on radiometers previously developed by the Argentine National Atomic Energy Commission. The objective of this work is to adapt these low cost radiometers to construct reliable instruments for measuring PAR. The transmittance of optical filters and sensor response have been analyzed for different dielectric materials, number of layers deposited, and incidence angles. Uncertainties in thickness of layer deposition were evaluated. - Highlights: • Design of radiometers to measure photosynthetically active radiation • The study has used a filter and a Si sensor to modify spectral response. • Dielectric multilayers on glass and silicon sensor • Spectral response related to different incidence angles, materials and spectra

  14. CMOS Active-Pixel Image Sensor With Simple Floating Gates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossum, Eric R.; Nakamura, Junichi; Kemeny, Sabrina E.

    1996-01-01

    Experimental complementary metal-oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) active-pixel image sensor integrated circuit features simple floating-gate structure, with metal-oxide/semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) as active circuit element in each pixel. Provides flexibility of readout modes, no kTC noise, and relatively simple structure suitable for high-density arrays. Features desirable for "smart sensor" applications.

  15. Detection of Cardiopulmonary Activity and Related Abnormal Events Using Microsoft Kinect Sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Naji, Ali; Chahl, Javaan

    2018-03-20

    Monitoring of cardiopulmonary activity is a challenge when attempted under adverse conditions, including different sleeping postures, environmental settings, and an unclear region of interest (ROI). This study proposes an efficient remote imaging system based on a Microsoft Kinect v2 sensor for the observation of cardiopulmonary-signal-and-detection-related abnormal cardiopulmonary events (e.g., tachycardia, bradycardia, tachypnea, bradypnea, and central apnoea) in many possible sleeping postures within varying environmental settings including in total darkness and whether the subject is covered by a blanket or not. The proposed system extracts the signal from the abdominal-thoracic region where cardiopulmonary activity is most pronounced, using a real-time image sequence captured by Kinect v2 sensor. The proposed system shows promising results in any sleep posture, regardless of illumination conditions and unclear ROI even in the presence of a blanket, whilst being reliable, safe, and cost-effective.

  16. Detection of Cardiopulmonary Activity and Related Abnormal Events Using Microsoft Kinect Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Al-Naji

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Monitoring of cardiopulmonary activity is a challenge when attempted under adverse conditions, including different sleeping postures, environmental settings, and an unclear region of interest (ROI. This study proposes an efficient remote imaging system based on a Microsoft Kinect v2 sensor for the observation of cardiopulmonary-signal-and-detection-related abnormal cardiopulmonary events (e.g., tachycardia, bradycardia, tachypnea, bradypnea, and central apnoea in many possible sleeping postures within varying environmental settings including in total darkness and whether the subject is covered by a blanket or not. The proposed system extracts the signal from the abdominal-thoracic region where cardiopulmonary activity is most pronounced, using a real-time image sequence captured by Kinect v2 sensor. The proposed system shows promising results in any sleep posture, regardless of illumination conditions and unclear ROI even in the presence of a blanket, whilst being reliable, safe, and cost-effective.

  17. Development of Smart Active Layer Sensor (II): Manufacturing and Application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Young Sup; Lee, Sang Il; Kwon, Jae Hwa; Yoon, Dong Jin

    2004-01-01

    This paper is the second part of the study on the development of a smart active layer (SAL) sensor, which consists of two parts. As mentioned in the first paper, structural health monitoring (SHM) is a new technology that is being increasingly applied at the industrial field as a potential approach to improve cost and convenience of structural inspection. Recently, the development of smart sensor is very active for real application. This study has focused on preparation and application study of SAL sensor which is described with regard to the theory and concept of the SAL sensor in the first paper. In order to detect elastic wave, smart piezoelectric sensor, SAL, is fabricated by using a piezoelectric element, shielding layer and protection layer. This protection layer plays an important role in a patched network of distributed piezoelectric sensor and shielding treatment. Four types of SAL sensor are designed/prepared/tested, and these details will be discussed in the paper In this study, SAL sensor ran be feasibly applied to perform structural health monitoring and to detect damage sources which result in elastic waves

  18. Active Sensing System with In Situ Adjustable Sensor Morphology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nurzaman, Surya G.; Culha, Utku; Brodbeck, Luzius; Wang, Liyu; Iida, Fumiya

    2013-01-01

    Background Despite the widespread use of sensors in engineering systems like robots and automation systems, the common paradigm is to have fixed sensor morphology tailored to fulfill a specific application. On the other hand, robotic systems are expected to operate in ever more uncertain environments. In order to cope with the challenge, it is worthy of note that biological systems show the importance of suitable sensor morphology and active sensing capability to handle different kinds of sensing tasks with particular requirements. Methodology This paper presents a robotics active sensing system which is able to adjust its sensor morphology in situ in order to sense different physical quantities with desirable sensing characteristics. The approach taken is to use thermoplastic adhesive material, i.e. Hot Melt Adhesive (HMA). It will be shown that the thermoplastic and thermoadhesive nature of HMA enables the system to repeatedly fabricate, attach and detach mechanical structures with a variety of shape and size to the robot end effector for sensing purposes. Via active sensing capability, the robotic system utilizes the structure to physically probe an unknown target object with suitable motion and transduce the arising physical stimuli into information usable by a camera as its only built-in sensor. Conclusions/Significance The efficacy of the proposed system is verified based on two results. Firstly, it is confirmed that suitable sensor morphology and active sensing capability enables the system to sense different physical quantities, i.e. softness and temperature, with desirable sensing characteristics. Secondly, given tasks of discriminating two visually indistinguishable objects with respect to softness and temperature, it is confirmed that the proposed robotic system is able to autonomously accomplish them. The way the results motivate new research directions which focus on in situ adjustment of sensor morphology will also be discussed. PMID:24416094

  19. Active sensing system with in situ adjustable sensor morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nurzaman, Surya G; Culha, Utku; Brodbeck, Luzius; Wang, Liyu; Iida, Fumiya

    2013-01-01

    Despite the widespread use of sensors in engineering systems like robots and automation systems, the common paradigm is to have fixed sensor morphology tailored to fulfill a specific application. On the other hand, robotic systems are expected to operate in ever more uncertain environments. In order to cope with the challenge, it is worthy of note that biological systems show the importance of suitable sensor morphology and active sensing capability to handle different kinds of sensing tasks with particular requirements. This paper presents a robotics active sensing system which is able to adjust its sensor morphology in situ in order to sense different physical quantities with desirable sensing characteristics. The approach taken is to use thermoplastic adhesive material, i.e. Hot Melt Adhesive (HMA). It will be shown that the thermoplastic and thermoadhesive nature of HMA enables the system to repeatedly fabricate, attach and detach mechanical structures with a variety of shape and size to the robot end effector for sensing purposes. Via active sensing capability, the robotic system utilizes the structure to physically probe an unknown target object with suitable motion and transduce the arising physical stimuli into information usable by a camera as its only built-in sensor. The efficacy of the proposed system is verified based on two results. Firstly, it is confirmed that suitable sensor morphology and active sensing capability enables the system to sense different physical quantities, i.e. softness and temperature, with desirable sensing characteristics. Secondly, given tasks of discriminating two visually indistinguishable objects with respect to softness and temperature, it is confirmed that the proposed robotic system is able to autonomously accomplish them. The way the results motivate new research directions which focus on in situ adjustment of sensor morphology will also be discussed.

  20. Organic magnetic field sensor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCamey, Dane; Boehme, Christoph

    2017-01-24

    An organic, spin-dependent magnetic field sensor (10) includes an active stack (12) having an organic material with a spin-dependence. The sensor (10) also includes a back electrical contact (14) electrically coupled to a back of the active stack (12) and a front electrical contact (16) electrically coupled to a front of the active stack (12). A magnetic field generator (18) is oriented so as to provide an oscillating magnetic field which penetrates the active stack (12).

  1. Calibrating a novel multi-sensor physical activity measurement system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    John, D; Sasaki, J E; Howe, C A; Freedson, P S; Liu, S; Gao, R X; Staudenmayer, J

    2011-01-01

    Advancing the field of physical activity (PA) monitoring requires the development of innovative multi-sensor measurement systems that are feasible in the free-living environment. The use of novel analytical techniques to combine and process these multiple sensor signals is equally important. This paper describes a novel multi-sensor 'integrated PA measurement system' (IMS), the lab-based methodology used to calibrate the IMS, techniques used to predict multiple variables from the sensor signals, and proposes design changes to improve the feasibility of deploying the IMS in the free-living environment. The IMS consists of hip and wrist acceleration sensors, two piezoelectric respiration sensors on the torso, and an ultraviolet radiation sensor to obtain contextual information (indoors versus outdoors) of PA. During lab-based calibration of the IMS, data were collected on participants performing a PA routine consisting of seven different ambulatory and free-living activities while wearing a portable metabolic unit (criterion measure) and the IMS. Data analyses on the first 50 adult participants are presented. These analyses were used to determine if the IMS can be used to predict the variables of interest. Finally, physical modifications for the IMS that could enhance the feasibility of free-living use are proposed and refinement of the prediction techniques is discussed

  2. Complex Human Activity Recognition Using Smartphone and Wrist-Worn Motion Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoaib, Muhammad; Bosch, Stephan; Incel, Ozlem Durmaz; Scholten, Hans; Havinga, Paul J M

    2016-03-24

    The position of on-body motion sensors plays an important role in human activity recognition. Most often, mobile phone sensors at the trouser pocket or an equivalent position are used for this purpose. However, this position is not suitable for recognizing activities that involve hand gestures, such as smoking, eating, drinking coffee and giving a talk. To recognize such activities, wrist-worn motion sensors are used. However, these two positions are mainly used in isolation. To use richer context information, we evaluate three motion sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope and linear acceleration sensor) at both wrist and pocket positions. Using three classifiers, we show that the combination of these two positions outperforms the wrist position alone, mainly at smaller segmentation windows. Another problem is that less-repetitive activities, such as smoking, eating, giving a talk and drinking coffee, cannot be recognized easily at smaller segmentation windows unlike repetitive activities, like walking, jogging and biking. For this purpose, we evaluate the effect of seven window sizes (2-30 s) on thirteen activities and show how increasing window size affects these various activities in different ways. We also propose various optimizations to further improve the recognition of these activities. For reproducibility, we make our dataset publicly available.

  3. Real-time Human Activity Recognition using a Body Sensor Network

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Liang; Gu, Tao; Chen, Hanhua

    2010-01-01

    Real-time activity recognition using body sensor networks is an important and challenging task and it has many potential applications. In this paper, we propose a realtime, hierarchical model to recognize both simple gestures and complex activities using a wireless body sensor network. In this mo...

  4. Active hydrothermal and non-active massive sulfide mound investigation using a new multiparameter chemical sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, C.; Wu, G.; Qin, H.; Wang, Z.

    2012-12-01

    Investigation of active hydrothermal mound as well as non-active massive sulfide mound are studied recently. However, there is still lack of in-situ detection method for the non-active massive sulfide mound. Even though Transient ElectroMagnetic (TEM) and Electric Self-potential (SP) methods are good, they both are labour, time and money cost work. We proposed a new multiparameter chemical sensor method to study the seafloor active hydrothermal mound as well as non-active massive sulfide mound. This sensor integrates Eh, S2- ions concentration and pH electrochemical electrodes together, and could found chemical change caused by the active hydrothermal vent, even weak chemical abnormalities by non-active massive sulfide hydrothermal mound which MARP and CTD sometimes cannot detect. In 2012, the 1st Leg of the Chinese 26th cruise, the multiparameter chemical sensor was carried out with the deepsea camera system over the Carlsberg Ridge in Indian Ocean by R/V DAYANGYIHAO. It was shown small Eh and S2- ions concentration abnormal around a site at Northwest Indian ridge. This site was also evidenced by the TV grab. In the 2nd Leg of the same cruise in June, this chemical sensor was carried out with TEM and SP survey system. The chemical abnormalities are matched very well with both TEM and SP survey results. The results show that the multiparameter chemical sensor method not only can detect active hydrothermal mound, but also can find the non-active massive sulfide hydrothermal mound.

  5. Photodiode area effect on performance of X-ray CMOS active pixel sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, M. S.; Kim, Y.; Kim, G.; Lim, K. T.; Cho, G.; Kim, D.

    2018-02-01

    Compared to conventional TFT-based X-ray imaging devices, CMOS-based X-ray imaging sensors are considered next generation because they can be manufactured in very small pixel pitches and can acquire high-speed images. In addition, CMOS-based sensors have the advantage of integration of various functional circuits within the sensor. The image quality can also be improved by the high fill-factor in large pixels. If the size of the subject is small, the size of the pixel must be reduced as a consequence. In addition, the fill factor must be reduced to aggregate various functional circuits within the pixel. In this study, 3T-APS (active pixel sensor) with photodiodes of four different sizes were fabricated and evaluated. It is well known that a larger photodiode leads to improved overall performance. Nonetheless, if the size of the photodiode is > 1000 μm2, the degree to which the sensor performance increases as the photodiode size increases, is reduced. As a result, considering the fill factor, pixel-pitch > 32 μm is not necessary to achieve high-efficiency image quality. In addition, poor image quality is to be expected unless special sensor-design techniques are included for sensors with a pixel pitch of 25 μm or less.

  6. Active Multimodal Sensor System for Target Recognition and Tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Yufu; Zhang, Guirong; Zou, Zhaofan; Liu, Ziyue; Mao, Jiansen

    2017-06-28

    High accuracy target recognition and tracking systems using a single sensor or a passive multisensor set are susceptible to external interferences and exhibit environmental dependencies. These difficulties stem mainly from limitations to the available imaging frequency bands, and a general lack of coherent diversity of the available target-related data. This paper proposes an active multimodal sensor system for target recognition and tracking, consisting of a visible, an infrared, and a hyperspectral sensor. The system makes full use of its multisensor information collection abilities; furthermore, it can actively control different sensors to collect additional data, according to the needs of the real-time target recognition and tracking processes. This level of integration between hardware collection control and data processing is experimentally shown to effectively improve the accuracy and robustness of the target recognition and tracking system.

  7. The Sandia MEMS passive shock sensor : FY07 maturation activities.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Houston, Jack E.; Blecke, Jill; Mitchell, John Anthony; Wittwer, Jonathan W.; Crowson, Douglas A.; Clemens, Rebecca C.; Walraven, Jeremy Allen; Epp, David S.; Baker, Michael Sean

    2008-08-01

    This report describes activities conducted in FY07 to mature the MEMS passive shock sensor. The first chapter of the report provides motivation and background on activities that are described in detail in later chapters. The second chapter discusses concepts that are important for integrating the MEMS passive shock sensor into a system. Following these two introductory chapters, the report details modeling and design efforts, packaging, failure analysis and testing and validation. At the end of FY07, the MEMS passive shock sensor was at TRL 4.

  8. Radiation effects on active pixel sensors (APS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, M.; David, J.P.

    1999-01-01

    Active pixel sensor (APS) is a new generation of image sensors which presents several advantages relatively to charge coupled devices (CCDs) particularly for space applications (APS requires only 1 voltage to operate which reduces considerably current consumption). Irradiation was performed using 60 Co gamma radiation at room temperature and at a dose rate of 150 Gy(Si)/h. 2 types of APS have been tested: photodiode-APS and photoMOS-APS. The results show that photoMOS-APS is more sensitive to radiation effects than photodiode-APS. Important parameters of image sensors like dark currents increase sharply with dose levels. Nevertheless photodiode-APS sensitivity is one hundred time lower than photoMOS-APS sensitivity

  9. Characterization of active CMOS pixel sensors on high resistive substrate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirono, Toko; Hemperek, Tomasz; Huegging, Fabian; Krueger, Hans; Rymaszewski, Piotr; Wermes, Norbert [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Bonn, Bonn (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    Active CMOS pixel sensors are very attractive as radiation imaging pixel detector because they do not need cost-intensive fine pitch bump bonding. High radiation tolerance and time resolution are required to apply those sensors to upcoming particle physics experiments. To achieve these requirements, the active CMOS pixel sensors were developed on high resistive substrates. Signal charges are collected faster by drift in high resistive substrates than in standard low resistive substrates yielding also a higher radiation tolerance. A prototype of the active CMOS pixel sensor has been fabricated in the LFoundry 150 nm CMOS process on 2 kΩcm substrate. This prototype chip was thinned down to 300 μm and the backside has been processed and can contacted by an aluminum contact. The breakdown voltage is around -115 V, and the depletion width has been measured to be as large as 180 μm at a bias voltage of -110 V. Gain and noise of the readout circuitry agree with the designed values. Performance tests in the lab and test beam have been done before and after irradiation with X-rays and neutrons. In this presentation, the measurement results of the active CMOS prototype sensors are shown.

  10. Robust Sensor-Orientation-Independent Feature Selection for Animal Activity Recognition on Collar Tags

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kamminga, Jacob Wilhelm; Le Viet Duc, Duc Viet; Meijers, Jan Pieter; Bisby, Helena C.; Meratnia, Nirvana; Havinga, Paul J.M.

    2018-01-01

    Fundamental challenges faced by real-time animal activity recognition include variation in motion data due to changing sensor orientations, numerous features, and energy and processing constraints of animal tags. This paper aims at finding small optimal feature sets that are lightweight and robust

  11. Phosphatase activity tunes two-component system sensor detection threshold.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landry, Brian P; Palanki, Rohan; Dyulgyarov, Nikola; Hartsough, Lucas A; Tabor, Jeffrey J

    2018-04-12

    Two-component systems (TCSs) are the largest family of multi-step signal transduction pathways in biology, and a major source of sensors for biotechnology. However, the input concentrations to which biosensors respond are often mismatched with application requirements. Here, we utilize a mathematical model to show that TCS detection thresholds increase with the phosphatase activity of the sensor histidine kinase. We experimentally validate this result in engineered Bacillus subtilis nitrate and E. coli aspartate TCS sensors by tuning their detection threshold up to two orders of magnitude. We go on to apply our TCS tuning method to recently described tetrathionate and thiosulfate sensors by mutating a widely conserved residue previously shown to impact phosphatase activity. Finally, we apply TCS tuning to engineer B. subtilis to sense and report a wide range of fertilizer concentrations in soil. This work will enable the engineering of tailor-made biosensors for diverse synthetic biology applications.

  12. CMOS Active-Pixel Image Sensor With Intensity-Driven Readout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langenbacher, Harry T.; Fossum, Eric R.; Kemeny, Sabrina

    1996-01-01

    Proposed complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) integrated-circuit image sensor automatically provides readouts from pixels in order of decreasing illumination intensity. Sensor operated in integration mode. Particularly useful in number of image-sensing tasks, including diffractive laser range-finding, three-dimensional imaging, event-driven readout of sparse sensor arrays, and star tracking.

  13. A method to determine validity and reliability of activity sensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boerema, Simone Theresa; Hermens, Hermanus J.

    2013-01-01

    METHOD Four sensors were securely fastened to a mechanical oscillator (Vibration Exciter, type 4809, Brüel & Kjær) and moved at various frequencies (6.67Hz; 13.45Hz; 19.88Hz) within the range of human physical activity. For each of the three sensor axes, the sensors were simultaneously moved for

  14. Functionalized active-nucleus complex sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pines, Alexander; Wemmer, David E.; Spence, Megan; Rubin, Seth

    2003-11-25

    A functionalized active-nucleus complex sensor that selectively associates with one or more target species, and a method for assaying and screening for one or a plurality of target species utilizing one or a plurality of functionalized active-nucleus complexes with at least two of the functionalized active-nucleus complexes having an attraction affinity to different corresponding target species. The functionalized active-nucleus complex has an active-nucleus and a targeting carrier. The method involves functionalizing an active-nucleus, for each functionalized active-nucleus complex, by incorporating the active-nucleus into a macromolucular or molecular complex that is capable of binding one of the target species and then bringing the macromolecular or molecular complexes into contact with the target species and detecting the occurrence of or change in a nuclear magnetic resonance signal from each of the active-nuclei in each of the functionalized active-nucleus complexes.

  15. All-fiber, long-active-length Fabry-Perot strain sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pevec, Simon; Donlagic, Denis

    2011-08-01

    This paper presents a high-sensitivity, all-silica, all-fiber Fabry-Perot strain-sensor. The proposed sensor provides a long active length, arbitrary length of Fabry-Perot cavity, and low intrinsic temperature sensitivity. The sensor was micro-machined from purposely-developed sensor-forming fiber that is etched and directly spliced to the lead-in fiber. This manufacturing process has good potential for cost-effective, high-volume production. Its measurement range of over 3000 µε, and strain-resolution better than 1 µε were demonstrated by the application of a commercial, multimode fiber-based signal processor.

  16. [Active crop canopy sensor-based nitrogen diagnosis for potato].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Jing; Li, Fei; Qin, Yong-Lin; Fan, Ming-Shou

    2013-11-01

    In the present study, two potato experiments involving different N rates in 2011 were conducted in Wuchuan County and Linxi County, Inner Mongolia. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was collected by an active GreenSeeker crop canopy sensor to estimate N status of potato. The results show that the NDVI readings were poorly correlated with N nutrient indicators of potato at vegetative Growth stage due to the influence of soil background. With the advance of growth stages, NDVI values were exponentially related to plant N uptake (R2 = 0.665) before tuber bulking stage and were linearly related to plant N concentration (R2 = 0.699) when plant fully covered soil. In conclusion, GreenSeeker active crop sensor is a promising tool to estimate N status for potato plants. The findings from this study may be useful for developing N recommendation method based on active crop canopy sensor.

  17. Microfluidic electrochemical sensor for on-line monitoring of aerosol oxidative activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sameenoi, Yupaporn; Koehler, Kirsten; Shapiro, Jeff; Boonsong, Kanokporn; Sun, Yele; Collett, Jeffrey; Volckens, John; Henry, Charles S

    2012-06-27

    Particulate matter (PM) air pollution has a significant impact on human morbidity and mortality; however, the mechanisms of PM-induced toxicity are poorly defined. A leading hypothesis states that airborne PM induces harm by generating reactive oxygen species in and around human tissues, leading to oxidative stress. We report here a system employing a microfluidic electrochemical sensor coupled directly to a particle-into-liquid sampler (PILS) system to measure aerosol oxidative activity in an on-line format. The oxidative activity measurement is based on the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay, where, after being oxidized by PM, the remaining reduced DTT is analyzed by the microfluidic sensor. The sensor consists of an array of working, reference, and auxiliary electrodes fabricated in a poly(dimethylsiloxane)-based microfluidic device. Cobalt(II) phthalocyanine-modified carbon paste was used as the working electrode material, allowing selective detection of reduced DTT. The electrochemical sensor was validated off-line against the traditional DTT assay using filter samples taken from urban environments and biomass burning events. After off-line characterization, the sensor was coupled to a PILS to enable on-line sampling/analysis of aerosol oxidative activity. Urban dust and industrial incinerator ash samples were aerosolized in an aerosol chamber and analyzed for their oxidative activity. The on-line sensor reported DTT consumption rates (oxidative activity) in good correlation with aerosol concentration (R(2) from 0.86 to 0.97) with a time resolution of approximately 3 min.

  18. Recognizing Multi-user Activities using Wearable Sensors in a Smart Home

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Liang; Gu, Tao; Tao, Xianping

    2010-01-01

    The advances of wearable sensors and wireless networks oer many opportunities to recognize human activities from sensor readings in pervasive computing. Existing work so far focuses mainly on recognizing activities of a single user in a home environment. However, there are typically multiple inha...

  19. Validation and User Evaluation of a Sensor-Based Method for Detecting Mobility-Related Activities in Older Adults.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hilde A E Geraedts

    Full Text Available Regular physical activity is essential for older adults to stay healthy and independent. However, daily physical activity is generally low among older adults and mainly consists of activities such as standing and shuffling around indoors. Accurate measurement of this low-energy expenditure daily physical activity is crucial for stimulation of activity. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of a necklace-worn sensor-based method for detecting time-on-legs and daily life mobility related postures in older adults. In addition user opinion about the practical use of the sensor was evaluated. Twenty frail and non-frail older adults performed a standardized and free movement protocol in their own home. Results of the sensor-based method were compared to video observation. Sensitivity, specificity and overall agreement of sensor outcomes compared to video observation were calculated. Mobility was assessed based on time-on-legs. Further assessment included the categories standing, sitting, walking and lying. Time-on-legs based sensitivity, specificity and percentage agreement were good to excellent and comparable to laboratory outcomes in other studies. Category-based sensitivity, specificity and overall agreement were moderate to excellent. The necklace-worn sensor is considered an acceptable valid instrument for assessing home-based physical activity based upon time-on-legs in frail and non-frail older adults, but category-based assessment of gait and postures could be further developed.

  20. CMOS Active Pixel Sensor Star Tracker with Regional Electronic Shutter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yadid-Pecht, Orly; Pain, Bedabrata; Staller, Craig; Clark, Christopher; Fossum, Eric

    1996-01-01

    The guidance system in a spacecraft determines spacecraft attitude by matching an observed star field to a star catalog....An APS(active pixel sensor)-based system can reduce mass and power consumption and radiation effects compared to a CCD(charge-coupled device)-based system...This paper reports an APS (active pixel sensor) with locally variable times, achieved through individual pixel reset (IPR).

  1. Optical Breath Gas Sensor for Extravehicular Activity Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, William R.; Casias, Miguel E.; Vakhtin, Andrei B.; Pilgrim, Jeffrey S.; Chullen, Cinda; Falconi, Eric A.; McMillin, Summer

    2013-01-01

    The function of the infrared gas transducer used during extravehicular activity in the current space suit is to measure and report the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ventilation loop. The next generation portable life support system (PLSS) requires next generation CO2 sensing technology with performance beyond that presently in use on the Space Shuttle/International Space Station extravehicular mobility unit (EMU). Accommodation within space suits demands that optical sensors meet stringent size, weight, and power requirements. A laser diode spectrometer based on wavelength modulation spectroscopy is being developed for this purpose by Vista Photonics, Inc. Two prototype devices were delivered to NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in September 2011. The sensors incorporate a laser diode-based CO2 channel that also includes an incidental water vapor (humidity) measurement and a separate oxygen channel using a vertical cavity surface emitting laser. Both prototypes are controlled digitally with a field-programmable gate array/microcontroller architecture. The present development extends and upgrades the earlier hardware to the Advanced PLSS 2.0 test article being constructed and tested at JSC. Various improvements to the electronics and gas sampling are being advanced by this project. The combination of low power electronics with the performance of a long wavelength laser spectrometer enables multi-gas sensors with significantly increased performance over that presently offered in the EMU.

  2. Complex Human Activity Recognition Using Smartphone and Wrist-Worn Motion Sensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Shoaib, M.; Bosch, S.; Durmaz, O.; Scholten, Johan; Havinga, Paul J.M.

    2016-01-01

    The position of on-body motion sensors plays an important role in human activity recognition. Most often, mobile phone sensors at the trouser pocket or an equivalent position are used for this purpose. However, this position is not suitable for recognizing activities that involve hand gestures, such

  3. Sensor-Based Human Activity Recognition in a Multi-user Scenario

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Liang; Gu, Tao; Tao, Xianping; Lu, Jian

    Existing work on sensor-based activity recognition focuses mainly on single-user activities. However, in real life, activities are often performed by multiple users involving interactions between them. In this paper, we propose Coupled Hidden Markov Models (CHMMs) to recognize multi-user activities from sensor readings in a smart home environment. We develop a multimodal sensing platform and present a theoretical framework to recognize both single-user and multi-user activities. We conduct our trace collection done in a smart home, and evaluate our framework through experimental studies. Our experimental result shows that we achieve an average accuracy of 85.46% with CHMMs.

  4. Application of activity sensors for estimating behavioral patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Caleb P.; Cain, James W.; Cox, Robert D.

    2016-01-01

    The increasing use of Global Positioning System (GPS) collars in habitat selection studies provides large numbers of precise location data points with reduced field effort. However, inclusion of activity sensors in many GPS collars also grants the potential to remotely estimate behavioral state. Thus, only using GPS collars to collect location data belies their full capabilities. Coupling behavioral state with location data would allow researchers and managers to refine habitat selection models by using diel behavioral state changes to partition fine-scale temporal shifts in habitat selection. We tested the capability of relatively unsophisticated GPS-collar activity sensors to estimate behavior throughout diel periods using free-ranging female elk (Cervus canadensis) in the Jemez Mountains of north-central New Mexico, USA, 2013–2014. Collars recorded cumulative number of movements (hits) per 15-min recording period immediately preceding GPS fixes at 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 hr. We measured diel behavioral patterns of focal elk, categorizing active (i.e., foraging, traveling, vigilant, grooming) and inactive (i.e., resting) states. Active behaviors (foraging, traveling) produced more average hits (0.87 ± 0.69 hits/min, 4.0 ± 2.2 hits/min, respectively; 95% CI) and inactive (resting) behavior fewer hits (−1.1 ± 0.61 95% CI). We differentiated active and inactive behavioral states with a bootstrapped threshold of 5.9 ± 3.9 hits/15-min recording period. Mean cumulative activity-sensor hits corresponded with observed diel behavioral patterns: hits increased during crepuscular (0600, 1800 hr) observations when elk were most active (0000–0600 hr: d = 0.19; 1200–1800 hr: d = 0.64) and decreased during midday and night (0000 hr, 1200 hr) when elk were least active (1800–0000 hr: d = −0.39; 0600–1200 hr: d = −0.43). Even using relatively unsophisticated GPS-collar activity sensors, managers can

  5. Solid electrolyte gas sensors based on cyclic voltammetry with one active electrode

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jasinski, G; Jasinski, P, E-mail: gregor@biomed.eti.pg.gda.pl [Gdansk University of Technology, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunication and Informatics, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk (Poland)

    2011-10-29

    Solid state gas sensors are cost effective, small, rugged and reliable. Typically electrochemical solid state sensors operate in either potentiometric or amperometric mode. However, a lack of selectivity is sometimes a shortcoming of such sensors. It seems that improvements of selectivity can be obtained in case of the electrocatalytic sensors, which operate in cyclic voltammetry mode. Their working principle is based on acquisition of an electric current, while voltage ramp is applied to the sensor. The current-voltage response depends in a unique way on the type and concentration of ambient gas. Most electrocatalytic sensors have symmetrical structure. They are in a form of pellets with two electrodes placed on their opposite sides. Electrochemical reactions occur simultaneously on both electrodes. In this paper results for sensors with only one active electrode exposed to ambient gas are presented. The other electrode was isolated from ambient gas with dielectric sealing. This sensor construction allows application of advanced measuring procedures, which permit sensor regeneration acceleration. Experiments were conducted on Nasicon sensors. Properties of two sensors, one with one active electrode and second with symmetrical structure, used for the detection of mixtures of NO{sub 2} and synthetic air are compared.

  6. Photon small-field measurements with a CMOS active pixel sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spang, F Jiménez; Rosenberg, I; Hedin, E; Royle, G

    2015-06-07

    In this work the dosimetric performance of CMOS active pixel sensors for the measurement of small photon beams is presented. The detector used consisted of an array of 520  × 520 pixels on a 25 µm pitch. Dosimetric parameters measured with this sensor were compared with data collected with an ionization chamber, a film detector and GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations. The sensor performance for beam profiles measurements was evaluated for field sizes of 0.5  × 0.5 cm(2). The high spatial resolution achieved with this sensor allowed the accurate measurement of profiles, beam penumbrae and field size under lateral electronic disequilibrium. Field size and penumbrae agreed within 5.4% and 2.2% respectively with film measurements. Agreements with ionization chambers better than 1.0% were obtained when measuring tissue-phantom ratios. Output factor measurements were in good agreement with ionization chamber and Monte Carlo simulation. The data obtained from this imaging sensor can be easily analyzed to extract dosimetric information. The results presented in this work are promising for the development and implementation of CMOS active pixel sensors for dosimetry applications.

  7. ESAM: Endocrine inspired Sensor Activation Mechanism for multi-target tracking in WSNs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adil Mahdi, Omar; Wahab, Ainuddin Wahid Abdul; Idris, Mohd Yamani Idna; Znaid, Ammar Abu; Khan, Suleman; Al-Mayouf, Yusor Rafid Bahar

    2016-10-01

    Target tracking is a significant application of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in which deployment of self-organizing and energy efficient algorithms is required. The tracking accuracy increases as more sensor nodes are activated around the target but more energy is consumed. Thus, in this study, we focus on limiting the number of sensors by forming an ad-hoc network that operates autonomously. This will reduce the energy consumption and prolong the sensor network lifetime. In this paper, we propose a fully distributed algorithm, an Endocrine inspired Sensor Activation Mechanism for multi target-tracking (ESAM) which reflecting the properties of real life sensor activation system based on the information circulating principle in the endocrine system of the human body. Sensor nodes in our network are secreting different hormones according to certain rules. The hormone level enables the nodes to regulate an efficient sleep and wake up cycle of nodes to reduce the energy consumption. It is evident from the simulation results that the proposed ESAM in autonomous sensor network exhibits a stable performance without the need of commands from a central controller. Moreover, the proposed ESAM generates more efficient and persistent results as compared to other algorithms for tracking an invading object.

  8. Human movement activity classification approaches that use wearable sensors and mobile devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaghyan, Sahak; Sarukhanyan, Hakob; Akopian, David

    2013-03-01

    Cell phones and other mobile devices become part of human culture and change activity and lifestyle patterns. Mobile phone technology continuously evolves and incorporates more and more sensors for enabling advanced applications. Latest generations of smart phones incorporate GPS and WLAN location finding modules, vision cameras, microphones, accelerometers, temperature sensors etc. The availability of these sensors in mass-market communication devices creates exciting new opportunities for data mining applications. Particularly healthcare applications exploiting build-in sensors are very promising. This paper reviews different approaches of human activity recognition.

  9. Submersible microbial fuel cell sensor for monitoring microbial activity and BOD in groundwater: Focusing on impact of anodic biofilm on sensor applicability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Yifeng; Angelidaki, Irini

    2011-01-01

    was required for application of the sensor for microbial activity measurement, while biofilm‐colonized anode was needed for utilizing the sensor for BOD content measurement. The current density of SUMFC sensor equipped with a biofilm‐colonized anode showed linear relationship with BOD content, to up to 250 mg......A sensor, based on a submersible microbial fuel cell (SUMFC), was developed for in situ monitoring of microbial activity and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in groundwater. Presence or absence of a biofilm on the anode was a decisive factor for the applicability of the sensor. Fresh anode...

  10. Low-Cost Sensor System Design for In-Home Physical Activity Tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nambiar, Siddhartha; Nikolaev, Alexander; Greene, Melissa; Cavuoto, Lora; Bisantz, Ann

    2016-01-01

    An aging and more sedentary population requires interventions aimed at monitoring physical activity, particularly within the home. This research uses simulation, optimization, and regression analyses to assess the feasibility of using a small number of sensors to track movement and infer physical activity levels of older adults. Based on activity data from the American Time Use Survey and assisted living apartment layouts, we determined that using three to four doorway sensors can be used to effectively capture a sufficient amount of movements in order to estimate activity. The research also identified preferred approaches for assigning sensor locations, evaluated the error magnitude inherent in the approach, and developed a methodology to identify which apartment layouts would be best suited for these technologies.

  11. Sensor-Based Activity Recognition with Dynamically Added Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiahui Wen

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available An activity recognition system essentially processes raw sensor data and maps them into latent activity classes. Most of the previous systems are built with supervised learning techniques and pre-defined data sources, and result in static models. However, in realistic and dynamic environments, original data sources may fail and new data sources become available, a robust activity recognition system should be able to perform evolution automatically with dynamic sensor availability in dynamic environments. In this paper, we propose methods that automatically incorporate dynamically available data sources to adapt and refine the recognition system at run-time. The system is built upon ensemble classifiers which can automatically choose the features with the most discriminative power. Extensive experimental results with publicly available datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods.

  12. Active Low Intrusion Hybrid Monitor for Wireless Sensor Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navia, Marlon; Campelo, Jose C; Bonastre, Alberto; Ors, Rafael; Capella, Juan V; Serrano, Juan J

    2015-09-18

    Several systems have been proposed to monitor wireless sensor networks (WSN). These systems may be active (causing a high degree of intrusion) or passive (low observability inside the nodes). This paper presents the implementation of an active hybrid (hardware and software) monitor with low intrusion. It is based on the addition to the sensor node of a monitor node (hardware part) which, through a standard interface, is able to receive the monitoring information sent by a piece of software executed in the sensor node. The intrusion on time, code, and energy caused in the sensor nodes by the monitor is evaluated as a function of data size and the interface used. Then different interfaces, commonly available in sensor nodes, are evaluated: serial transmission (USART), serial peripheral interface (SPI), and parallel. The proposed hybrid monitor provides highly detailed information, barely disturbed by the measurement tool (interference), about the behavior of the WSN that may be used to evaluate many properties such as performance, dependability, security, etc. Monitor nodes are self-powered and may be removed after the monitoring campaign to be reused in other campaigns and/or WSNs. No other hardware-independent monitoring platforms with such low interference have been found in the literature.

  13. Better physical activity classification using smartphone acceleration sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arif, Muhammad; Bilal, Mohsin; Kattan, Ahmed; Ahamed, S Iqbal

    2014-09-01

    Obesity is becoming one of the serious problems for the health of worldwide population. Social interactions on mobile phones and computers via internet through social e-networks are one of the major causes of lack of physical activities. For the health specialist, it is important to track the record of physical activities of the obese or overweight patients to supervise weight loss control. In this study, acceleration sensor present in the smartphone is used to monitor the physical activity of the user. Physical activities including Walking, Jogging, Sitting, Standing, Walking upstairs and Walking downstairs are classified. Time domain features are extracted from the acceleration data recorded by smartphone during different physical activities. Time and space complexity of the whole framework is done by optimal feature subset selection and pruning of instances. Classification results of six physical activities are reported in this paper. Using simple time domain features, 99 % classification accuracy is achieved. Furthermore, attributes subset selection is used to remove the redundant features and to minimize the time complexity of the algorithm. A subset of 30 features produced more than 98 % classification accuracy for the six physical activities.

  14. Development of isoform-specific sensors of polypeptide GalNAc-transferase activity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Song, Lina; Bachert, Collin; Schjoldager, Katrine T

    2014-01-01

    sequence influenced their activity and required modification, which we carried out based on previous in vitro work. Significantly, the modified T2 and T3 sensors were activated only in cells lacking their corresponding isozymes. Thus, we have developed T2- and T3-specific sensors that will be valuable......Humans express up to 20 isoforms of GalNAc-transferase (herein T1-T20) that localize to the Golgi apparatus and initiate O-glycosylation. Regulation of this enzyme family affects a vast array of proteins transiting the secretory pathway and diseases arise upon misregulation of specific isoforms....... Surprisingly, molecular probes to monitor GalNAc-transferase activity are lacking and there exist no effective global or isoform-specific inhibitors. Here we describe the development of T2- and T3-isoform specific fluorescence sensors that traffic in the secretory pathway. Each sensor yielded little signal...

  15. Physical Human Activity Recognition Using Wearable Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attal, Ferhat; Mohammed, Samer; Dedabrishvili, Mariam; Chamroukhi, Faicel; Oukhellou, Latifa; Amirat, Yacine

    2015-12-11

    This paper presents a review of different classification techniques used to recognize human activities from wearable inertial sensor data. Three inertial sensor units were used in this study and were worn by healthy subjects at key points of upper/lower body limbs (chest, right thigh and left ankle). Three main steps describe the activity recognition process: sensors' placement, data pre-processing and data classification. Four supervised classification techniques namely, k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN), Support Vector Machines (SVM), Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM), and Random Forest (RF) as well as three unsupervised classification techniques namely, k-Means, Gaussian mixture models (GMM) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM), are compared in terms of correct classification rate, F-measure, recall, precision, and specificity. Raw data and extracted features are used separately as inputs of each classifier. The feature selection is performed using a wrapper approach based on the RF algorithm. Based on our experiments, the results obtained show that the k-NN classifier provides the best performance compared to other supervised classification algorithms, whereas the HMM classifier is the one that gives the best results among unsupervised classification algorithms. This comparison highlights which approach gives better performance in both supervised and unsupervised contexts. It should be noted that the obtained results are limited to the context of this study, which concerns the classification of the main daily living human activities using three wearable accelerometers placed at the chest, right shank and left ankle of the subject.

  16. Virtual sensors for active noise control in acoustic-structural coupled enclosures using structural sensing: robust virtual sensor design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halim, Dunant; Cheng, Li; Su, Zhongqing

    2011-03-01

    The work was aimed to develop a robust virtual sensing design methodology for sensing and active control applications of vibro-acoustic systems. The proposed virtual sensor was designed to estimate a broadband acoustic interior sound pressure using structural sensors, with robustness against certain dynamic uncertainties occurring in an acoustic-structural coupled enclosure. A convex combination of Kalman sub-filters was used during the design, accommodating different sets of perturbed dynamic model of the vibro-acoustic enclosure. A minimax optimization problem was set up to determine an optimal convex combination of Kalman sub-filters, ensuring an optimal worst-case virtual sensing performance. The virtual sensing and active noise control performance was numerically investigated on a rectangular panel-cavity system. It was demonstrated that the proposed virtual sensor could accurately estimate the interior sound pressure, particularly the one dominated by cavity-controlled modes, by using a structural sensor. With such a virtual sensing technique, effective active noise control performance was also obtained even for the worst-case dynamics. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

  17. Pioneer Venus Star Sensor. [active despin control application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutshall, R. L.; Thomas, G.

    1979-01-01

    The design predictions and orbital performance verification of the solid state star scanner used in the Onboard Attitude Control of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe are presented. The star sensor extended the scanner use to active despin control, and it differs from previous sensors in solid state detection, redundant electronics for reliability, larger field of view, and large dynamic spin range. The star scanner hardware and design performance based on the ability to predict all noise sources, signal magnitudes, and expected detection probability are discussed. In-flight data collected to verify sensor ground calibration are tabulated and plotted in predicted accuracy curves. It is concluded that the Pioneer Venus Star Sensor has demonstrated predictable star calibration in the range of .1 magnitude uncertainties and usable star catalogs of 100 stars with very high probabilities of detection, which were much better than expected and well within the mission requirements.

  18. Device Simulation of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors: Radiation Damage Effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fourches, N.T.

    2009-01-01

    Vertexing for the future International Linear Collider represents a challenging goal because of the high spatial resolution required with low material budget and high ionizing radiation tolerance. CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) represent a good potential solution for this purpose. Up to now many MAPS sensors have been developed. They are based on various architectures and manufactured in different processes. However, up so far, the sensor diode has not been the subject of extensive modelization and simulation. Published simulation studies of sensor-signal formation have been less numerous than measurements on real sensors. This is a cause for concern because such sensor is physically based on the partially depleted diode, in the vicinity of which the electric field collects the minority carriers generated by an incident MIP (minimum ionizing particle). Although the microscopic mechanisms are well known and modelled, the global physical mechanisms for signal formation are not very rigorously established. This is partly due to the presence of a predominant diffusion component in the charge transport. We present here simulations mainly based on the S-PISCES code, in which physical mechanisms affecting transport are taken into account. Diffusion, influence of residual carrier concentration due to the doping level in the sensitive volume, and more importantly charge trapping due to deep levels in the active (detecting) layer are studied together with geometric aspects. The effect of neutron irradiation is studied to assess the effects of deep traps. A comparison with available experimental data, obtained on processed MAPS before or after neutron irradiation will be introduced. Simulated reconstruction of the Minimum Ionizing Particle (MIP) point of impact in two dimensions is also investigated. For further steps, guidelines for process choices of next Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors are introduced. (authors)

  19. Chemical Sensor Platform for Non-Invasive Monitoring of Activity and Dehydration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitry Solovei

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A non-invasive solution for monitoring of the activity and dehydration of organisms is proposed in the work. For this purpose, a wireless standalone chemical sensor platform using two separate measurement techniques has been developed. The first approach for activity monitoring is based on humidity measurement. Our solution uses new humidity sensor based on a nanostructured TiO2 surface for sweat rate monitoring. The second technique is based on monitoring of potassium concentration in urine. High level of potassium concentration denotes clear occurrence of dehydration. Furthermore, a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN was developed for this sensor platform to manage data transfer among devices and the internet. The WBAN coordinator controls the sensor devices and collects and stores the measured data. The collected data is particular to individuals and can be shared with physicians, emergency systems or athletes’ coaches. Long-time monitoring of activity and potassium concentration in urine can help maintain the appropriate water intake of elderly people or athletes and to send warning signals in the case of near dehydration. The created sensor system was calibrated and tested in laboratory and real conditions as well. The measurement results are discussed.

  20. Bend, stretch, and touch: Locating a finger on an actively deformed transparent sensor array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarwar, Mirza Saquib; Dobashi, Yuta; Preston, Claire; Wyss, Justin K M; Mirabbasi, Shahriar; Madden, John David Wyndham

    2017-03-01

    The development of bendable, stretchable, and transparent touch sensors is an emerging technological goal in a variety of fields, including electronic skin, wearables, and flexible handheld devices. Although transparent tactile sensors based on metal mesh, carbon nanotubes, and silver nanowires demonstrate operation in bent configurations, we present a technology that extends the operation modes to the sensing of finger proximity including light touch during active bending and even stretching. This is accomplished using stretchable and ionically conductive hydrogel electrodes, which project electric field above the sensor to couple with and sense a finger. The polyacrylamide electrodes are embedded in silicone. These two widely available, low-cost, transparent materials are combined in a three-step manufacturing technique that is amenable to large-area fabrication. The approach is demonstrated using a proof-of-concept 4 × 4 cross-grid sensor array with a 5-mm pitch. The approach of a finger hovering a few centimeters above the array is readily detectable. Light touch produces a localized decrease in capacitance of 15%. The movement of a finger can be followed across the array, and the location of multiple fingers can be detected. Touch is detectable during bending and stretch, an important feature of any wearable device. The capacitive sensor design can be made more or less sensitive to bending by shifting it relative to the neutral axis. Ultimately, the approach is adaptable to the detection of proximity, touch, pressure, and even the conformation of the sensor surface.

  1. Activity Recognition Using Fusion of Low-Cost Sensors on a Smartphone for Mobile Navigation Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Saeedi

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Low-cost inertial and motion sensors embedded on smartphones have provided a new platform for dynamic activity pattern inference. In this research, a comparison has been conducted on different sensor data, feature spaces and feature selection methods to increase the efficiency and reduce the computation cost of activity recognition on the smartphones. We evaluated a variety of feature spaces and a number of classification algorithms from the area of Machine Learning, including Naive Bayes, Decision Trees, Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machine classifiers. A smartphone app that performs activity recognition is being developed to collect data and send them to a server for activity recognition. Using extensive experiments, the performance of various feature spaces has been evaluated. The results showed that the Bayesian Network classifier yields recognition accuracy of 96.21% using four features while requiring fewer computations.

  2. Electrocatalytic cermet sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoemaker, Erika L.; Vogt, Michael C.

    1998-01-01

    A sensor for O.sub.2 and CO.sub.2 gases. The gas sensor includes a plurality of layers driven by a cyclic voltage to generate a unique plot characteristic of the gas in contact with the sensor. The plurality of layers includes an alumina substrate, a reference electrode source of anions, a lower electrical reference electrode of Pt coupled to the reference source of anions, a solid electrolyte containing tungsten and coupled to the lower reference electrode, a buffer layer for preventing flow of Pt ions into the solid electrolyte and an upper catalytically active Pt electrode coupled to the buffer layer.

  3. Active sensors for health monitoring of aging aerospace structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giurgiutiu, Victor; Redmond, James M.; Roach, Dennis P.; Rackow, Kirk

    2000-06-01

    A project to develop non-intrusive active sensors that can be applied on existing aging aerospace structures for monitoring the onset and progress of structural damage (fatigue cracks and corrosion) is presented. The state of the art in active sensors structural health monitoring and damage detection is reviewed. Methods based on (a) elastic wave propagation and (b) electro-mechanical (E/M) impedance technique are cited and briefly discussed. The instrumentation of these specimens with piezoelectric active sensors is illustrated. The main detection strategies (E/M impedance for local area detection and wave propagation for wide area interrogation) are discussed. The signal processing and damage interpretation algorithms are tuned to the specific structural interrogation method used. In the high frequency E/M impedance approach, pattern recognition methods are used to compare impedance signatures taken at various time intervals and to identify damage presence and progression from the change in these signatures. In the wave propagation approach, the acousto- ultrasonic methods identifying additional reflection generated from the damage site and changes in transmission velocity and phase are used. Both approaches benefit from the use of artificial intelligence neural networks algorithms that can extract damage features based on a learning process. Design and fabrication of a set of structural specimens representative of aging aerospace structures is presented. Three built-up specimens, (pristine, with cracks, and with corrosion damage) are used. The specimen instrumentation with active sensors fabricated at the University of South Carolina is illustrated. Preliminary results obtained with the E/M impedance method on pristine and cracked specimens are presented.

  4. JPL CMOS Active Pixel Sensor Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossum, E. R.

    1995-01-01

    This paper will present the JPL-developed complementary metal- oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) technology. The CMOS APS has achieved performance comparable to charge coupled devices, yet features ultra low power operation, random access readout, on-chip timing and control, and on-chip analog to digital conversion. Previously published open literature will be reviewed.

  5. Learning Activity Predictors from Sensor Data: Algorithms, Evaluation, and Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minor, Bryan; Doppa, Janardhan Rao; Cook, Diane J

    2017-12-01

    Recent progress in Internet of Things (IoT) platforms has allowed us to collect large amounts of sensing data. However, there are significant challenges in converting this large-scale sensing data into decisions for real-world applications. Motivated by applications like health monitoring and intervention and home automation we consider a novel problem called Activity Prediction , where the goal is to predict future activity occurrence times from sensor data. In this paper, we make three main contributions. First, we formulate and solve the activity prediction problem in the framework of imitation learning and reduce it to a simple regression learning problem. This approach allows us to leverage powerful regression learners that can reason about the relational structure of the problem with negligible computational overhead. Second, we present several metrics to evaluate activity predictors in the context of real-world applications. Third, we evaluate our approach using real sensor data collected from 24 smart home testbeds. We also embed the learned predictor into a mobile-device-based activity prompter and evaluate the app for 9 participants living in smart homes. Our results indicate that our activity predictor performs better than the baseline methods, and offers a simple approach for predicting activities from sensor data.

  6. Characterization and re-activation of oxygen sensors for use in liquid lead-bismuth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurata, Yuji; Abe, Yuji; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Oigawa, Hiroyuki

    2010-01-01

    Control of oxygen concentration in liquid lead-bismuth is one of the most important tasks to develop accelerator driven systems. In order to improve the reliability of oxygen sensors, re-activation treatments were investigated as well as characterization of oxygen sensors for use in liquid lead-bismuth. The oxygen sensor with a solid electrolyte of yttria-stabilized zirconia and a Pt/gas reference electrode showed almost the same electromotive force values in gas and liquid lead-bismuth, respectively, as the theoretical ones at temperatures above 400 deg. C or 450 deg. C. After long-term use of 6500 h, the outputs of the sensor became incorrect in liquid lead-bismuth. The state of the sensor that indicated incorrect outputs could not be recovered by cleaning with a nitric acid. However, it was found that the oxygen sensor became a correct sensor indicating theoretical values in liquid lead-bismuth after re-activation by the Pt-treatment of the outer surface of the sensor.

  7. A Hierarchical Approach to Real-time Activity Recognition in Body Sensor Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Liang; Gu, Tao; Tao, Xianping

    2012-01-01

    Real-time activity recognition in body sensor networks is an important and challenging task. In this paper, we propose a real-time, hierarchical model to recognize both simple gestures and complex activities using a wireless body sensor network. In this model, we rst use a fast and lightweight al...

  8. Radiation hardness of CMOS monolithic active pixel sensors manufactured in a 0.18 μm CMOS process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Linnik, Benjamin [Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-MVD-Collaboration

    2015-07-01

    CMOS Monolithic Active Pixels Sensors (MAPS) are considered as the technology of choice for various vertex detectors in particle and heavy-ion physics including the STAR HFT, the upgrade of the ALICE ITS, the future ILC detectors and the CBM experiment at FAIR. To match the requirements of those detectors, their hardness to radiation is being improved, among others in a joined research activity of the Goethe University Frankfurt and the IPHC Strasbourg. It was assumed that combining an improved high resistivity (1-8 kΩcm) sensitive medium with the features of a 0.18 μm CMOS process, is suited to reach substantial improvements in terms of radiation hardness as compared to earlier sensor designs. This strategy was tested with a novel generation of sensor prototypes named MIMOSA-32 and MIMOSA-34. We show results on the radiation hardness of those sensors and discuss its impact on the design of future vertex detectors.

  9. A Depth Video Sensor-Based Life-Logging Human Activity Recognition System for Elderly Care in Smart Indoor Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Jalal

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Recent advancements in depth video sensors technologies have made human activity recognition (HAR realizable for elderly monitoring applications. Although conventional HAR utilizes RGB video sensors, HAR could be greatly improved with depth video sensors which produce depth or distance information. In this paper, a depth-based life logging HAR system is designed to recognize the daily activities of elderly people and turn these environments into an intelligent living space. Initially, a depth imaging sensor is used to capture depth silhouettes. Based on these silhouettes, human skeletons with joint information are produced which are further used for activity recognition and generating their life logs. The life-logging system is divided into two processes. Firstly, the training system includes data collection using a depth camera, feature extraction and training for each activity via Hidden Markov Models. Secondly, after training, the recognition engine starts to recognize the learned activities and produces life logs. The system was evaluated using life logging features against principal component and independent component features and achieved satisfactory recognition rates against the conventional approaches. Experiments conducted on the smart indoor activity datasets and the MSRDailyActivity3D dataset show promising results. The proposed system is directly applicable to any elderly monitoring system, such as monitoring healthcare problems for elderly people, or examining the indoor activities of people at home, office or hospital.

  10. A depth video sensor-based life-logging human activity recognition system for elderly care in smart indoor environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jalal, Ahmad; Kamal, Shaharyar; Kim, Daijin

    2014-07-02

    Recent advancements in depth video sensors technologies have made human activity recognition (HAR) realizable for elderly monitoring applications. Although conventional HAR utilizes RGB video sensors, HAR could be greatly improved with depth video sensors which produce depth or distance information. In this paper, a depth-based life logging HAR system is designed to recognize the daily activities of elderly people and turn these environments into an intelligent living space. Initially, a depth imaging sensor is used to capture depth silhouettes. Based on these silhouettes, human skeletons with joint information are produced which are further used for activity recognition and generating their life logs. The life-logging system is divided into two processes. Firstly, the training system includes data collection using a depth camera, feature extraction and training for each activity via Hidden Markov Models. Secondly, after training, the recognition engine starts to recognize the learned activities and produces life logs. The system was evaluated using life logging features against principal component and independent component features and achieved satisfactory recognition rates against the conventional approaches. Experiments conducted on the smart indoor activity datasets and the MSRDailyActivity3D dataset show promising results. The proposed system is directly applicable to any elderly monitoring system, such as monitoring healthcare problems for elderly people, or examining the indoor activities of people at home, office or hospital.

  11. Noise Parameters of CW Radar Sensors Used in Active Defense Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Jenik

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Active defense represents an innovative way of protecting military vehicles. It is based on the employment of a set of radar sensors which detect an approaching threat missile and activate a suitable counter-measure. Since the radar sensors are supposed to detect flying missiles very fast and, at the same time, distinguish them from stationary or slow-moving objects, CW Doppler radar sensors can be employed with a benefit. The submitted article deals with a complex noise analysis of this type of sensors. The analysis considers the noise of linear and quasi-linear RF components, phase-noise of the local oscillator as well as the noise of low-frequency circuits. Since the incidence of the phase-noise depends strongly upon the time delay between the reference and the cross-talked signals, a new method of measuring noise parameters utilizing a reflecting wall has been developed and verified. The achieved results confirm potentially high influence of the phase-noise on the noise parameters of the mentioned type of radar sensors. Obtained results can be used for the analysis of noise parameters of the similar but even more complex sensors.

  12. A Comprehensive Analysis on Wearable Acceleration Sensors in Human Activity Recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janidarmian, Majid; Roshan Fekr, Atena; Radecka, Katarzyna; Zilic, Zeljko

    2017-03-07

    Sensor-based motion recognition integrates the emerging area of wearable sensors with novel machine learning techniques to make sense of low-level sensor data and provide rich contextual information in a real-life application. Although Human Activity Recognition (HAR) problem has been drawing the attention of researchers, it is still a subject of much debate due to the diverse nature of human activities and their tracking methods. Finding the best predictive model in this problem while considering different sources of heterogeneities can be very difficult to analyze theoretically, which stresses the need of an experimental study. Therefore, in this paper, we first create the most complete dataset, focusing on accelerometer sensors, with various sources of heterogeneities. We then conduct an extensive analysis on feature representations and classification techniques (the most comprehensive comparison yet with 293 classifiers) for activity recognition. Principal component analysis is applied to reduce the feature vector dimension while keeping essential information. The average classification accuracy of eight sensor positions is reported to be 96.44% ± 1.62% with 10-fold evaluation, whereas accuracy of 79.92% ± 9.68% is reached in the subject-independent evaluation. This study presents significant evidence that we can build predictive models for HAR problem under more realistic conditions, and still achieve highly accurate results.

  13. Precise shape reconstruction by active pattern in total-internal-reflection-based tactile sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saga, Satoshi; Taira, Ryosuke; Deguchi, Koichiro

    2014-03-01

    We are developing a total-internal-reflection-based tactile sensor in which the shape is reconstructed using an optical reflection. This sensor consists of silicone rubber, an image pattern, and a camera. It reconstructs the shape of the sensor surface from an image of a pattern reflected at the inner sensor surface by total internal reflection. In this study, we propose precise real-time reconstruction by employing an optimization method. Furthermore, we propose to use active patterns. Deformation of the reflection image causes reconstruction errors. By controlling the image pattern, the sensor reconstructs the surface deformation more precisely. We implement the proposed optimization and active-pattern-based reconstruction methods in a reflection-based tactile sensor, and perform reconstruction experiments using the system. A precise deformation experiment confirms the linearity and precision of the reconstruction.

  14. DNA-Based Sensor for Real-Time Measurement of the Enzymatic Activity of Human Topoisomerase I

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marcussen, Lærke Bay; Jepsen, Morten Leth; Kristoffersen, Emil Laust

    2013-01-01

    Sensors capable of quantitative real-time measurements may present the easiest and most accurate way to study enzyme activities. Here we present a novel DNA-based sensor for specific and quantitative real-time measurement of the enzymatic activity of the essential human enzyme, topoisomerase I....... The basic design of the sensor relies on two DNA strands that hybridize to form a hairpin structure with a fluorophore-quencher pair. The quencher moiety is released from the sensor upon reaction with human topoisomerase I thus enabling real-time optical measurement of enzymatic activity. The sensor....... The cytotoxic effect of camptothecins correlates directly with the intracellular topoisomerase I activity. We therefore envision that the presented sensor may find use for the prediction of cellular drug response. Moreover, inhibition of topoisomerase I by camptothecin is readily detectable using the presented...

  15. Sensor-based Human Activity Recognition in a Multi-user Scenario

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Liang; Gu, Tao; Tao, Xianping

    2009-01-01

    Existing work on sensor-based activity recognition focuses mainly on single-user activities. However, in real life, activities are often performed by multiple users involving interactions between them. In this paper, we propose Coupled Hidden Markov Models (CHMMs) to recognize multi-user activiti...

  16. Active damage localization for plate-like structures using wireless sensors and a distributed algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, L; Yuan, F G

    2008-01-01

    Wireless structural health monitoring (SHM) systems have emerged as a promising technology for robust and cost-effective structural monitoring. However, the applications of wireless sensors on active diagnosis for structural health monitoring (SHM) have not been extensively investigated. Due to limited energy sources, battery-powered wireless sensors can only perform limited functions and are expected to operate at a low duty cycle. Conventional designs are not suitable for sensing high frequency signals, e.g. in the ultrasonic frequency range. More importantly, algorithms to detect structural damage with a vast amount of data usually require considerable processing and communication time and result in unaffordable power consumption for wireless sensors. In this study, an energy-efficient wireless sensor for supporting high frequency signals and a distributed damage localization algorithm for plate-like structures are proposed, discussed and validated to supplement recent advances made for active sensing-based SHM. First, the power consumption of a wireless sensor is discussed and identified. Then the design of a wireless sensor for active diagnosis using piezoelectric sensors is introduced. The newly developed wireless sensor utilizes an optimized combination of field programmable gate array (FPGA) and conventional microcontroller to address the tradeoff between power consumption and speed requirement. The proposed damage localization algorithm, based on an energy decay model, enables wireless sensors to be practically used in active diagnosis. The power consumption for data communication can be minimized while the power budget for data processing can still be affordable for a battery-powered wireless sensor. The Levenberg–Marquardt method is employed in a mains-powered sensor node or PC to locate damage. Experimental results and discussion on the improvement of power efficiency are given

  17. Probing active-edge silicon sensors using a high precision telescope

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akiba, K.; Artuso, M.; van Beveren, V.; van Beuzekom, M.; Boterenbrood, H.; Buytaert, J.; Collins, P.; Dumps, R.; van der Heijden, B.; Hombach, C.; Hynds, D.; Hsu, D.; John, M.; Koffeman, E.; Leflat, A.; Li, Y.; Longstaff, I.; Morton, A.; PérezTrigo, E.; Plackett, R.; Reid, M.M.; Rodríguez Perez, P.; Schindler, H.; Tsopelas, P.; Vázquez Sierra, C.; Wysokiński, M.

    2015-01-01

    The performance of prototype active-edge VTT sensors bump-bonded to the Timepix ASIC is presented. Non-irradiated sensors of thicknesses 100-200 μm and pixel-to-edge distances of 50 μm and 100 μm were probed with a beam of charged hadrons with sub-pixel precision using the Timepix telescope

  18. Monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) in a VLSI CMOS technology

    CERN Document Server

    Turchetta, R; Manolopoulos, S; Tyndel, M; Allport, P P; Bates, R; O'Shea, V; Hall, G; Raymond, M

    2003-01-01

    Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) designed in a standard VLSI CMOS technology have recently been proposed as a compact pixel detector for the detection of high-energy charged particle in vertex/tracking applications. MAPS, also named CMOS sensors, are already extensively used in visible light applications. With respect to other competing imaging technologies, CMOS sensors have several potential advantages in terms of low cost, low power, lower noise at higher speed, random access of pixels which allows windowing of region of interest, ability to integrate several functions on the same chip. This brings altogether to the concept of 'camera-on-a-chip'. In this paper, we review the use of CMOS sensors for particle physics and we analyse their performances in term of the efficiency (fill factor), signal generation, noise, readout speed and sensor area. In most of high-energy physics applications, data reduction is needed in the sensor at an early stage of the data processing before transfer of the data to ta...

  19. Development of Smart Active Layer Sensor (I) : Theory and Concept Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Dong Jin; Lee, Young Sup; Kwon, Jae Hwa; Lee, Sang Il

    2004-01-01

    This paper is the first part of the study on the development of a smart active layer (SAL) sensor, which consists of two parts. In this first part, the theory and concept of the SAL sensor is investigated, which is designed for the detection of elastic waves caused by internal cracks and damages in structures. For the development SAL sensor, (i) the basic theory of elastic waves was studied, (ii) the feasible study of the SAL as an elastic waves detection sensor using the finite element analysis (FEA) with respect to a piezoceramic disc was performed. (iii) the comparison of performances between some piezoceramic sensors and a commercial acoustic emission (AE) sensor was accomplished to ensure the applicability by the experimental means, such as a pencil lead break test. Also, the conceptional study for the SAL sensor, which can be utilized for the effective detection and locating of defects by the arrangement of regularly distributed sensors, was discussed

  20. Sensitivity-Enhanced Wearable Active Voiceprint Sensor Based on Cellular Polypropylene Piezoelectret.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wenbo; Zhao, Sheng; Wu, Nan; Zhong, Junwen; Wang, Bo; Lin, Shizhe; Chen, Shuwen; Yuan, Fang; Jiang, Hulin; Xiao, Yongjun; Hu, Bin; Zhou, Jun

    2017-07-19

    Wearable active sensors have extensive applications in mobile biosensing and human-machine interaction but require good flexibility, high sensitivity, excellent stability, and self-powered feature. In this work, cellular polypropylene (PP) piezoelectret was chosen as the core material of a sensitivity-enhanced wearable active voiceprint sensor (SWAVS) to realize voiceprint recognition. By virtue of the dipole orientation control method, the air layers in the piezoelectret were efficiently utilized, and the current sensitivity was enhanced (from 1.98 pA/Hz to 5.81 pA/Hz at 115 dB). The SWAVS exhibited the superiorities of high sensitivity, accurate frequency response, and excellent stability. The voiceprint recognition system could make correct reactions to human voices by judging both the password and speaker. This study presented a voiceprint sensor with potential applications in noncontact biometric recognition and safety guarantee systems, promoting the progress of wearable sensor networks.

  1. Probing active-edge silicon sensors using a high precision telescope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akiba, K. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Artuso, M. [Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY (United States); Beveren, V. van; Beuzekom, M. van; Boterenbrood, H. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Buytaert, J.; Collins, P.; Dumps, R. [CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, Geneva (Switzerland); Heijden, B. van der [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Hombach, C. [University of Manchester, Manchester, Lancashire (United Kingdom); Hynds, D. [Glasgow University, Glasgow, Lanarkshire (United Kingdom); Hsu, D. [Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY (United States); John, M. [University of Oxford, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Koffeman, E. [Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Leflat, A. [Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation); Li, Y. [Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Longstaff, I.; Morton, A. [Glasgow University, Glasgow, Lanarkshire (United Kingdom); Pérez Trigo, E. [Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Plackett, R. [Diamond Light Source Ltd., Didcot, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); and others

    2015-03-21

    The performance of prototype active-edge VTT sensors bump-bonded to the Timepix ASIC is presented. Non-irradiated sensors of thicknesses 100–200 μm and pixel-to-edge distances of 50 μm and 100 μm were probed with a beam of charged hadrons with sub-pixel precision using the Timepix telescope assembled at the SPS at CERN. The sensors are shown to be highly efficient up to a few micrometers from the physical edge of the sensor. The distortion of the electric field lines at the edge of the sensors is studied by reconstructing the streamlines of the electric field using two-pixel clusters. These results are supported by TCAD simulations. The reconstructed streamlines are used to study the field distortion as a function of the bias voltage and to apply corrections to the cluster positions at the edge.

  2. Radiation-activated sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nirschl, J.C.

    1976-01-01

    A sensing system is described for use in a remote location which detects electromagnetic radiation energy, the system being self-activating, turning itself automatically on and off, as a function of radiation intensity across the detector. In essence, when no radiation is present across the detector, the system will consume no power, the switches and MOSFET discriminator being essentially in an ''off'' position. Radiation across the detector provides a current to an input capacitance which when charged turns on the switch and the MOSFET discriminator. A switch driver produces an output pulse showing the presence of radiation; the system then shuts off awaiting the next radiation input. Since the sensor system uses virtually no power unless radiation is present, it is ideally suited for use in remote environments where battery power and size is a predominant consideration. 2 claims, 3 drawing figures

  3. A Comprehensive Analysis on Wearable Acceleration Sensors in Human Activity Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Majid Janidarmian

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Sensor-based motion recognition integrates the emerging area of wearable sensors with novel machine learning techniques to make sense of low-level sensor data and provide rich contextual information in a real-life application. Although Human Activity Recognition (HAR problem has been drawing the attention of researchers, it is still a subject of much debate due to the diverse nature of human activities and their tracking methods. Finding the best predictive model in this problem while considering different sources of heterogeneities can be very difficult to analyze theoretically, which stresses the need of an experimental study. Therefore, in this paper, we first create the most complete dataset, focusing on accelerometer sensors, with various sources of heterogeneities. We then conduct an extensive analysis on feature representations and classification techniques (the most comprehensive comparison yet with 293 classifiers for activity recognition. Principal component analysis is applied to reduce the feature vector dimension while keeping essential information. The average classification accuracy of eight sensor positions is reported to be 96.44% ± 1.62% with 10-fold evaluation, whereas accuracy of 79.92% ± 9.68% is reached in the subject-independent evaluation. This study presents significant evidence that we can build predictive models for HAR problem under more realistic conditions, and still achieve highly accurate results.

  4. Predictive simulations and optimization of nanowire field-effect PSA sensors including screening

    KAUST Repository

    Baumgartner, Stefan; Heitzinger, Clemens; Vacic, Aleksandar; Reed, Mark A

    2013-01-01

    We apply our self-consistent PDE model for the electrical response of field-effect sensors to the 3D simulation of nanowire PSA (prostate-specific antigen) sensors. The charge concentration in the biofunctionalized boundary layer at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface is calculated using the propka algorithm, and the screening of the biomolecules by the free ions in the liquid is modeled by a sensitivity factor. This comprehensive approach yields excellent agreement with experimental current-voltage characteristics without any fitting parameters. Having verified the numerical model in this manner, we study the sensitivity of nanowire PSA sensors by changing device parameters, making it possible to optimize the devices and revealing the attributes of the optimal field-effect sensor. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  5. Predictive simulations and optimization of nanowire field-effect PSA sensors including screening

    KAUST Repository

    Baumgartner, Stefan

    2013-05-03

    We apply our self-consistent PDE model for the electrical response of field-effect sensors to the 3D simulation of nanowire PSA (prostate-specific antigen) sensors. The charge concentration in the biofunctionalized boundary layer at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface is calculated using the propka algorithm, and the screening of the biomolecules by the free ions in the liquid is modeled by a sensitivity factor. This comprehensive approach yields excellent agreement with experimental current-voltage characteristics without any fitting parameters. Having verified the numerical model in this manner, we study the sensitivity of nanowire PSA sensors by changing device parameters, making it possible to optimize the devices and revealing the attributes of the optimal field-effect sensor. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  6. Metal-Organic Frameworks as Active Materials in Electronic Sensor Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Michael G; Dincă, Mircea

    2017-05-12

    In the past decade, advances in electrically conductive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and MOF-based electronic devices have created new opportunities for the development of next-generation sensors. Here we review this rapidly-growing field, with a focus on the different types of device configurations that have allowed for the use of MOFs as active components of electronic sensor devices.

  7. Inductive displacement sensors with a notch filter for an active magnetic bearing system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Seng-Chi; Le, Dinh-Kha; Nguyen, Van-Sum

    2014-07-15

    Active magnetic bearing (AMB) systems support rotating shafts without any physical contact, using electromagnetic forces. Each radial AMB uses two pairs of electromagnets at opposite sides of the rotor. This allows the rotor to float in the air gap, and the machine to operate without frictional losses. In active magnetic suspension, displacement sensors are necessary to detect the radial and axial movement of the suspended object. In a high-speed rotating machine equipped with an AMB, the rotor bending modes may be limited to the operating range. The natural frequencies of the rotor can cause instability. Thus, notch filters are a useful circuit for stabilizing the system. In addition, commercial displacement sensors are sometimes not suitable for AMB design, and cannot filter the noise caused by the natural frequencies of rotor. Hence, implementing displacement sensors based on the AMB structure is necessary to eliminate noises caused by natural frequency disturbances. The displacement sensor must be highly sensitive in the desired working range, and also exhibit a low interference noise, high stability, and low cost. In this study, we used the differential inductive sensor head and lock-in amplifier for synchronous demodulation. In addition, an active low-pass filter and a notch filter were used to eliminate disturbances, which caused by natural frequencies. As a consequence, the inductive displacement sensor achieved satisfactory linearity, high sensitivity, and disturbance elimination. This sensor can be easily produced for AMB applications. A prototype of these displacement sensors was built and tested.

  8. A Novel Wearable Sensor-Based Human Activity Recognition Approach Using Artificial Hydrocarbon Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponce, Hiram; Martínez-Villaseñor, María de Lourdes; Miralles-Pechuán, Luis

    2016-07-05

    Human activity recognition has gained more interest in several research communities given that understanding user activities and behavior helps to deliver proactive and personalized services. There are many examples of health systems improved by human activity recognition. Nevertheless, the human activity recognition classification process is not an easy task. Different types of noise in wearable sensors data frequently hamper the human activity recognition classification process. In order to develop a successful activity recognition system, it is necessary to use stable and robust machine learning techniques capable of dealing with noisy data. In this paper, we presented the artificial hydrocarbon networks (AHN) technique to the human activity recognition community. Our artificial hydrocarbon networks novel approach is suitable for physical activity recognition, noise tolerance of corrupted data sensors and robust in terms of different issues on data sensors. We proved that the AHN classifier is very competitive for physical activity recognition and is very robust in comparison with other well-known machine learning methods.

  9. Two-sensor control in active vibration isolation using hard mounts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beijen, M.A.; Tjepkema, D.; van Dijk, J.

    To isolate precision machines from floor vibrations, active vibration isolators are often applied. In this paper, a two-sensor control strategy, based on acceleration feedback and force feedback, is proposed for an active vibration isolator using a single-axis active hard mount. The hard mount

  10. Two-sensor control in active vibration isolation using hard mounts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beijen, M.A.; Tjepkema, D.; van Dijk, Johannes

    2014-01-01

    To isolate precision machines from floor vibrations, active vibration isolators are often applied. In this paper, a two-sensor control strategy, based on acceleration feedback and force feedback, is proposed for an active vibration isolator using a single-axis active hard mount. The hard mount

  11. Development of a Smartphone Application to Measure Physical Activity Using Sensor-Assisted Self-Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Genevieve Fridlund Dunton

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Despite the known advantages of objective physical activity monitors (e.g., accelerometers, these devices have high rates of non-wear, which leads to missing data. Objective activity monitors are also unable to capture valuable contextual information about behavior. Adolescents recruited into physical activity surveillance and intervention studies will increasingly have smartphones, which are miniature computers with built-in motion sensors. Methods: This paper describes the design and development of a smartphone application (app called Mobile Teen that combines objective and self-report assessment strategies through (1 sensor-informed context-sensitive ecological momentary assessment (CS-EMA and (2 sensor-assisted end-of-day recall.Results: The Mobile Teen app uses the mobile phone’s built-in motion sensor to automatically detect likely bouts of phone non-wear, sedentary behavior, and physical activity. The app then uses transitions between these inferred states to trigger CS-EMA self-report surveys measuring the type, purpose, and context of activity in real time. The end of the day recall component of the Mobile Teen app allows users to interactively review and label their own physical activity data each evening using visual cues from automatically-detected major activity transitions from the phone’s built-in motions sensors. Major activity transitions are identified by the app, which cues the user to label that chunk, or period, of time using activity categories.Conclusions: Sensor-driven CS-EMA and end-of-day recall smartphone apps can be used to augment physical activity data collected by objective activity monitors, filling in gaps during non-wear bouts and providing additional real-time data on environmental, social, and emotional correlates of behavior. Smartphone apps such as these have potential for affordable deployment in large scale epidemiological and intervention studies.

  12. Zebrafish homologs of genes within 16p11.2, a genomic region associated with brain disorders, are active during brain development, and include two deletion dosage sensor genes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alicia Blaker-Lee

    2012-11-01

    Deletion or duplication of one copy of the human 16p11.2 interval is tightly associated with impaired brain function, including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs, intellectual disability disorder (IDD and other phenotypes, indicating the importance of gene dosage in this copy number variant region (CNV. The core of this CNV includes 25 genes; however, the number of genes that contribute to these phenotypes is not known. Furthermore, genes whose functional levels change with deletion or duplication (termed ‘dosage sensors’, which can associate the CNV with pathologies, have not been identified in this region. Using the zebrafish as a tool, a set of 16p11.2 homologs was identified, primarily on chromosomes 3 and 12. Use of 11 phenotypic assays, spanning the first 5 days of development, demonstrated that this set of genes is highly active, such that 21 out of the 22 homologs tested showed loss-of-function phenotypes. Most genes in this region were required for nervous system development – impacting brain morphology, eye development, axonal density or organization, and motor response. In general, human genes were able to substitute for the fish homolog, demonstrating orthology and suggesting conserved molecular pathways. In a screen for 16p11.2 genes whose function is sensitive to hemizygosity, the aldolase a (aldoaa and kinesin family member 22 (kif22 genes were identified as giving clear phenotypes when RNA levels were reduced by ∼50%, suggesting that these genes are deletion dosage sensors. This study leads to two major findings. The first is that the 16p11.2 region comprises a highly active set of genes, which could present a large genetic target and might explain why multiple brain function, and other, phenotypes are associated with this interval. The second major finding is that there are (at least two genes with deletion dosage sensor properties among the 16p11.2 set, and these could link this CNV to brain disorders such as ASD and IDD.

  13. CMOS Active Pixel Sensor Technology and Reliability Characterization Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yuan; Guertin, Steven M.; Pain, Bedabrata; Kayaii, Sammy

    2006-01-01

    This paper describes the technology, design features and reliability characterization methodology of a CMOS Active Pixel Sensor. Both overall chip reliability and pixel reliability are projected for the imagers.

  14. A Human Activity Recognition System Using Skeleton Data from RGBD Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cippitelli, Enea; Gasparrini, Samuele; Gambi, Ennio; Spinsante, Susanna

    2016-01-01

    The aim of Active and Assisted Living is to develop tools to promote the ageing in place of elderly people, and human activity recognition algorithms can help to monitor aged people in home environments. Different types of sensors can be used to address this task and the RGBD sensors, especially the ones used for gaming, are cost-effective and provide much information about the environment. This work aims to propose an activity recognition algorithm exploiting skeleton data extracted by RGBD sensors. The system is based on the extraction of key poses to compose a feature vector, and a multiclass Support Vector Machine to perform classification. Computation and association of key poses are carried out using a clustering algorithm, without the need of a learning algorithm. The proposed approach is evaluated on five publicly available datasets for activity recognition, showing promising results especially when applied for the recognition of AAL related actions. Finally, the current applicability of this solution in AAL scenarios and the future improvements needed are discussed.

  15. A Human Activity Recognition System Using Skeleton Data from RGBD Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enea Cippitelli

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of Active and Assisted Living is to develop tools to promote the ageing in place of elderly people, and human activity recognition algorithms can help to monitor aged people in home environments. Different types of sensors can be used to address this task and the RGBD sensors, especially the ones used for gaming, are cost-effective and provide much information about the environment. This work aims to propose an activity recognition algorithm exploiting skeleton data extracted by RGBD sensors. The system is based on the extraction of key poses to compose a feature vector, and a multiclass Support Vector Machine to perform classification. Computation and association of key poses are carried out using a clustering algorithm, without the need of a learning algorithm. The proposed approach is evaluated on five publicly available datasets for activity recognition, showing promising results especially when applied for the recognition of AAL related actions. Finally, the current applicability of this solution in AAL scenarios and the future improvements needed are discussed.

  16. Paper-Based Active Tactile Sensor Array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Qize; Zhong, Junwen; Cheng, Xiaofeng; Yao, Xu; Wang, Bo; Li, Wenbo; Wu, Nan; Liu, Kang; Hu, Bin; Zhou, Jun

    2015-11-25

    A paper-based active tactile sensor -array (PATSA) with a dynamic sensitivity of 0.35 V N(-1) is demonstrated. The pixel position of the PATSA can be routed by analyzing the real-time recording voltages in the pressing process. The PATSA performance, which remains functional when removing partial areas, reveals that the device has a potential application to customized electronic skins. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Virtual sensors for active noise control in acoustic-structural coupled enclosures using structural sensing: part II--Optimization of structural sensor placement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halim, Dunant; Cheng, Li; Su, Zhongqing

    2011-04-01

    The work proposed an optimization approach for structural sensor placement to improve the performance of vibro-acoustic virtual sensor for active noise control applications. The vibro-acoustic virtual sensor was designed to estimate the interior sound pressure of an acoustic-structural coupled enclosure using structural sensors. A spectral-spatial performance metric was proposed, which was used to quantify the averaged structural sensor output energy of a vibro-acoustic system excited by a spatially varying point source. It was shown that (i) the overall virtual sensing error energy was contributed additively by the modal virtual sensing error and the measurement noise energy; (ii) each of the modal virtual sensing error system was contributed by both the modal observability levels for the structural sensing and the target acoustic virtual sensing; and further (iii) the strength of each modal observability level was influenced by the modal coupling and resonance frequencies of the associated uncoupled structural/cavity modes. An optimal design of structural sensor placement was proposed to achieve sufficiently high modal observability levels for certain important panel- and cavity-controlled modes. Numerical analysis on a panel-cavity system demonstrated the importance of structural sensor placement on virtual sensing and active noise control performance, particularly for cavity-controlled modes.

  18. Wireless sensor networks for active vibration control in automobile structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mieyeville, Fabien; Navarro, David; Du, Wan; Ichchou, Mohamed; Scorletti, Gérard

    2012-01-01

    Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are nowadays widely used in monitoring and tracking applications. This paper presents the feasibility of using WSNs in active vibration control strategies. The method employed here involves active-structural acoustic control using piezoelectric sensors distributed on a car structure. This system aims at being merged with a WSN whose head node collects data and processes control laws so as to command piezoelectric actuators wisely placed on the structure. We will study the feasibility of implementing WSNs in active vibration control and introduce a complete design methodology to optimize hardware/software and control law synergy in mechatronic systems. A design space exploration will be conducted so as to identify the best WSN platform and the resulting impact on control. (paper)

  19. Inductive Displacement Sensors with a Notch Filter for an Active Magnetic Bearing System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seng-Chi Chen

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Active magnetic bearing (AMB systems support rotating shafts without any physical contact, using electromagnetic forces. Each radial AMB uses two pairs of electromagnets at opposite sides of the rotor. This allows the rotor to float in the air gap, and the machine to operate without frictional losses. In active magnetic suspension, displacement sensors are necessary to detect the radial and axial movement of the suspended object. In a high-speed rotating machine equipped with an AMB, the rotor bending modes may be limited to the operating range. The natural frequencies of the rotor can cause instability. Thus, notch filters are a useful circuit for stabilizing the system. In addition, commercial displacement sensors are sometimes not suitable for AMB design, and cannot filter the noise caused by the natural frequencies of rotor. Hence, implementing displacement sensors based on the AMB structure is necessary to eliminate noises caused by natural frequency disturbances. The displacement sensor must be highly sensitive in the desired working range, and also exhibit a low interference noise, high stability, and low cost. In this study, we used the differential inductive sensor head and lock-in amplifier for synchronous demodulation. In addition, an active low-pass filter and a notch filter were used to eliminate disturbances, which caused by natural frequencies. As a consequence, the inductive displacement sensor achieved satisfactory linearity, high sensitivity, and disturbance elimination. This sensor can be easily produced for AMB applications. A prototype of these displacement sensors was built and tested.

  20. Evolutionary Design of Convolutional Neural Networks for Human Activity Recognition in Sensor-Rich Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldominos, Alejandro; Saez, Yago; Isasi, Pedro

    2018-04-23

    Human activity recognition is a challenging problem for context-aware systems and applications. It is gaining interest due to the ubiquity of different sensor sources, wearable smart objects, ambient sensors, etc. This task is usually approached as a supervised machine learning problem, where a label is to be predicted given some input data, such as the signals retrieved from different sensors. For tackling the human activity recognition problem in sensor network environments, in this paper we propose the use of deep learning (convolutional neural networks) to perform activity recognition using the publicly available OPPORTUNITY dataset. Instead of manually choosing a suitable topology, we will let an evolutionary algorithm design the optimal topology in order to maximize the classification F1 score. After that, we will also explore the performance of committees of the models resulting from the evolutionary process. Results analysis indicates that the proposed model was able to perform activity recognition within a heterogeneous sensor network environment, achieving very high accuracies when tested with new sensor data. Based on all conducted experiments, the proposed neuroevolutionary system has proved to be able to systematically find a classification model which is capable of outperforming previous results reported in the state-of-the-art, showing that this approach is useful and improves upon previously manually-designed architectures.

  1. Modular Bayesian Networks with Low-Power Wearable Sensors for Recognizing Eating Activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kee-Hoon Kim

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Recently, recognizing a user’s daily activity using a smartphone and wearable sensors has become a popular issue. However, in contrast with the ideal definition of an experiment, there could be numerous complex activities in real life with respect to its various background and contexts: time, space, age, culture, and so on. Recognizing these complex activities with limited low-power sensors, considering the power and memory constraints of the wearable environment and the user’s obtrusiveness at once is not an easy problem, although it is very crucial for the activity recognizer to be practically useful. In this paper, we recognize activity of eating, which is one of the most typical examples of a complex activity, using only daily low-power mobile and wearable sensors. To organize the related contexts systemically, we have constructed the context model based on activity theory and the “Five W’s”, and propose a Bayesian network with 88 nodes to predict uncertain contexts probabilistically. The structure of the proposed Bayesian network is designed by a modular and tree-structured approach to reduce the time complexity and increase the scalability. To evaluate the proposed method, we collected the data with 10 different activities from 25 volunteers of various ages, occupations, and jobs, and have obtained 79.71% accuracy, which outperforms other conventional classifiers by 7.54–14.4%. Analyses of the results showed that our probabilistic approach could also give approximate results even when one of contexts or sensor values has a very heterogeneous pattern or is missing.

  2. Modular Bayesian Networks with Low-Power Wearable Sensors for Recognizing Eating Activities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kee-Hoon; Cho, Sung-Bae

    2017-12-11

    Recently, recognizing a user's daily activity using a smartphone and wearable sensors has become a popular issue. However, in contrast with the ideal definition of an experiment, there could be numerous complex activities in real life with respect to its various background and contexts: time, space, age, culture, and so on. Recognizing these complex activities with limited low-power sensors, considering the power and memory constraints of the wearable environment and the user's obtrusiveness at once is not an easy problem, although it is very crucial for the activity recognizer to be practically useful. In this paper, we recognize activity of eating, which is one of the most typical examples of a complex activity, using only daily low-power mobile and wearable sensors. To organize the related contexts systemically, we have constructed the context model based on activity theory and the "Five W's", and propose a Bayesian network with 88 nodes to predict uncertain contexts probabilistically. The structure of the proposed Bayesian network is designed by a modular and tree-structured approach to reduce the time complexity and increase the scalability. To evaluate the proposed method, we collected the data with 10 different activities from 25 volunteers of various ages, occupations, and jobs, and have obtained 79.71% accuracy, which outperforms other conventional classifiers by 7.54-14.4%. Analyses of the results showed that our probabilistic approach could also give approximate results even when one of contexts or sensor values has a very heterogeneous pattern or is missing.

  3. Modular Bayesian Networks with Low-Power Wearable Sensors for Recognizing Eating Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kee-Hoon

    2017-01-01

    Recently, recognizing a user’s daily activity using a smartphone and wearable sensors has become a popular issue. However, in contrast with the ideal definition of an experiment, there could be numerous complex activities in real life with respect to its various background and contexts: time, space, age, culture, and so on. Recognizing these complex activities with limited low-power sensors, considering the power and memory constraints of the wearable environment and the user’s obtrusiveness at once is not an easy problem, although it is very crucial for the activity recognizer to be practically useful. In this paper, we recognize activity of eating, which is one of the most typical examples of a complex activity, using only daily low-power mobile and wearable sensors. To organize the related contexts systemically, we have constructed the context model based on activity theory and the “Five W’s”, and propose a Bayesian network with 88 nodes to predict uncertain contexts probabilistically. The structure of the proposed Bayesian network is designed by a modular and tree-structured approach to reduce the time complexity and increase the scalability. To evaluate the proposed method, we collected the data with 10 different activities from 25 volunteers of various ages, occupations, and jobs, and have obtained 79.71% accuracy, which outperforms other conventional classifiers by 7.54–14.4%. Analyses of the results showed that our probabilistic approach could also give approximate results even when one of contexts or sensor values has a very heterogeneous pattern or is missing. PMID:29232937

  4. Integrated arrays of air-dielectric graphene transistors as transparent active-matrix pressure sensors for wide pressure ranges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Sung-Ho; Ji, Sangyoon; Choi, Seiho; Pyo, Kyoung-Hee; Wan An, Byeong; Park, Jihun; Kim, Joohee; Kim, Ju-Young; Lee, Ki-Suk; Kwon, Soon-Yong; Heo, Jaeyeong; Park, Byong-Guk; Park, Jang-Ung

    2017-03-31

    Integrated electronic circuitries with pressure sensors have been extensively researched as a key component for emerging electronics applications such as electronic skins and health-monitoring devices. Although existing pressure sensors display high sensitivities, they can only be used for specific purposes due to the narrow range of detectable pressure (under tens of kPa) and the difficulty of forming highly integrated arrays. However, it is essential to develop tactile pressure sensors with a wide pressure range in order to use them for diverse application areas including medical diagnosis, robotics or automotive electronics. Here we report an unconventional approach for fabricating fully integrated active-matrix arrays of pressure-sensitive graphene transistors with air-dielectric layers simply formed by folding two opposing panels. Furthermore, this realizes a wide tactile pressure sensing range from 250 Pa to ∼3 MPa. Additionally, fabrication of pressure sensor arrays and transparent pressure sensors are demonstrated, suggesting their substantial promise as next-generation electronics.

  5. Wearable Sensor Data Classification for Human Activity Recognition Based on an Iterative Learning Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Carlos Davila

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The design of multiple human activity recognition applications in areas such as healthcare, sports and safety relies on wearable sensor technologies. However, when making decisions based on the data acquired by such sensors in practical situations, several factors related to sensor data alignment, data losses, and noise, among other experimental constraints, deteriorate data quality and model accuracy. To tackle these issues, this paper presents a data-driven iterative learning framework to classify human locomotion activities such as walk, stand, lie, and sit, extracted from the Opportunity dataset. Data acquired by twelve 3-axial acceleration sensors and seven inertial measurement units are initially de-noised using a two-stage consecutive filtering approach combining a band-pass Finite Impulse Response (FIR and a wavelet filter. A series of statistical parameters are extracted from the kinematical features, including the principal components and singular value decomposition of roll, pitch, yaw and the norm of the axial components. The novel interactive learning procedure is then applied in order to minimize the number of samples required to classify human locomotion activities. Only those samples that are most distant from the centroids of data clusters, according to a measure presented in the paper, are selected as candidates for the training dataset. The newly built dataset is then used to train an SVM multi-class classifier. The latter will produce the lowest prediction error. The proposed learning framework ensures a high level of robustness to variations in the quality of input data, while only using a much lower number of training samples and therefore a much shorter training time, which is an important consideration given the large size of the dataset.

  6. Wearable Sensor Data Classification for Human Activity Recognition Based on an Iterative Learning Framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davila, Juan Carlos; Cretu, Ana-Maria; Zaremba, Marek

    2017-06-07

    The design of multiple human activity recognition applications in areas such as healthcare, sports and safety relies on wearable sensor technologies. However, when making decisions based on the data acquired by such sensors in practical situations, several factors related to sensor data alignment, data losses, and noise, among other experimental constraints, deteriorate data quality and model accuracy. To tackle these issues, this paper presents a data-driven iterative learning framework to classify human locomotion activities such as walk, stand, lie, and sit, extracted from the Opportunity dataset. Data acquired by twelve 3-axial acceleration sensors and seven inertial measurement units are initially de-noised using a two-stage consecutive filtering approach combining a band-pass Finite Impulse Response (FIR) and a wavelet filter. A series of statistical parameters are extracted from the kinematical features, including the principal components and singular value decomposition of roll, pitch, yaw and the norm of the axial components. The novel interactive learning procedure is then applied in order to minimize the number of samples required to classify human locomotion activities. Only those samples that are most distant from the centroids of data clusters, according to a measure presented in the paper, are selected as candidates for the training dataset. The newly built dataset is then used to train an SVM multi-class classifier. The latter will produce the lowest prediction error. The proposed learning framework ensures a high level of robustness to variations in the quality of input data, while only using a much lower number of training samples and therefore a much shorter training time, which is an important consideration given the large size of the dataset.

  7. Fault Diagnosis Based on Chemical Sensor Data with an Active Deep Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Peng; Hu, Zhixin; Liu, Jun; Yu, Shanen; Wu, Feng

    2016-10-13

    Big sensor data provide significant potential for chemical fault diagnosis, which involves the baseline values of security, stability and reliability in chemical processes. A deep neural network (DNN) with novel active learning for inducing chemical fault diagnosis is presented in this study. It is a method using large amount of chemical sensor data, which is a combination of deep learning and active learning criterion to target the difficulty of consecutive fault diagnosis. DNN with deep architectures, instead of shallow ones, could be developed through deep learning to learn a suitable feature representation from raw sensor data in an unsupervised manner using stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) and work through a layer-by-layer successive learning process. The features are added to the top Softmax regression layer to construct the discriminative fault characteristics for diagnosis in a supervised manner. Considering the expensive and time consuming labeling of sensor data in chemical applications, in contrast to the available methods, we employ a novel active learning criterion for the particularity of chemical processes, which is a combination of Best vs. Second Best criterion (BvSB) and a Lowest False Positive criterion (LFP), for further fine-tuning of diagnosis model in an active manner rather than passive manner. That is, we allow models to rank the most informative sensor data to be labeled for updating the DNN parameters during the interaction phase. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated in two well-known industrial datasets. Results indicate that the proposed method can obtain superior diagnosis accuracy and provide significant performance improvement in accuracy and false positive rate with less labeled chemical sensor data by further active learning compared with existing methods.

  8. Active pixel sensors: The sensor of choice for future space applications

    OpenAIRE

    Leijtens, J.; Theuwissen, A.; Rao, P.R.; Wang, X.; Xie, N.

    2007-01-01

    It is generally known that active pixel sensors (APS) have a number of advantages over CCD detectors if it comes to cost for mass production, power consumption and ease of integration. Nevertheless, most space applications still use CCD detectors because they tend to give better performance and have a successful heritage. To this respect a change may be at hand with the advent of deep sub-micron processed APS imagers (< 0.25-micron feature size). Measurements performed on test structures at t...

  9. Nanomaterial-Enabled Wearable Sensors for Healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Shanshan; Swetha, Puchakayala; Zhu, Yong

    2018-01-01

    Highly sensitive wearable sensors that can be conformably attached to human skin or integrated with textiles to monitor the physiological parameters of human body or the surrounding environment have garnered tremendous interest. Owing to the large surface area and outstanding material properties, nanomaterials are promising building blocks for wearable sensors. Recent advances in the nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors including temperature, electrophysiological, strain, tactile, electrochemical, and environmental sensors are presented in this review. Integration of multiple sensors for multimodal sensing and integration with other components into wearable systems are summarized. Representative applications of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors for healthcare, including continuous health monitoring, daily and sports activity tracking, and multifunctional electronic skin are highlighted. Finally, challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives in the field of nanomaterial-enabled wearable sensors are discussed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. A Pattern Mining Approach to Sensor-based Human Activity Recognition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gu, Tao; Wang, Liang; Wu, Zhanqing

    2011-01-01

    Recognizing human activities from sensor readings has recently attracted much research interest in pervasive computing due to its potential in many applications such as assistive living and healthcare. This task is particularly challenging because human activities are often performed in not only...

  11. Training Classifiers with Shadow Features for Sensor-Based Human Activity Recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fong, Simon; Song, Wei; Cho, Kyungeun; Wong, Raymond; Wong, Kelvin K L

    2017-02-27

    In this paper, a novel training/testing process for building/using a classification model based on human activity recognition (HAR) is proposed. Traditionally, HAR has been accomplished by a classifier that learns the activities of a person by training with skeletal data obtained from a motion sensor, such as Microsoft Kinect. These skeletal data are the spatial coordinates (x, y, z) of different parts of the human body. The numeric information forms time series, temporal records of movement sequences that can be used for training a classifier. In addition to the spatial features that describe current positions in the skeletal data, new features called 'shadow features' are used to improve the supervised learning efficacy of the classifier. Shadow features are inferred from the dynamics of body movements, and thereby modelling the underlying momentum of the performed activities. They provide extra dimensions of information for characterising activities in the classification process, and thereby significantly improve the classification accuracy. Two cases of HAR are tested using a classification model trained with shadow features: one is by using wearable sensor and the other is by a Kinect-based remote sensor. Our experiments can demonstrate the advantages of the new method, which will have an impact on human activity detection research.

  12. Training Classifiers with Shadow Features for Sensor-Based Human Activity Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Fong

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a novel training/testing process for building/using a classification model based on human activity recognition (HAR is proposed. Traditionally, HAR has been accomplished by a classifier that learns the activities of a person by training with skeletal data obtained from a motion sensor, such as Microsoft Kinect. These skeletal data are the spatial coordinates (x, y, z of different parts of the human body. The numeric information forms time series, temporal records of movement sequences that can be used for training a classifier. In addition to the spatial features that describe current positions in the skeletal data, new features called ‘shadow features’ are used to improve the supervised learning efficacy of the classifier. Shadow features are inferred from the dynamics of body movements, and thereby modelling the underlying momentum of the performed activities. They provide extra dimensions of information for characterising activities in the classification process, and thereby significantly improve the classification accuracy. Two cases of HAR are tested using a classification model trained with shadow features: one is by using wearable sensor and the other is by a Kinect-based remote sensor. Our experiments can demonstrate the advantages of the new method, which will have an impact on human activity detection research.

  13. Evolutionary Design of Convolutional Neural Networks for Human Activity Recognition in Sensor-Rich Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Baldominos

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Human activity recognition is a challenging problem for context-aware systems and applications. It is gaining interest due to the ubiquity of different sensor sources, wearable smart objects, ambient sensors, etc. This task is usually approached as a supervised machine learning problem, where a label is to be predicted given some input data, such as the signals retrieved from different sensors. For tackling the human activity recognition problem in sensor network environments, in this paper we propose the use of deep learning (convolutional neural networks to perform activity recognition using the publicly available OPPORTUNITY dataset. Instead of manually choosing a suitable topology, we will let an evolutionary algorithm design the optimal topology in order to maximize the classification F1 score. After that, we will also explore the performance of committees of the models resulting from the evolutionary process. Results analysis indicates that the proposed model was able to perform activity recognition within a heterogeneous sensor network environment, achieving very high accuracies when tested with new sensor data. Based on all conducted experiments, the proposed neuroevolutionary system has proved to be able to systematically find a classification model which is capable of outperforming previous results reported in the state-of-the-art, showing that this approach is useful and improves upon previously manually-designed architectures.

  14. Evolutionary Design of Convolutional Neural Networks for Human Activity Recognition in Sensor-Rich Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-01-01

    Human activity recognition is a challenging problem for context-aware systems and applications. It is gaining interest due to the ubiquity of different sensor sources, wearable smart objects, ambient sensors, etc. This task is usually approached as a supervised machine learning problem, where a label is to be predicted given some input data, such as the signals retrieved from different sensors. For tackling the human activity recognition problem in sensor network environments, in this paper we propose the use of deep learning (convolutional neural networks) to perform activity recognition using the publicly available OPPORTUNITY dataset. Instead of manually choosing a suitable topology, we will let an evolutionary algorithm design the optimal topology in order to maximize the classification F1 score. After that, we will also explore the performance of committees of the models resulting from the evolutionary process. Results analysis indicates that the proposed model was able to perform activity recognition within a heterogeneous sensor network environment, achieving very high accuracies when tested with new sensor data. Based on all conducted experiments, the proposed neuroevolutionary system has proved to be able to systematically find a classification model which is capable of outperforming previous results reported in the state-of-the-art, showing that this approach is useful and improves upon previously manually-designed architectures. PMID:29690587

  15. A 128 x 128 CMOS Active Pixel Image Sensor for Highly Integrated Imaging Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendis, Sunetra K.; Kemeny, Sabrina E.; Fossum, Eric R.

    1993-01-01

    A new CMOS-based image sensor that is intrinsically compatible with on-chip CMOS circuitry is reported. The new CMOS active pixel image sensor achieves low noise, high sensitivity, X-Y addressability, and has simple timing requirements. The image sensor was fabricated using a 2 micrometer p-well CMOS process, and consists of a 128 x 128 array of 40 micrometer x 40 micrometer pixels. The CMOS image sensor technology enables highly integrated smart image sensors, and makes the design, incorporation and fabrication of such sensors widely accessible to the integrated circuit community.

  16. Fault Diagnosis Based on Chemical Sensor Data with an Active Deep Neural Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Peng; Hu, Zhixin; Liu, Jun; Yu, Shanen; Wu, Feng

    2016-01-01

    Big sensor data provide significant potential for chemical fault diagnosis, which involves the baseline values of security, stability and reliability in chemical processes. A deep neural network (DNN) with novel active learning for inducing chemical fault diagnosis is presented in this study. It is a method using large amount of chemical sensor data, which is a combination of deep learning and active learning criterion to target the difficulty of consecutive fault diagnosis. DNN with deep architectures, instead of shallow ones, could be developed through deep learning to learn a suitable feature representation from raw sensor data in an unsupervised manner using stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) and work through a layer-by-layer successive learning process. The features are added to the top Softmax regression layer to construct the discriminative fault characteristics for diagnosis in a supervised manner. Considering the expensive and time consuming labeling of sensor data in chemical applications, in contrast to the available methods, we employ a novel active learning criterion for the particularity of chemical processes, which is a combination of Best vs. Second Best criterion (BvSB) and a Lowest False Positive criterion (LFP), for further fine-tuning of diagnosis model in an active manner rather than passive manner. That is, we allow models to rank the most informative sensor data to be labeled for updating the DNN parameters during the interaction phase. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated in two well-known industrial datasets. Results indicate that the proposed method can obtain superior diagnosis accuracy and provide significant performance improvement in accuracy and false positive rate with less labeled chemical sensor data by further active learning compared with existing methods. PMID:27754386

  17. Fault Diagnosis Based on Chemical Sensor Data with an Active Deep Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peng Jiang

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Big sensor data provide significant potential for chemical fault diagnosis, which involves the baseline values of security, stability and reliability in chemical processes. A deep neural network (DNN with novel active learning for inducing chemical fault diagnosis is presented in this study. It is a method using large amount of chemical sensor data, which is a combination of deep learning and active learning criterion to target the difficulty of consecutive fault diagnosis. DNN with deep architectures, instead of shallow ones, could be developed through deep learning to learn a suitable feature representation from raw sensor data in an unsupervised manner using stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE and work through a layer-by-layer successive learning process. The features are added to the top Softmax regression layer to construct the discriminative fault characteristics for diagnosis in a supervised manner. Considering the expensive and time consuming labeling of sensor data in chemical applications, in contrast to the available methods, we employ a novel active learning criterion for the particularity of chemical processes, which is a combination of Best vs. Second Best criterion (BvSB and a Lowest False Positive criterion (LFP, for further fine-tuning of diagnosis model in an active manner rather than passive manner. That is, we allow models to rank the most informative sensor data to be labeled for updating the DNN parameters during the interaction phase. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated in two well-known industrial datasets. Results indicate that the proposed method can obtain superior diagnosis accuracy and provide significant performance improvement in accuracy and false positive rate with less labeled chemical sensor data by further active learning compared with existing methods.

  18. Observational Constraints on Cloud Feedbacks: The Role of Active Satellite Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winker, David; Chepfer, Helene; Noel, Vincent; Cai, Xia

    2017-11-01

    Cloud profiling from active lidar and radar in the A-train satellite constellation has significantly advanced our understanding of clouds and their role in the climate system. Nevertheless, the response of clouds to a warming climate remains one of the largest uncertainties in predicting climate change and for the development of adaptions to change. Both observation of long-term changes and observational constraints on the processes responsible for those changes are necessary. We review recent progress in our understanding of the cloud feedback problem. Capabilities and advantages of active sensors for observing clouds are discussed, along with the importance of active sensors for deriving constraints on cloud feedbacks as an essential component of a global climate observing system.

  19. Development of a versatile readout and test system and characterization of a capacitively coupled active pixel sensor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Janssen, Jens; Gonella, Laura; Hemperek, Tomasz; Hirono, Toko; Huegging, Fabian; Krueger, Hans; Wermes, Norbert [Institute of Physics, University of Bonn, Bonn (Germany); Peric, Ivan [Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie, Karlsruhe (Germany); Collaboration: ATLAS-Collaboration

    2015-07-01

    With the availability of high voltage and high resistivity CMOS processes, active pixel sensors are becoming increasingly interesting for radiation detection in high energy physics experiments. Although the pixel signal-to-noise ratio and the sensor radiation tolerance were improved, active pixel sensors cannot yet compete with state-of-the-art hybrid pixel detector in a high radiation environment. Hence, active pixel sensors are possible candidates for the outer tracking detector in HEP experiments where production cost plays a role. The investigation of numerous prototyping steps and different technologies is still ongoing and requires a versatile test and readout system, which will be presented in this talk. A capacitively coupled active pixel sensor fabricated in AMS 180 nm high voltage CMOS process is investigated. The sensor is designed to be glued to existing front-end pixel readout chips. Results from the characterization are presented in this talk.

  20. Toward real time detection of the basic living activity in home using a wearable sensor and smart home sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bang, Sunlee; Kim, Minho; Song, Sa-Kwang; Park, Soo-Jun

    2008-01-01

    As the elderly people living alone are enormously increasing recently, we need the system inferring activities of daily living (ADL) for maintaining healthy life and recognizing emergency. The system should be constructed with sensors, which are used to associate with people's living while remaining as non intrusive views as possible. To do this, the proposed system use a triaxial accelerometer sensor and environment sensors indicating contact with subject in home. Particularly, in order to robustly infer ADLs, we present component ADL, which is decided with conjunction of human motion together, not just only contacted object identification. It is an important component in inferring ADL. In special, component ADL decision firstly refines misclassified initial activities, which improves the accuracy of recognizing ADL. Preliminary experiments results for proposed system provides overall recognition rate of over 97% over 8 component ADLs, which can be effectively applicable to recognize the final ADLs.

  1. Hybrid active pixel sensors in infrared astronomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finger, Gert; Dorn, Reinhold J.; Meyer, Manfred; Mehrgan, Leander; Stegmeier, Joerg; Moorwood, Alan

    2005-01-01

    Infrared astronomy is currently benefiting from three main technologies providing high-performance hybrid active pixel sensors. In the near infrared from 1 to 5 μm two technologies, both aiming for buttable 2Kx2K mosaics, are competing, namely InSb and HgCdTe grown by LPE or MBE on Al 2 O 3 , Si or CdZnTe substrates. Blocked impurity band Si:As arrays cover the mid infrared spectral range from 8 to 28 μm. Adaptive optics combined with multiple integral field units feeding high-resolution spectrographs drive the requirements for the array format of infrared sensors used at ground-based infrared observatories. The pixel performance is now approaching fundamental limits. In view of this development, a detection limit for the photon flux of the ideal detector will be derived, depending only on the temperature and the impedance of the detector. It will be shown that this limit is approximated by state of the art infrared arrays for long on-chip integrations. Different detector materials are compared and strategies to populate large focal planes are discussed. The need for the development of small-format low noise sensors for adaptive optics and interferometry will be pointed out

  2. Interference Mitigation Technique Using Active Spaceborne Sensor Antenna in EESS (Active) and Space Research Service (Active) for Use in 500 MHz Bandwidth Near 9.6 GHz

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huneycutt, Bryan L.

    2005-01-01

    This document presents an interference mitigation technique using the active spaceborne sensor SAR3 antenna in the Earth Exploration-Satellite Service (active) and Space Research Service (active) for use in a 500 MHz bandwidth near 9.6 GHz. The purpose of the document is present antenna designs which offer lower sidelobes and faster rolloff in the sidelobes which in turn mitigates the interference to other services from the EESS (active) and SRS (active) sensors.

  3. Packaging of active fiber composites for improved sensor performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melnykowycz, M; Barbezat, M; Koller, R; Brunner, A J

    2010-01-01

    Active fiber composites (AFC) composed of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) fibers embedded in an epoxy matrix and sandwiched between two interdigitated electrodes provide a thin and flexible smart material device which can act as a sensor or actuator. The thin profiles of AFC make them ideal for integration in glass or carbon fiber composite laminates. However, due to the low tensile limit of the PZT fibers, AFC can fail at strains below the tensile limit of many composites. This makes their use as a component in an active laminate design somewhat undesirable. In the current work, tensile testing of smart laminates composed of AFC integrated in glass fiber laminates was conducted to assess the effectiveness of different packaging strategies for improving AFC sensor performance at high strains relative to the tensile limit of the AFC. AFC were encased in carbon fiber, silicon, and pre-stressed carbon fiber to improve the tensile limit of the AFC when integrated in glass fiber laminates. By laminating AFC with pre-stressed carbon fiber, the tensile limit and strain sensor ability of the AFC were significantly improved. Acoustic emission monitoring was used and the results show that PZT fiber breakage was reduced due to the pre-stressed packaging process

  4. CMOS Image Sensors: Electronic Camera On A Chip

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossum, E. R.

    1995-01-01

    Recent advancements in CMOS image sensor technology are reviewed, including both passive pixel sensors and active pixel sensors. On- chip analog to digital converters and on-chip timing and control circuits permit realization of an electronic camera-on-a-chip. Highly miniaturized imaging systems based on CMOS image sensor technology are emerging as a competitor to charge-coupled devices for low cost uses.

  5. Geant4-based simulations of charge collection in CMOS Active Pixel Sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Esposito, M.; Allinson, N.M.; Price, T.; Anaxagoras, T.

    2017-01-01

    Geant4 is an object-oriented toolkit for the simulation of the interaction of particles and radiation with matter. It provides a snapshot of the state of a simulated particle in time, as it travels through a specified geometry. One important area of application is the modelling of radiation detector systems. Here, we extend the abilities of such modelling to include charge transport and sharing in pixelated CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APSs); though similar effects occur in other pixel detectors. The CMOS APSs discussed were developed in the framework of the PRaVDA consortium to assist the design of custom sensors to be used in an energy-range detector for proton Computed Tomography (pCT). The development of ad-hoc classes, providing a charge transport model for a CMOS APS and its integration into the standard Geant4 toolkit, is described. The proposed charge transport model includes, charge generation, diffusion, collection, and sharing across adjacent pixels, as well as the full electronic chain for a CMOS APS. The proposed model is validated against experimental data acquired with protons in an energy range relevant for pCT.

  6. Novel bacterial gas sensor proteins with transition metal-containing prosthetic groups as active sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aono, Shigetoshi

    2012-04-01

    Gas molecules function as signaling molecules in many biological regulatory systems responsible for transcription, chemotaxis, and other complex physiological processes. Gas sensor proteins play a crucial role in regulating such biological systems in response to gas molecules. New sensor proteins that sense oxygen or nitric oxide have recently been found, and they have been characterized by X-ray crystallographic and/or spectroscopic analysis. It has become clear that the interaction between a prosthetic group and gas molecules triggers dynamic structural changes in the protein backbone when a gas sensor protein senses gas molecules. Gas sensor proteins employ novel mechanisms to trigger conformational changes in the presence of a gas. In gas sensor proteins that have iron-sulfur clusters as active sites, the iron-sulfur clusters undergo structural changes, which trigger a conformational change. Heme-based gas sensor proteins reconstruct hydrogen-bonding networks around the heme and heme-bound ligand. Gas sensor proteins have two functional states, on and off, which are active and inactive, respectively, for subsequent signal transduction in response to their physiological effector molecules. To fully understand the structure-function relationships of gas sensor proteins, it is vital to perform X-ray crystal structure analyses of full-length proteins in both the on and off states.

  7. Physical Human Activity Recognition Using Wearable Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ferhat Attal

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a review of different classification techniques used to recognize human activities from wearable inertial sensor data. Three inertial sensor units were used in this study and were worn by healthy subjects at key points of upper/lower body limbs (chest, right thigh and left ankle. Three main steps describe the activity recognition process: sensors’ placement, data pre-processing and data classification. Four supervised classification techniques namely, k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN, Support Vector Machines (SVM, Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM, and Random Forest (RF as well as three unsupervised classification techniques namely, k-Means, Gaussian mixture models (GMM and Hidden Markov Model (HMM, are compared in terms of correct classification rate, F-measure, recall, precision, and specificity. Raw data and extracted features are used separately as inputs of each classifier. The feature selection is performed using a wrapper approach based on the RF algorithm. Based on our experiments, the results obtained show that the k-NN classifier provides the best performance compared to other supervised classification algorithms, whereas the HMM classifier is the one that gives the best results among unsupervised classification algorithms. This comparison highlights which approach gives better performance in both supervised and unsupervised contexts. It should be noted that the obtained results are limited to the context of this study, which concerns the classification of the main daily living human activities using three wearable accelerometers placed at the chest, right shank and left ankle of the subject.

  8. Towards Activity Context using Software Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamran Taj Pathan

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Service-Oriented Computing delivers the promise of configuring and reconfiguring software systems to address user's needs in a dynamic way. Context-aware computing promises to capture the user's needs and hence the requirements they have on systems. The marriage of both can deliver ad-hoc software solutions relevant to the user in the most current fashion. However, here it is a key to gather information on the users' activity (that is what they are doing. Traditionally any context sensing was conducted with hardware sensors. However, software can also play the same role and in some situations will be more useful to sense the activity of the user. Furthermore they can make use of the fact that Service-oriented systems exchange information through standard protocols. In this paper we discuss our proposed approach to sense the activity of the user making use of software.

  9. Sensor fusion for active vibration isolation in precision equipment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tjepkema, D.; van Dijk, Johannes; Soemers, Herman

    2012-01-01

    Sensor fusion is a promising control strategy to improve the performance of active vibration isolation systems that are used in precision equipment. Normally, those vibration isolation systems are only capable of realizing a low transmissibility. Additional objectives are to increase the damping

  10. Sensor-based activity recognition using extended belief rule-based inference methodology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calzada, A; Liu, J; Nugent, C D; Wang, H; Martinez, L

    2014-01-01

    The recently developed extended belief rule-based inference methodology (RIMER+) recognizes the need of modeling different types of information and uncertainty that usually coexist in real environments. A home setting with sensors located in different rooms and on different appliances can be considered as a particularly relevant example of such an environment, which brings a range of challenges for sensor-based activity recognition. Although RIMER+ has been designed as a generic decision model that could be applied in a wide range of situations, this paper discusses how this methodology can be adapted to recognize human activities using binary sensors within smart environments. The evaluation of RIMER+ against other state-of-the-art classifiers in terms of accuracy, efficiency and applicability was found to be significantly relevant, specially in situations of input data incompleteness, and it demonstrates the potential of this methodology and underpins the basis to develop further research on the topic.

  11. Planar optical waveguide based sandwich assay sensors and processes for the detection of biological targets including protein markers, pathogens and cellular debris

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez, Jennifer S [Santa Fe, NM; Swanson, Basil I [Los Alamos, NM; Grace, Karen M [Los Alamos, NM; Grace, Wynne K [Los Alamos, NM; Shreve, Andrew P [Santa Fe, NM

    2009-06-02

    An assay element is described including recognition ligands bound to a film on a single mode planar optical waveguide, the film from the group of a membrane, a polymerized bilayer membrane, and a self-assembled monolayer containing polyethylene glycol or polypropylene glycol groups therein and an assay process for detecting the presence of a biological target is described including injecting a biological target-containing sample into a sensor cell including the assay element, with the recognition ligands adapted for binding to selected biological targets, maintaining the sample within the sensor cell for time sufficient for binding to occur between selected biological targets within the sample and the recognition ligands, injecting a solution including a reporter ligand into the sensor cell; and, interrogating the sample within the sensor cell with excitation light from the waveguide, the excitation light provided by an evanescent field of the single mode penetrating into the biological target-containing sample to a distance of less than about 200 nanometers from the waveguide thereby exciting the fluorescent-label in any bound reporter ligand within a distance of less than about 200 nanometers from the waveguide and resulting in a detectable signal.

  12. Consistent sensor, relay, and link selection in wireless sensor networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Arroyo Valles, M.D.R.; Simonetto, A.; Leus, G.J.T.

    2017-01-01

    In wireless sensor networks, where energy is scarce, it is inefficient to have all nodes active because they consume a non-negligible amount of battery. In this paper we consider the problem of jointly selecting sensors, relays and links in a wireless sensor network where the active sensors need

  13. Novel Flexible Wearable Sensor Materials and Signal Processing for Vital Sign and Human Activity Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Servati, Amir; Zou, Liang; Wang, Z Jane; Ko, Frank; Servati, Peyman

    2017-07-13

    Advances in flexible electronic materials and smart textile, along with broad availability of smart phones, cloud and wireless systems have empowered the wearable technologies for significant impact on future of digital and personalized healthcare as well as consumer electronics. However, challenges related to lack of accuracy, reliability, high power consumption, rigid or bulky form factor and difficulty in interpretation of data have limited their wide-scale application in these potential areas. As an important solution to these challenges, we present latest advances in novel flexible electronic materials and sensors that enable comfortable and conformable body interaction and potential for invisible integration within daily apparel. Advances in novel flexible materials and sensors are described for wearable monitoring of human vital signs including, body temperature, respiratory rate and heart rate, muscle movements and activity. We then present advances in signal processing focusing on motion and noise artifact removal, data mining and aspects of sensor fusion relevant to future clinical applications of wearable technology.

  14. SVM-based multimodal classification of activities of daily living in Health Smart Homes: sensors, algorithms, and first experimental results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleury, Anthony; Vacher, Michel; Noury, Norbert

    2010-03-01

    By 2050, about one third of the French population will be over 65. Our laboratory's current research focuses on the monitoring of elderly people at home, to detect a loss of autonomy as early as possible. Our aim is to quantify criteria such as the international activities of daily living (ADL) or the French Autonomie Gerontologie Groupes Iso-Ressources (AGGIR) scales, by automatically classifying the different ADL performed by the subject during the day. A Health Smart Home is used for this. Our Health Smart Home includes, in a real flat, infrared presence sensors (location), door contacts (to control the use of some facilities), temperature and hygrometry sensor in the bathroom, and microphones (sound classification and speech recognition). A wearable kinematic sensor also informs postural transitions (using pattern recognition) and walk periods (frequency analysis). This data collected from the various sensors are then used to classify each temporal frame into one of the ADL that was previously acquired (seven activities: hygiene, toilet use, eating, resting, sleeping, communication, and dressing/undressing). This is done using support vector machines. We performed a 1-h experimentation with 13 young and healthy subjects to determine the models of the different activities, and then we tested the classification algorithm (cross validation) with real data.

  15. Predicting mountain lion activity using radiocollars equipped with mercury tip-sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janis, Michael W.; Clark, Joseph D.; Johnson, Craig

    1999-01-01

    Radiotelemetry collars with tip-sensors have long been used to monitor wildlife activity. However, comparatively few researchers have tested the reliability of the technique on the species being studied. To evaluate the efficacy of using tip-sensors to assess mountain lion (Puma concolor) activity, we radiocollared 2 hand-reared mountain lions and simultaneously recorded their behavior and the associated telemetry signal characteristics. We noted both the number of pulse-rate changes and the percentage of time the transmitter emitted a fast pulse rate (i.e., head up) within sampling intervals ranging from 1-5 minutes. Based on 27 hours of observations, we were able to correctly distinguish between active and inactive behaviors >93% of the time using a logistic regression model. We present several models to predict activity of mountain lions; the selection of which to us would depend on study objectives and logistics. Our results indicate that field protocols that use only pulse-rate changes to indicate activity can lead to significant classification errors.

  16. Actuator and sensor selection for an active vehicle suspension aimed at robust performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wal, van de M.M.J.; Philips, P.P.H.H.; Jager, de A.G.

    1998-01-01

    A recently presented method for actuator and sensor selection for linear control systems is applied and evaluated for an active vehicle suspension control problem. The aim is to eliminate the actuator/sensor combinations for which no controller exists that achieves a specified level of robust

  17. Active sensing and its application to sensor node reconfiguration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sooyong

    2014-10-08

    This paper presents a perturbation/correlation-based active sensing method and its application to sensor node configuration for environment monitoring. Sensor networks are widely used as data measurement tools, especially in dangerous environments. For large scale environment monitoring, a large number of nodes is required. For optimal measurements, the placement of nodes is very important. Nonlinear spring force-based configuration is introduced. Perturbation/correlation-based estimation of the gradient is developed and it is much more robust because it does not require any differentiation. An algorithm for tuning the stiffness using the estimated gradient for node reconfiguration is presented. The performance of the proposed algorithm is discussed with simulation results.

  18. Methods and Systems for Configuring Sensor Acquisition Based on Pressure Steps

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeDonato, Mathew (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    Technologies are provided for underwater measurements. A system includes an underwater vessels including: a plurality of sensors disposed thereon for measuring underwater properties; and a programmable controller configured to selectively activate the plurality of sensors based at least in part on underwater pressure. A user may program at what pressure ranges certain sensors are activated to measure selected properties, and may also program the ascent/descent rate of the underwater vessel, which is correlated with the underwater pressure.

  19. Increasing the Lifetime of Mobile WSNs via Dynamic Optimization of Sensor Node Communication Activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guimarães, Dayan Adionel; Sakai, Lucas Jun; Alberti, Antonio Marcos; de Souza, Rausley Adriano Amaral

    2016-09-20

    In this paper, a simple and flexible method for increasing the lifetime of fixed or mobile wireless sensor networks is proposed. Based on past residual energy information reported by the sensor nodes, the sink node or another central node dynamically optimizes the communication activity levels of the sensor nodes to save energy without sacrificing the data throughput. The activity levels are defined to represent portions of time or time-frequency slots in a frame, during which the sensor nodes are scheduled to communicate with the sink node to report sensory measurements. Besides node mobility, it is considered that sensors' batteries may be recharged via a wireless power transmission or equivalent energy harvesting scheme, bringing to the optimization problem an even more dynamic character. We report large increased lifetimes over the non-optimized network and comparable or even larger lifetime improvements with respect to an idealized greedy algorithm that uses both the real-time channel state and the residual energy information.

  20. Large-Area High-Performance Flexible Pressure Sensor with Carbon Nanotube Active Matrix for Electronic Skin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nela, Luca; Tang, Jianshi; Cao, Qing; Tulevski, George; Han, Shu-Jen

    2018-03-14

    Artificial "electronic skin" is of great interest for mimicking the functionality of human skin, such as tactile pressure sensing. Several important performance metrics include mechanical flexibility, operation voltage, sensitivity, and accuracy, as well as response speed. In this Letter, we demonstrate a large-area high-performance flexible pressure sensor built on an active matrix of 16 × 16 carbon nanotube thin-film transistors (CNT TFTs). Made from highly purified solution tubes, the active matrix exhibits superior flexible TFT performance with high mobility and large current density, along with a high device yield of nearly 99% over 4 inch sample area. The fully integrated flexible pressure sensor operates within a small voltage range of 3 V and shows superb performance featuring high spatial resolution of 4 mm, faster response than human skin (<30 ms), and excellent accuracy in sensing complex objects on both flat and curved surfaces. This work may pave the road for future integration of high-performance electronic skin in smart robotics and prosthetic solutions.

  1. Autonomous star tracker based on active pixel sensors (APS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, U.

    2017-11-01

    Star trackers are opto-electronic sensors used onboard of satellites for the autonomous inertial attitude determination. During the last years, star trackers became more and more important in the field of the attitude and orbit control system (AOCS) sensors. High performance star trackers are based up today on charge coupled device (CCD) optical camera heads. The Jena-Optronik GmbH is active in the field of opto-electronic sensors like star trackers since the early 80-ties. Today, with the product family ASTRO5, ASTRO10 and ASTRO15, all marked segments like earth observation, scientific applications and geo-telecom are supplied to European and Overseas customers. A new generation of star trackers can be designed based on the APS detector technical features. The measurement performance of the current CCD based star trackers can be maintained, the star tracker functionality, reliability and robustness can be increased while the unit costs are saved.

  2. Electronic dosimetry and neutron metrology by CMOS active pixel sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vanstalle, M.

    2011-01-01

    This work aims at demonstrating the possibility to use active pixel sensors as operational neutron dosemeters. To do so, the sensor that has been used has to be γ-transparent and to be able to detect neutrons on a wide energy range with a high detection efficiency. The response of the device, made of the CMOS sensor MIMOSA-5 and a converter in front of the sensor (polyethylene for fast neutron detection and 10 B for thermal neutron detection), has been compared with Monte Carlo simulations carried out with MCNPX and GEANT4. These codes have been before-hand validated to check they can be used properly for our application. Experiments to characterize the sensor have been performed at IPHC and at IRSN/LMDN (Cadarache). The results of the sensor irradiation to photon sources and mixed field ( 241 AmBe source) show the γ-transparency of the sensor by applying an appropriate threshold on the deposited energy (around 100 keV). The associated detection efficiency is satisfactory with a value of 10 -3 , in good agreement with MCNPX and GEANT4. Other features of the device have been tested with the same source, like the angular response. The last part of this work deals with the detection of thermal neutrons (eV-neutrons). Assays have been done in Cadarache (IRSN) with a 252 Cf source moderated with heavy water (with and without cadmium shell). Results asserted a very high detection efficiency (up to 6*10 -3 for a pure 10 B converter) in good agreement with GEANT4. (author)

  3. Gas sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dorogan, V.; Korotchenkov, Gh.; Vieru, T.; Prodan, I.

    2003-01-01

    The invention relates to the gas sensors on base of metal-oxide films (SnO, InO), which may be used for enviromental control, in the fireextinguishing systema etc. The gas includes an insulating substrate, an active layer, a resistive layer with ohmic contacts. The resistive layer has two or more regions with dofferent resistances , and on the active layer are two or more pairs of ohmic contacts

  4. Active Pixel Sensors: Are CCD's Dinosaurs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossum, Eric R.

    1993-01-01

    Charge-coupled devices (CCD's) are presently the technology of choice for most imaging applications. In the 23 years since their invention in 1970, they have evolved to a sophisticated level of performance. However, as with all technologies, we can be certain that they will be supplanted someday. In this paper, the Active Pixel Sensor (APS) technology is explored as a possible successor to the CCD. An active pixel is defined as a detector array technology that has at least one active transistor within the pixel unit cell. The APS eliminates the need for nearly perfect charge transfer -- the Achilles' heel of CCDs. This perfect charge transfer makes CCD's radiation 'soft,' difficult to use under low light conditions, difficult to manufacture in large array sizes, difficult to integrate with on-chip electronics, difficult to use at low temperatures, difficult to use at high frame rates, and difficult to manufacture in non-silicon materials that extend wavelength response.

  5. Evaluation of a Microbial Sensor as a Tool for Antimicrobial Activity Test of Cosmetic Preservatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomyo, Hideyuki; Ookawa, Masaki; Oshibuchi, Kota; Sugamura, Yuriko; Hosokawa, Masahito; Shionoiri, Nozomi; Maeda, Yoshiaki; Matsunaga, Tadashi; Tanaka, Tsuyoshi

    2015-01-01

    For high-throughput screening of novel cosmetic preservatives, a rapid and simple assay to evaluate the antimicrobial activities should be developed because the conventional agar dilution method is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To address this issue, we evaluated a microbial sensor as a tool for rapid antimicrobial activity testing. The sensor consists of an oxygen electrode and a filter membrane that holds the test microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. The antimicrobial activity of the tested cosmetic preservative was evaluated by measuring the current increases corresponding to the decreases in oxygen consumption in the microbial respiration. The current increases detected by the sensor showed positive correlation to the concentrations of two commercially used preservatives, chlorphenesin and 2-phenoxyethanol. The same tendency was also observed when a model cosmetic product was used as a preservative solvent, indicating the feasibility in practical use. Furthermore, the microbial sensor and microfluidic flow-cell was assembled to achieve sequential measurements. The sensor system presented in this study could be useful in large-scale screening experiments.

  6. Active Hearing Mechanisms Inspire Adaptive Amplification in an Acoustic Sensor System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerreiro, Jose; Reid, Andrew; Jackson, Joseph C; Windmill, James F C

    2018-06-01

    Over many millions of years of evolution, nature has developed some of the most adaptable sensors and sensory systems possible, capable of sensing, conditioning and processing signals in a very power- and size-effective manner. By looking into biological sensors and systems as a source of inspiration, this paper presents the study of a bioinspired concept of signal processing at the sensor level. By exploiting a feedback control mechanism between a front-end acoustic receiver and back-end neuronal based computation, a nonlinear amplification with hysteretic behavior is created. Moreover, the transient response of the front-end acoustic receiver can also be controlled and enhanced. A theoretical model is proposed and the concept is prototyped experimentally through an embedded system setup that can provide dynamic adaptations of a sensory system comprising a MEMS microphone placed in a closed-loop feedback system. It faithfully mimics the mosquito's active hearing response as a function of the input sound intensity. This is an adaptive acoustic sensor system concept that can be exploited by sensor and system designers within acoustics and ultrasonic engineering fields.

  7. Motion Sensor Reactivity in Physically Active Young Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrens, Timothy K.; Dinger, Mary K.

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine whether young adults changed their physical activity (PA) behavior when wearing motion sensors. PA patterns of 119 young adults (M age = 20.82 years, SD = 1.50, M body mass index = 23.93 kg/m[superscript 2] , SD = 4.05) were assessed during 2 consecutive weeks. In Week 1, participants wore an accelerometer.…

  8. Sensors

    CERN Document Server

    Pigorsch, Enrico

    1997-01-01

    This is the 5th edition of the Metra Martech Directory "EUROPEAN CENTRES OF EXPERTISE - SENSORS." The entries represent a survey of European sensors development. The new edition contains 425 detailed profiles of companies and research institutions in 22 countries. This is reflected in the diversity of sensors development programmes described, from sensors for physical parameters to biosensors and intelligent sensor systems. We do not claim that all European organisations developing sensors are included, but this is a good cross section from an invited list of participants. If you see gaps or omissions, or would like your organisation to be included, please send details. The data base invites the formation of effective joint ventures by identifying and providing access to specific areas in which organisations offer collaboration. This issue is recognised to be of great importance and most entrants include details of collaboration offered and sought. We hope the directory on Sensors will help you to find the ri...

  9. Stretchable Active Matrix Temperature Sensor Array of Polyaniline Nanofibers for Electronic Skin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Soo Yeong; Lee, Yong Hui; Park, Heun; Jin, Sang Woo; Jeong, Yu Ra; Yun, Junyeong; You, Ilhwan; Zi, Goangseup; Ha, Jeong Sook

    2016-02-03

    A stretchable polyaniline nanofiber temperature sensor array with an active matrix consisting of single-walled carbon nanotube thin-film transistors is demonstrated. The integrated temperature sensor array gives mechanical stability under biaxial stretching of 30%, and the resultant spatial temperature mapping does not show any mechanical or electrical degradation. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Unobtrusive measurement of indoor energy expenditure using an infrared sensor-based activity monitoring system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Bosun; Han, Jonghee; Choi, Jong Min; Park, Kwang Suk

    2008-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop an unobtrusive energy expenditure (EE) measurement system using an infrared (IR) sensor-based activity monitoring system to measure indoor activities and to estimate individual quantitative EE. IR-sensor activation counts were measured with a Bluetooth-based monitoring system and the standard EE was calculated using an established regression equation. Ten male subjects participated in the experiment and three different EE measurement systems (gas analyzer, accelerometer, IR sensor) were used simultaneously in order to determine the regression equation and evaluate the performance. As a standard measurement, oxygen consumption was simultaneously measured by a portable metabolic system (Metamax 3X, Cortex, Germany). A single room experiment was performed to develop a regression model of the standard EE measurement from the proposed IR sensor-based measurement system. In addition, correlation and regression analyses were done to compare the performance of the IR system with that of the Actigraph system. We determined that our proposed IR-based EE measurement system shows a similar correlation to the Actigraph system with the standard measurement system.

  11. Clip-on wireless wearable microwave sensor for ambulatory cardiac monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Richard R; Kulkarni, Sarang

    2010-01-01

    We present a new type of non-contact sensor for use in ambulatory cardiac monitoring. The sensor operation is based on a microwave Doppler technique; however, instead of detecting the heart activity from a distance, the sensor is placed on the patient's chest over the clothing. The microwave sensor directly measures heart movement rather than electrical activity, and is thus complementary to ECG. The primary advantages of the microwave sensor includes small size, light weight, low power, low-cost, and the ability to operate through clothing. We present a sample sensor design that incorporates a 2.4 GHz Doppler circuit, integrated microstrip patch antenna, and microntroller with 12-bit ADC data sampling. The prototype sensor also includes a wireless data link for sending data to a remote PC or mobile phone. Sample data is shown for several subjects and compared to data from a commercial portable ECG device. Data collected from the microwave sensor exhibits a significant amount of features, indicating possible use as a tool for monitoring heart mechanics and detection of abnormalities such as fibrillation and akinesia.

  12. Fast matching of sensor data with manual observations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jit, Biswas; Maniyeri, Jayachandran; Louis, Shue; Philip, Yap Lin Kiat

    2009-01-01

    In systems and trials concerning wearable sensors and devices used for medical data collection, the validation of sensor data with respect to manual observations is very important. However, this is often problematic because of feigned behavior, errors in manual recording (misclassification), gaps in recording (missing readings), missed observations and timing mismatch between manual observations and sensor data due to a difference in time granularity. Using sleep activity pattern monitoring as an example we present a fast algorithm for matching sensor data with manual observations. Major components include a) signal analysis to classify states of sleep activity pattern, b) matching of states with Sleep Diary (SD) and c) automated detection of anomalies and reconciliation of mismatches between the SD and the sensor data.

  13. A micro-fabricated force sensor using an all thin film piezoelectric active sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Junwoo; Choi, Wook; Yoo, Yong Kyoung; Hwang, Kyo Seon; Lee, Sang-Myung; Kang, Sungchul; Kim, Jinseok; Lee, Jeong Hoon

    2014-11-25

    The ability to measure pressure and force is essential in biomedical applications such as minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and palpation for detecting cancer cysts. Here, we report a force sensor for measuring a shear and normal force by combining an arrayed piezoelectric sensors layer with a precut glass top plate connected by four stress concentrating legs. We designed and fabricated a thin film piezoelectric force sensor and proposed an enhanced sensing tool to be used for analyzing gentle touches without the external voltage source used in FET sensors. Both the linear sensor response from 3 kPa to 30 kPa and the exact signal responses from the moving direction illustrate the strong feasibility of the described thin film miniaturized piezoelectric force sensor.

  14. A Micro-Fabricated Force Sensor Using an All Thin Film Piezoelectric Active Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junwoo Lee

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The ability to measure pressure and force is essential in biomedical applications such as minimally invasive surgery (MIS and palpation for detecting cancer cysts. Here, we report a force sensor for measuring a shear and normal force by combining an arrayed piezoelectric sensors layer with a precut glass top plate connected by four stress concentrating legs. We designed and fabricated a thin film piezoelectric force sensor and proposed an enhanced sensing tool to be used for analyzing gentle touches without the external voltage source used in FET sensors. Both the linear sensor response from 3 kPa to 30 kPa and the exact signal responses from the moving direction illustrate the strong feasibility of the described thin film miniaturized piezoelectric force sensor.

  15. Empirical electro-optical and x-ray performance evaluation of CMOS active pixels sensor for low dose, high resolution x-ray medical imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arvanitis, C. D.; Bohndiek, S. E.; Royle, G.; Blue, A.; Liang, H. X.; Clark, A.; Prydderch, M.; Turchetta, R.; Speller, R.

    2007-01-01

    Monolithic complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensors with high performance have gained attention in the last few years in many scientific and space applications. In order to evaluate the increasing capabilities of this technology, in particular where low dose high resolution x-ray medical imaging is required, critical electro-optical and physical x-ray performance evaluation was determined. The electro-optical performance includes read noise, full well capacity, interacting quantum efficiency, and pixels cross talk. The x-ray performance, including x-ray sensitivity, modulation transfer function, noise power spectrum, and detection quantum efficiency, has been evaluated in the mammographic energy range. The sensor is a 525x525 standard three transistor CMOS active pixel sensor array with more than 75% fill factor and 25x25 μm pixel pitch. Reading at 10 f/s, it is found that the sensor has 114 electrons total additive noise, 10 5 electrons full well capacity with shot noise limited operation, and 34% interacting quantum efficiency at 530 nm. Two different structured CsI:Tl phosphors with thickness 95 and 115 μm, respectively, have been optically coupled via a fiber optic plate to the array resulting in two different system configurations. The sensitivity of the two different system configurations was 43 and 47 electrons per x-ray incident on the sensor. The MTF at 10% of the two different system configurations was 9.5 and 9 cycles/mm with detective quantum efficiency of 0.45 and 0.48, respectively, close to zero frequency at ∼0.44 μC/kg (1.72 mR) detector entrance exposure. The detector was quantum limited at low spatial frequencies and its performance was comparable with high resolution a:Si and charge coupled device based x-ray imagers. The detector also demonstrates almost an order of magnitude lower noise than active matrix flat panel imagers. The results suggest that CMOS active pixel sensors when coupled to structured CsI:Tl can

  16. 77 FR 52317 - Record of Decision for Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Navy Record of Decision for Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. ACTION: Notice of decision... to employ up to four Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) sonar...

  17. Using Spread Spectrum Transform for Fast and Robust Simultaneous Measurement in Active Sensors with Multiple Emitters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harbo, Anders La-Cour; Stoustrup, Jakob

    2002-01-01

    We present a signal processing algorithm for making robust and simultaneous measurements in an active sensor, which has one or more emitters and a receiver, and which employs some sort of signal processing hardware. Robustness means low sensitivity to time and frequency localized disturbances......-cost active sensors....

  18. Passive sensor technology interface to assess elder activity in independent living.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Gregory L; Wakefield, Bonnie J; Rantz, Marilyn; Skubic, Marjorie; Aud, Myra A; Erdelez, Sanda; Ghenaimi, Said Al

    2011-01-01

    The effectiveness of clinical information systems to improve nursing and patient outcomes depends on human factors, including system usability, organizational workflow, and user satisfaction. The aim of this study was to examine to what extent residents, family members, and clinicians find a sensor data interface used to monitor elder activity levels usable and useful in an independent living setting. Three independent expert reviewers conducted an initial heuristic evaluation. Subsequently, 20 end users (5 residents, 5 family members, 5 registered nurses, and 5 physicians) participated in the evaluation. During the evaluation, each participant was asked to complete three scenarios taken from three residents. Morae recorder software was used to capture data during the user interactions. The heuristic evaluation resulted in 26 recommendations for interface improvement; these were classified under the headings content, aesthetic appeal, navigation, and architecture, which were derived from heuristic results. Total time for elderly residents to complete scenarios was much greater than for other users. Family members spent more time than clinicians but less time than residents did to complete scenarios. Elder residents and family members had difficulty interpreting clinical data and graphs, experienced information overload, and did not understand terminology. All users found the sensor data interface useful for identifying changing resident activities. Older adult users have special needs that should be addressed when designing clinical interfaces for them, especially information as important as health information. Evaluating human factors during user interactions with clinical information systems should be a requirement before implementation.

  19. FM-CW radar sensors for vital signs and motor activity monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Octavian Adrian Postolache

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The article summarizes on-going research on vital signs and motor activity monitoring based on radar sensors embedded in wheelchairs, walkers and crutches for in home rehabilitation. Embedded sensors, conditioning circuits, real-time platforms that perform data acquisition, auto-identification, primary data processing and data communication contribute to convert daily used objects in home rehabilitation into smart objects that can be accessed by caregivers during the training sessions through human–machine interfaces expressed by the new generation of smart phones or tablet computers running Android OS or iOS operating systems. The system enables the management of patients in home rehabilitation by providing more accurate and up-to-date information using pervasive computing of vital signs and motor activity records.

  20. ALPIDE, the Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor for the ALICE ITS upgrade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mager, M.; ALICE Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    A new 10 m2 inner tracking system based on seven concentric layers of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors will be installed in the ALICE experiment during the second long shutdown of LHC in 2019-2020. The monolithic pixel sensors will be fabricated in the 180 nm CMOS Imaging Sensor process of TowerJazz. The ALPIDE design takes full advantage of a particular process feature, the deep p-well, which allows for full CMOS circuitry within the pixel matrix, while at the same time retaining the full charge collection efficiency. Together with the small feature size and the availability of six metal layers, this allowed a continuously active low-power front-end to be placed into each pixel and an in-matrix sparsification circuit to be used that sends only the addresses of hit pixels to the periphery. This approach led to a power consumption of less than 40 mWcm-2, a spatial resolution of around 5 μm, a peaking time of around 2 μs, while being radiation hard to some 1013 1 MeVneq /cm2, fulfilling or exceeding the ALICE requirements. Over the last years of R & D, several prototype circuits have been used to verify radiation hardness, and to optimize pixel geometry and in-pixel front-end circuitry. The positive results led to a submission of full-scale (3 cm×1.5 cm) sensor prototypes in 2014. They are being characterized in a comprehensive campaign that also involves several irradiation and beam tests. A summary of the results obtained and prospects towards the final sensor to instrument the ALICE Inner Tracking System are given.

  1. Translating neuronal activity at the synapse: presynaptic calcium sensors in short-term plasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arthur P.H. De Jong

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The complex manner in which patterns of presynaptic neural activity are translated into short-term plasticity (STP suggests the existence of multiple presynaptic calcium (Ca2+ sensors, which regulate the amplitude and time-course of STP and are the focus of this review. We describe two canonical Ca2+-binding protein domains (C2 domains and EF-hands and define criteria that need to be met for a protein to qualify as a Ca2+ sensor mediating STP. With these criteria in mind, we discuss various forms of STP and identify established and putative Ca2+ sensors. We find that despite the multitude of proposed sensors, only three are well established in STP: Munc13, protein kinase C and synaptotagmin-7. For putative sensors, we pinpoint open questions and potential pitfalls. Finally, we discuss how the molecular properties and modes of action of Ca2+ sensors can explain their differential involvement in STP and shape net synaptic output.

  2. Piezoelectric Active Humidity Sensors Based on Lead-Free NaNbO3 Piezoelectric Nanofibers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Gu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The development of micro-/nano-scaled energy harvesters and the self-powered sensor system has attracted great attention due to the miniaturization and integration of the micro-device. In this work, lead-free NaNbO3 piezoelectric nanofibers with a monoclinic perovskite structure were synthesized by the far-field electrospinning method. The flexible active humidity sensors were fabricated by transferring the nanofibers from silicon to a soft polymer substrate. The sensors exhibited outstanding piezoelectric energy-harvesting performance with output voltage up to 2 V during the vibration process. The output voltage generated by the NaNbO3 sensors exhibited a negative correlation with the environmental humidity varying from 5% to 80%, where the peak-to-peak value of the output voltage generated by the sensors decreased from 0.40 to 0.07 V. The sensor also exhibited a short response time, good selectively against ethanol steam, and great temperature stability. The piezoelectric active humidity sensing property could be attributed to the increased leakage current in the NaNbO3 nanofibers, which was generated due to proton hopping among the H3O+ groups in the absorbed H2O layers under the driving force of the piezoelectric potential.

  3. Design of a high-lift experiment in water including active flow control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beutel, T; Schwerter, M; Büttgenbach, S; Leester-Schädel, M; Sattler, S; El Sayed, Y; Radespiel, R; Zander, M; Sinapius, M; Wierach, P

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the structural design of an active flow-control experiment. The aim of the experiment is to investigate the increase in efficiency of an internally blown Coanda flap using unsteady blowing. The system uses tailor-made microelectromechanical (MEMS) pressure sensors to determine the state of the oncoming flow and an actuated lip to regulate the mass flow and velocity of a stream near a wall over the internally blown flap. Sensors and actuators are integrated into a highly loaded system that is extremely compact. The sensors are connected to a bus system that feeds the data into a real-time control system. The piezoelectric actuators using the d 33 effect at a comparable low voltage of 120 V are integrated into a lip that controls the blowout slot height. The system is designed for closed-loop control that efficiently avoids flow separation on the Coanda flap. The setup is designed for water-tunnel experiments in order to reduce the free-stream velocity and the system’s control frequency by a factor of 10 compared with that in air. This paper outlines the function and verification of the system’s main components and their development. (technical note)

  4. Derivation of a regional active-optical reflectance sensor corn algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Active-optical reflectance sensor (AORS) algorithms developed for in-season corn (Zea mays L.) N management have traditionally been derived using sub-regional scale information. However, studies have shown these previously developed AORS algorithms are not consistently accurate when used on a region...

  5. Abnormal Activity Detection Using Pyroelectric Infrared Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaomu Luo

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Healthy aging is one of the most important social issues. In this paper, we propose a method for abnormal activity detection without any manual labeling of the training samples. By leveraging the Field of View (FOV modulation, the spatio-temporal characteristic of human activity is encoded into low-dimension data stream generated by the ceiling-mounted Pyroelectric Infrared (PIR sensors. The similarity between normal training samples are measured based on Kullback-Leibler (KL divergence of each pair of them. The natural clustering of normal activities is discovered through a self-tuning spectral clustering algorithm with unsupervised model selection on the eigenvectors of a modified similarity matrix. Hidden Markov Models (HMMs are employed to model each cluster of normal activities and form feature vectors. One-Class Support Vector Machines (OSVMs are used to profile the normal activities and detect abnormal activities. To validate the efficacy of our method, we conducted experiments in real indoor environments. The encouraging results show that our method is able to detect abnormal activities given only the normal training samples, which aims to avoid the laborious and inconsistent data labeling process.

  6. Increasing the Lifetime of Mobile WSNs via Dynamic Optimization of Sensor Node Communication Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dayan Adionel Guimarães

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a simple and flexible method for increasing the lifetime of fixed or mobile wireless sensor networks is proposed. Based on past residual energy information reported by the sensor nodes, the sink node or another central node dynamically optimizes the communication activity levels of the sensor nodes to save energy without sacrificing the data throughput. The activity levels are defined to represent portions of time or time-frequency slots in a frame, during which the sensor nodes are scheduled to communicate with the sink node to report sensory measurements. Besides node mobility, it is considered that sensors’ batteries may be recharged via a wireless power transmission or equivalent energy harvesting scheme, bringing to the optimization problem an even more dynamic character. We report large increased lifetimes over the non-optimized network and comparable or even larger lifetime improvements with respect to an idealized greedy algorithm that uses both the real-time channel state and the residual energy information.

  7. Detection Thresholds of Falling Snow From Satellite-Borne Active and Passive Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skofronick-Jackson, Gail M.; Johnson, Benjamin T.; Munchak, S. Joseph

    2013-01-01

    There is an increased interest in detecting and estimating the amount of falling snow reaching the Earths surface in order to fully capture the global atmospheric water cycle. An initial step toward global spaceborne falling snow algorithms for current and future missions includes determining the thresholds of detection for various active and passive sensor channel configurations and falling snow events over land surfaces and lakes. In this paper, cloud resolving model simulations of lake effect and synoptic snow events were used to determine the minimum amount of snow (threshold) that could be detected by the following instruments: the W-band radar of CloudSat, Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR)Ku- and Ka-bands, and the GPM Microwave Imager. Eleven different nonspherical snowflake shapes were used in the analysis. Notable results include the following: 1) The W-band radar has detection thresholds more than an order of magnitude lower than the future GPM radars; 2) the cloud structure macrophysics influences the thresholds of detection for passive channels (e.g., snow events with larger ice water paths and thicker clouds are easier to detect); 3) the snowflake microphysics (mainly shape and density)plays a large role in the detection threshold for active and passive instruments; 4) with reasonable assumptions, the passive 166-GHz channel has detection threshold values comparable to those of the GPM DPR Ku- and Ka-band radars with approximately 0.05 g *m(exp -3) detected at the surface, or an approximately 0.5-1.0-mm * h(exp -1) melted snow rate. This paper provides information on the light snowfall events missed by the sensors and not captured in global estimates.

  8. Intelligent error correction method applied on an active pixel sensor based star tracker

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, Uwe

    2005-10-01

    Star trackers are opto-electronic sensors used on-board of satellites for the autonomous inertial attitude determination. During the last years star trackers became more and more important in the field of the attitude and orbit control system (AOCS) sensors. High performance star trackers are based up today on charge coupled device (CCD) optical camera heads. The active pixel sensor (APS) technology, introduced in the early 90-ties, allows now the beneficial replacement of CCD detectors by APS detectors with respect to performance, reliability, power, mass and cost. The company's heritage in star tracker design started in the early 80-ties with the launch of the worldwide first fully autonomous star tracker system ASTRO1 to the Russian MIR space station. Jena-Optronik recently developed an active pixel sensor based autonomous star tracker "ASTRO APS" as successor of the CCD based star tracker product series ASTRO1, ASTRO5, ASTRO10 and ASTRO15. Key features of the APS detector technology are, a true xy-address random access, the multiple windowing read out and the on-chip signal processing including the analogue to digital conversion. These features can be used for robust star tracking at high slew rates and under worse conditions like stray light and solar flare induced single event upsets. A special algorithm have been developed to manage the typical APS detector error contributors like fixed pattern noise (FPN), dark signal non-uniformity (DSNU) and white spots. The algorithm works fully autonomous and adapts to e.g. increasing DSNU and up-coming white spots automatically without ground maintenance or re-calibration. In contrast to conventional correction methods the described algorithm does not need calibration data memory like full image sized calibration data sets. The application of the presented algorithm managing the typical APS detector error contributors is a key element for the design of star trackers for long term satellite applications like

  9. Development of a hexavalent chromium ISFET sensor with a polymeric membrane including tributylphosphate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zazoua, A.; Zougar, S.; Kherrat, R.; Samar, M.H.; Jaffrezic-Renault, N.; Errachid, A.; Abbaci, A.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a first report on chromium ISFET (ion-sensitive field effect transistor) based on a polymeric membrane (siloprene) including an ionophore (tributylphosphate) sensitive for hexavalent chromium. The sensor sensitivity as a function of the pH was studied; its value is minimum in a pH interval from 5.5 to 7.5. The sensitivity for hexavalent chromium was found to be 15 mV/loga Cr 6+ in the range of 10 -4 to 10 -2 M. The detection limit was found to be 10 -5 M. The studied interfering ions are Pb(II) and Cd(II) that do not represent a great perturbation upon the response for hexavalent chromium

  10. Development of a hexavalent chromium ISFET sensor with a polymeric membrane including tributylphosphate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zazoua, A. [Universite de Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, Annaba (Algeria); Zougar, S. [Universite de Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, Annaba (Algeria); Kherrat, R. [Universite de Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, Annaba (Algeria); Samar, M.H. [Universite de Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, Annaba (Algeria); Jaffrezic-Renault, N. [CEGELY-UMR 5005 CNRS, Ecole centrale de Lyon, 69134 Ecully cedex (France)]. E-mail: Nicole.Jaffrezic@ec-lyon.fr; Errachid, A. [Center of Reference for Bioengineering in Catalonia (CREBEC), Laboratory of Nanobioengineering, Parc Cientific de Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona C/ Josep Samitier 1-5, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Abbaci, A. [Universite de Annaba, BP 12, El-Hadjar, Annaba (Algeria)

    2006-03-15

    This paper presents a first report on chromium ISFET (ion-sensitive field effect transistor) based on a polymeric membrane (siloprene) including an ionophore (tributylphosphate) sensitive for hexavalent chromium. The sensor sensitivity as a function of the pH was studied; its value is minimum in a pH interval from 5.5 to 7.5. The sensitivity for hexavalent chromium was found to be 15 mV/loga {sub Cr{sup 6+}} in the range of 10{sup -4} to 10{sup -2} M. The detection limit was found to be 10{sup -5} M. The studied interfering ions are Pb(II) and Cd(II) that do not represent a great perturbation upon the response for hexavalent chromium.

  11. A novel source–drain follower for monolithic active pixel sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gao, C., E-mail: chaosong.gao@mails.ccnu.edu.cn [Central China Normal University, Wuhan (China); Aglieri, G.; Hillemanns, H. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Huang, G., E-mail: gmhuang@phy.ccnu.edu.cn [Central China Normal University, Wuhan (China); Junique, A.; Keil, M. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Kim, D. [Dongguk University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yonsei University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kofarago, M.; Kugathasan, T.; Mager, M.; Marin Tobon, C.A.; Martinengo, P. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Mugnier, H. [Mind, Archamps (France); Musa, L. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Lee, S. [Dongguk University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yonsei University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Reidt, F. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat Heidelberg, Heidelberg (Germany); Riedler, P. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Rousset, J. [Mind, Archamps (France); Sielewicz, K.M. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw (Poland); Snoeys, W. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); and others

    2016-09-21

    Monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) receive interest in tracking applications in high energy physics as they integrate sensor and readout electronics in one silicon die with potential for lower material budget and cost, and better performance. Source followers (SFs) are widely used for MAPS readout: they increase charge conversion gain 1/C{sub eff} or decrease the effective sensing node capacitance C{sub eff} because the follower action compensates part of the input capacitance. Charge conversion gain is critical for analog power consumption and therefore for material budget in tracking applications, and also has direct system impact. This paper presents a novel source–drain follower (SDF), where both source and drain follow the gate potential improving charge conversion gain. For the inner tracking system (ITS) upgrade of the ALICE experiment at CERN, low material budget is a primary requirement. The SDF circuit was studied as part of the effort to optimize the effective capacitance of the sensing node. The collection electrode, input transistor and routing metal all contribute to C{sub eff}. Reverse sensor bias reduces the collection electrode capacitance. The novel SDF circuit eliminates the contribution of the input transistor to C{sub eff}, reduces the routing contribution if additional shielding is introduced, provides a way to estimate the capacitance of the sensor itself, and has a voltage gain closer to unity than the standard SF. The SDF circuit has a somewhat larger area with a somewhat smaller bandwidth, but this is acceptable in most cases. A test chip, manufactured in a 180 nm CMOS image sensor process, implements small prototype pixel matrices in different flavors to compare the standard SF to the novel SF and to the novel SF with additional shielding. The effective sensing node capacitance was measured using a {sup 55}Fe source. Increasing reverse substrate bias from −1 V to −6 V reduces C{sub eff} by 38% and the equivalent noise charge

  12. A novel source–drain follower for monolithic active pixel sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao, C.; Aglieri, G.; Hillemanns, H.; Huang, G.; Junique, A.; Keil, M.; Kim, D.; Kofarago, M.; Kugathasan, T.; Mager, M.; Marin Tobon, C.A.; Martinengo, P.; Mugnier, H.; Musa, L.; Lee, S.; Reidt, F.; Riedler, P.; Rousset, J.; Sielewicz, K.M.; Snoeys, W.

    2016-01-01

    Monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) receive interest in tracking applications in high energy physics as they integrate sensor and readout electronics in one silicon die with potential for lower material budget and cost, and better performance. Source followers (SFs) are widely used for MAPS readout: they increase charge conversion gain 1/C_e_f_f or decrease the effective sensing node capacitance C_e_f_f because the follower action compensates part of the input capacitance. Charge conversion gain is critical for analog power consumption and therefore for material budget in tracking applications, and also has direct system impact. This paper presents a novel source–drain follower (SDF), where both source and drain follow the gate potential improving charge conversion gain. For the inner tracking system (ITS) upgrade of the ALICE experiment at CERN, low material budget is a primary requirement. The SDF circuit was studied as part of the effort to optimize the effective capacitance of the sensing node. The collection electrode, input transistor and routing metal all contribute to C_e_f_f. Reverse sensor bias reduces the collection electrode capacitance. The novel SDF circuit eliminates the contribution of the input transistor to C_e_f_f, reduces the routing contribution if additional shielding is introduced, provides a way to estimate the capacitance of the sensor itself, and has a voltage gain closer to unity than the standard SF. The SDF circuit has a somewhat larger area with a somewhat smaller bandwidth, but this is acceptable in most cases. A test chip, manufactured in a 180 nm CMOS image sensor process, implements small prototype pixel matrices in different flavors to compare the standard SF to the novel SF and to the novel SF with additional shielding. The effective sensing node capacitance was measured using a "5"5Fe source. Increasing reverse substrate bias from −1 V to −6 V reduces C_e_f_f by 38% and the equivalent noise charge (ENC) by 22% for the

  13. Radarometer Sensor - Simultaneous Active and Passive Imaging Usin a Common Antenna

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Huddleston, Darryl

    1999-01-01

    ... ̂ frequency band at a nominal pixel scanning rate of 1,000 per second. The radarometer sensor is capable of operating in both the passive and active modes either individually, in time sequence, or simultaneously...

  14. Gas Sensor

    KAUST Repository

    Luebke, Ryan

    2015-01-22

    A gas sensor using a metal organic framework material can be fully integrated with related circuitry on a single substrate. In an on-chip application, the gas sensor can result in an area-efficient fully integrated gas sensor solution. In one aspect, a gas sensor can include a first gas sensing region including a first pair of electrodes, and a first gas sensitive material proximate to the first pair of electrodes, wherein the first gas sensitive material includes a first metal organic framework material.

  15. Gas Sensor

    KAUST Repository

    Luebke, Ryan; Eddaoudi, Mohamed; Omran, Hesham; Belmabkhout, Youssef; Shekhah, Osama; Salama, Khaled N.

    2015-01-01

    A gas sensor using a metal organic framework material can be fully integrated with related circuitry on a single substrate. In an on-chip application, the gas sensor can result in an area-efficient fully integrated gas sensor solution. In one aspect, a gas sensor can include a first gas sensing region including a first pair of electrodes, and a first gas sensitive material proximate to the first pair of electrodes, wherein the first gas sensitive material includes a first metal organic framework material.

  16. An Active Sensor Algorithm for Corn Nitrogen Recommendations Based on a Chlorophyll Meter Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    In previous work we found active canopy sensor reflectance assessments of corn (Zea mays L.) N status acquired at two growth stages (V11 and V15) have the greatest potential for directing in-season N applications, but emphasized an algorithm was needed to translate sensor readings into appropriate N...

  17. Fabrication of 3D Silicon Sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kok, A.; Hansen, T.E.; Hansen, T.A.; Lietaer, N.; Summanwar, A.; /SINTEF, Oslo; Kenney, C.; Hasi, J.; /SLAC; Da Via, C.; /Manchester U.; Parker, S.I.; /Hawaii U.

    2012-06-06

    Silicon sensors with a three-dimensional (3-D) architecture, in which the n and p electrodes penetrate through the entire substrate, have many advantages over planar silicon sensors including radiation hardness, fast time response, active edge and dual readout capabilities. The fabrication of 3D sensors is however rather complex. In recent years, there have been worldwide activities on 3D fabrication. SINTEF in collaboration with Stanford Nanofabrication Facility have successfully fabricated the original (single sided double column type) 3D detectors in two prototype runs and the third run is now on-going. This paper reports the status of this fabrication work and the resulted yield. The work of other groups such as the development of double sided 3D detectors is also briefly reported.

  18. Sensors, Volume 4, Thermal Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scholz, Jorg; Ricolfi, Teresio

    1996-12-01

    'Sensors' is the first self-contained series to deal with the whole area of sensors. It describes general aspects, technical and physical fundamentals, construction, function, applications and developments of the various types of sensors. This volume describes the construction and applicational aspects of thermal sensors while presenting a rigorous treatment of the underlying physical principles. It provides a unique overview of the various categories of sensors as well as of specific groups, e.g. temperature sensors (resistance thermometers, thermocouples, and radiation thermometers), noise and acoustic thermometers, heat-flow and mass-flow sensors. Specific facettes of applications are presented by specialists from different fields including process control, automotive technology and cryogenics. This volume is an indispensable reference work and text book for both specialists and newcomers, researchers and developers.

  19. On drift fields in CMOS monolithic active pixel sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deveaux, Michael [Goethe-Universitaet, Frankfurt (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-MVD-Collaboration

    2016-07-01

    CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) combine an excellent spatial resolution of few μm with a very low material budget of 0.05% X{sub 0}. To extend their radiation tolerance to the level needed for future experiments like e.g. CBM, it is regularly considered to deplete their active volume. We discuss the limits of this strategy accounting for the specific features of the sensing elements of MAPS. Moreover, we introduce an alternative approach to generate the drift fields needed to provoke a faster charge collection by means of doping gradients.

  20. Molecular detection by active Fano-sensor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tao, Yifei; Guo, Zhongyi [School of Computer and Information, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009 (China)

    2017-04-15

    The optical properties and sensing performances of the molecular sensors based on plasmonic Fano-resonance (PFR) nanostructures have been numerically investigated in detail. The on-resonance sensor, in which the Fano-resonance position is overlapping with the absorption-band of the detected molecules perfectly, reveals a powerful ability to detect the molecules with a low concentration or thin thickness. By the bias-modulation of a single-layer graphene, the Fano-resonance position of the nanostructures can be tuned effectively. On being modulated properly, the PFR sensor shows an ultrahigh performance because of the unprecedentedly high overlap of the Fano-resonance position with the absorption-band of molecules, which is enabling superior signal strength in the molecular detections based on their vibrational fingerprints. Our proposed strategy may enable the development of dynamic sensors and open exciting prospects for bio-sensing. (copyright 2017 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  1. IR Sensor Synchronizing Active Shutter Glasses for 3D HDTV with Flexible Liquid Crystal Lenses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeong In Han

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available IR sensor synchronizing active shutter glasses for three-dimensional high definition television (3D HDTV were developed using a flexible liquid crystal (FLC lens. The FLC lens was made on a polycarbonate (PC substrate using conventional liquid crystal display (LCD processes. The flexible liquid crystal lens displayed a maximum transmission of 32% and total response time of 2.56 ms. The transmittance, the contrast ratio and the response time of the flexible liquid crystal lens were superior to those of glass liquid crystal lenses. Microcontroller unit and drivers were developed as part of a reception module with power supply for the IR sensor synchronizing active shutter glasses with the flexible liquid crystal lens prototypes. IR sensor synchronizing active shutter glasses for 3D HDTV with flexible liquid crystal lenses produced excellent 3D images viewing characteristics.

  2. Online Sensor Calibration Assessment in Nuclear Power Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coble, Jamie B.; Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Meyer, Ryan M.; Hashemian, Hash

    2013-01-01

    Safe, efficient, and economic operation of nuclear systems (nuclear power plants, fuel fabrication and storage, used fuel processing, etc.) relies on transmission of accurate and reliable measurements. During operation, sensors degrade due to age, environmental exposure, and maintenance interventions. Sensor degradation can affect the measured and transmitted signals, including sensor failure, signal drift, sensor response time, etc. Currently, periodic sensor recalibration is performed to avoid these problems. Sensor recalibration activities include both calibration assessment and adjustment (if necessary). In nuclear power plants, periodic recalibration of safety-related sensors is required by the plant technical specifications. Recalibration typically occurs during refueling outages (about every 18 to 24 months). Non-safety-related sensors also undergo recalibration, though not as frequently. However, this approach to maintaining sensor calibration and performance is time-consuming and expensive, leading to unnecessary maintenance, increased radiation exposure to maintenance personnel, and potential damage to sensors. Online monitoring (OLM) of sensor performance is a non-invasive approach to assess instrument calibration. OLM can mitigate many of the limitations of the current periodic recalibration practice by providing more frequent assessment of calibration and identifying those sensors that are operating outside of calibration tolerance limits without removing sensors or interrupting operation. This can support extended operating intervals for unfaulted sensors and target recalibration efforts to only degraded sensors

  3. Wireless sensor platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joshi, Pooran C.; Killough, Stephen M.; Kuruganti, Phani Teja

    2017-08-08

    A wireless sensor platform and methods of manufacture are provided. The platform involves providing a plurality of wireless sensors, where each of the sensors is fabricated on flexible substrates using printing techniques and low temperature curing. Each of the sensors can include planar sensor elements and planar antennas defined using the printing and curing. Further, each of the sensors can include a communications system configured to encode the data from the sensors into a spread spectrum code sequence that is transmitted to a central computer(s) for use in monitoring an area associated with the sensors.

  4. 16 CFR 1211.13 - Inherent force activated secondary door sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Inherent force activated secondary door sensors. 1211.13 Section 1211.13 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT... across the door so that the axis is perpendicular to the plane of the door. See Figure 6 of this part...

  5. Active vibration reduction by optimally placed sensors and actuators with application to stiffened plates by beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daraji, A H; Hale, J M

    2014-01-01

    This study concerns new investigation of active vibration reduction of a stiffened plate bonded with discrete sensor/actuator pairs located optimally using genetic algorithms based on a developed finite element modeling. An isotropic plate element stiffened by a number of beam elements on its edges and having a piezoelectric sensor and actuator pair bonded to its surfaces is modeled using the finite element method and Hamilton’s principle, taking into account the effects of piezoelectric mass, stiffness and electromechanical coupling. The modeling is based on the first order shear deformation theory taking into account the effects of bending, membrane and shear deformation for the plate, the stiffening beam and the piezoelectric patches. A Matlab finite element program has been built for the stiffened plate model and verified with ANSYS and also experimentally. Optimal placement of ten piezoelectric sensor/actuator pairs and optimal feedback gain for active vibration reduction are investigated for a plate stiffened by two beams arranged in the form of a cross. The genetic algorithm was set up for optimization of sensor/actuator placement and feedback gain based on the minimization of the optimal linear quadratic index as an objective function to suppress the first six modes of vibration. Comparison study is presented for active vibration reduction of a square cantilever plate stiffened by crossed beams with two sensor/actuator configurations: firstly, ten piezoelectric sensor/actuator pairs are located in optimal positions; secondly, a piezoelectric layer of single sensor/actuator pair covering the whole of the stiffened plate as a SISO system. (paper)

  6. Optimization strategy for actuator and sensor placement in active structural acoustic control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oude nijhuis, M.H.H.; de Boer, Andries

    2003-01-01

    In active structural acoustic control the goal is to reduce the sound radiation of a structure by means of changing the vibrational behaviour of that structure. The performance of such an active control system is to a large extent determined by the locations of the actuators and sensors. In this

  7. Mining Emerging Sequential Patterns for Activity Recognition in Body Sensor Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gu, Tao; Wang, Liang; Chen, Hanhua

    2010-01-01

    Body Sensor Networks oer many applications in healthcare, well-being and entertainment. One of the emerging applications is recognizing activities of daily living. In this paper, we introduce a novel knowledge pattern named Emerging Sequential Pattern (ESP)|a sequential pattern that discovers...... signicant class dierences|to recognize both simple (i.e., sequential) and complex (i.e., interleaved and concurrent) activities. Based on ESPs, we build our complex activity models directly upon the sequential model to recognize both activity types. We conduct comprehensive empirical studies to evaluate...

  8. Recognition of Walking Activities Using Wireless Inertial and Orientation Sensors: A Performance Evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yalçin, Ç.; Marin Perianu, Mihai; Marin Perianu, Raluca; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Augusto, J.C.

    In this paper, we evaluate experimentally several methods for recognizing walking activities using on-body wireless nodes equipped with inertial and orientation sensors. The walking activities (walking on flat surfaces, uphill and downhill, upstairs and downstairs) are selected by healthcare experts

  9. Active Wireless Temperature Sensors for Aerospace Thermal Protection Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milos, Frank S.; Karunaratne, K.; Arnold, Jim (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Health diagnostics is an area where major improvements have been identified for potential implementation into the design of new reusable launch vehicles in order to reduce life-cycle costs, to increase safety margins, and to improve mission reliability. NASA Ames is leading the effort to advance inspection and health management technologies for thermal protection systems. This paper summarizes a joint project between NASA Ames and Korteks to develop active wireless sensors that can be embedded in the thermal protection system to monitor sub-surface temperature histories. These devices are thermocouples integrated with radio-frequency identification circuitry to enable acquisition and non-contact communication of temperature data through aerospace thermal protection materials. Two generations of prototype sensors are discussed. The advanced prototype collects data from three type-k thermocouples attached to a 2.54-cm square integrated circuit.

  10. Bonding techniques for hybrid active pixel sensors (HAPS)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bigas, M. [Centre Nacional de Microelectronica, CNM-IMB (CSIC), Campus Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona (Spain)]. E-mail: Marc.Bigas@cnm.es; Cabruja, E. [Centre Nacional de Microelectronica, CNM-IMB (CSIC), Campus Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona (Spain)]. E-mail: Enric.Cabruja@cnm.es; Lozano, M. [Centre Nacional de Microelectronica, CNM-IMB (CSIC), Campus Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona (Spain)

    2007-05-01

    A hybrid active pixel sensor (HAPS) consists of an array of sensing elements which is connected to an electronic read-out unit. The most used way to connect these two different devices is bump bonding. This interconnection technique is very suitable for these systems because it allows a very fine pitch and a high number of I/Os. However, there are other interconnection techniques available such as direct bonding. This paper, as a continuation of a review [M. Lozano, E. Cabruja, A. Collado, J. Santander, M. Ullan, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 473 (1-2) (2001) 95-101] published in 2001, presents an update of the different advanced bonding techniques available for manufacturing a hybrid active pixel detector.

  11. Cloud Classification in Wide-Swath Passive Sensor Images Aided by Narrow-Swath Active Sensor Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongxia Wang

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available It is a challenge to distinguish between different cloud types because of the complexity and diversity of cloud coverage, which is a significant clutter source that impacts on target detection and identification from the images of space-based infrared sensors. In this paper, a novel strategy for cloud classification in wide-swath passive sensor images is developed, which is aided by narrow-swath active sensor data. The strategy consists of three steps, that is, the orbit registration, most matching donor pixel selection, and cloud type assignment for each recipient pixel. A new criterion for orbit registration is proposed so as to improve the matching accuracy. The most matching donor pixel is selected via the Euclidean distance and the square sum of the radiance relative differences between the recipient and the potential donor pixels. Each recipient pixel is then assigned a cloud type that corresponds to the most matching donor. The cloud classification of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS images is performed with the aid of the data from Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR. The results are compared with the CloudSat product 2B-CLDCLASS, as well as those that are obtained using the method of the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP, which demonstrates the superior classification performance of the proposed strategy.

  12. Applying Sensor Web Technology to Marine Sensor Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jirka, Simon; del Rio, Joaquin; Mihai Toma, Daniel; Nüst, Daniel; Stasch, Christoph; Delory, Eric

    2015-04-01

    In this contribution we present two activities illustrating how Sensor Web technology helps to enable a flexible and interoperable sharing of marine observation data based on standards. An important foundation is the Sensor Web Architecture developed by the European FP7 project NeXOS (Next generation Low-Cost Multifunctional Web Enabled Ocean Sensor Systems Empowering Marine, Maritime and Fisheries Management). This architecture relies on the Open Geospatial Consortium's (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) framework. It is an exemplary solution for facilitating the interoperable exchange of marine observation data within and between (research) organisations. The architecture addresses a series of functional and non-functional requirements which are fulfilled through different types of OGC SWE components. The diverse functionalities offered by the NeXOS Sensor Web architecture are shown in the following overview: - Pull-based observation data download: This is achieved through the OGC Sensor Observation Service (SOS) 2.0 interface standard. - Push-based delivery of observation data to allow users the subscription to new measurements that are relevant for them: For this purpose there are currently several specification activities under evaluation (e.g. OGC Sensor Event Service, OGC Publish/Subscribe Standards Working Group). - (Web-based) visualisation of marine observation data: Implemented through SOS client applications. - Configuration and controlling of sensor devices: This is ensured through the OGC Sensor Planning Service 2.0 interface. - Bridging between sensors/data loggers and Sensor Web components: For this purpose several components such as the "Smart Electronic Interface for Sensor Interoperability" (SEISI) concept are developed; this is complemented by a more lightweight SOS extension (e.g. based on the W3C Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) format). To further advance this architecture, there is on-going work to develop dedicated profiles of selected OGC

  13. Ultrasonic sensors in urban traffic driving-aid systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alonso, Luciano; Milanés, Vicente; Torre-Ferrero, Carlos; Godoy, Jorge; Oria, Juan P; de Pedro, Teresa

    2011-01-01

    Currently, vehicles are often equipped with active safety systems to reduce the risk of accidents, most of which occur in urban environments. The most prominent include Antilock Braking Systems (ABS), Traction Control and Stability Control. All these systems use different kinds of sensors to constantly monitor the conditions of the vehicle, and act in an emergency. In this paper the use of ultrasonic sensors in active safety systems for urban traffic is proposed, and the advantages and disadvantages when compared to other sensors are discussed. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) for urban traffic based on ultrasounds is presented as an application example. The proposed system has been implemented in a fully-automated prototype vehicle and has been tested under real traffic conditions. The results confirm the good performance of ultrasonic sensors in these systems.

  14. Technical note: Validation of an ear-tag accelerometer sensor to determine rumination, eating, and activity behaviors of grazing dairy cattle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, G M; Heins, B J; Endres, M I

    2018-03-01

    The objective of this study was to validate an ear-tag accelerometer sensor (CowManager SensOor, Agis Automatisering BV, Harmelen, the Netherlands) using direct visual observations in a grazing dairy herd. Lactating crossbred cows (n = 24) were used for this experiment at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center grazing dairy (Morris, MN) during the summer of 2016. A single trained observer recorded behavior every minute for 6 h for each cow (24 cows × 6 h = 144 h of observation total). Direct visual observation was compared with sensor data during August and September 2016. The sensor detected and identified ear and head movements, and through algorithms the sensor classified each minute as one of the following behaviors: rumination, eating, not active, active, and high active. A 2-sided t-test was conducted with PROC TTEST of SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) to compare the percentage of time each cow's behavior was recorded by direct visual observation and sensor data. For total recorded time, the percentage of time of direct visual observation compared with sensor data was 17.9 and 19.1% for rumination, 52.8 and 51.9% for eating, 17.4 and 11.9% for not active, and 7.9 and 21.1% for active. Pearson correlations (PROC CORR of SAS) were used to evaluate associations between direct visual observations and sensor data. Furthermore, concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), bias correction factors, location shift, and scale shift (epiR package of R version 3.3.1; R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) were calculated to provide a measure of accuracy and precision. Correlations between visual observations for all 4 behaviors were highly to weakly correlated (rumination: r = 0.72, CCC = 0.71; eating: r = 0.88, CCC = 0.88; not active: r = 0.65, CCC = 0.52; and active: r = 0.20, CCC = 0.19) compared with sensor data. The results suggest that the sensor accurately monitors rumination and eating behavior of grazing dairy

  15. Diaper-Embedded Urinary Tract Infection Monitoring Sensor Module Powered by Urine-Activated Batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Weeseong; Yu, Wuyang; Tan, Tianlin; Ziaie, Babak; Jung, Byunghoo

    2017-06-01

    Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections in humans. UTI is easily treatable using antibiotics if identified in early stage. However, without early identification and treatment, UTI can be a major source of serious complications in geriatric patients, in particular, those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. Also, for infants who have difficulty in describing their symptoms, UTI may lead to serious development of the disease making early identification of UTI crucial. In this paper, we present a diaper-embedded, wireless, self-powered, and autonomous UTI monitoring sensor module that allows an early detection of UTI with minimal effort. The sensor module consists of a paper-based colorimetric nitrite sensor, urine-activated batteries, a boost dc-dc converter, a low-power sensor interface utilizing pulse width modulation, and a Bluetooth low energy module for wireless transmission. Experimental results show a better detection of nitrite, a surrogate of UTI, than that of conventional dipstick testing. The proposed sensor module achieves a sensitivity of 1.35 ms/(mg/L) and a detection limit of 4 mg/L for nitrite.

  16. Sensor development at the semiconductor laboratory of the Max-Planck-Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bähr, A.; Lechner, P.; Ninkovic, J.

    2017-12-01

    For more than twenty years the semiconductor laboratory of the Max-Planck Society (MPG-HLL) is developing high-performing, specialised, scientific silicon sensors including the integration of amplifying electronics on the sensor chip. This paper summarises the actual status of these devices like pnCCDs and DePFET Active Pixel Sensors and their applications.

  17. Active photonic sensor communication cable for field application of optical data and power transmission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suthau, Eike; Rieske, Ralf; Zerna, Thomas

    2014-10-01

    Omitting electrically conducting wires for sensor communication and power supply promises protection for sensor systems and monitored structures against lightning or high voltages, prevention of explosion hazards, and reduction of susceptibility to tampering. The ability to photonically power remote systems opens up the full range of electrical sensors. Power-over-fiber is an attractive option in electromagnetically sensitive environments, particularly for longterm, maintenance-free applications. It can deliver uninterrupted power sufficient for elaborate sensors, data processing or even actuators alongside continuous high speed data communication for remote sensor application. This paper proposes an active photonic sensor communication system, which combines the advantages of optical data links in terms of immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI), high bandwidth, hardiness against tampering or eavesdropping, and low cable weight with the robustness one has come to expect from industrial or military electrical connectors. An application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is presented that implements a closed-loop regulation of the sensor power supply to guarantee continuous, reliable data communications while maintaining a highly efficient, adaptive sensor supply scheme. It is demonstrated that the resulting novel photonic sensor communication cable can handle sensors and actuators differing orders of magnitude with respect to power consumption. The miniaturization of the electro-optical converters and driving electronics is as important to the presented development as the energy efficiency of the detached, optically powered sensor node. For this reason, a novel photonic packaging technology based on wafer-level assembly of the laser power converters by means of passive alignment will be disclosed in this paper.

  18. Physical activity discrimination improvement using accelerometers and wireless sensor network localization - biomed 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bashford, Gregory R; Burnfield, Judith M; Perez, Lance C

    2013-01-01

    Automating documentation of physical activity data (e.g., duration and speed of walking or propelling a wheelchair) into the electronic medical record (EMR) offers promise for improving efficiency of documentation and understanding of best practices in the rehabilitation and home health settings. Commercially available devices which could be used to automate documentation of physical activities are either cumbersome to wear or lack the specificity required to differentiate activities. We have designed a novel system to differentiate and quantify physical activities, using inexpensive accelerometer-based biomechanical data technology and wireless sensor networks, a technology combination that has not been used in a rehabilitation setting to date. As a first step, a feasibility study was performed where 14 healthy young adults (mean age = 22.6 ± 2.5 years, mean height = 173 ± 10.0 cm, mean mass = 70.7 ± 11.3 kg) carried out eight different activities while wearing a biaxial accelerometer sensor. Activities were performed at each participant’s self-selected pace during a single testing session in a controlled environment. Linear discriminant analysis was performed by extracting spectral parameters from the subjects’ accelerometer patterns. It is shown that physical activity classification alone results in an average accuracy of 49.5%, but when combined with rule-based constraints using a wireless sensor network with localization capabilities in an in silico simulated room, accuracy improves to 99.3%. When fully implemented, our technology package is expected to improve goal setting, treatment interventions and patient outcomes by enhancing clinicians’ understanding of patients’ physical performance within a day and across the rehabilitation program.

  19. Comportamento do NDVI obtido por sensor ótico ativo em cereais Behavior of NDVI obtained from an active optical sensor in cereals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabrício Pinheiro Povh

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar, com um sensor ótico ativo, o comportamento do índice de vegetação por diferença normalizada (NDVI - "normalized difference vegetation index", nas culturas de trigo, triticale, cevada e milho. Cinco experimentos foram conduzidos no Paraná e São Paulo, com variação de classes de solo, doses e fontes de N, e variedades de trigo. As seguintes variáveis foram avaliadas: NDVI, teor de N foliar, matéria seca e produtividade das culturas. Análises de regressões foram realizadas entre as doses de N aplicadas e NDVI, teor de N foliar, matéria seca e produtividade. Análises de correlação entre as variáveis foram realizadas. O trigo, triticale e cevada apresentaram resposta às aplicações de doses crescentes de N, pelo aumento nas leituras do NDVI, no teor de N foliar e na produtividade. Medido pelo sensor ótico ativo utilizado, o NDVI apresenta alto potencial para manejo do N nas culturas do trigo, triticale e cevada, e baixo potencial para a cultura do milho. Há interferência das variedades de trigo nas leituras do sensor ótico ativo.The objective of this work was to evaluate the behavior of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, with an active optical sensor, in wheat, triticale, barley and corn crops. Experiments were conducted in Paraná and São Paulo, comparing different soil classes, N rates and sources, and wheat varieties. The following variables were determined: NDVI, N foliar content, dry mass and crop yield. Regression analyses were performed between NDVI and applied N rates, N foliar content, dry mass and yield. Correlation analyses among the variables were performed. Wheat, triticale and barley crops showed response to increasing N rates by the increase in the NDVI readings, to N foliar content and to yield. Measured by the used active optical sensor the NDVI shows high potential for N management wheat, triticale and barley crops, and low potential for corn crops. There

  20. CHARACTERIZATION OF A THIN SILICON SENSOR FOR ACTIVE NEUTRON PERSONAL DOSEMETERS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takada, M; Nunomiya, T; Nakamura, T; Matsumoto, T; Masuda, A

    2016-09-01

    A thin silicon sensor has been developed for active neutron personal dosemeters for use by aircrews and first responders. This thin silicon sensor is not affected by the funneling effect, which causes detection of cosmic protons and over-response to cosmic neutrons. There are several advantages to the thin silicon sensor: a decrease in sensitivity to gamma rays, an improvement of the energy detection limit for neutrons down to 0.8 MeV and an increase in the sensitivity to fast neutrons. Neutron response functions were experimentally obtained using 2.5 and 5 MeV monoenergy neutron beams and a (252)Cf neutron source. Simulation results using the Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code agree quite well with the experimental ones when an energy deposition region shaped like a circular truncated cone is used in place of a cylindrical region. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  1. Wearable Sensor-Based Human Activity Recognition Method with Multi-Features Extracted from Hilbert-Huang Transform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Huile; Liu, Jinyi; Hu, Haibo; Zhang, Yi

    2016-12-02

    Wearable sensors-based human activity recognition introduces many useful applications and services in health care, rehabilitation training, elderly monitoring and many other areas of human interaction. Existing works in this field mainly focus on recognizing activities by using traditional features extracted from Fourier transform (FT) or wavelet transform (WT). However, these signal processing approaches are suitable for a linear signal but not for a nonlinear signal. In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) for dealing with activity data with properties such as nonlinearity and non-stationarity. A multi-features extraction method based on HHT is then proposed to improve the effect of activity recognition. The extracted multi-features include instantaneous amplitude (IA) and instantaneous frequency (IF) by means of empirical mode decomposition (EMD), as well as instantaneous energy density (IE) and marginal spectrum (MS) derived from Hilbert spectral analysis. Experimental studies are performed to verify the proposed approach by using the PAMAP2 dataset from the University of California, Irvine for wearable sensors-based activity recognition. Moreover, the effect of combining multi-features vs. a single-feature are investigated and discussed in the scenario of a dependent subject. The experimental results show that multi-features combination can further improve the performance measures. Finally, we test the effect of multi-features combination in the scenario of an independent subject. Our experimental results show that we achieve four performance indexes: recall, precision, F-measure, and accuracy to 0.9337, 0.9417, 0.9353, and 0.9377 respectively, which are all better than the achievements of related works.

  2. Cryogenic microsize Hall sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kvitkovic, J.; Polak, M.

    1993-01-01

    Hall sensors have a variety of applications in magnetic field measurements. The active area of the Hall sensor does not play an important role in measuring of homogeneous magnetic field. Actually Hall sensors are widely used to measure profiles of magnetic fields produced by magnetization currents in samples of HTC superconductors, as well as of LTC ones. Similar techniques are used to measure magnetization of both HTC and LTC superconductors. In these cases Hall sensor operates in highly inhomogeneous magnetic fields. Because of that, Hall sensors with very small active area are required. We developed and tested Hall sensors with active area 100 μm x 100 μm - type M and 50 μm x 50 μm - type V. Here we report on the most imporant parameters of these units, as well as on their properties as differential magnetometer. (orig.)

  3. A Low-Operating-Power and Flexible Active-Matrix Organic-Transistor Temperature-Sensor Array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Xiaochen; Pei, Ke; Peng, Boyu; Zhang, Zhichao; Wang, Zongrong; Wang, Xinyu; Chan, Paddy K L

    2016-06-01

    An organic flexible temperature-sensor array exhibits great potential in health monitoring and other biomedical applications. The actively addressed 16 × 16 temperature sensor array reaches 100% yield rate and provides 2D temperature information of the objects placed in contact, even if the object has an irregular shape. The current device allows defect predictions of electronic devices, remote sensing of harsh environments, and e-skin applications. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. CMOS Active Pixel Sensors for Low Power, Highly Miniaturized Imaging Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossum, Eric R.

    1996-01-01

    The complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) technology has been developed over the past three years by NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and has reached a level of performance comparable to CCDs with greatly increased functionality but at a very reduced power level.

  5. Sensor technology for smart homes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Dan; Cooper, Rory A; Pasquina, Paul F; Fici-Pasquina, Lavinia

    2011-06-01

    A smart home is a residence equipped with technology that observes the residents and provides proactive services. Most recently, it has been introduced as a potential solution to support independent living of people with disabilities and older adults, as well as to relieve the workload from family caregivers and health providers. One of the key supporting features of a smart home is its ability to monitor the activities of daily living and safety of residents, and in detecting changes in their daily routines. With the availability of inexpensive low-power sensors, radios, and embedded processors, current smart homes are typically equipped with a large amount of networked sensors which collaboratively process and make deductions from the acquired data on the state of the home as well as the activities and behaviors of its residents. This article reviews sensor technology used in smart homes with a focus on direct environment sensing and infrastructure mediated sensing. The article also points out the strengths and limitations of different sensor technologies, as well as discusses challenges and opportunities from clinical, technical, and ethical perspectives. It is recommended that sensor technologies for smart homes address actual needs of all stake holders including end users, their family members and caregivers, and their doctors and therapists. More evidence on the appropriateness, usefulness, and cost benefits analysis of sensor technologies for smart homes is necessary before these sensors should be widely deployed into real-world residential settings and successfully integrated into everyday life and health care services. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Highly sensitive glucose sensor based on monodisperse palladium nickel/activated carbon nanocomposites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koskun, Yağmur; Şavk, Aysun; Şen, Betül; Şen, Fatih

    2018-06-20

    Glucose enzyme biosensors have been used for a variety of applications such as medical diagnosis, bioprocess engineering, beverage industry and environmental scanning etc. and there is still a growing interest in glucose sensors. For this purpose, addressed herein, as a novel glucose sensor, highly sensitive activated carbon (AC) decorated monodisperse nickel and palladium alloy nanocomposites modified glassy carbon electrode (Ni-Pd@AC/GCE NCs) have been synthesized by in-situ reduction technique. Raman Spectroscopy (RS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) were used for the characterization of the prepared non-enzymatic glucose sensor. The characteristic sensor properties of the Ni-Pd@AC/GCE electrode were compared with Ni-Pd NCs/GCE, Ni@AC/GCE and Pd@AC/GCE and the results demonstrate that the AC is very effective in the enhancement of the electrocatalytic properties of sensor. In addition, the Ni-Pd@AC/GCE nanocomposites showed a very low detection limit of 0.014 μM, a wide linear range of 0.01 mM-1 mM and a very high sensitivity of 90 mA mM -1  cm -2 . Furthermore, the recommended sensor offer the various advantageous such as facile preparation, fast response time, high selectivity and sensitivity. Lastly, monodisperse Ni-Pd@AC/GCE was utilized to detect glucose in real sample species. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Dense range map reconstruction from a versatile robotic sensor system with an active trinocular vision and a passive binocular vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Min Young; Lee, Hyunkee; Cho, Hyungsuck

    2008-04-10

    One major research issue associated with 3D perception by robotic systems is the creation of efficient sensor systems that can generate dense range maps reliably. A visual sensor system for robotic applications is developed that is inherently equipped with two types of sensor, an active trinocular vision and a passive stereo vision. Unlike in conventional active vision systems that use a large number of images with variations of projected patterns for dense range map acquisition or from conventional passive vision systems that work well on specific environments with sufficient feature information, a cooperative bidirectional sensor fusion method for this visual sensor system enables us to acquire a reliable dense range map using active and passive information simultaneously. The fusion algorithms are composed of two parts, one in which the passive stereo vision helps active vision and the other in which the active trinocular vision helps the passive one. The first part matches the laser patterns in stereo laser images with the help of intensity images; the second part utilizes an information fusion technique using the dynamic programming method in which image regions between laser patterns are matched pixel-by-pixel with help of the fusion results obtained in the first part. To determine how the proposed sensor system and fusion algorithms can work in real applications, the sensor system is implemented on a robotic system, and the proposed algorithms are applied. A series of experimental tests is performed for a variety of configurations of robot and environments. The performance of the sensor system is discussed in detail.

  8. Ultrasonic Sensors in Urban Traffic Driving-Aid Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa de Pedro

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Currently, vehicles are often equipped with active safety systems to reduce the risk of accidents, most of which occur in urban environments. The most prominent include Antilock Braking Systems (ABS, Traction Control and Stability Control. All these systems use different kinds of sensors to constantly monitor the conditions of the vehicle, and act in an emergency. In this paper the use of ultrasonic sensors in active safety systems for urban traffic is proposed, and the advantages and disadvantages when compared to other sensors are discussed. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC for urban traffic based on ultrasounds is presented as an application example. The proposed system has been implemented in a fully-automated prototype vehicle and has been tested under real traffic conditions. The results confirm the good performance of ultrasonic sensors in these systems.

  9. [High-Performance Active Pixel X-Ray Sensors for X-Ray Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bautz, Mark; Suntharalingam, Vyshnavi

    2005-01-01

    The subject grants support development of High-Performance Active Pixel Sensors for X-ray Astronomy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Space Research and at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. This memo reports our progress in the second year of the project, from April, 2004 through the present.

  10. Towards an autonomous sensor architecture for persistent area protection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Paul A.; Marshall, Gillian F.; Stubbins, Daniel J.; Faulkner, David A.

    2016-10-01

    The majority of sensor installations for area protection (e.g. critical national infrastructure, military forward operating bases, etc.) make use of banks of screens each containing one or more sensor feeds, such that the burden of combining data from the various sources, understanding the situation, and controlling the sensors all lies with the human operator. Any automation in the system is generally heavily bespoke for the particular installation, leading to an inflexible system which is difficult to change or upgrade. We have developed a modular system architecture consisting of intelligent autonomous sensor modules, a high level decision making module, a middleware integration layer and an end-user GUI. The modules are all effectively "plug and play", and we have demonstrated that it is relatively simple to incorporate legacy sensors into the architecture. We have extended our previously-reported SAPIENT demonstration system to operate with a larger number and variety of sensor modules, over an extended area, detecting and classifying a wider variety of "threat activities", both vehicular and pedestrian. We report the results of a demonstration of the SAPIENT system containing multiple autonomous sensor modules with a range of modalities including laser scanners, radar, TI, EO, acoustic and seismic sensors. They operate from a combination of mains, generator and battery power, and communicate with the central "hub" over Ethernet, point-to-point wireless links and Wi-Fi. The system has been configured to protect an extended area in a complex semi-urban environment. We discuss the operation of the SAPIENT system in a realistic demonstration environment (which included significant activity not under trial control), showing sensor cueing, multi-modal sensor fusion, threat prioritisation and target hand-off.

  11. X-ray active mirror coupled with a Hartmann wavefront sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Idir, Mourad; Mercere, Pascal; Modi, Mohammed H.; Dovillaire, Guillaume; Levecq, Xavier; Bucourt, Samuel; Escolano, Lionel; Sauvageot, Paul

    2010-01-01

    This paper reports on the design and performances of a test prototype active X-ray mirror (AXM) which has been designed and manufactured in collaboration with the French Small and Medium Enterprise mechanical company ISP System for the national French storage ring SOLEIL. Coupled with this active X-ray mirror and also in collaboration with another French Small and Medium Enterprise (Imagine Optic) a lot of efforts have been done in order to design and fabricate a wavefront X-ray analyzer based on the Hartmann principle (Hartman wavefront sensor, HWS).

  12. Low-power priority Address-Encoder and Reset-Decoder data-driven readout for Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors for tracker system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, P.; Aglieri, G.; Cavicchioli, C.; Chalmet, P.L.; Chanlek, N.; Collu, A.; Gao, C.; Hillemanns, H.; Junique, A.; Kofarago, M.; Keil, M.; Kugathasan, T.; Kim, D.; Kim, J.; Lattuca, A.; Marin Tobon, C.A.; Marras, D.; Mager, M.; Martinengo, P.; Mazza, G.

    2015-01-01

    Active Pixel Sensors used in High Energy Particle Physics require low power consumption to reduce the detector material budget, low integration time to reduce the possibilities of pile-up and fast readout to improve the detector data capability. To satisfy these requirements, a novel Address-Encoder and Reset-Decoder (AERD) asynchronous circuit for a fast readout of a pixel matrix has been developed. The AERD data-driven readout architecture operates the address encoding and reset decoding based on an arbitration tree, and allows us to readout only the hit pixels. Compared to the traditional readout structure of the rolling shutter scheme in Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), AERD can achieve a low readout time and a low power consumption especially for low hit occupancies. The readout is controlled at the chip periphery with a signal synchronous with the clock, allows a good digital and analogue signal separation in the matrix and a reduction of the power consumption. The AERD circuit has been implemented in the TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS Imaging Sensor (CIS) process with full complementary CMOS logic in the pixel. It works at 10 MHz with a matrix height of 15 mm. The energy consumed to read out one pixel is around 72 pJ. A scheme to boost the readout speed to 40 MHz is also discussed. The sensor chip equipped with AERD has been produced and characterised. Test results including electrical beam measurement are presented

  13. Low-power priority Address-Encoder and Reset-Decoder data-driven readout for Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors for tracker system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, P., E-mail: yangping0710@126.com [Central China Normal University, Wuhan (China); Aglieri, G.; Cavicchioli, C. [CERN, 1210 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Chalmet, P.L. [MIND, Archamps (France); Chanlek, N. [Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima (Thailand); Collu, A. [University of Cagliari, Cagliari (Italy); INFN (Italy); Gao, C. [Central China Normal University, Wuhan (China); Hillemanns, H.; Junique, A. [CERN, 1210 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Kofarago, M. [CERN, 1210 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); University of Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands); Keil, M.; Kugathasan, T. [CERN, 1210 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Kim, D. [Dongguk and Yonsei University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, J. [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Lattuca, A. [University of Torino, Torino (Italy); INFN (Italy); Marin Tobon, C.A. [CERN, 1210 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Marras, D. [University of Cagliari, Cagliari (Italy); INFN (Italy); Mager, M.; Martinengo, P. [CERN, 1210 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Mazza, G. [University of Torino, Torino (Italy); INFN (Italy); and others

    2015-06-11

    Active Pixel Sensors used in High Energy Particle Physics require low power consumption to reduce the detector material budget, low integration time to reduce the possibilities of pile-up and fast readout to improve the detector data capability. To satisfy these requirements, a novel Address-Encoder and Reset-Decoder (AERD) asynchronous circuit for a fast readout of a pixel matrix has been developed. The AERD data-driven readout architecture operates the address encoding and reset decoding based on an arbitration tree, and allows us to readout only the hit pixels. Compared to the traditional readout structure of the rolling shutter scheme in Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), AERD can achieve a low readout time and a low power consumption especially for low hit occupancies. The readout is controlled at the chip periphery with a signal synchronous with the clock, allows a good digital and analogue signal separation in the matrix and a reduction of the power consumption. The AERD circuit has been implemented in the TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS Imaging Sensor (CIS) process with full complementary CMOS logic in the pixel. It works at 10 MHz with a matrix height of 15 mm. The energy consumed to read out one pixel is around 72 pJ. A scheme to boost the readout speed to 40 MHz is also discussed. The sensor chip equipped with AERD has been produced and characterised. Test results including electrical beam measurement are presented.

  14. Low-power priority Address-Encoder and Reset-Decoder data-driven readout for Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors for tracker system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, P.; Aglieri, G.; Cavicchioli, C.; Chalmet, P. L.; Chanlek, N.; Collu, A.; Gao, C.; Hillemanns, H.; Junique, A.; Kofarago, M.; Keil, M.; Kugathasan, T.; Kim, D.; Kim, J.; Lattuca, A.; Marin Tobon, C. A.; Marras, D.; Mager, M.; Martinengo, P.; Mazza, G.; Mugnier, H.; Musa, L.; Puggioni, C.; Rousset, J.; Reidt, F.; Riedler, P.; Snoeys, W.; Siddhanta, S.; Usai, G.; van Hoorne, J. W.; Yi, J.

    2015-06-01

    Active Pixel Sensors used in High Energy Particle Physics require low power consumption to reduce the detector material budget, low integration time to reduce the possibilities of pile-up and fast readout to improve the detector data capability. To satisfy these requirements, a novel Address-Encoder and Reset-Decoder (AERD) asynchronous circuit for a fast readout of a pixel matrix has been developed. The AERD data-driven readout architecture operates the address encoding and reset decoding based on an arbitration tree, and allows us to readout only the hit pixels. Compared to the traditional readout structure of the rolling shutter scheme in Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), AERD can achieve a low readout time and a low power consumption especially for low hit occupancies. The readout is controlled at the chip periphery with a signal synchronous with the clock, allows a good digital and analogue signal separation in the matrix and a reduction of the power consumption. The AERD circuit has been implemented in the TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS Imaging Sensor (CIS) process with full complementary CMOS logic in the pixel. It works at 10 MHz with a matrix height of 15 mm. The energy consumed to read out one pixel is around 72 pJ. A scheme to boost the readout speed to 40 MHz is also discussed. The sensor chip equipped with AERD has been produced and characterised. Test results including electrical beam measurement are presented.

  15. Smart sensors and systems innovations for medical, environmental, and IoT applications

    CERN Document Server

    Yasuura, Hiroto; Liu, Yongpan; Lin, Youn-Long

    2017-01-01

    This book describes the technology used for effective sensing of our physical world and intelligent processing techniques for sensed information, which are essential to the success of Internet of Things (IoT). The authors provide a multidisciplinary view of sensor technology from materials, process, circuits, and big data domains and showcase smart sensor systems in real applications including smart home, transportation, medical, environmental, agricultural, etc. Unlike earlier books on sensors, this book provides a “global” view on smart sensors covering abstraction levels from device, circuit, systems, and algorithms. Profiles active research on smart sensors based on CMOS microelectronics; Describes applications of sensors and sensor systems in cyber physical systems, the social information infrastructure in our modern world; Includes coverage of a variety of related information technologies supporting the application of sensors; Discusses the integration of computation, networking, actuation, database...

  16. Geographically distributed environmental sensor system

    Science.gov (United States)

    French, Patrick; Veatch, Brad; O'Connor, Mike

    2006-10-03

    The present invention is directed to a sensor network that includes a number of sensor units and a base unit. The base station operates in a network discovery mode (in which network topology information is collected) in a data polling mode (in which sensed information is collected from selected sensory units). Each of the sensor units can include a number of features, including an anemometer, a rain gauge, a compass, a GPS receiver, a barometric pressure sensor, an air temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a level, and a radiant temperature sensor.

  17. Combustion Sensors: Gas Turbine Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Human, Mel

    2002-01-01

    This report documents efforts to survey the current research directions in sensor technology for gas turbine systems. The work is driven by the current and future requirements on system performance and optimization. Accurate real time measurements of velocities, pressure, temperatures, and species concentrations will be required for objectives such as combustion instability attenuation, pollutant reduction, engine health management, exhaust profile control via active control, etc. Changing combustor conditions - engine aging, flow path slagging, or rapid maneuvering - will require adaptive responses; the effectiveness of such will be only as good as the dynamic information available for processing. All of these issues point toward the importance of continued sensor development. For adequate control of the combustion process, sensor data must include information about the above mentioned quantities along with equivalence ratios and radical concentrations, and also include both temporal and spatial velocity resolution. Ultimately these devices must transfer from the laboratory to field installations, and thus must become low weight and cost, reliable and maintainable. A primary conclusion from this study is that the optics-based sensor science will be the primary diagnostic in future gas turbine technologies.

  18. HACMAC: A reliable human activity-based medium access control for implantable body sensor networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karuppiah Ramachandran, Vignesh Raja; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Meratnia, Nirvana

    Chronic care is an eminent application of implantable body sensor networks (IBSN). Performing physical activities such as walking, running, and sitting is unavoidable during the long-term monitoring of chronic-care patients. These physical activities cripple the radio frequency (RF) signal between

  19. Contact stress sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotovsky, Jack [Oakland, CA

    2012-02-07

    A contact stress sensor includes one or more MEMS fabricated sensor elements, where each sensor element of includes a thin non-recessed portion, a recessed portion and a pressure sensitive element adjacent to the recessed portion. An electric circuit is connected to the pressure sensitive element. The circuit includes a thermal compensator and a pressure signal circuit element configured to provide a signal upon movement of the pressure sensitive element.

  20. Wearable Sensor-Based Human Activity Recognition Method with Multi-Features Extracted from Hilbert-Huang Transform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huile Xu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Wearable sensors-based human activity recognition introduces many useful applications and services in health care, rehabilitation training, elderly monitoring and many other areas of human interaction. Existing works in this field mainly focus on recognizing activities by using traditional features extracted from Fourier transform (FT or wavelet transform (WT. However, these signal processing approaches are suitable for a linear signal but not for a nonlinear signal. In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT for dealing with activity data with properties such as nonlinearity and non-stationarity. A multi-features extraction method based on HHT is then proposed to improve the effect of activity recognition. The extracted multi-features include instantaneous amplitude (IA and instantaneous frequency (IF by means of empirical mode decomposition (EMD, as well as instantaneous energy density (IE and marginal spectrum (MS derived from Hilbert spectral analysis. Experimental studies are performed to verify the proposed approach by using the PAMAP2 dataset from the University of California, Irvine for wearable sensors-based activity recognition. Moreover, the effect of combining multi-features vs. a single-feature are investigated and discussed in the scenario of a dependent subject. The experimental results show that multi-features combination can further improve the performance measures. Finally, we test the effect of multi-features combination in the scenario of an independent subject. Our experimental results show that we achieve four performance indexes: recall, precision, F-measure, and accuracy to 0.9337, 0.9417, 0.9353, and 0.9377 respectively, which are all better than the achievements of related works.

  1. Low-noise Magnetic Sensors

    KAUST Repository

    Kosel, Jü rgen; Sun, Jian

    2014-01-01

    Magnetic sensors are disclosed, as well as methods for fabricating and using the same. In some embodiments, an EMR effect sensor includes a semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a conductive layer substantially coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a voltage lead coupled to the conductive layer. In some embodiments, the voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a second voltage lead coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the second voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. Embodiments of a Hall effect sensor having the same or similar structure are also disclosed.

  2. Low-noise Magnetic Sensors

    KAUST Repository

    Kosel, Jurgen

    2014-03-27

    Magnetic sensors are disclosed, as well as methods for fabricating and using the same. In some embodiments, an EMR effect sensor includes a semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a conductive layer substantially coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a voltage lead coupled to the conductive layer. In some embodiments, the voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a second voltage lead coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the second voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. Embodiments of a Hall effect sensor having the same or similar structure are also disclosed.

  3. MEMS sensor technologies for human centred applications in healthcare, physical activities, safety and environmental sensing: a review on research activities in Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciuti, Gastone; Ricotti, Leonardo; Menciassi, Arianna; Dario, Paolo

    2015-03-17

    Over the past few decades the increased level of public awareness concerning healthcare, physical activities, safety and environmental sensing has created an emerging need for smart sensor technologies and monitoring devices able to sense, classify, and provide feedbacks to users' health status and physical activities, as well as to evaluate environmental and safety conditions in a pervasive, accurate and reliable fashion. Monitoring and precisely quantifying users' physical activity with inertial measurement unit-based devices, for instance, has also proven to be important in health management of patients affected by chronic diseases, e.g., Parkinson's disease, many of which are becoming highly prevalent in Italy and in the Western world. This review paper will focus on MEMS sensor technologies developed in Italy in the last three years describing research achievements for healthcare and physical activity, safety and environmental sensing, in addition to smart systems integration. Innovative and smart integrated solutions for sensing devices, pursued and implemented in Italian research centres, will be highlighted, together with specific applications of such technologies. Finally, the paper will depict the future perspective of sensor technologies and corresponding exploitation opportunities, again with a specific focus on Italy.

  4. MEMS Sensor Technologies for Human Centred Applications in Healthcare, Physical Activities, Safety and Environmental Sensing: A Review on Research Activities in Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gastone Ciuti

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Over the past few decades the increased level of public awareness concerning healthcare, physical activities, safety and environmental sensing has created an emerging need for smart sensor technologies and monitoring devices able to sense, classify, and provide feedbacks to users’ health status and physical activities, as well as to evaluate environmental and safety conditions in a pervasive, accurate and reliable fashion. Monitoring and precisely quantifying users’ physical activity with inertial measurement unit-based devices, for instance, has also proven to be important in health management of patients affected by chronic diseases, e.g., Parkinson’s disease, many of which are becoming highly prevalent in Italy and in the Western world. This review paper will focus on MEMS sensor technologies developed in Italy in the last three years describing research achievements for healthcare and physical activity, safety and environmental sensing, in addition to smart systems integration. Innovative and smart integrated solutions for sensing devices, pursued and implemented in Italian research centres, will be highlighted, together with specific applications of such technologies. Finally, the paper will depict the future perspective of sensor technologies and corresponding exploitation opportunities, again with a specific focus on Italy.

  5. An active cooperation-aware spectrum allocation mechanism for body sensor networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Fu; Guo, Ying; Peng, Jun; Hu, Jiankun

    2015-01-28

    A cognitive radio-based spectrum allocation scheme using an active cooperative-aware mechanism is proposed in this paper. The scheme ensures that the primary user and secondary users cooperate actively for their own benefits. The primary user releases some spectrum resources to secondary users to actively stimulate them to actively join the cooperative transmission of the primary user, and secondary users help the primary user to relay data in return, as well as its self-data transmission at the same time. The Stackelberg game is used to evenly and jointly optimize the utilities of both the primary and secondary users. Simulation results show that the proposed active cooperation-aware mechanism could improve the body sensor network performance.

  6. Resistive flex sensors: a survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saggio, Giovanni; Riillo, Francesco; Sbernini, Laura; Quitadamo, Lucia Rita

    2016-01-01

    Resistive flex sensors can be used to measure bending or flexing with relatively little effort and a relatively low budget. Their lightness, compactness, robustness, measurement effectiveness and low power consumption make these sensors useful for manifold applications in diverse fields. Here, we provide a comprehensive survey of resistive flex sensors, taking into account their working principles, manufacturing aspects, electrical characteristics and equivalent models, useful front-end conditioning circuitry, and physic-bio-chemical aspects. Particular effort is devoted to reporting on and analyzing several applications of resistive flex sensors, related to the measurement of body position and motion, and to the implementation of artificial devices. In relation to the human body, we consider the utilization of resistive flex sensors for the measurement of physical activity and for the development of interaction/interface devices driven by human gestures. Concerning artificial devices, we deal with applications related to the automotive field, robots, orthosis and prosthesis, musical instruments and measuring tools. The presented literature is collected from different sources, including bibliographic databases, company press releases, patents, master’s theses and PhD theses. (topical review)

  7. Resistive flex sensors: a survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saggio, Giovanni; Riillo, Francesco; Sbernini, Laura; Quitadamo, Lucia Rita

    2016-01-01

    Resistive flex sensors can be used to measure bending or flexing with relatively little effort and a relatively low budget. Their lightness, compactness, robustness, measurement effectiveness and low power consumption make these sensors useful for manifold applications in diverse fields. Here, we provide a comprehensive survey of resistive flex sensors, taking into account their working principles, manufacturing aspects, electrical characteristics and equivalent models, useful front-end conditioning circuitry, and physic-bio-chemical aspects. Particular effort is devoted to reporting on and analyzing several applications of resistive flex sensors, related to the measurement of body position and motion, and to the implementation of artificial devices. In relation to the human body, we consider the utilization of resistive flex sensors for the measurement of physical activity and for the development of interaction/interface devices driven by human gestures. Concerning artificial devices, we deal with applications related to the automotive field, robots, orthosis and prosthesis, musical instruments and measuring tools. The presented literature is collected from different sources, including bibliographic databases, company press releases, patents, master’s theses and PhD theses.

  8. Sparse Detector Imaging Sensor with Two-Class Silhouette Classification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Russomanno

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the design and test of a simple active near-infrared sparse detector imaging sensor. The prototype of the sensor is novel in that it can capture remarkable silhouettes or profiles of a wide-variety of moving objects, including humans, animals, and vehicles using a sparse detector array comprised of only sixteen sensing elements deployed in a vertical configuration. The prototype sensor was built to collect silhouettes for a variety of objects and to evaluate several algorithms for classifying the data obtained from the sensor into two classes: human versus non-human. Initial tests show that the classification of individually sensed objects into two classes can be achieved with accuracy greater than ninety-nine percent (99% with a subset of the sixteen detectors using a representative dataset consisting of 512 signatures. The prototype also includes a Webservice interface such that the sensor can be tasked in a network-centric environment. The sensor appears to be a low-cost alternative to traditional, high-resolution focal plane array imaging sensors for some applications. After a power optimization study, appropriate packaging, and testing with more extensive datasets, the sensor may be a good candidate for deployment in vast geographic regions for a myriad of intelligent electronic fence and persistent surveillance applications, including perimeter security scenarios.

  9. Energy-Aware Sensor Networks via Sensor Selection and Power Allocation

    KAUST Repository

    Niyazi, Lama B.

    2018-02-12

    Finite energy reserves and the irreplaceable nature of nodes in battery-driven wireless sensor networks (WSNs) motivate energy-aware network operation. This paper considers energy-efficiency in a WSN by investigating the problem of minimizing the power consumption consisting of both radiated and circuit power of sensor nodes, so as to determine an optimal set of active sensors and corresponding transmit powers. To solve such a mixed discrete and continuous problem, the paper proposes various sensor selection and power allocation algorithms of low complexity. Simulation results show an appreciable improvement in their performance over a system in which no selection strategy is applied, with a slight gap from derived lower bounds. The results further yield insights into the relationship between the number of activated sensors and its effect on total power in different regimes of operation, based on which recommendations are made for which strategies to use in the different regimes.

  10. ALPIDE: the Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor for the ALICE ITS upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Šuljić, M.

    2016-01-01

    The upgrade of the ALICE vertex detector, the Inner Tracking System (ITS), is scheduled to be installed during the next long shutdown period (2019-2020) of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) . The current ITS will be replaced by seven concentric layers of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) with total active surface of ∼10 m 2 , thus making ALICE the first LHC experiment implementing MAPS detector technology on a large scale. The ALPIDE chip, based on TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS Imaging Process, is being developed for this purpose. A particular process feature, the deep p-well, is exploited so the full CMOS logic can be implemented over the active sensor area without impinging on the deposited charge collection. ALPIDE is implemented on silicon wafers with a high resistivity epitaxial layer. A single chip measures 15 mm by 30 mm and contains half a million pixels distributed in 512 rows and 1024 columns. In-pixel circuitry features amplification, shaping, discrimination and multi-event buffering. The readout is hit driven i.e. only addresses of hit pixels are sent to the periphery. The upgrade of the ITS presents two different sets of requirements for sensors of the inner and of the outer layers due to the significantly different track density, radiation level and active detector surface. The ALPIDE chip fulfils the stringent requirements in both cases. The detection efficiency is higher than 99%, fake-hit probability is orders of magnitude lower than the required 10 −6 and spatial resolution within the required 5 μm. This performance is to be maintained even after a total ionising does (TID) of 2.7 Mrad and a non-ionising energy loss (NIEL) fluence of 1.7 × 10 13 1 MeV n eq /cm 2 , which is above what is expected during the detector lifetime. Readout rate of 100 kHz is provided and the power density of ALPIDE is less than 40 mW/cm 2 . This contribution will provide a summary of the ALPIDE features and main test results.

  11. ALPIDE: the Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor for the ALICE ITS upgrade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Šuljić, M.

    2016-11-01

    The upgrade of the ALICE vertex detector, the Inner Tracking System (ITS), is scheduled to be installed during the next long shutdown period (2019-2020) of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) . The current ITS will be replaced by seven concentric layers of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) with total active surface of ~10 m2, thus making ALICE the first LHC experiment implementing MAPS detector technology on a large scale. The ALPIDE chip, based on TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS Imaging Process, is being developed for this purpose. A particular process feature, the deep p-well, is exploited so the full CMOS logic can be implemented over the active sensor area without impinging on the deposited charge collection. ALPIDE is implemented on silicon wafers with a high resistivity epitaxial layer. A single chip measures 15 mm by 30 mm and contains half a million pixels distributed in 512 rows and 1024 columns. In-pixel circuitry features amplification, shaping, discrimination and multi-event buffering. The readout is hit driven i.e. only addresses of hit pixels are sent to the periphery. The upgrade of the ITS presents two different sets of requirements for sensors of the inner and of the outer layers due to the significantly different track density, radiation level and active detector surface. The ALPIDE chip fulfils the stringent requirements in both cases. The detection efficiency is higher than 99%, fake-hit probability is orders of magnitude lower than the required 10-6 and spatial resolution within the required 5 μm. This performance is to be maintained even after a total ionising does (TID) of 2.7 Mrad and a non-ionising energy loss (NIEL) fluence of 1.7 × 1013 1 MeV neq/cm2, which is above what is expected during the detector lifetime. Readout rate of 100 kHz is provided and the power density of ALPIDE is less than 40 mW/cm2. This contribution will provide a summary of the ALPIDE features and main test results.

  12. Towards a sensor for detecting human presence and activity

    OpenAIRE

    Benezeth , Yannick; Laurent , Hélène; Emile , Bruno; Rosenberger , Christophe

    2011-01-01

    International audience; In this paper, we propose a vision-based system for human detection and tracking in indoor environment allowing to collect higher level information on people activity. The developed presence sensor based on video analysis, using a static camera is ¯rst of all presented. Composed of three main steps, the ¯rst one consists in change detection using a background model updated at di®erent levels to manage the most common variations of the environment. A moving objects trac...

  13. X-ray metrology of an array of active edge pixel sensors for use at synchrotron light sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plackett, R.; Arndt, K.; Bortoletto, D.; Horswell, I.; Lockwood, G.; Shipsey, I.; Tartoni, N.; Williams, S.

    2018-01-01

    We report on the production and testing of an array of active edge silicon sensors as a prototype of a large array. Four Medipix3RX.1 chips were bump bonded to four single chip sized Advacam active edge n-on-n sensors. These detectors were then mounted into a 2 by 2 array and tested on B16 at Diamond Light Source with an x-ray beam spot of 2um. The results from these tests, compared with optical metrology demonstrate that this type of sensor is sensitive to the physical edge of the silicon, with only a modest loss of efficiency in the final two rows of pixels. We present the efficiency maps recorded with the microfocus beam and a sample powder diffraction measurement. These results give confidence that this sensor technology can be used effectively in larger arrays of detectors at synchrotron light sources.

  14. Micro-digital sun sensor: an imaging sensor for space applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, N.; Theuwissen, A.J.P.; Büttgen, B.; Hakkesteegt, H.C.; Jasen, H.; Leijtens, J.A.P.

    2010-01-01

    Micro-Digital Sun Sensor is an attitude sensor which senses relative position of micro-satellites to the sun in space. It is composed of a solar cell power supply, a RF communication block and an imaging chip which is called APS+. The APS+ integrates a CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) of 512×512

  15. A monolithic active pixel sensor for particle detection in 0.25 μm CMOS technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Velthuis, J.J.; Allport, P.P.; Casse, G.; Evans, A.; Turchetta, R.; Villani, G.

    2006-01-01

    We are developing CMOS monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) for High Energy Physics applications. We have successfully produced 3 test structures. They feature several different pixel types including: standard 3MOS, 4MOS allowing Correlated Double Sampling (CDS), charge amplifier pixels and a flexible APS (FAPS). The FAPS has a 10 deep pipeline on each pixel. This is specifically designed with the beam structure of the TESLA proposal for the Linear Collider in mind. Results of a laser test on our first device and source test results on two more recent test structures will be presented

  16. Hot pixel generation in active pixel sensors: dosimetric and micro-dosimetric response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheick, Leif; Novak, Frank

    2003-01-01

    The dosimetric response of an active pixel sensor is analyzed. heavy ions are seen to damage the pixel in much the same way as gamma radiation. The probability of a hot pixel is seen to exhibit behavior that is not typical with other microdose effects.

  17. Alkali metals in addition to acidic pH activate the EvgS histidine kinase sensor in Escherichia coli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eguchi, Yoko; Utsumi, Ryutaro

    2014-09-01

    Two-component signal transduction systems (TCSs) in bacteria perceive environmental stress and transmit the information via phosphorelay to adjust multiple cellular functions for adaptation. The EvgS/EvgA system is a TCS that confers acid resistance to Escherichia coli cells. Activation of the EvgS sensor initiates a cascade of transcription factors, EvgA, YdeO, and GadE, which induce the expression of a large group of acid resistance genes. We searched for signals activating EvgS and found that a high concentration of alkali metals (Na(+), K(+)) in addition to low pH was essential for the activation. EvgS is a histidine kinase, with a large periplasmic sensor region consisting of two tandem PBPb (bacterial periplasmic solute-binding protein) domains at its N terminus. The periplasmic sensor region of EvgS was necessary for EvgS activation, and Leu152, located within the first PBPb domain, was involved in the activation. Furthermore, chimeras of EvgS and PhoQ histidine kinases suggested that alkali metals were perceived at the periplasmic sensor region, whereas the cytoplasmic linker domain, connecting the transmembrane region and the histidine kinase domain, was required for low-pH perception. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  18. Simultaneous Activation of Iron- and Thiol-Based Sensor-Regulator Systems by Redox-Active Compounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kang-Lok; Yoo, Ji-Sun; Oh, Gyeong-Seok; Singh, Atul K; Roe, Jung-Hye

    2017-01-01

    Bacteria in natural habitats are exposed to myriad redox-active compounds (RACs), which include producers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive electrophile species (RES) that alkylate or oxidize thiols. RACs can induce oxidative stress in cells and activate response pathways by modulating the activity of sensitive regulators. However, the effect of a certain compound on the cell has been investigated primarily with respect to a specific regulatory pathway. Since a single compound can exert multiple chemical effects in the cell, its effect can be better understood by time-course monitoring of multiple sensitive regulatory pathways that the compound induces. We investigated the effect of representative RACs by monitoring the activity of three sensor-regulators in the model actinobacterium Streptomyces coelicolor ; SoxR that senses reactive compounds directly through oxidation of its [2Fe-2S] cluster, CatR/PerR that senses peroxides through bound iron, and an anti-sigma factor RsrA that senses RES via disulfide formation. The time course and magnitude of induction of their target transcripts were monitored to predict the chemical activities of each compound in S. coelicolor . Phenazine methosulfate (PMS) was found to be an effective RAC that directly activated SoxR and an effective ROS-producer that induced CatR/PerR with little thiol-perturbing activity. p -Benzoquinone was an effective RAC that directly activated SoxR, with slower ROS-producing activity, and an effective RES that induced the RsrA-SigR system. Plumbagin was an effective RAC that activated SoxR, an effective ROS-producer, and a less agile but effective RES. Diamide was an RES that effectively formed disulfides and a weak RAC that activated SoxR. Monobromobimane was a moderately effective RES and a slow producer of ROS. Interestingly, benzoquinone induced the SigR system by forming adducts on cysteine thiols in RsrA, revealing a new pathway to modulate RsrA activity. Overall, this study showed

  19. Front end optimization for the monolithic active pixel sensor of the ALICE Inner Tracking System upgrade

    OpenAIRE

    Kim, D; Rinella, G Aglieri; Cavicchioli, C; Chanlek, N; Collu, A; Degerli, Y; Dorokhov, A; Flouzat, C; Gajanana, D; Gao, C; Guilloux, F; Hillemanns, H; Hristozkov, S; Junique, A; Keil, M

    2016-01-01

    ALICE plans to replace its Inner Tracking System during the second long shut down of the LHC in 2019 with a new 10 m(2) tracker constructed entirely with monolithic active pixel sensors. The TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS imaging Sensor process has been selected to produce the sensor as it offers a deep pwell allowing full CMOS in-pixel circuitry and different starting materials. First full-scale prototypes have been fabricated and tested. Radiation tolerance has also been verified. In this paper the ...

  20. Electrospun conducting polymer nanofibers as the active material in sensors and diodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinto, Nicholas J

    2013-01-01

    Polyaniline doped with camphorsulfonic acid (PANi-HCSA) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT-PSSA) were electrospun separately to obtain individual nanofibers which were captured on Si/SiO 2 substrates and electrically characterized. The fiber resistance was recorded as a function of time in the presence of vapours of aliphatic alcohols of varying sizes. Due to the large surface to volume ratio, uniform diameter and small quantity of active material used in the construction, these sensor responses are very quick. Sensors made from individual fibers also show true saturation upon exposure to and removal of the sensing gas. A Schottky diode was also fabricated using an n-doped Si/SiO 2 substrate and a single PANi-HCSA fiber and tested in vacuum and in ammonia gas. The diode response was instantaneous upon exposure to ammonia with nearly complete recovery of the current upon pumping out the ammonia, thereby making it a reusable sensor with rectifying behaviour i.e. multifunctional.

  1. A Sensor Web and Web Service-Based Approach for Active Hydrological Disaster Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xi Zhai

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Rapid advancements in Earth-observing sensor systems have led to the generation of large amounts of remote sensing data that can be used for the dynamic monitoring and analysis of hydrological disasters. The management and analysis of these data could take advantage of distributed information infrastructure technologies such as Web service and Sensor Web technologies, which have shown great potential in facilitating the use of observed big data in an interoperable, flexible and on-demand way. However, it remains a challenge to achieve timely response to hydrological disaster events and to automate the geoprocessing of hydrological disaster observations. This article proposes a Sensor Web and Web service-based approach to support active hydrological disaster monitoring. This approach integrates an event-driven mechanism, Web services, and a Sensor Web and coordinates them using workflow technologies to facilitate the Web-based sharing and processing of hydrological hazard information. The design and implementation of hydrological Web services for conducting various hydrological analysis tasks on the Web using dynamically updating sensor observation data are presented. An application example is provided to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach over the traditional approach. The results confirm the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed approach in cases of hydrological disaster.

  2. Wearable sensors for human health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asada, H. Harry; Reisner, Andrew

    2006-03-01

    Wearable sensors for continuous monitoring of vital signs for extended periods of weeks or months are expected to revolutionize healthcare services in the home and workplace as well as in hospitals and nursing homes. This invited paper describes recent research progress in wearable health monitoring technology and its clinical applications, with emphasis on blood pressure and circulatory monitoring. First, a finger ring-type wearable blood pressure sensor based on photo plethysmogram is presented. Technical issues, including motion artifact reduction, power saving, and wearability enhancement, will be addressed. Second, sensor fusion and sensor networking for integrating multiple sensors with diverse modalities will be discussed for comprehensive monitoring and diagnosis of health status. Unlike traditional snap-shot measurements, continuous monitoring with wearable sensors opens up the possibility to treat the physiological system as a dynamical process. This allows us to apply powerful system dynamics and control methodologies, such as adaptive filtering, single- and multi-channel system identification, active noise cancellation, and adaptive control, to the monitoring and treatment of highly complex physiological systems. A few clinical trials illustrate the potentials of the wearable sensor technology for future heath care services.

  3. Quality control on planar n-in-n pixel sensors — Recent progress of ATLAS planar pixel sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klingenberg, R.

    2013-01-01

    To extend the physics reach of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), upgrades to the accelerator are planned which will increase the peak luminosity by a factor 5–10. To cope with the increased occupancy and radiation damage, the ATLAS experiment plans to introduce an all-silicon inner tracker with the high luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC). To investigate the suitability of pixel sensors using the proven planar technology for the upgraded tracker, the ATLAS Upgrade Planar Pixel Sensor (PPS) R and D Project was established. Main areas of research are the performance of planar pixel sensors at highest fluences, the exploration of possibilities for cost reduction to enable the instrumentation of large areas, the achievement of slim or active edges to provide low geometric inefficiencies without the need for shingling of modules and the investigation of the operation of highly irradiated sensors at low thresholds to increase the efficiency. The Insertable b-layer (IBL) is the first upgrade project within the ATLAS experiment and will employ a new detector layer consisting of silicon pixel sensors, which were improved and prototyped in the framework of the planar pixel sensor R and D project. A special focus of this paper is the status of the development and testing of planar n-in-n pixel sensors including the quality control of the on-going series production and postprocessing of sensor wafers. A high yield of produced planar sensor wafers and FE-I4 double chip sensors after first steps of post-processing including under bump metallization and dicing is observed. -- Highlights: ► Prototypes of irradiated planar n-in-n sensors have been successfully tested under laboratory conditions. ► A quality assurance programme on the series production of planar sensors for the IBL has started. ► A high yield of double chip sensors during the series production is observed which are compatible to the specifications to this detector component.

  4. Sensors for the Senses: Meaning-making via self-active entertainment experiences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Brooks

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available In his ACM Computers in Entertainment article, titled "Artist and Audience: Emerging the Nano-entertainment experience", the author posited on how Inhabited Information Spaces, created as core catalyst of research, may be questioned as a multisensory future virtual work of art. This themed Human-Computer Interaction for Entertainment contribution for the EAI INTETAIN 2015 conference builds upon the earlier work by questioning meaning making from such self-active entertainment experiences. Contextually, self-active relates to actor empowerment via ICT, whilst entertainment refers to HCI paradigms that are fun, engaging, and enjoyable. Conceptualizing, designing and realizing alternative digital media entertainment situations in stage performance, interactive installations and exhibitions at leading Museums for Modern Art, National and International major events, contributed to development of a sensor-based system conceived as a platform to investigate meaning making having societal impact beyond art. The system involves arrays of selectable sensor profiles mixed and matched according to requirements. Sensing of human input can be through worn (biosignal e.g. EEG, ECG, EMG, GSR, held, and/or non-worn sensors (volumetric, linear and planar interface profiles. Mapping of sourced human data is to a variety of digital content including art-based (music making, digital painting, lighting effects, video games, Virtual Reality and robotic devices. System adaptability promotes participant profile matching e.g. according to desired outcome. All ages and abilities are potential users. Preceding the commonly known camera-based game controllers such as EyeToy, Wii, and Kinect; the SoundScapes Virtual Interactive Space system has been used in institutes, hospitals and clinics to empower people with impairment to unconsciously push their limits of functionality via creative and playful expression. Rehabilitation is less mundane and boring, where variety of ICT

  5. Sodium ionization detector and sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hrizo, J.; Bauerle, J.E.

    1979-01-01

    Work conducted on a basic technology development effort with the Westinghouse Sodium Ionization Detector (SID) sensor is reported. Included are results obtained for three task areas: (1) On-line operational response testing - in-situ calibration techniques; (2) Performance-reliability characteristics of aged filaments; and (3) Evaluation of chemical interference effects. The results showed that a calibrator filament coated with a sodium compound, when activated, does supply the necessary sodium atoms to provide a valid operational in-situ test. The life time of new Cr 2 0 3 -protected SID sensor filaments can be extended by operating at a reduced temperature. However, there also is a reduction in the sensitivity. Non-sodium species, such as products from a smoldering fire and organic aerosols, produce an interference response from the sensor comparable to a typical sodium response

  6. Fault Activity Aware Service Delivery in Wireless Sensor Networks for Smart Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaomei Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks (WSNs are increasingly used in smart cities which involve multiple city services having quality of service (QoS requirements. When misbehaving devices exist, the performance of current delivery protocols degrades significantly. Nonetheless, the majority of existing schemes either ignore the faulty behaviors’ variability and time-variance in city environments or focus on homogeneous traffic for traditional data services (simple text messages rather than city services (health care units, traffic monitors, and video surveillance. We consider the problem of fault-aware multiservice delivery, in which the network performs secure routing and rate control in terms of fault activity dynamic metric. To this end, we first design a distributed framework to estimate the fault activity information based on the effects of nondeterministic faulty behaviors and to incorporate these estimates into the service delivery. Then we present a fault activity geographic opportunistic routing (FAGOR algorithm addressing a wide range of misbehaviors. We develop a leaky-hop model and design a fault activity rate-control algorithm for heterogeneous traffic to allocate resources, while guaranteeing utility fairness among multiple city services. Finally, we demonstrate the significant performance of our scheme in routing performance, effective utility, and utility fairness in the presence of misbehaving sensors through extensive simulations.

  7. CMOS monolithic active pixel sensors for high energy physics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Snoeys, W., E-mail: walter.snoeys@cern.ch

    2014-11-21

    Monolithic pixel detectors integrating sensor matrix and readout in one piece of silicon are only now starting to make their way into high energy physics. Two major requirements are radiation tolerance and low power consumption. For the most extreme radiation levels, signal charge has to be collected by drift from a depletion layer onto a designated collection electrode without losing the signal charge elsewhere in the in-pixel circuit. Low power consumption requires an optimization of Q/C, the ratio of the collected signal charge over the input capacitance [1]. Some solutions to combine sufficient Q/C and collection by drift require exotic fabrication steps. More conventional solutions up to now require a simple in-pixel readout circuit. Both high voltage CMOS technologies and Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) technologies with high resistivity epitaxial layers offer high voltage diodes. The choice between the two is not fundamental but more a question of how much depletion can be reached and also of availability and cost. This paper tries to give an overview.

  8. Networked Sensor Arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tighe, R. J.

    2002-01-01

    A set of independent radiation sensors, coupled with real-time data telemetry, offers the opportunity to run correlation algorithms for the sensor array as well as to incorporate non-radiological data into the system. This may enhance the overall sensitivity of the sensors and provide an opportunity to project the location of a source within the array. In collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), we have conducted field experiments to test a prototype system. Combining the outputs of a set of distributed sensors permits the correlation that the independent sensor outputs. Combined with additional information such as traffic patterns and velocities, this can reduce random/false detections and enhance detection capability. The principle components of such a system include: (1) A set of radiation sensors. These may be of varying type and complexity, including gamma and/or neutron detectors, gross count and spectral-capable sensors, and low to high energy-resolution sensors. (2) A set of non-radiation sensors. These may include sensors such as vehicle presence and imaging sensors. (3) A communications architecture for near real-time telemetry. Depending upon existing infrastructure and bandwidth requirements, this may be a radio or hard-wire based system. (4) A central command console to pole the sensors, correlate their output, and display the data in a meaningful form to the system operator. Both sensitivity and selectivity are important considerations when evaluating the performance of a detection system. Depending on the application, the optimization of sensitivity as well as the rejection of ''nuisance'' radioactive sources may or may not be critical

  9. The first fully functional 3D CMOS chip with Deep N-well active pixel sensors for the ILC vertex detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Traversi, G.; Gaioni, L.; Manazza, A.; Manghisoni, M.; Ratti, L.; Re, V.

    2013-01-01

    This work presents the characterization of Deep N-well (DNW) active pixel sensors fabricated in a vertically integrated technology. The DNW approach takes advantage of the triple well structure to lay out a sensor with relatively large charge collecting area (as compared to standard three transistor MAPS), while the readout is performed by a classical signal processing chain for capacitive detectors. This new 3D design relies upon stacking two homogeneous tiers fabricated in a 130 nm CMOS process where the top tier is thinned down to about 12μm to expose through silicon vias (TSV), therefore making connection to the buried circuits possible. This technology has been used to design a fine pitch 3D CMOS sensor with sparsification capabilities, in view of vertexing applications to the International Linear Collider (ILC) experiments. Results from the characterization of different kind of test structures, including single pixels, 3×3 and 8×8 matrices, are presented

  10. An Active Cooperation-Aware Spectrum Allocation Mechanism for Body Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fu Jiang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A cognitive radio-based spectrum allocation scheme using an active cooperative-aware mechanism is proposed in this paper. The scheme ensures that the primary user and secondary users cooperate actively for their own benefits. The primary user releases some spectrum resources to secondary users to actively stimulate them to actively join the cooperative transmission of the primary user, and secondary users help the primary user to relay data in return, as well as its self-data transmission at the same time. The Stackelberg game is used to evenly and jointly optimize the utilities of both the primary and secondary users. Simulation results show that the proposed active cooperation-aware mechanism could improve the body sensor network performance.

  11. Silicon sensors for trackers at high-luminosity environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peltola, Timo, E-mail: timo.peltola@helsinki.fi

    2015-10-01

    The planned upgrade of the LHC accelerator at CERN, namely the high luminosity (HL) phase of the LHC (HL-LHC foreseen for 2023), will result in a more intense radiation environment than the present tracking system that was designed for. The required upgrade of the all-silicon central trackers at the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb experiments will include higher granularity and radiation hard sensors. The radiation hardness of the new sensors must be roughly an order of magnitude higher than in the current LHC detectors. To address this, a massive R&D program is underway within the CERN RD50 Collaboration “Development of Radiation Hard Semiconductor Devices for Very High Luminosity Colliders” to develop silicon sensors with sufficient radiation tolerance. Research topics include the improvement of the intrinsic radiation tolerance of the sensor material and novel detector designs with benefits like reduced trapping probability (thinned and 3D sensors), maximized sensitive area (active edge sensors) and enhanced charge carrier generation (sensors with intrinsic gain). A review of the recent results from both measurements and TCAD simulations of several detector technologies and silicon materials at radiation levels expected for HL-LHC will be presented. - Highlights: • An overview of the recent results from the RD50 collaboration. • Accuracy of TCAD simulations increased by including both bulk and surface damage. • Sensors with n-electrode readout and MCz material offer higher radiation hardness. • 3D detectors are a promising choice for the extremely high fluence environments. • Detectors with an enhanced charge carrier generation under systematic investigation.

  12. Chemical sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hubbard, C.W.; Gordon, R.L.

    1987-05-01

    The revolution in analytical chemistry promised by recent developments in the field of chemical sensors has potential for significant positive impact on both research and production activities conducted by and for the Department of Energy. Analyses which were, in the past, performed only with a roomful of expensive equipment can now be performed with miniature solid-state electronic devices or small optical probes. Progress in the development of chemical sensors has been rapid, and the field is currently growing at a great rate. In accordance, Pacific Northwest Laboratory initiated a survey of recent literature so that contributors to active programs in research on analytical methods could be made aware of principles and applications of this new technology. This report presents the results of that survey. The sensors discussed here are divided into three types: micro solid-state devices, optical sensors, and piezoelectric crystal devices. The report is divided into three corresponding sections. The first section, ''Micro Solid-State Devices,'' discusses the design, operation, and application of electronic sensors that are produced in much the same way as standard solid-state electronic devices. The second section, ''Optrodes,'' covers the design and operation of chemical sensors that use fiber optics to detect chemically induced changes in optical properties. The final section, ''Piezoelectric Crystal Detectors,'' discusses two types of chemical sensors that depend on the changes in the properties of an oscillating piezoelectric crystal to detect the presence of certain materials. Advantages and disadvantages of each type of sensor are summarized in each section

  13. CMOS Imaging of Pin-Printed Xerogel-Based Luminescent Sensor Microarrays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Lei; Yung, Ka Yi; Khan, Rifat; Chodavarapu, Vamsy P; Bright, Frank V

    2010-12-01

    We present the design and implementation of a luminescence-based miniaturized multisensor system using pin-printed xerogel materials which act as host media for chemical recognition elements. We developed a CMOS imager integrated circuit (IC) to image the luminescence response of the xerogel-based sensor array. The imager IC uses a 26 × 20 (520 elements) array of active pixel sensors and each active pixel includes a high-gain phototransistor to convert the detected optical signals into electrical currents. The imager includes a correlated double sampling circuit and pixel address/digital control circuit; the image data is read-out as coded serial signal. The sensor system uses a light-emitting diode (LED) to excite the target analyte responsive luminophores doped within discrete xerogel-based sensor elements. As a prototype, we developed a 4 × 4 (16 elements) array of oxygen (O 2 ) sensors. Each group of 4 sensor elements in the array (arranged in a row) is designed to provide a different and specific sensitivity to the target gaseous O 2 concentration. This property of multiple sensitivities is achieved by using a strategic mix of two oxygen sensitive luminophores ([Ru(dpp) 3 ] 2+ and ([Ru(bpy) 3 ] 2+ ) in each pin-printed xerogel sensor element. The CMOS imager consumes an average power of 8 mW operating at 1 kHz sampling frequency driven at 5 V. The developed prototype system demonstrates a low cost and miniaturized luminescence multisensor system.

  14. Assessment of laboratory and daily energy expenditure estimates from consumer multi-sensor physical activity monitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chowdhury, Enhad A; Western, Max J; Nightingale, Thomas E; Peacock, Oliver J; Thompson, Dylan

    2017-01-01

    Wearable physical activity monitors are growing in popularity and provide the opportunity for large numbers of the public to self-monitor physical activity behaviours. The latest generation of these devices feature multiple sensors, ostensibly similar or even superior to advanced research instruments. However, little is known about the accuracy of their energy expenditure estimates. Here, we assessed their performance against criterion measurements in both controlled laboratory conditions (simulated activities of daily living and structured exercise) and over a 24 hour period in free-living conditions. Thirty men (n = 15) and women (n = 15) wore three multi-sensor consumer monitors (Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge HR), an accelerometry-only device as a comparison (Jawbone UP24) and validated research-grade multi-sensor devices (BodyMedia Core and individually calibrated Actiheart™). During discrete laboratory activities when compared against indirect calorimetry, the Apple Watch performed similarly to criterion measures. The Fitbit Charge HR was less consistent at measurement of discrete activities, but produced similar free-living estimates to the Apple Watch. Both these devices underestimated free-living energy expenditure (-394 kcal/d and -405 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). The multi-sensor Microsoft Band and accelerometry-only Jawbone UP24 devices underestimated most laboratory activities and substantially underestimated free-living expenditure (-1128 kcal/d and -998 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). None of the consumer devices were deemed equivalent to the reference method for daily energy expenditure. For all devices, there was a tendency for negative bias with greater daily energy expenditure. No consumer monitors performed as well as the research-grade devices although in some (but not all) cases, estimates were close to criterion measurements. Thus, whilst industry-led innovation has improved the accuracy of consumer monitors, these devices

  15. Assessment of laboratory and daily energy expenditure estimates from consumer multi-sensor physical activity monitors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enhad A Chowdhury

    Full Text Available Wearable physical activity monitors are growing in popularity and provide the opportunity for large numbers of the public to self-monitor physical activity behaviours. The latest generation of these devices feature multiple sensors, ostensibly similar or even superior to advanced research instruments. However, little is known about the accuracy of their energy expenditure estimates. Here, we assessed their performance against criterion measurements in both controlled laboratory conditions (simulated activities of daily living and structured exercise and over a 24 hour period in free-living conditions. Thirty men (n = 15 and women (n = 15 wore three multi-sensor consumer monitors (Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge HR, an accelerometry-only device as a comparison (Jawbone UP24 and validated research-grade multi-sensor devices (BodyMedia Core and individually calibrated Actiheart™. During discrete laboratory activities when compared against indirect calorimetry, the Apple Watch performed similarly to criterion measures. The Fitbit Charge HR was less consistent at measurement of discrete activities, but produced similar free-living estimates to the Apple Watch. Both these devices underestimated free-living energy expenditure (-394 kcal/d and -405 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01. The multi-sensor Microsoft Band and accelerometry-only Jawbone UP24 devices underestimated most laboratory activities and substantially underestimated free-living expenditure (-1128 kcal/d and -998 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01. None of the consumer devices were deemed equivalent to the reference method for daily energy expenditure. For all devices, there was a tendency for negative bias with greater daily energy expenditure. No consumer monitors performed as well as the research-grade devices although in some (but not all cases, estimates were close to criterion measurements. Thus, whilst industry-led innovation has improved the accuracy of consumer monitors

  16. Design, synthesis and structure of new potential electrochemically active boronic acid-based glucose sensors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Norrild, Jens Chr.; Søtofte, Inger

    2002-01-01

    In the course of our investigations on new boronic acid based carbohydrate sensors three new boronic acids 3, 7 and 11 containing a ferrocene moiety were synthesised. Their design includes an intramolecular B-N bonding motif in order to facilitate binding at physiological pH. We report the synthe......In the course of our investigations on new boronic acid based carbohydrate sensors three new boronic acids 3, 7 and 11 containing a ferrocene moiety were synthesised. Their design includes an intramolecular B-N bonding motif in order to facilitate binding at physiological pH. We report...

  17. Noise activated bistable sensor based on chaotic system with output defined by temporal coding and firing rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korneta, Wojciech; Gomes, Iacyel

    2017-11-01

    Traditional bistable sensors use external bias signal to drive its response between states and their detection strategy is based on the output power spectral density or the residence time difference (RTD) in two sensor states. Recently, the noise activated nonlinear dynamic sensors driven only by noise based on RTD technique have been proposed. Here, we present experimental results of dc voltage measurements by noise-driven bistable sensor based on electronic Chua's circuit operating in a chaotic regime where two single scroll attractors coexist. The output of the sensor is quantified by the proportion of the time the sensor stays in one state to the total observation time and by the spike-count rate with spikes defined by crossings between attractors. The relationship between the stimuli and particular observable for different noise intensities is obtained, the usefulness of each coding scheme is discussed, and the optimal noise intensity for detection is indicated. It is shown that the obtained relationship is the same for any observation time when population coding is used. The optimal time window for both detection and the number of units in population coding is found. Our results may be useful for analyses and understanding of the neural activity and in designing bistable storage elements at length scales where thermal fluctuations drastically increase and the effect of noise must be taken into consideration.

  18. Promotion of active ageing combining sensor and social network data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bilbao, Aritz; Almeida, Aitor; López-de-Ipiña, Diego

    2016-12-01

    The increase of life expectancy in modern society has caused an increase in elderly population. Elderly people want to live independently in their home environment for as long as possible. However, as we age, our physical skills tend to worsen and our social circle tends to become smaller, something that often leads to a considerable decrease of both our physical and social activities. In this paper, we present an AAL framework developed within the SONOPA project, whose objective is to promote active ageing by combining a social network with information inferred using in-home sensors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Design and performance of an integrated ground and space sensor web for monitoring active volcanoes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lahusen, Richard; Song, Wenzhan; Kedar, Sharon; Shirazi, Behrooz; Chien, Steve; Doubleday, Joshua; Davies, Ashley; Webb, Frank; Dzurisin, Dan; Pallister, John

    2010-05-01

    An interdisciplinary team of computer, earth and space scientists collaborated to develop a sensor web system for rapid deployment at active volcanoes. The primary goals of this Optimized Autonomous Space In situ Sensorweb (OASIS) are to: 1) integrate complementary space and in situ (ground-based) elements into an interactive, autonomous sensor web; 2) advance sensor web power and communication resource management technology; and 3) enable scalability for seamless addition sensors and other satellites into the sensor web. This three-year project began with a rigorous multidisciplinary interchange that resulted in definition of system requirements to guide the design of the OASIS network and to achieve the stated project goals. Based on those guidelines, we have developed fully self-contained in situ nodes that integrate GPS, seismic, infrasonic and lightning (ash) detection sensors. The nodes in the wireless sensor network are linked to the ground control center through a mesh network that is highly optimized for remote geophysical monitoring. OASIS also features an autonomous bidirectional interaction between ground nodes and instruments on the EO-1 space platform through continuous analysis and messaging capabilities at the command and control center. Data from both the in situ sensors and satellite-borne hyperspectral imaging sensors stream into a common database for real-time visualization and analysis by earth scientists. We have successfully completed a field deployment of 15 nodes within the crater and on the flanks of Mount St. Helens, Washington. The demonstration that sensor web technology facilitates rapid network deployments and that we can achieve real-time continuous data acquisition. We are now optimizing component performance and improving user interaction for additional deployments at erupting volcanoes in 2010.

  20. Nanophotonic Image Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Qin; Hu, Xin; Wen, Long; Yu, Yan; Cumming, David R S

    2016-09-01

    The increasing miniaturization and resolution of image sensors bring challenges to conventional optical elements such as spectral filters and polarizers, the properties of which are determined mainly by the materials used, including dye polymers. Recent developments in spectral filtering and optical manipulating techniques based on nanophotonics have opened up the possibility of an alternative method to control light spectrally and spatially. By integrating these technologies into image sensors, it will become possible to achieve high compactness, improved process compatibility, robust stability and tunable functionality. In this Review, recent representative achievements on nanophotonic image sensors are presented and analyzed including image sensors with nanophotonic color filters and polarizers, metamaterial-based THz image sensors, filter-free nanowire image sensors and nanostructured-based multispectral image sensors. This novel combination of cutting edge photonics research and well-developed commercial products may not only lead to an important application of nanophotonics but also offer great potential for next generation image sensors beyond Moore's Law expectations. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. Autonomous Mission Operations for Sensor Webs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Underbrink, A.; Witt, K.; Stanley, J.; Mandl, D.

    2008-12-01

    We present interim results of a 2005 ROSES AIST project entitled, "Using Intelligent Agents to Form a Sensor Web for Autonomous Mission Operations", or SWAMO. The goal of the SWAMO project is to shift the control of spacecraft missions from a ground-based, centrally controlled architecture to a collaborative, distributed set of intelligent agents. The network of intelligent agents intends to reduce management requirements by utilizing model-based system prediction and autonomic model/agent collaboration. SWAMO agents are distributed throughout the Sensor Web environment, which may include multiple spacecraft, aircraft, ground systems, and ocean systems, as well as manned operations centers. The agents monitor and manage sensor platforms, Earth sensing systems, and Earth sensing models and processes. The SWAMO agents form a Sensor Web of agents via peer-to-peer coordination. Some of the intelligent agents are mobile and able to traverse between on-orbit and ground-based systems. Other agents in the network are responsible for encapsulating system models to perform prediction of future behavior of the modeled subsystems and components to which they are assigned. The software agents use semantic web technologies to enable improved information sharing among the operational entities of the Sensor Web. The semantics include ontological conceptualizations of the Sensor Web environment, plus conceptualizations of the SWAMO agents themselves. By conceptualizations of the agents, we mean knowledge of their state, operational capabilities, current operational capacities, Web Service search and discovery results, agent collaboration rules, etc. The need for ontological conceptualizations over the agents is to enable autonomous and autonomic operations of the Sensor Web. The SWAMO ontology enables automated decision making and responses to the dynamic Sensor Web environment and to end user science requests. The current ontology is compatible with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC

  2. Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors as flatness and mechanical stretching sensors

    CERN Document Server

    Benussi, Luigi

    2015-01-01

    Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors have been so far mainly used in high energy physics as high precision positioning and re-positioning sensor and as low cost, easy to mount and low space consuming temperature sensors. FBGs are also commonly used for very precise strain measurements. In this work we present a novel use of FBGs as flatness and mechanical tensioning sensors applied to the wide GEM foils of the GE1/1 chambers of the CMS experiment at LHC. The GE1/1 CMS upgrade consists of 144 GEM chambers of about 0.5 $m^{2}$ active area each and based on the triple GEMs technology, to be installed in the very forward region of the CMS endcap. The large active are of each GE1/1 chamber consists of a single GEM foil (the GE1/1 chambers represent the largest GEM foils assembled and operated so far) to be mechanically stretched in order to secure its flatness and the consequent uniform performance of the GE1/1 chamber across its whole active surface. A network of FBG sensors have been used to determine the optimal m...

  3. Integrated X-ray and charged particle active pixel CMOS sensor arrays using an epitaxial silicon sensitive region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kleinfelder, Stuart; Bichsel, Hans; Bieser, Fred; Matis, Howard S.; Rai, Gulshan; Retiere, Fabrice; Weiman, Howard; Yamamoto, Eugene

    2002-01-01

    Integrated CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) arrays have been fabricated and tested using X-ray and electron sources. The 128 by 128 pixel arrays, designed in a standard 0.25 micron process, use a ∼10 micron epitaxial silicon layer as a deep detection region. The epitaxial layer has a much greater thickness than the surface features used by standard CMOS APS, leading to stronger signals and potentially better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). On the other hand, minority carriers confined within the epitaxial region may diffuse to neighboring pixels, blur images and reduce peak signal intensity. But for low-rate, sparse-event images, centroid analysis of this diffusion may be used to increase position resolution. Careful trade-offs involving pixel size and sense-node area verses capacitance must be made to optimize overall performance. The prototype sensor arrays, therefore, include a range of different pixel designs, including different APS circuits and a range of different epitaxial layer contact structures. The fabricated arrays were tested with 1.5 GeV electrons and Fe-55 X-ray sources, yielding a measured noise of 13 electrons RMS and an SNR for single Fe-55 X-rays of greater than 38

  4. USING PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MULTISPECTRAL SENSORS ON THE CORRELATION WITH THE PHENOLOGICAL INDICES OF COTTON

    OpenAIRE

    Souza, Heloisa B.; Baio, Fabio H. R.; Neves, Danilo C.

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT: The investment in precision agriculture technologies has been growing as well the investment in vegetation index sensors with different types of data collection. This study aimed to evaluate the NDVI potential use obtained from passive and active multispectral sensors as phenological parameters indicator of cotton growth. The experiment was conducted in cultivated cotton fields during the harvest seasons of 2013/14 and 2014/15. The phenological variables analyzed in the field, were ...

  5. Intrusion detection sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, J.D.

    1978-07-01

    Intrusion detection sensors are an integral part of most physical security systems. Under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Safeguards and Security, Sandia Laboratories has conducted a survey of available intrusion detection sensors and has tested a number of different sensors. An overview of these sensors is provided. This overview includes (1) the operating principles of each type of sensor, (2) unique sensor characteristics, (3) desired sensor improvements which must be considered in planning an intrusion detection system, and (4) the site characteristics which affect the performance of both exterior and interior sensors. Techniques which have been developed to evaluate various intrusion detection sensors are also discussed

  6. Convolutional Neural Networks for Human Activity Recognition Using Body-Worn Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Moya Rueda

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Human activity recognition (HAR is a classification task for recognizing human movements. Methods of HAR are of great interest as they have become tools for measuring occurrences and durations of human actions, which are the basis of smart assistive technologies and manual processes analysis. Recently, deep neural networks have been deployed for HAR in the context of activities of daily living using multichannel time-series. These time-series are acquired from body-worn devices, which are composed of different types of sensors. The deep architectures process these measurements for finding basic and complex features in human corporal movements, and for classifying them into a set of human actions. As the devices are worn at different parts of the human body, we propose a novel deep neural network for HAR. This network handles sequence measurements from different body-worn devices separately. An evaluation of the architecture is performed on three datasets, the Oportunity, Pamap2, and an industrial dataset, outperforming the state-of-the-art. In addition, different network configurations will also be evaluated. We find that applying convolutions per sensor channel and per body-worn device improves the capabilities of convolutional neural network (CNNs.

  7. Highly sensitive multi-layer pressure sensor with an active nanostructured layer of an organic molecular metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laukhin, V; Lebedev, V; Laukhina, E; Rovira, C; Veciana, J

    2016-01-01

    This work addresses to the modern technologies that need to be instrumented with lightweight highly sensitive pressure sensors. The paper presents the development of a new plain flexible thin pressure sensor using a nanostructured layer of the highly sensitive organic piezoresistive metal β-(BEDT-TTF) 2 I 3 as an active component; BEDT-TTF=bis (ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene. The original construction approach permits one to operate the developed sensor on the principle of electrical resistance variations when its piezoresistive layer is elongated under a pressure increase. The pressure sensing element and a set of gold electrodes were integrated into one compact multi-layer design. The construction was optimized to enable one generic design for pressure ranges from 1 to 400 bar. The pressure tests showed that the sensor is able to control a small pressure change as a well definite electrical signal. So the developed type of the sensors is very attractive as a new generation of compact, lightweight, low-cost sensors that might monitor pressure with a good level of measurement accuracy. (paper)

  8. Auditory evoked field measurement using magneto-impedance sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, K., E-mail: o-kabou@echo.nuee.nagoya-u.ac.jp; Tajima, S.; Song, D.; Uchiyama, T. [Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya (Japan); Hamada, N.; Cai, C. [Aichi Steel Corporation, Tokai (Japan)

    2015-05-07

    The magnetic field of the human brain is extremely weak, and it is mostly measured and monitored in the magnetoencephalography method using superconducting quantum interference devices. In this study, in order to measure the weak magnetic field of the brain, we constructed a Magneto-Impedance sensor (MI sensor) system that can cancel out the background noise without any magnetic shield. Based on our previous studies of brain wave measurements, we used two MI sensors in this system for monitoring both cerebral hemispheres. In this study, we recorded and compared the auditory evoked field signals of the subject, including the N100 (or N1) and the P300 (or P3) brain waves. The results suggest that the MI sensor can be applied to brain activity measurement.

  9. Selective chemical detection by energy modulation of sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stetter, J.R.; Otagawa, T.

    1985-05-20

    A portable instrument for use in the field in detecting, identifying, and quantifying a component of a sampled fluid includes a sensor which chemically reacts with the component of interest or a derivative thereof, an electrical heating filament for heating the sample before it is applied to the sensor, and modulating means for continuously varying the temperature of the filament (and hence the reaction rate) between two values sufficient to produce the chemical reaction. In response to this thermal modulation, the sensor produces a modulated output signal, the modulation of which is a function of the activation energy of the chemical reaction, which activation energy is specific to the particular component of interest and its concentration. Microprocessor means compares the modulated output signal with standard responses for a plurality of components to identify and quantify the particular component of interest. 4 figs.

  10. Sensors an introductory course

    CERN Document Server

    Kalantar-zadeh, Kourosh

    2013-01-01

    Sensors: An Introductory Course provides an essential reference on the fundamentals of sensors. The book is designed to help readers in developing skills and the understanding required in order to implement a wide range of sensors that are commonly used in our daily lives. This book covers the basic concepts in the sensors field, including definitions and terminologies. The physical sensing effects are described, and devices which utilize these effects are presented. The most frequently used organic and inorganic sensors are introduced and the techniques for implementing them are discussed. This book: Provides a comprehensive representation of the most common sensors and can be used as a reference in relevant fields Presents learning materials in a concise and easy to understand manner Includes examples of how sensors are incorporated in real life measurements Contains detailed figures and schematics to assist in understanding the sensor performance Sensors: An Introductory Course is ideal for university stu...

  11. Active Bio-sensor System, Compatible with Arm Muscle Movement or Blinking Signals in BCI Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeid Mehrkanoon

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses a bionic active sensor system for the BCI application. Proposed system involves analog and digital parts. Two types of accurate sensors are used to pickup the blinking and muscle movement signals. A precision micro-power instrumentation amplifier with the adjustable gain, a sixth order low pass active filter with cutoff frequency 0.1 Hz, and a sixth order band pas filter with the bandwidth of 2-6 Hz are constructed to provide the clean blinking and arm muscle movement signals. TMS320C25 DSP processor is used for independent and unique command signals which are prepared for BCI application by a power amplifier and driver.

  12. Assisted editing od SensorML with EDI. A bottom-up scenario towards the definition of sensor profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oggioni, Alessandro; Tagliolato, Paolo; Fugazza, Cristiano; Bastianini, Mauro; Pavesi, Fabio; Pepe, Monica; Menegon, Stefano; Basoni, Anna; Carrara, Paola

    2015-04-01

    Sensor observation systems for environmental data have become increasingly important in the last years. The EGU's Informatics in Oceanography and Ocean Science track stressed the importance of management tools and solutions for marine infrastructures. We think that full interoperability among sensor systems is still an open issue and that the solution to this involves providing appropriate metadata. Several open source applications implement the SWE specification and, particularly, the Sensor Observation Services (SOS) standard. These applications allow for the exchange of data and metadata in XML format between computer systems. However, there is a lack of metadata editing tools supporting end users in this activity. Generally speaking, it is hard for users to provide sensor metadata in the SensorML format without dedicated tools. In particular, such a tool should ease metadata editing by providing, for standard sensors, all the invariant information to be included in sensor metadata, thus allowing the user to concentrate on the metadata items that are related to the specific deployment. RITMARE, the Italian flagship project on marine research, envisages a subproject, SP7, for the set-up of the project's spatial data infrastructure. SP7 developed EDI, a general purpose, template-driven metadata editor that is composed of a backend web service and an HTML5/javascript client. EDI can be customized for managing the creation of generic metadata encoded as XML. Once tailored to a specific metadata format, EDI presents the users a web form with advanced auto completion and validation capabilities. In the case of sensor metadata (SensorML versions 1.0.1 and 2.0), the EDI client is instructed to send an "insert sensor" request to an SOS endpoint in order to save the metadata in an SOS server. In the first phase of project RITMARE, EDI has been used to simplify the creation from scratch of SensorML metadata by the involved researchers and data managers. An interesting by

  13. Applications of a nanocomposite-inspired in-situ broadband ultrasonic sensor to acousto-ultrasonics-based passive and active structural health monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Menglong; Zeng, Zhihui; Xu, Hao; Liao, Yaozhong; Zhou, Limin; Zhang, Zhong; Su, Zhongqing

    2017-07-01

    A novel nanocomposite-inspired in-situ broadband ultrasonic sensor previously developed, with carbon black as the nanofiller and polyvinylidene fluoride as the matrix, was networked for acousto-ultrasonic wave-based passive and active structural health monitoring (SHM). Being lightweight and small, this kind of sensor was proven to be capable of perceiving strain perturbation in virtue of the tunneling effect in the formed nanofiller conductive network when acousto-ultrasonic waves traverse the sensor. Proof-of-concept validation was implemented, to examine the sensor performance in responding to acousto-ultrasonic waves in a broad frequency regime: from acoustic emission (AE) of lower frequencies to guided ultrasonic waves (GUWs) of higher frequencies. Results have demonstrated the high fidelity, ultrafast response and high sensitivity of the sensor to acousto-ultrasonic waves up to 400kHz yet with an ultra-low magnitude (of the order of micro-strain). The sensor is proven to possess sensitivity and accuracy comparable with commercial piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers, whereas with greater flexibility in accommodating curved structural surfaces. Application paradigms of using the sensor for damage evaluation have spotlighted the capability of the sensor in compromising "sensing cost" with "sensing effectiveness" for passive AE- or active GUW-based SHM. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Electric current sensors: a review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ripka, Pavel

    2010-01-01

    The review makes a brief overview of traditional methods of measurement of electric current and shows in more detail relatively new types of current sensors. These include Hall sensors with field concentrators, AMR current sensors, magneto-optical and superconducting current sensors. The influence of the magnetic core properties on the error of the current transformer shows why nanocrystalline materials are so advantageous for this application. Built-in CMOS current sensors are important tools for monitoring the health of integrated circuits. Of special industrial value are current clamps which can be installed without breaking the measured conductor. Parameters of current sensors are also discussed, including geometrical selectivity. This parameter specific for current sensors means the ability to suppress the influence of currents external to the sensor (including the position of the return conductor) and also suppress the influence on the position of the measured conductor with respect to the current. (topical review)

  15. Acoustic/seismic signal propagation and sensor performance modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, D. Keith; Marlin, David H.; Mackay, Sean

    2007-04-01

    Performance, optimal employment, and interpretation of data from acoustic and seismic sensors depend strongly and in complex ways on the environment in which they operate. Software tools for guiding non-expert users of acoustic and seismic sensors are therefore much needed. However, such tools require that many individual components be constructed and correctly connected together. These components include the source signature and directionality, representation of the atmospheric and terrain environment, calculation of the signal propagation, characterization of the sensor response, and mimicking of the data processing at the sensor. Selection of an appropriate signal propagation model is particularly important, as there are significant trade-offs between output fidelity and computation speed. Attenuation of signal energy, random fading, and (for array systems) variations in wavefront angle-of-arrival should all be considered. Characterization of the complex operational environment is often the weak link in sensor modeling: important issues for acoustic and seismic modeling activities include the temporal/spatial resolution of the atmospheric data, knowledge of the surface and subsurface terrain properties, and representation of ambient background noise and vibrations. Design of software tools that address these challenges is illustrated with two examples: a detailed target-to-sensor calculation application called the Sensor Performance Evaluator for Battlefield Environments (SPEBE) and a GIS-embedded approach called Battlefield Terrain Reasoning and Awareness (BTRA).

  16. Passive sensor systems for nuclear material monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simpson, M.L.; Boatner, L.A.; Holcomb, D.E.; McElhaney, S.A.; Mihalczo, J.T.; Muhs, J.D.; Roberts, M.R.; Hill, N.W.

    1993-01-01

    Passive fiber optic sensor systems capable of confirming the presence of special nuclear materials in storage or process facilities are being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). These sensors provide completely passive, remote measurement capability. No power supplies, amplifiers, or other active components that could degrade system reliability are required at the sensor location. ORNL, through its research programs in scintillator materials, has developed a variety of materials for use in alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and neutron-sensitive scintillator detectors. In addition to sensors for measuring radiation flux, new sensor materials have been developed which are capable of measuring weight, temperature, and source location. An example of a passive sensor for temperature measurement is the combination of a thermophosphor (e.g., rare-earth activated Y 2 O 3 ) with 6 LiF (95% 6 Li). This combination results in a new class of scintillators for thermal neutrons that absorb energy from the radiation particles and remit the energy as a light pulse, the decay rate of which, over a specified temperature range, is temperature dependent. Other passive sensors being developed include pressure-sensitive triboluminescent materials, weight-sensitive silicone rubber fibers, scintillating fibers, and other materials for gamma and neutron detection. The light from the scintillator materials of each sensor would be sent through optical fibers to a monitoring station, where the attribute quantity could be measured and compared with previously recorded emission levels. Confirmatory measurement applications of these technologies are being evaluated to reduce the effort, costs, and employee exposures associated with inventorying stockpiles of highly enriched uranium at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant

  17. Enhanced technologies for unattended ground sensor systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartup, David C.

    2010-04-01

    Progress in several technical areas is being leveraged to advantage in Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) systems. This paper discusses advanced technologies that are appropriate for use in UGS systems. While some technologies provide evolutionary improvements, other technologies result in revolutionary performance advancements for UGS systems. Some specific technologies discussed include wireless cameras and viewers, commercial PDA-based system programmers and monitors, new materials and techniques for packaging improvements, low power cueing sensor radios, advanced long-haul terrestrial and SATCOM radios, and networked communications. Other technologies covered include advanced target detection algorithms, high pixel count cameras for license plate and facial recognition, small cameras that provide large stand-off distances, video transmissions of target activity instead of still images, sensor fusion algorithms, and control center hardware. The impact of each technology on the overall UGS system architecture is discussed, along with the advantages provided to UGS system users. Areas of analysis include required camera parameters as a function of stand-off distance for license plate and facial recognition applications, power consumption for wireless cameras and viewers, sensor fusion communication requirements, and requirements to practically implement video transmission through UGS systems. Examples of devices that have already been fielded using technology from several of these areas are given.

  18. Development and application of bio-sensor. Production of ammonia sensor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Totsuka, Yoshiyuki; Matsumoto, Yutaka; Sakata, Tadashi; Nakatsugawa, Shuuji; Nishina, Tokuhiro; Shiozawa, Kanji [Shizuoka Prefectural Industrial Technology Center, Shizuoka, (Japan)

    1989-08-01

    The objectives of this study are to make a biosensor on a trial basis which can instantaneously measure the nitrogen in wastewater, and to develop a wastewater treatment system which is capable of on-line measurement and controlling. The system provides easier operational control relating to such a high efficient treatment as the removal of nitrogen content in wastewater, serving as a solution to the eutrophication problem. It can be applied also to the analysis of fertilizer components for agriculture. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria were immobilized with cellulose acetate film, which is mounted on a diaphragm type oxygen electrode to make a sensor, and its responsibility was studied. The gradient is slow in high concentration but sharp in low concentration, and it seems possible to use it for the measurement for less than 20 ppm nitrogen concentration. The dependence of the sensor including electrodes and activity of bacteria on temperature is large, and the measurement should be made at a constant temperature. The responsibility was best at the pH of 9. The sensor could be used repeatedly for about a month. 7 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.

  19. Analysis of 3D stacked fully functional CMOS Active Pixel Sensor detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Passeri, D; Servoli, L; Meroli, S

    2009-01-01

    The IC technology trend is to move from 3D flexible configurations (package on package, stacked dies) to real 3D ICs. This is mainly due to i) the increased electrical performances and ii) the cost of 3D integration which may be cheaper than to keep shrinking 2D circuits. Perspective advantages for particle tracking and vertex detectors applications in High Energy Physics can be envisaged: in this work, we will focus on the capabilities of the state-of-the-art vertical scale integration technologies, allowing for the fabrication of very compact, fully functional, multiple layers CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) detectors. The main idea is to exploit the features of the 3D technologies for the fabrication of a ''stack'' of very thin and precisely aligned CMOS APS layers, leading to a single, integrated, multi-layers pixel sensor. The adoption of multiple-layers single detectors can dramatically reduce the mass of conventional, separated detectors (thus reducing multiple scattering issues), at the same time allowing for very precise measurements of particle trajectory and momentum. As a proof of concept, an extensive device and circuit simulation activity has been carried out, aiming at evaluate the suitability of such a kind of CMOS active pixel layers for particle tracking purposes.

  20. Overview of the U.S. DOE Hydrogen Safety, Codes and Standards Program. Part 4: Hydrogen Sensors; Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buttner, William J.; Rivkin, Carl; Burgess, Robert; Brosha, Eric; Mukundan, Rangachary; James, C. Will; Keller, Jay

    2016-12-01

    Hydrogen sensors are recognized as a critical element in the safety design for any hydrogen system. In this role, sensors can perform several important functions including indication of unintended hydrogen releases, activation of mitigation strategies to preclude the development of dangerous situations, activation of alarm systems and communication to first responders, and to initiate system shutdown. The functionality of hydrogen sensors in this capacity is decoupled from the system being monitored, thereby providing an independent safety component that is not affected by the system itself. The importance of hydrogen sensors has been recognized by DOE and by the Fuel Cell Technologies Office's Safety and Codes Standards (SCS) program in particular, which has for several years supported hydrogen safety sensor research and development. The SCS hydrogen sensor programs are currently led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The current SCS sensor program encompasses the full range of issues related to safety sensors, including development of advance sensor platforms with exemplary performance, development of sensor-related code and standards, outreach to stakeholders on the role sensors play in facilitating deployment, technology evaluation, and support on the proper selection and use of sensors.

  1. Sensor to detect endothelialization on an active coronary stent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Coffey Arthur C

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A serious complication with drug-eluting coronary stents is late thrombosis, caused by exposed stent struts not covered by endothelial cells in the healing process. Real-time detection of this healing process could guide physicians for more individualized anti-platelet therapy. Here we present work towards developing a sensor to detect this healing process. Sensors on several stent struts could give information about the heterogeneity of healing across the stent. Methods A piezoelectric microcantilever was insulated with parylene and demonstrated as an endothelialization detector for incorporation within an active coronary stent. After initial characterization, endothelial cells were plated onto the cantilever surface. After they attached to the surface, they caused an increase in mass, and thus a decrease in the resonant frequencies of the cantilever. This shift was then detected electrically with an LCR meter. The self-sensing, self-actuating cantilever does not require an external, optical detection system, thus allowing for implanted applications. Results A cell density of 1300 cells/mm2 on the cantilever surface is detected. Conclusions We have developed a self-actuating, self-sensing device for detecting the presence of endothelial cells on a surface. The device is biocompatible and functions reliably in ionic liquids, making it appropriate for implantable applications. This sensor can be placed along the struts of a coronary stent to detect when the struts have been covered with a layer of endothelial cells and are no longer available surfaces for clot formation. Anti-platelet therapy can be adjusted in real-time with respect to a patient's level of healing and hemorrhaging risks.

  2. Working Group Report: Sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Artuso, M.; et al.,

    2013-10-18

    Sensors play a key role in detecting both charged particles and photons for all three frontiers in Particle Physics. The signals from an individual sensor that can be used include ionization deposited, phonons created, or light emitted from excitations of the material. The individual sensors are then typically arrayed for detection of individual particles or groups of particles. Mounting of new, ever higher performance experiments, often depend on advances in sensors in a range of performance characteristics. These performance metrics can include position resolution for passing particles, time resolution on particles impacting the sensor, and overall rate capabilities. In addition the feasible detector area and cost frequently provides a limit to what can be built and therefore is often another area where improvements are important. Finally, radiation tolerance is becoming a requirement in a broad array of devices. We present a status report on a broad category of sensors, including challenges for the future and work in progress to solve those challenges.

  3. Technical Report: Sleep-Route - Routing through Sleeping Sensors

    OpenAIRE

    Sarkar, Chayan; Rao, Vijay S.; Prasad, R. Venkatesha

    2014-01-01

    In this article, we propose an energy-efficient data gathering scheme for wireless sensor network called Sleep-Route, which splits the sensor nodes into two sets - active and dormant (low-power sleep). Only the active set of sensor nodes participate in data collection. The sensing values of the dormant sensor nodes are predicted with the help of an active sensor node. Virtual Sensing Framework (VSF) provides the mechanism to predict the sensing values by exploiting the data correlation among ...

  4. Compositions of graphene materials with metal nanostructures and microstructures and methods of making and using including pressure sensors

    KAUST Repository

    Chen, Ye

    2017-01-26

    Composition comprising at least one graphene material and at least one metal. The metal can be in the form of nanoparticles as well as microflakes, including single crystal microflakes. The metal can be intercalated in the graphene sheets. The composition has high conductivity and flexibility. The composition can be made by a one-pot synthesis in which a graphene material precursor is converted to the graphene material, and the metal precursor is converted to the metal. A reducing solvent or dispersant such as NMP can be used. Devices made from the composition include a pressure sensor which has high sensitivity. Two two- dimension materials can be combined to form a hybrid material.

  5. Modular sensor network node

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jesse Harper Zehring [Berkeley, CA; Stark, Jr., Douglas Paul; Kershaw, Christopher Patrick [Hayward, CA; Kyker, Ronald Dean [Livermore, CA

    2008-06-10

    A distributed wireless sensor network node is disclosed. The wireless sensor network node includes a plurality of sensor modules coupled to a system bus and configured to sense a parameter. The parameter may be an object, an event or any other parameter. The node collects data representative of the parameter. The node also includes a communication module coupled to the system bus and configured to allow the node to communicate with other nodes. The node also includes a processing module coupled to the system bus and adapted to receive the data from the sensor module and operable to analyze the data. The node also includes a power module connected to the system bus and operable to generate a regulated voltage.

  6. Emerging Needs for Pervasive Passive Wireless Sensor Networks on Aerospace Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, William C.; Juarez, Peter D.

    2014-01-01

    NASA is investigating passive wireless sensor technology to reduce instrumentation mass and volume in ground testing, air flight, and space exploration applications. Vehicle health monitoring systems (VHMS) are desired on all aerospace programs to ensure the safety of the crew and the vehicles. Pervasive passive wireless sensor networks facilitate VHMS on aerospace vehicles. Future wireless sensor networks on board aerospace vehicles will be heterogeneous and will require active and passive network systems. Since much has been published on active wireless sensor networks, this work will focus on the need for passive wireless sensor networks on aerospace vehicles. Several passive wireless technologies such as microelectromechanical systems MEMS, SAW, backscatter, and chipless RFID techniques, have all shown potential to meet the pervasive sensing needs for aerospace VHMS applications. A SAW VHMS application will be presented. In addition, application areas including ground testing, hypersonic aircraft and spacecraft will be explored along with some of the harsh environments found in aerospace applications.

  7. Front end optimization for the monolithic active pixel sensor of the ALICE Inner Tracking System upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, D.; Rinella, G. Aglieri; Cavicchioli, C.; Hillemanns, H.; Hristozkov, S.; Junique, A.; Keil, M.; Kofarago, M.; Kugathasan, T.; Mager, M.; Chanlek, N.; Collu, A.; Degerli, Y.; Flouzat, C.; Guilloux, F.; Dorokhov, A.; Gajanana, D.; Gao, C.; Kwon, Y.; Lattuca, A.

    2016-01-01

    ALICE plans to replace its Inner Tracking System during the second long shut down of the LHC in 2019 with a new 10 m 2 tracker constructed entirely with monolithic active pixel sensors. The TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS imaging Sensor process has been selected to produce the sensor as it offers a deep pwell allowing full CMOS in-pixel circuitry and different starting materials. First full-scale prototypes have been fabricated and tested. Radiation tolerance has also been verified. In this paper the development of the charge sensitive front end and in particular its optimization for uniformity of charge threshold and time response will be presented

  8. Front end optimization for the monolithic active pixel sensor of the ALICE Inner Tracking System upgrade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, D.; Aglieri Rinella, G.; Cavicchioli, C.; Chanlek, N.; Collu, A.; Degerli, Y.; Dorokhov, A.; Flouzat, C.; Gajanana, D.; Gao, C.; Guilloux, F.; Hillemanns, H.; Hristozkov, S.; Junique, A.; Keil, M.; Kofarago, M.; Kugathasan, T.; Kwon, Y.; Lattuca, A.; Mager, M.; Sielewicz, K. M.; Marin Tobon, C. A.; Marras, D.; Martinengo, P.; Mazza, G.; Mugnier, H.; Musa, L.; Pham, T. H.; Puggioni, C.; Reidt, F.; Riedler, P.; Rousset, J.; Siddhanta, S.; Snoeys, W.; Song, M.; Usai, G.; Van Hoorne, J. W.; Yang, P.

    2016-02-01

    ALICE plans to replace its Inner Tracking System during the second long shut down of the LHC in 2019 with a new 10 m2 tracker constructed entirely with monolithic active pixel sensors. The TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS imaging Sensor process has been selected to produce the sensor as it offers a deep pwell allowing full CMOS in-pixel circuitry and different starting materials. First full-scale prototypes have been fabricated and tested. Radiation tolerance has also been verified. In this paper the development of the charge sensitive front end and in particular its optimization for uniformity of charge threshold and time response will be presented.

  9. Optical Breath Gas Extravehicular Activity Sensor for the Advanced Portable Life Support System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, William R.; Casias, Miguel E.; Pilgrim, Jeffrey S.; Chullen, Cinda; Campbell, Colin

    2016-01-01

    The infrared gas transducer used during extravehicular activity (EVA) in the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) measures and reports the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ventilation loop. It is nearing its end of life and there are a limited number remaining. Meanwhile, the next generation advanced portable life support system (PLSS) now being developed requires CO2 sensing technology with performance beyond that presently in use. A laser diode (LD) spectrometer based on wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) is being developed to address both applications by Vista Photonics, Inc. Accommodation within space suits demands that optical sensors meet stringent size, weight, and power requirements. Version 1.0 devices were delivered to NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in 2011. The sensors incorporate a laser diode based CO2 channel that also includes an incidental water vapor (humidity) measurement. The prototypes are controlled digitally with a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)/microcontroller architecture. Version 2.0 devices with improved electronics and significantly reduced wetted volumes were delivered to JSC in 2012. A version 2.5 upgrade recently implemented wavelength stabilized operation, better humidity measurement, and much faster data analysis/reporting. A wholly reconfigured version 3.0 will maintain the demonstrated performance of earlier versions while being backwards compatible with the EMU and offering a radiation tolerant architecture.

  10. Approach for the Development of a Framework for the Identification of Activities of Daily Living Using Sensors in Mobile Devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pombo, Nuno

    2018-01-01

    Sensors available on mobile devices allow the automatic identification of Activities of Daily Living (ADL). This paper describes an approach for the creation of a framework for the identification of ADL, taking into account several concepts, including data acquisition, data processing, data fusion, and pattern recognition. These concepts can be mapped onto different modules of the framework. The proposed framework should perform the identification of ADL without Internet connection, performing these tasks locally on the mobile device, taking in account the hardware and software limitations of these devices. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new approach for the creation of a framework for the recognition of ADL, analyzing the allowed sensors available in the mobile devices, and the existing methods available in the literature. PMID:29466316

  11. Approach for the Development of a Framework for the Identification of Activities of Daily Living Using Sensors in Mobile Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pires, Ivan Miguel; Garcia, Nuno M; Pombo, Nuno; Flórez-Revuelta, Francisco; Spinsante, Susanna

    2018-02-21

    Sensors available on mobile devices allow the automatic identification of Activities of Daily Living (ADL). This paper describes an approach for the creation of a framework for the identification of ADL, taking into account several concepts, including data acquisition, data processing, data fusion, and pattern recognition. These concepts can be mapped onto different modules of the framework. The proposed framework should perform the identification of ADL without Internet connection, performing these tasks locally on the mobile device, taking in account the hardware and software limitations of these devices. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new approach for the creation of a framework for the recognition of ADL, analyzing the allowed sensors available in the mobile devices, and the existing methods available in the literature.

  12. Retrieval of the photochemical reflectance index for assessing xanthophyll cycle activity: a comparison of near-surface optical sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, A.; Gamon, J. A.; Pastorello, G. Z.; Wong, C. Y. S.

    2014-11-01

    Unattended optical sensors are increasingly being deployed on eddy covariance flux towers and are often used to complement existing vegetation and micrometeorological measurements to enable assessment of biophysical states and biogeochemical processes over a range of spatial scales. Of particular interest are sensors that can measure the photochemical reflectance index (PRI), which can provide information pertaining to leaf pigments and photosynthetic activity. This interest has facilitated the production of a new range of lower-cost multispectral sensors specifically designed to measure temporal changes in the PRI signal. However, little is known about the characteristics (spectral, radiometric and temporal) of many of these PRI sensors, making it difficult to compare data obtained from these sensors across time, geographical locations and instruments. Furthermore, direct testing of the capability of these sensors to actually detect the conversion of the xanthophyll cycle, which is the original biological basis of the PRI diurnal signal, is largely absent, often resulting in an unclear interpretation of the signal, particularly given the wide range of factors now known to influence PRI. Through a series of experiments, we assess the sensitivity of one of the leading brands of PRI sensor (Skye SKR 1800) to changes in vegetation photosynthetic activity in response to changing irradiance. We compare the results with those obtained using a more expensive industry-standard visible to near-infrared hyperspectral spectrometer (PP Systems UniSpec) and determine the radiometric compatibility of measurements made by the different instruments. Results suggest that the SKR 1800 instrument is able to track rapid (seconds to minutes) and more gradual diurnal changes in photosynthetic activity associated with xanthophyll cycle pigment conversion. Measurements obtained from both the high and lower cost instrument were significantly linearly correlated but were subject to a large

  13. Evaluation of fatigue cracks using nonlinearities of acousto-ultrasonic waves acquired by an active sensor network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Chao; Hong, Ming; Su, Zhongqing; Wang, Qiang; Cheng, Li

    2013-01-01

    There has been increasing interest in using the nonlinear features of acousto-ultrasonic (AU) waves to detect damage onset (e.g., micro-fatigue cracks) due to their high sensitivity to damage with small dimensions. However, most existing approaches are able to infer the existence of fatigue damage qualitatively, but fail to further ascertain its location and severity. A damage characterization approach, in conjunction with the use of an active piezoelectric sensor network, was established, capable of evaluating fatigue cracks in a quantitative manner (including the co-presence of multiple fatigue cracks, and their individual locations and severities). Fundamental investigations, using both experiment and enhanced finite element analysis dedicated to the simulation of nonlinear AU waves, were carried out to link the accumulation of nonlinearities extracted from high-order AU waves to the characteristic parameters of a fatigue crack. A probability-based diagnostic imaging algorithm was developed, facilitating an intuitive presentation of identification results in images. The approach was verified experimentally by evaluating multi-fatigue cracks near rivet holes of a fatigued aluminum plate, showing satisfactory precision in characterizing real, barely visible fatigue cracks. Compared with existing methods, this approach innovatively (i) uses permanently integrated active sensor networks, conducive to automatic and online health monitoring; (ii) characterizes fatigue cracks at a quantitative level; (iii) allows detection of multiple fatigue cracks; and (iv) visualizes identification results in intuitive images. (paper)

  14. Development of active edge pixel sensors and four-side buttable modules using vertical integration technologies

    CERN Document Server

    INSPIRE-00219560; Moser, H.-G.; Nisius, R.; Richter, R.H.; Terzo, S.; Weigell, P.

    2014-01-01

    We present an R&D activity focused on the development of novel modules for the upgrade of the ATLAS pixel system at the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). The modules consist of n-in-p pixel sensors, 100 or 200 $\\mu$m thick, produced at VTT (Finland) with an active edge technology, which considerably reduces the dead area at the periphery of the device. The sensors are interconnected with solder bump-bonding to the ATLAS FE-I3 and FE-I4 read-out chips, and characterized with radioactive sources and beam tests at the CERN-SPS and DESY. The results of these measurements will be discussed for devices before and after irradiation up to a fluence of $5\\times 10^{15}$ \

  15. Automotive sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marek, Jiri; Illing, Matthias

    2003-01-01

    Sensors are an essential component of most electronic systems in the car. They deliver input parameters for comfort features, engine and emission control as well as for the active and passive safety systems. New technologies such as silicon micromachining play an important role for the introduction of these sensors in all vehicle classes. The importance and use of these sensor technologies in today"s automotive applications will be shown in this article. Finally an outlook on important current developments and new functions in the car will be given.

  16. Advances in hybrid optics physical sensors for extreme environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riza, Nabeel A.

    2010-04-01

    Highlighted are novel innovations in hybrid optical design physical sensors for extreme environments. Various hybrid design compositions are proposed that are suited for a particular sensor application. Examples includes combining freespace (wireless) and fiber-optics (wired) for gas turbine sensing and combining single crystal and sintered Silicon Carbide (SiC) materials for robust extreme environment Coefficent of Thermal Expansion (CTE) matched frontend probe design. Sensor signal processing also includes the hybrid theme where for example Black-Body radiation thermometry (pyrometry) is combined with laser interferometry to provide extreme temperature measurements. The hybrid theme also operates on the optical device level where a digital optical device such as a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) is combined with an analog optical device such as an Electronically Controlled Variable Focal Length Lens (ECVFL) to deliver a smart and compressive Three Dimensional (3-D) imaging sensor for remote scene and object shape capture including both ambient light (passive) mode and active laser targeting and receive processing. Within a device level, the hybrid theme also operates via combined analog and digital control such as within a wavelength-coded variable optical delay line. These powerful hybrid design optical sensors have numerous applications in engineering and science applications from the military to the commercial/industrial sectors.

  17. Large area CMOS image sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turchetta, R; Guerrini, N; Sedgwick, I

    2011-01-01

    CMOS image sensors, also known as CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS) or Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), are today the dominant imaging devices. They are omnipresent in our daily life, as image sensors in cellular phones, web cams, digital cameras, ... In these applications, the pixels can be very small, in the micron range, and the sensors themselves tend to be limited in size. However, many scientific applications, like particle or X-ray detection, require large format, often with large pixels, as well as other specific performance, like low noise, radiation hardness or very fast readout. The sensors are also required to be sensitive to a broad spectrum of radiation: photons from the silicon cut-off in the IR down to UV and X- and gamma-rays through the visible spectrum as well as charged particles. This requirement calls for modifications to the substrate to be introduced to provide optimized sensitivity. This paper will review existing CMOS image sensors, whose size can be as large as a single CMOS wafer, and analyse the technical requirements and specific challenges of large format CMOS image sensors.

  18. Amperometric NOx-sensor for Combustion Exhaust Gas Control. Studies on transport properties and catalytic activity of oxygen permeable ceramic membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Romer, E.W.J.

    2001-01-01

    The aim of the research described in this thesis is the development of a mixed conducting oxide layer, which can be used as an oxygen permselective membrane in an amperometric NOx sensor. The sensor will be used in exhaust gas systems. The exhaust gas-producing engine will run in the lean mix mode. The preparation of this sensor is carried out using screen-printing technology, in which the different layers of the sensor are applied successively. Hereafter, a co-firing step is applied in which all layers are sintered together. This co-firing step imposes several demands on the selection of materials. The design specifications of the sensor further include requirements concerning the operating temperature, measurement range and overall stability. The operating temperature of the sensor varies between 700 and 850C, enabling measurement of NOx concentrations between 50 and 1200 ppm with a measurement accuracy of 10 ppm. Concerning the stability of the sensor, it must withstand the exhaust gas atmosphere containing, amongst others, smoke, acids, abrasive particles and sulphur. Because of the chosen lean-mix engine concept, in which the fuel/air mixture switches continuously between lean (excess oxygen) and fat (excess fuel) mixtures, the sensor must withstand alternately oxidising and reducing atmospheres. Besides, it should be resistant to thermal shock and show no cross-sensitivity of NOx with other exhaust gas constituents like oxygen and hydrocarbons. The response time should be short, typically less than 500 ms. Because of the application in combustion engines of cars, the operational lifetime should be longer than 10 years. Demands on the mixed conducting oxide layer include the following ones. The layer should show minimal catalytic activity towards NOx-reduction. The oxygen permeability must be larger than 6.22 10 -8 mol/cm 2 s at a layer thickness between 3-50 μm. Since the mixed conducting oxide layer is coated on the YSZ electrolyte embodiment, the two

  19. Carbon nanotubes: Sensor properties. A review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina V. Zaporotskova

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Recent publications dealing with dealing with the fabrication of gas and electrochemical biosensors based on carbon nanotubes have been reviewed. Experimental and theoretical data on the working principles of nanotubes have been presented. The main regularities of the structure, energy parameters and sensor properties of modified semiconducting systems on the basis of cabon nanotubes have been studied by analyzing the mechanisms of nanotubule interaction with functional groups (including carboxyl and amino groups, metallic nanoparticles and polymers leading to the formation of chemically active sensors. The possibility of using boundary modified nanotubes for the identification of metals has been discussed. Simulation results have been reported for the interaction of nanotubes boundary modified by –СООН and –NH2 groups with atoms and ions of potassium, sodium and lithium. The simulation has been carried out using the molecular cluster model and the MNDO and DFT calculation methods. Sensors fabricated using this technology will find wide application for the detection of metallic atoms and their ions included in salts and alkali.

  20. Evaluation of muscular activity duration in shoulders with rotator cuff tears using inertial sensors and electromyography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duc, Cyntia; Aminian, Kamiar; Pichonnaz, Claude; Farron, Alain; Jolles, Brigitte M; Bassin, Jean-Philippe

    2014-01-01

    Shoulder disorders, including rotator cuff tears, affect the shoulder function and result in adapted muscle activation. Although these adaptations have been studied in controlled conditions, free-living activities have not been investigated. Based on the kinematics measured with inertial sensors and portable electromyography, the objectives of this study were to quantify the duration of the muscular activation in the upper trapezius (UT), medial deltoid (MD) and biceps brachii (BB) during motion and to investigate the effect of rotator cuff tear in laboratory settings and daily conditions. The duration of movements and muscular activations were analysed separately and together using the relative time of activation (T EMG/mov ). Laboratory measurements showed the parameter’s reliability through movement repetitions (ICC > 0.74) and differences in painful shoulders compared with healthy ones (p < 0.05): longer activation for UT; longer activation for MD during abduction and tendency to shorter activation in other movements; shorter activation for BB. In daily conditions, T EMG/mov for UT was longer, whereas it was shorter for MD and BB (p < 0.05). Moreover, significant correlations were observed between these parameters and clinical scores. This study thus provides new insights into the rotator cuff tear effect on duration of muscular activation in daily activity. (paper)

  1. Application Of FA Sensor 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Seon Ho

    1993-03-01

    This book introduces FA sensor from basic to making system, which includes light sensor like photo diode and photo transistor, photo electricity sensor, CCD type image sensor, MOS type image sensor, color sensor, cds cell, and optical fiber scope. It also deals with direct election position sensor such as proximity switch, differential motion, linear scale of photo electricity type, and magnet scale, rotary sensor with summary of rotary encoder, rotary encoder types and applications, flow sensor, and sensing technology.

  2. Technical note: Evaluation of an ear-attached movement sensor to record cow feeding behavior and activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bikker, J P; van Laar, H; Rump, P; Doorenbos, J; van Meurs, K; Griffioen, G M; Dijkstra, J

    2014-05-01

    The ability to monitor dairy cow feeding behavior and activity could improve dairy herd management. A 3-dimensional accelerometer (SensOor; Agis Automatisering BV, Harmelen, the Netherlands) has been developed that can be attached to ear identification tags. Based on the principle that behavior can be identified by ear movements, a proprietary model classifies sensor data as "ruminating," "eating," "resting," or "active." The objective of the study was to evaluate this sensor on accuracy and precision. First, a pilot evaluation of agreement between 2 independent observers, recording behavior from 3 cows for a period of approximately 9h each, was performed. Second, to evaluate the sensor, the behavior of 15 cows was monitored both visually (VIS) and with the sensor (SENS), with approximately 20 h of registration per cow, evenly distributed over a 24-h period, excluding milking. Cows were chosen from groups of animals in different lactation stages and parities. Each minute of SENS and VIS data was classified into 1 of 9 categories (8 behaviors and 1 transition behavior) and summarized into 4 behavioral groups, namely ruminating, eating, resting, or active, which were analyzed by calculating kappa (κ) values. For the pilot evaluation, a high level of agreement between observers was obtained, with κ values of ≥ 0.96 for all behavioral categories, indicating that visual observation provides a good standard. For the second trial, relationships between SENS and VIS were studied by κ values on a minute basis and Pearson correlation and concordance correlation coefficient analysis on behavior expressed as percentage of total registration time. Times spent ruminating, eating, resting, and active were 42.6, 15.9, 31.6, and 9.9% (SENS) respectively, and 42.1, 13.0, 30.0, and 14.9% (VIS), respectively. Overall κ for the comparison of SENS and VIS was substantial (0.78), with κ values of 0.85, 0.77, 0.86, and 0.47 for "ruminating," "eating," "resting," and "active

  3. Sensor mount assemblies and sensor assemblies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, David H [Redondo Beach, CA

    2012-04-10

    Sensor mount assemblies and sensor assemblies are provided. In an embodiment, by way of example only, a sensor mount assembly includes a busbar, a main body, a backing surface, and a first finger. The busbar has a first end and a second end. The main body is overmolded onto the busbar. The backing surface extends radially outwardly relative to the main body. The first finger extends axially from the backing surface, and the first finger has a first end, a second end, and a tooth. The first end of the first finger is disposed on the backing surface, and the tooth is formed on the second end of the first finger.

  4. A Sensitive Dynamic and Active Pixel Vision Sensor for Color or Neural Imaging Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moeys, Diederik Paul; Corradi, Federico; Li, Chenghan; Bamford, Simeon A; Longinotti, Luca; Voigt, Fabian F; Berry, Stewart; Taverni, Gemma; Helmchen, Fritjof; Delbruck, Tobi

    2018-02-01

    Applications requiring detection of small visual contrast require high sensitivity. Event cameras can provide higher dynamic range (DR) and reduce data rate and latency, but most existing event cameras have limited sensitivity. This paper presents the results of a 180-nm Towerjazz CIS process vision sensor called SDAVIS192. It outputs temporal contrast dynamic vision sensor (DVS) events and conventional active pixel sensor frames. The SDAVIS192 improves on previous DAVIS sensors with higher sensitivity for temporal contrast. The temporal contrast thresholds can be set down to 1% for negative changes in logarithmic intensity (OFF events) and down to 3.5% for positive changes (ON events). The achievement is possible through the adoption of an in-pixel preamplification stage. This preamplifier reduces the effective intrascene DR of the sensor (70 dB for OFF and 50 dB for ON), but an automated operating region control allows up to at least 110-dB DR for OFF events. A second contribution of this paper is the development of characterization methodology for measuring DVS event detection thresholds by incorporating a measure of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). At average SNR of 30 dB, the DVS temporal contrast threshold fixed pattern noise is measured to be 0.3%-0.8% temporal contrast. Results comparing monochrome and RGBW color filter array DVS events are presented. The higher sensitivity of SDAVIS192 make this sensor potentially useful for calcium imaging, as shown in a recording from cultured neurons expressing calcium sensitive green fluorescent protein GCaMP6f.

  5. New generation of monolithic active pixel sensors for charged particle detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deptuch, G.

    2002-09-01

    Vertex detectors are of great importance in particle physics experiments, as the knowledge of the event flavour is becoming an issue for the physics programme at Future Linear Colliders. Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) based on a novel detector structure have been proposed. Their fabrication is compatible with a standard CMOS process. The sensor is inseparable from the readout electronics, since both of them are integrated on the same, low-resistivity silicon wafer. The basic pixel configuration comprises only three MOS transistors and a diode collecting the charge through thermal diffusion. The charge is generated in the thin non-depleted epitaxial layer underneath the readout electronics. This approach provides, at low cost, a high resolution and thin device with the whole area sensitive to radiation. Device simulations using the ISE-TCAD package have been carried out to study the charge collection mechanism. In order to demonstrate the viability of the technique, four prototype chips have been fabricated using different submicrometer CMOS processes. The pixel gain has been calibrated using a 55 Fe source and the Poisson sequence method. The prototypes have been exposed to high-energy particle beams at CERN. The tests proved excellent detection performances expressed in a single-track spatial resolution of 1.5 μm and detection efficiency close to 100%, resulting from a SNR ratio of more than 30. Irradiation tests showed immunity of MAPS to a level of a few times 10 12 n/cm 2 and a few hundred kRad of ionising radiation. The ideas for future work, including on-pixel signal amplification, double sampling operation and current mode pixel design are present as well. (author)

  6. Sensor web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delin, Kevin A. (Inventor); Jackson, Shannon P. (Inventor)

    2011-01-01

    A Sensor Web formed of a number of different sensor pods. Each of the sensor pods include a clock which is synchronized with a master clock so that all of the sensor pods in the Web have a synchronized clock. The synchronization is carried out by first using a coarse synchronization which takes less power, and subsequently carrying out a fine synchronization to make a fine sync of all the pods on the Web. After the synchronization, the pods ping their neighbors to determine which pods are listening and responded, and then only listen during time slots corresponding to those pods which respond.

  7. Analysis of test beam data of ALPIDE, the Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor (MAPS) for the ALICE ITS upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Lazareva, Tatiana

    2017-01-01

    The ALICE experiment has scheduled a major upgrade of its experimen- tal apparatus for the Long Shutdown 2 of LHC in 2019-2020. Within this enterprise, CERN is strongly involved in the development of a novel Inner Tracking System (ITS). The ITS will be based on Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), a cutting-edge technology that will allow to improve the detector performance signicantly. The nal sensor, called ALPIDE, is in production since December 2016. This project is focused on the characterization of irradiated ALPIDE sensors.

  8. Real-time method for establishing a detection map for a network of sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D; Koch, Mark W; Giron, Casey; Rondeau, Daniel M; Russell, John L

    2012-09-11

    A method for establishing a detection map of a dynamically configurable sensor network. This method determines an appropriate set of locations for a plurality of sensor units of a sensor network and establishes a detection map for the network of sensors while the network is being set up; the detection map includes the effects of the local terrain and individual sensor performance. Sensor performance is characterized during the placement of the sensor units, which enables dynamic adjustment or reconfiguration of the placement of individual elements of the sensor network during network set-up to accommodate variations in local terrain and individual sensor performance. The reconfiguration of the network during initial set-up to accommodate deviations from idealized individual sensor detection zones improves the effectiveness of the sensor network in detecting activities at a detection perimeter and can provide the desired sensor coverage of an area while minimizing unintentional gaps in coverage.

  9. Evaluating different approaches to non-destructive nitrogen status diagnosis of rice using portable RapidSCAN active canopy sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Junjun; Miao, Yuxin; Shi, Wei; Li, Jingxin; Yuan, Fei

    2017-10-26

    RapidSCAN is a new portable active crop canopy sensor with three wavebands in red, red-edge, and near infrared spectral regions. The objective of this study was to determine the potential and practical approaches of using this sensor for non-destructive diagnosis of rice nitrogen (N) status. Sixteen plot experiments and ten on-farm experiments were conducted from 2014 to 2016 in Jiansanjiang Experiment Station of the China Agricultural University and Qixing Farm in Northeast China. Two mechanistic and three semi-empirical approaches using the sensor's default vegetation indices, normalized difference vegetation index and normalized difference red edge, were evaluated in comparison with the top performing vegetation indices selected from 51 tested indices. The results indicated that the most practical and stable method of using the RapidSCAN sensor for rice N status diagnosis is to calculate N sufficiency index with the default vegetation indices and then to estimate N nutrition index non-destructively (R 2  = 0.50-0.59). This semi-empirical approach achieved a diagnosis accuracy rate of 59-76%. The findings of this study will facilitate the application of the RapidSCAN active sensor for rice N status diagnosis across growth stages, cultivars and site-years, and thus contributing to precision N management for sustainable intensification of agriculture.

  10. Deflation-activated receptors, not classical inflation-activated receptors, mediate the Hering-Breuer deflation reflex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Jerry

    2016-11-01

    Many airway sensory units respond to both lung inflation and deflation. Whether those responses to opposite stimuli come from one sensor (one-sensor theory) or more than one sensor (multiple-sensor theory) is debatable. One-sensor theory is commonly presumed in the literature. This article proposes a multiple-sensor theory in which a sensory unit contains different sensors for sensing different forces. Two major types of mechanical sensors operate in the lung: inflation- and deflation-activated receptors (DARs). Inflation-activated sensors can be further divided into slowly adapting receptors (SARs) and rapidly adapting receptors (RARs). Many SAR and RAR units also respond to lung deflation because they contain DARs. Pure DARs, which respond to lung deflation only, are rare in large animals but are easily identified in small animals. Lung deflation-induced reflex effects previously attributed to RARs should be assigned to DARs (including pure DARs and DARs associated with SARs and RARs) if the multiple-sensor theory is accepted. Thus, based on the information, it is proposed that activation of DARs can attenuate lung deflation, shorten expiratory time, increase respiratory rate, evoke inspiration, and cause airway secretion and dyspnea.

  11. Microfabricated Chemical Gas Sensors and Sensor Arrays for Aerospace Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Gary W.

    2005-01-01

    Aerospace applications require the development of chemical sensors with capabilities beyond those of commercially available sensors. In particular, factors such as minimal sensor size, weight, and power consumption are particularly important. Development areas which have potential aerospace applications include launch vehicle leak detection, engine health monitoring, and fire detection. Sensor development for these applications is based on progress in three types of technology: 1) Micromachining and microfabrication (Microsystem) technology to fabricate miniaturized sensors; 2) The use of nanocrystalline materials to develop sensors with improved stability combined with higher sensitivity; 3) The development of high temperature semiconductors, especially silicon carbide. This presentation discusses the needs of space applications as well as the point-contact sensor technology and sensor arrays being developed to address these needs. Sensors to measure hydrogen, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides (NO,), carbon monoxide, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are being developed as well as arrays for leak, fire, and emissions detection. Demonstrations of the technology will also be discussed. It is concluded that microfabricated sensor technology has significant potential for use in a range of aerospace applications.

  12. Study on the Sensing Coating of the Optical Fibre CO2 Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karol Wysokiński

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Optical fibre carbon dioxide (CO2 sensors are reported in this article. The principle of operation of the sensors relies on the absorption of light transmitted through the fibre by a silica gel coating containing active dyes, including methyl red, thymol blue and phenol red. Stability of the sensor has been investigated for the first time for an absorption based CO2 optical fiber sensor. Influence of the silica gel coating thickness on the sensitivity and response time has also been studied. The impact of temperature and humidity on the sensor performance has been examined too. Response times of reported sensors are very short and reach 2–3 s, whereas the sensitivity of the sensor ranges from 3 to 10 for different coating thicknesses. Reported parameters make the sensor suitable for indoor and industrial use.

  13. Development of sensors and sensing technology for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brosha, Eric L [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Sekhar, Praveen K [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Mukundan, Rangchary [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Williamson, Todd L [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Barzon, Fernando H [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Woo, Leta Y [LLNL; Glass, Robert S [LLNL

    2010-01-01

    One related area of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) development that cannot be overlooked is the anticipated requirement for new sensors for both the monitoring and control of the fuel cell's systems and for those devices that will be required for safety. Present day automobiles have dozens of sensors on-board including those for IC engine management/control, sensors for state-of-health monitoring/control of emissions systems, sensors for control of active safety systems, sensors for triggering passive safety systems, and sensors for more mundane tasks such as fluids level monitoring to name the more obvious. The number of sensors continues to grow every few years as a result of safety mandates but also in response to consumer demands for new conveniences and safety features.

  14. Sensor Data Acquisition and Processing Parameters for Human Activity Classification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sebastian D. Bersch

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available It is known that parameter selection for data sampling frequency and segmentation techniques (including different methods and window sizes has an impact on the classification accuracy. For Ambient Assisted Living (AAL, no clear information to select these parameters exists, hence a wide variety and inconsistency across today’s literature is observed. This paper presents the empirical investigation of different data sampling rates, segmentation techniques and segmentation window sizes and their effect on the accuracy of Activity of Daily Living (ADL event classification and computational load for two different accelerometer sensor datasets. The study is conducted using an ANalysis Of VAriance (ANOVA based on 32 different window sizes, three different segmentation algorithm (with and without overlap, totaling in six different parameters and six sampling frequencies for nine common classification algorithms. The classification accuracy is based on a feature vector consisting of Root Mean Square (RMS, Mean, Signal Magnitude Area (SMA, Signal Vector Magnitude (here SMV, Energy, Entropy, FFTPeak, Standard Deviation (STD. The results are presented alongside recommendations for the parameter selection on the basis of the best performing parameter combinations that are identified by means of the corresponding Pareto curve.

  15. Detection of protease activity by fluorescent protein FRET sensors: from computer simulation to live cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goryashchenko, Alexander S.; Khrenova, Maria G.; Savitsky, Alexander P.

    2018-04-01

    Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) sensors are widely used for the detection of protease activity in vitro and in vivo. Usually they consist of a FRET pair connected with a polypeptide linker containing a specific cleavage site for the relevant protease. Use of the fluorescent proteins as components of the FRET pair allows genetic encoding of such sensors and solves the problem of their delivery into live cells and animals. There are several ways to improve the properties of such sensors, mainly to increase FRET efficiency and therefore the dynamic range. One of the ways to achieve this is to use a non-fluorescent chromoprotein as an acceptor. Molecular dynamic simulations may assist in the construction of linker structures connecting donor and acceptor molecules. Estimation of the orientation factor κ 2 can be obtained by methods based on quantum theory and combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approaches. The linker can be structured by hydrophobic interactions, bringing it into a closed conformation that shortens the distance between donor and acceptor and, consequently, increases FRET efficiency. We analyzed the effects of different linker structures on the detection of caspase-3 activity using a non-fluorescent acceptor. Also we have constructed the Tb3+- TagRFP sensor in which a complex of the terbium ion and terbium-binding peptide is used as a donor. This allowed us to use the unique property of lanthanide ions—fluorescence lifetime up to milliseconds—to perform measurements with time delay and exclude the nanosecond-order fluorescence. Using our systems as a starting point, by changing the recognition site in the linker it is possible to perform imaging of different protease activity in vitro or in vivo.

  16. A Single-Transistor Active Pixel CMOS Image Sensor Architecture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Guo-An; He Jin; Zhang Dong-Wei; Su Yan-Mei; Wang Cheng; Chen Qin; Liang Hai-Lang; Ye Yun

    2012-01-01

    A single-transistor CMOS active pixel image sensor (1 T CMOS APS) architecture is proposed. By switching the photosensing pinned diode, resetting and selecting can be achieved by diode pull-up and capacitive coupling pull-down of the source follower. Thus, the reset and selected transistors can be removed. In addition, the reset and selected signal lines can be shared to reduce the metal signal line, leading to a very high fill factor. The pixel design and operation principles are discussed in detail. The functionality of the proposed 1T CMOS APS architecture has been experimentally verified using a fabricated chip in a standard 0.35 μm CMOS AMIS technology

  17. Electro-optical rendezvous and docking sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tubbs, David J.; Kesler, Lynn O.; Sirko, Robert J.

    1991-01-01

    Electro-optical sensors provide unique and critical functionality for space missions requiring rendezvous, docking, and berthing. McDonnell Douglas is developing a complete rendezvous and docking system for both manned and unmanned missions. This paper examines our sensor development and the systems and missions which benefit from rendezvous and docking sensors. Simulation results quantifying system performance improvements in key areas are given, with associated sensor performance requirements. A brief review of NASA-funded development activities and the current performance of electro-optical sensors for space applications is given. We will also describe current activities at McDonnell Douglas for a fully functional demonstration to address specific NASA mission needs.

  18. Piezoelectric microelectromechanical resonant sensors for chemical and biological detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Wei; Zhao, Hongyuan; Kim, Eun Sok; Zhang, Hao; Yu, Hongyu; Hu, Xiaotang

    2012-01-07

    Piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonant sensors, known for their excellent mass resolution, have been studied for many applications, including DNA hybridization, protein-ligand interactions, and immunosensor development. They have also been explored for detecting antigens, organic gas, toxic ions, and explosives. Most piezoelectric MEMS resonant sensors are acoustic sensors (with specific coating layers) that enable selective and label-free detection of biological events in real time. These label-free technologies have recently garnered significant attention for their sensitive and quantitative multi-parameter analysis of biological systems. Since piezoelectric MEMS resonant sensors do more than transform analyte mass or thickness into an electrical signal (e.g., frequency and impedance), special attention must be paid to their potential beyond microweighing, such as measuring elastic and viscous properties, and several types of sensors currently under development operate at different resonant modes (i.e., thickness extensional mode, thickness shear mode, lateral extensional mode, flexural mode, etc.). In this review, we provide an overview of recent developments in micromachined resonant sensors and activities relating to biochemical interfaces for acoustic sensors.

  19. Optical seismic sensor systems and methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beal, A. Craig; Cummings, Malcolm E.; Zavriyev, Anton; Christensen, Caleb A.; Lee, Keun

    2015-12-08

    Disclosed is an optical seismic sensor system for measuring seismic events in a geological formation, including a surface unit for generating and processing an optical signal, and a sensor device optically connected to the surface unit for receiving the optical signal over an optical conduit. The sensor device includes at least one sensor head for sensing a seismic disturbance from at least one direction during a deployment of the sensor device within a borehole of the geological formation. The sensor head includes a frame and a reference mass attached to the frame via at least one flexure, such that movement of the reference mass relative to the frame is constrained to a single predetermined path.

  20. Perimeter intrusion sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eaton, M.J.

    1977-01-01

    To obtain an effective perimeter intrusion detection system requires careful sensor selection, procurement, and installation. The selection process involves a thorough understanding of the unique site features and how these features affect the performance of each type of sensor. It is necessary to develop procurement specifications to establish acceptable sensor performance limits. Careful explanation and inspection of critical installation dimensions is required during on-site construction. The implementation of these activities at a particular site is discussed

  1. Radiation-hard Active Pixel Sensors for HL-LHC Detector Upgrades based on HV-CMOS Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miucci, A; Gonzalez-Sevilla, S; Ferrere, D; Iacobucci, G; Rosa, A La; Muenstermann, D; Gonella, L; Hemperek, T; Hügging, F; Krüger, H; Obermann, T; Wermes, N; Garcia-Sciveres, M; Backhaus, M; Capeans, M; Feigl, S; Nessi, M; Pernegger, H; Ristic, B; George, M

    2014-01-01

    Luminosity upgrades are discussed for the LHC (HL-LHC) which would make updates to the detectors necessary, requiring in particular new, even more radiation-hard and granular, sensors for the inner detector region. A proposal for the next generation of inner detectors is based on HV-CMOS: a new family of silicon sensors based on commercial high-voltage CMOS technology, which enables the fabrication of part of the pixel electronics inside the silicon substrate itself. The main advantages of this technology with respect to the standard silicon sensor technology are: low material budget, fast charge collection time, high radiation tolerance, low cost and operation at room temperature. A traditional readout chip is still needed to receive and organize the data from the active sensor and to handle high-level functionality such as trigger management. HV-CMOS has been designed to be compatible with both pixel and strip readout. In this paper an overview of HV2FEI4, a HV-CMOS prototype in 180 nm AMS technology, will be given. Preliminary results after neutron and X-ray irradiation are shown

  2. Rail Sensor Testbed Program: Active Agents in Containers for Transport Chain Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    applied to a variety of regimes, including virtual communities [14], email [15] and ecommerce [16] and [17], and sensor networks [18]. These approaches...effective anti- spam tool. 2004(http://www.arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0402143). 16. Melnik, M., Alm, J., Does a seller’s eCommerce reputation matter

  3. Component design and testing for a miniaturised autonomous sensor based on a nanowire materials platform

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rajesh Ramaneti; Francois Krummenacher; Fritz Falk; Naser Khosropour; Björn Eisenhawer; Cees van Rijn; Giorgos Fagas; Ran Yu; Adrian M. Ionescu; Ing. Erik Puik; Montserrat Fernández-Bolaños Badia; Nikolay Petkov; Hien Duy Tong; Rik Lafeber; John C De Mello; Olan Lotty; Adrian M. Nightingale; Yordan M. Georgiev; Elizabeth Buitrago; Frank van der Bent; Michael Nolan; Justin D. Holmes; Annett Gawlik; Maher Kayal; Guobin Jia

    2014-01-01

    From Springer description: "We present the design considerations of an autonomous wireless sensor and discuss the fabrication and testing of the various components including the energy harvester, the active sensing devices and the power management and sensor interface circuits. A common materials

  4. Dirichlet Process Gaussian Mixture Model for Activity Discovery in Smart Homes with Ambient Sensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nguyen, Thuong; Le Viet Duc, Duc Viet; Zhang, Quing; Karunanithi, Mohan

    2017-01-01

    Most of the existing approaches to activity recognition in smart homes rely on supervised learning with well annotated sensor data. However obtaining such labeled data is not only challenging but sometimes also an unobtainable task, especially for senior citizens who may suffer various mental health

  5. Quartz Microbalance Sensor for the Detection of Acrylamide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christoph A. Schalley

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: Several macrocycles of the Hunter-Vögtle type have been identified as superior host compounds for the detection of small amounts of acrylamide. When coated onto the surface of a quartz microbalance, these compounds serve as highly sensitive and selective sensor-active layers for their use in electronic noses. In this study, differently substituted macrocycles were investigated including an open-chain analogue and a catenane. Their structure and functional groups are correlated with their observed affinities to acrylamide and related acids and amides. The much smaller response of the open-chain compound and the almost absent sensor response of the catenane suggest that binding occurs within the cavity of the macrocycle. Theoretical calculations agree well with the experimental data even though they do not yet take into account the arrangement of the macrocycles in the sensor-active layer. The lower detection limit of acrylamide is 10 parts per billion (ppb, which is impressively low for this type of sensor. Other related compounds such as acrylic acid, propionamide, or propionic acid show no or significantly lower affinities to the macrocycles in these concentration ranges.

  6. Bio-Inspired Carbon Monoxide Sensors with Voltage-Activated Sensitivity

    KAUST Repository

    Savagatrup, Suchol; Schroeder, Vera; He, Xin; Lin, Sibo; He, Maggie; Yassine, Omar; Salama, Khaled N.; Zhang, Xixiang; Swager, Timothy M.

    2017-01-01

    voltage offers a predicted extra dimension for sensing. Specifically, the sensors show a significant increase in sensitivity toward CO when negative gate voltage is applied. The dosimetric sensors are selective to ppm levels of CO and functional in air. UV

  7. A Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor for ionizing radiation using a 180 nm HV-SOI process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hemperek, Tomasz, E-mail: hemperek@uni-bonn.de; Kishishita, Tetsuichi; Krüger, Hans; Wermes, Norbert

    2015-10-01

    An improved SOI-MAPS (Silicon On Insulator Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor) for ionizing radiation based on thick-film High Voltage SOI technology (HV-SOI) has been developed. Similar to existing Fully Depleted SOI-based (FD-SOI) MAPS, a buried silicon oxide inter-dielectric (BOX) layer is used to separate the CMOS electronics from the handle wafer which is used as a depleted charge collection layer. FD-SOI MAPS suffers from radiation damage such as transistor threshold voltage shifts due to charge traps in the oxide layers and charge states created at the silicon oxide boundaries (back gate effect). The X-FAB 180-nm HV-SOI technology offers an additional isolation by deep non-depleted implant between the BOX layer and the active circuitry which mitigates this problem. Therefore we see in this technology a high potential to implement radiation-tolerant MAPS with fast charge collection property. The design and measurement results from a first prototype are presented including charge collection in neutron irradiated samples.

  8. Extracting aerobic system dynamics during unsupervised activities of daily living using wearable sensor machine learning models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beltrame, Thomas; Amelard, Robert; Wong, Alexander; Hughson, Richard L

    2018-02-01

    Physical activity levels are related through algorithms to the energetic demand, with no information regarding the integrity of the multiple physiological systems involved in the energetic supply. Longitudinal analysis of the oxygen uptake (V̇o 2 ) by wearable sensors in realistic settings might permit development of a practical tool for the study of the longitudinal aerobic system dynamics (i.e., V̇o 2 kinetics). This study evaluated aerobic system dynamics based on predicted V̇o 2 data obtained from wearable sensors during unsupervised activities of daily living (μADL). Thirteen healthy men performed a laboratory-controlled moderate exercise protocol and were monitored for ≈6 h/day for 4 days (μADL data). Variables derived from hip accelerometer (ACC HIP ), heart rate monitor, and respiratory bands during μADL were extracted and processed by a validated random forest regression model to predict V̇o 2 . The aerobic system analysis was based on the frequency-domain analysis of ACC HIP and predicted V̇o 2 data obtained during μADL. Optimal samples for frequency domain analysis (constrained to ≤0.01 Hz) were selected when ACC HIP was higher than 0.05 g at a given frequency (i.e., participants were active). The temporal characteristics of predicted V̇o 2 data during μADL correlated with the temporal characteristics of measured V̇o 2 data during laboratory-controlled protocol ([Formula: see text] = 0.82, P system dynamics can be investigated during unsupervised activities of daily living by wearable sensors. Although speculative, these algorithms have the potential to be incorporated into wearable systems for early detection of changes in health status in realistic environments by detecting changes in aerobic response dynamics. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The early detection of subclinical aerobic system impairments might be indicative of impaired physiological reserves that impact the capacity for physical activity. This study is the first to use wearable

  9. Development of active edge pixel sensors and four-side buttable modules using vertical integration technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Macchiolo, A., E-mail: Anna.Macchiolo@mpp.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut for Physics, Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 Munich (Germany); Andricek, L. [Semiconductor Laboratory of the Max-Planck-Society, Otto Hahn Ring 6, D-81739 Munich (Germany); Moser, H.-G.; Nisius, R. [Max-Planck-Institut for Physics, Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 Munich (Germany); Richter, R.H. [Semiconductor Laboratory of the Max-Planck-Society, Otto Hahn Ring 6, D-81739 Munich (Germany); Terzo, S.; Weigell, P. [Max-Planck-Institut for Physics, Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 Munich (Germany)

    2014-11-21

    We present an R and D activity focused on the development of novel modules for the upgrade of the ATLAS pixel system at the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). The modules consist of n-in-p pixel sensors, 100 or 200 μm thick, produced at VTT (Finland) with an active edge technology, which considerably reduces the dead area at the periphery of the device. The sensors are interconnected with solder bump-bonding to the ATLAS FE-I3 and FE-I4 read-out chips, and characterised with radioactive sources and beam tests at the CERN-SPS and DESY. The results of these measurements will be discussed for devices before and after irradiation up to a fluence of 5×10{sub 15}n{sub eq}/cm{sup 2}. We will also report on the R and D activity to obtain Inter Chip Vias (ICVs) on the ATLAS read-out chip in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute EMFT. This step is meant to prove the feasibility of the signal transport to the newly created readout pads on the backside of the chips allowing for four side buttable devices without the presently used cantilever for wire bonding. The read-out chips with ICVs will be interconnected to thin pixel sensors, 75 μm and 150 μm thick, with the Solid Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) technology, which is an alternative to the standard solder bump-bonding.

  10. A New Generation of FRET Sensors for Robust Measurement of Gαi1, Gαi2 and Gαi3 Activation Kinetics in Single Cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jakobus van Unen

    Full Text Available G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs can activate a heterotrimeric G-protein complex with subsecond kinetics. Genetically encoded biosensors based on Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET are ideally suited for the study of such fast signaling events in single living cells. Here we report on the construction and characterization of three FRET biosensors for the measurement of Gαi1, Gαi2 and Gαi3 activation. To enable quantitative long-term imaging of FRET biosensors with high dynamic range, fluorescent proteins with enhanced photophysical properties are required. Therefore, we use the currently brightest and most photostable CFP variant, mTurquoise2, as donor fused to Gαi subunit, and cp173Venus fused to the Gγ2 subunit as acceptor. The Gαi FRET biosensors constructs are expressed together with Gβ1 from a single plasmid, providing preferred relative expression levels with reduced variation in mammalian cells. The Gαi FRET sensors showed a robust response to activation of endogenous or over-expressed alpha-2A-adrenergic receptors, which was inhibited by pertussis toxin. Moreover, we observed activation of the Gαi FRET sensor in single cells upon stimulation of several GPCRs, including the LPA2, M3 and BK2 receptor. Furthermore, we show that the sensors are well suited to extract kinetic parameters from fast measurements in the millisecond time range. This new generation of FRET biosensors for Gαi1, Gαi2 and Gαi3 activation will be valuable for live-cell measurements that probe Gαi activation.

  11. SSTAC/ARTS review of the draft Integrated Technology Plan (ITP). Volume 8: Aerothermodynamics Automation and Robotics (A/R) systems sensors, high-temperature superconductivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    Viewgraphs of briefings presented at the SSTAC/ARTS review of the draft Integrated Technology Plan (ITP) on aerothermodynamics, automation and robotics systems, sensors, and high-temperature superconductivity are included. Topics covered include: aerothermodynamics; aerobraking; aeroassist flight experiment; entry technology for probes and penetrators; automation and robotics; artificial intelligence; NASA telerobotics program; planetary rover program; science sensor technology; direct detector; submillimeter sensors; laser sensors; passive microwave sensing; active microwave sensing; sensor electronics; sensor optics; coolers and cryogenics; and high temperature superconductivity.

  12. SSTAC/ARTS review of the draft Integrated Technology Plan (ITP). Volume 8: Aerothermodynamics Automation and Robotics (A/R) systems sensors, high-temperature superconductivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-06-01

    Viewgraphs of briefings presented at the SSTAC/ARTS review of the draft Integrated Technology Plan (ITP) on aerothermodynamics, automation and robotics systems, sensors, and high-temperature superconductivity are included. Topics covered include: aerothermodynamics; aerobraking; aeroassist flight experiment; entry technology for probes and penetrators; automation and robotics; artificial intelligence; NASA telerobotics program; planetary rover program; science sensor technology; direct detector; submillimeter sensors; laser sensors; passive microwave sensing; active microwave sensing; sensor electronics; sensor optics; coolers and cryogenics; and high temperature superconductivity

  13. Sensor Compendium - A Snowmass Whitepaper-

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Artuso, M. [Syracuse Univ., NY (United States); Battaglia, M. [Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States); Bolla, G. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Bortoletto, D. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Caberera, B. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Carlstrom, J E [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Chang, C. L. [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Cooper, W. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Da Via, C. [Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom); Demarteau, M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Fast, J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Frisch, H. [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States), et al.

    2013-10-01

    Sensors play a key role in detecting both charged particles and photons for all three frontiers in Particle Physics. The signals from an individual sensor that can be used include ionization deposited, phonons created, or light emitted from excitations of the material. The individual sensors are then typically arrayed for detection of individual particles or groups of particles. Mounting of new, ever higher performance experiments, often depend on advances in sensors in a range of performance characteristics. These performance metrics can include position resolution for passing particles, time resolution on particles impacting the sensor, and overall rate capabilities. In addition the feasible detector area and cost frequently provides a limit to what can be built and therefore is often another area where improvements are important. Finally, radiation tolerance is becoming a requirement in a broad array of devices. We present a status report on a broad category of sensors, including challenges for the future and work in progress to solve those challenges.

  14. Clementine sensor suite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ledebuhr, A.G. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

    1994-11-15

    LLNL designed and built the suite of six miniaturized light-weight space-qualified sensors utilized in the Clementine mission. A major goal of the Clementine program was to demonstrate technologies originally developed for Ballistic Missile Defense Organization Programs. These sensors were modified to gather data from the moon. This overview presents each of these sensors and some preliminary on-orbit performance estimates. The basic subsystems of these sensors include optical baffles to reject off-axis stray light, light-weight ruggedized optical systems, filter wheel assemblies, radiation tolerant focal plane arrays, radiation hardened control and readout electronics and low mass and power mechanical cryogenic coolers for the infrared sensors. Descriptions of each sensor type are given along with design specifications, photographs and on-orbit data collected.

  15. First tests of a novel radiation hard CMOS sensor process for Depleted Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pernegger, H.; Bates, R.; Buttar, C.; Dalla, M.; van Hoorne, J. W.; Kugathasan, T.; Maneuski, D.; Musa, L.; Riedler, P.; Riegel, C.; Sbarra, C.; Schaefer, D.; Schioppa, E. J.; Snoeys, W.

    2017-06-01

    The upgrade of the ATLAS [1] tracking detector for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN requires novel radiation hard silicon sensor technologies. Significant effort has been put into the development of monolithic CMOS sensors but it has been a challenge to combine a low capacitance of the sensing node with full depletion of the sensitive layer. Low capacitance brings low analog power. Depletion of the sensitive layer causes the signal charge to be collected by drift sufficiently fast to separate hits from consecutive bunch crossings (25 ns at the LHC) and to avoid losing the charge by trapping. This paper focuses on the characterization of charge collection properties and detection efficiency of prototype sensors originally designed in the framework of the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS) upgrade [2]. The prototypes are fabricated both in the standard TowerJazz 180nm CMOS imager process [3] and in an innovative modification of this process developed in collaboration with the foundry, aimed to fully deplete the sensitive epitaxial layer and enhance the tolerance to non-ionizing energy loss. Sensors fabricated in standard and modified process variants were characterized using radioactive sources, focused X-ray beam and test beams before and after irradiation. Contrary to sensors manufactured in the standard process, sensors from the modified process remain fully functional even after a dose of 1015neq/cm2, which is the the expected NIEL radiation fluence for the outer pixel layers in the future ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) [4].

  16. First tests of a novel radiation hard CMOS sensor process for Depleted Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pernegger, H.; Hoorne, J.W. van; Kugathasan, T.; Musa, L.; Riedler, P.; Riegel, C.; Schaefer, D.; Schioppa, E.J.; Snoeys, W.; Bates, R.; Buttar, C.; Maneuski, D.; Dalla, M.; Sbarra, C.

    2017-01-01

    The upgrade of the ATLAS [1] tracking detector for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN requires novel radiation hard silicon sensor technologies. Significant effort has been put into the development of monolithic CMOS sensors but it has been a challenge to combine a low capacitance of the sensing node with full depletion of the sensitive layer. Low capacitance brings low analog power. Depletion of the sensitive layer causes the signal charge to be collected by drift sufficiently fast to separate hits from consecutive bunch crossings (25 ns at the LHC) and to avoid losing the charge by trapping. This paper focuses on the characterization of charge collection properties and detection efficiency of prototype sensors originally designed in the framework of the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS) upgrade [2]. The prototypes are fabricated both in the standard TowerJazz 180nm CMOS imager process [3] and in an innovative modification of this process developed in collaboration with the foundry, aimed to fully deplete the sensitive epitaxial layer and enhance the tolerance to non-ionizing energy loss. Sensors fabricated in standard and modified process variants were characterized using radioactive sources, focused X-ray beam and test beams before and after irradiation. Contrary to sensors manufactured in the standard process, sensors from the modified process remain fully functional even after a dose of 10"1"5 n _e_q/cm"2, which is the the expected NIEL radiation fluence for the outer pixel layers in the future ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) [4].

  17. The mechanism by which a propeptide-encoded pH sensor regulates spatiotemporal activation of furin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Danielle M; Elferich, Johannes; Ramakrishnan, Parvathy; Thomas, Gary; Shinde, Ujwal

    2013-06-28

    The proprotein convertase furin requires the pH gradient of the secretory pathway to regulate its multistep, compartment-specific autocatalytic activation. Although His-69 within the furin prodomain serves as the pH sensor that detects transport of the propeptide-enzyme complex to the trans-Golgi network, where it promotes cleavage and release of the inhibitory propeptide, a mechanistic understanding of how His-69 protonation mediates furin activation remains unclear. Here we employ biophysical, biochemical, and computational approaches to elucidate the mechanism underlying the pH-dependent activation of furin. Structural analyses and binding experiments comparing the wild-type furin propeptide with a nonprotonatable His-69 → Leu mutant that blocks furin activation in vivo revealed protonation of His-69 reduces both the thermodynamic stability of the propeptide as well as its affinity for furin at pH 6.0. Structural modeling combined with mathematical modeling and molecular dynamic simulations suggested that His-69 does not directly contribute to the propeptide-enzyme interface but, rather, triggers movement of a loop region in the propeptide that modulates access to the cleavage site and, thus, allows for the tight pH regulation of furin activation. Our work establishes a mechanism by which His-69 functions as a pH sensor that regulates compartment-specific furin activation and provides insights into how other convertases and proteases may regulate their precise spatiotemporal activation.

  18. The Mechanism by Which a Propeptide-encoded pH Sensor Regulates Spatiotemporal Activation of Furin*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Danielle M.; Elferich, Johannes; Ramakrishnan, Parvathy; Thomas, Gary; Shinde, Ujwal

    2013-01-01

    The proprotein convertase furin requires the pH gradient of the secretory pathway to regulate its multistep, compartment-specific autocatalytic activation. Although His-69 within the furin prodomain serves as the pH sensor that detects transport of the propeptide-enzyme complex to the trans-Golgi network, where it promotes cleavage and release of the inhibitory propeptide, a mechanistic understanding of how His-69 protonation mediates furin activation remains unclear. Here we employ biophysical, biochemical, and computational approaches to elucidate the mechanism underlying the pH-dependent activation of furin. Structural analyses and binding experiments comparing the wild-type furin propeptide with a nonprotonatable His-69 → Leu mutant that blocks furin activation in vivo revealed protonation of His-69 reduces both the thermodynamic stability of the propeptide as well as its affinity for furin at pH 6.0. Structural modeling combined with mathematical modeling and molecular dynamic simulations suggested that His-69 does not directly contribute to the propeptide-enzyme interface but, rather, triggers movement of a loop region in the propeptide that modulates access to the cleavage site and, thus, allows for the tight pH regulation of furin activation. Our work establishes a mechanism by which His-69 functions as a pH sensor that regulates compartment-specific furin activation and provides insights into how other convertases and proteases may regulate their precise spatiotemporal activation. PMID:23653353

  19. Comprehensive Context Recognizer Based on Multimodal Sensors in a Smartphone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sungyoung Lee

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Recent developments in smartphones have increased the processing capabilities and equipped these devices with a number of built-in multimodal sensors, including accelerometers, gyroscopes, GPS interfaces, Wi-Fi access, and proximity sensors. Despite the fact that numerous studies have investigated the development of user-context aware applications using smartphones, these applications are currently only able to recognize simple contexts using a single type of sensor. Therefore, in this work, we introduce a comprehensive approach for context aware applications that utilizes the multimodal sensors in smartphones. The proposed system is not only able to recognize different kinds of contexts with high accuracy, but it is also able to optimize the power consumption since power-hungry sensors can be activated or deactivated at appropriate times. Additionally, the system is able to recognize activities wherever the smartphone is on a human’s body, even when the user is using the phone to make a phone call, manipulate applications, play games, or listen to music. Furthermore, we also present a novel feature selection algorithm for the accelerometer classification module. The proposed feature selection algorithm helps select good features and eliminates bad features, thereby improving the overall accuracy of the accelerometer classifier. Experimental results show that the proposed system can classify eight activities with an accuracy of 92.43%.

  20. On the Use of Sensor Fusion to Reduce the Impact of Rotational and Additive Noise in Human Activity Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio Rojas

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of fusion mechanisms is to increase the individual reliability of the systems through the use of the collectivity knowledge. Moreover, fusion models are also intended to guarantee a certain level of robustness. This is particularly required for problems such as human activity recognition where runtime changes in the sensor setup seriously disturb the reliability of the initial deployed systems. For commonly used recognition systems based on inertial sensors, these changes are primarily characterized as sensor rotations, displacements or faults related to the batteries or calibration. In this work we show the robustness capabilities of a sensor-weighted fusion model when dealing with such disturbances under different circumstances. Using the proposed method, up to 60% outperformance is obtained when a minority of the sensors are artificially rotated or degraded, independent of the level of disturbance (noise imposed. These robustness capabilities also apply for any number of sensors affected by a low to moderate noise level. The presented fusion mechanism compensates the poor performance that otherwise would be obtained when just a single sensor is considered.

  1. E-Beam Effects on CMOS Active Pixel Sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Dong Ook; Jo, Gyu Seong; Kim, Hyeon Daek; Kim, Hyunk Taek; Kim, Jong Yeol; Kim, Chan Kyu

    2011-01-01

    Three different CMOS active pixel structures manufactured in a deep submicron process have been evaluated with electron beam. The devices were exposed to 1 MeV electron beam up to 5kGy. Dark current increased after E-beam irradiation differently at each pixel structure. Dark current change is dependent on CMOS pixel structures. CMOS image sensors are now good candidates in demanding applications such as medical image sensor, particle detection and space remote sensing. In these situations, CISs are exposed to high doses of radiation. In fact radiation is known to generate trapped charge in CMOS oxides. It can lead to threshold voltage shifts and current leakages in MOSFETs and dark current increase in photodiodes. We studied ionizing effects in three types of CMOS APSs fabricated by 0.25 CMOS process. The devices were irradiated by a Co 60 source up to 50kGy. All irradiation took place at room temperature. The dark current in the three different pixels exhibits increase with electron beam exposure. From the above figure, the change of dark current is dependent on the pixel structure. Double junction structure has shown relatively small increase of dark current after electron beam irradiation. The dark current in the three different pixels exhibits increase with electron beam exposure. The contribution of the total ionizing dose to the dark current increase is small here, since the devices were left unbiased during the electron beam irradiation. Radiation hardness in dependent on the pixel structures. Pixel2 is relatively vulnerable to radiation exposure. Pixel3 has radiation hardened structure

  2. Performance of a novel wafer scale CMOS active pixel sensor for bio-medical imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Esposito, M; Evans, P M; Wells, K; Anaxagoras, T; Konstantinidis, A C; Zheng, Y; Speller, R D; Allinson, N M

    2014-01-01

    Recently CMOS active pixels sensors (APSs) have become a valuable alternative to amorphous silicon and selenium flat panel imagers (FPIs) in bio-medical imaging applications. CMOS APSs can now be scaled up to the standard 20 cm diameter wafer size by means of a reticle stitching block process. However, despite wafer scale CMOS APS being monolithic, sources of non-uniformity of response and regional variations can persist representing a significant challenge for wafer scale sensor response. Non-uniformity of stitched sensors can arise from a number of factors related to the manufacturing process, including variation of amplification, variation between readout components, wafer defects and process variations across the wafer due to manufacturing processes. This paper reports on an investigation into the spatial non-uniformity and regional variations of a wafer scale stitched CMOS APS. For the first time a per-pixel analysis of the electro-optical performance of a wafer CMOS APS is presented, to address inhomogeneity issues arising from the stitching techniques used to manufacture wafer scale sensors. A complete model of the signal generation in the pixel array has been provided and proved capable of accounting for noise and gain variations across the pixel array. This novel analysis leads to readout noise and conversion gain being evaluated at pixel level, stitching block level and in regions of interest, resulting in a coefficient of variation ⩽1.9%. The uniformity of the image quality performance has been further investigated in a typical x-ray application, i.e. mammography, showing a uniformity in terms of CNR among the highest when compared with mammography detectors commonly used in clinical practice. Finally, in order to compare the detection capability of this novel APS with the technology currently used (i.e. FPIs), theoretical evaluation of the detection quantum efficiency (DQE) at zero-frequency has been performed, resulting in a higher DQE for this

  3. Performance of a novel wafer scale CMOS active pixel sensor for bio-medical imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esposito, M; Anaxagoras, T; Konstantinidis, A C; Zheng, Y; Speller, R D; Evans, P M; Allinson, N M; Wells, K

    2014-07-07

    Recently CMOS active pixels sensors (APSs) have become a valuable alternative to amorphous silicon and selenium flat panel imagers (FPIs) in bio-medical imaging applications. CMOS APSs can now be scaled up to the standard 20 cm diameter wafer size by means of a reticle stitching block process. However, despite wafer scale CMOS APS being monolithic, sources of non-uniformity of response and regional variations can persist representing a significant challenge for wafer scale sensor response. Non-uniformity of stitched sensors can arise from a number of factors related to the manufacturing process, including variation of amplification, variation between readout components, wafer defects and process variations across the wafer due to manufacturing processes. This paper reports on an investigation into the spatial non-uniformity and regional variations of a wafer scale stitched CMOS APS. For the first time a per-pixel analysis of the electro-optical performance of a wafer CMOS APS is presented, to address inhomogeneity issues arising from the stitching techniques used to manufacture wafer scale sensors. A complete model of the signal generation in the pixel array has been provided and proved capable of accounting for noise and gain variations across the pixel array. This novel analysis leads to readout noise and conversion gain being evaluated at pixel level, stitching block level and in regions of interest, resulting in a coefficient of variation ⩽1.9%. The uniformity of the image quality performance has been further investigated in a typical x-ray application, i.e. mammography, showing a uniformity in terms of CNR among the highest when compared with mammography detectors commonly used in clinical practice. Finally, in order to compare the detection capability of this novel APS with the technology currently used (i.e. FPIs), theoretical evaluation of the detection quantum efficiency (DQE) at zero-frequency has been performed, resulting in a higher DQE for this

  4. Sensor Placement Optimization using Chama

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klise, Katherine A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Geotechnology and Engineering Dept.; Nicholson, Bethany L. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Discrete Math and Optimization Dept.; Laird, Carl Damon [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Discrete Math and Optimization Dept.

    2017-10-01

    Continuous or regularly scheduled monitoring has the potential to quickly identify changes in the environment. However, even with low - cost sensors, only a limited number of sensors can be deployed. The physical placement of these sensors, along with the sensor technology and operating conditions, can have a large impact on the performance of a monitoring strategy. Chama is an open source Python package which includes mixed - integer, stochastic programming formulations to determine sensor locations and technology that maximize monitoring effectiveness. The methods in Chama are general and can be applied to a wide range of applications. Chama is currently being used to design sensor networks to monitor airborne pollutants and to monitor water quality in water distribution systems. The following documentation includes installation instructions and examples, description of software features, and software license. The software is intended to be used by regulatory agencies, industry, and the research community. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the Python Programming Language. References are included for addit ional background on software components. Online documentation, hosted at http://chama.readthedocs.io/, will be updated as new features are added. The online version includes API documentation .

  5. Computer-Aided Sensor Development Focused on Security Issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bialas, Andrzej

    2016-05-26

    The paper examines intelligent sensor and sensor system development according to the Common Criteria methodology, which is the basic security assurance methodology for IT products and systems. The paper presents how the development process can be supported by software tools, design patterns and knowledge engineering. The automation of this process brings cost-, quality-, and time-related advantages, because the most difficult and most laborious activities are software-supported and the design reusability is growing. The paper includes a short introduction to the Common Criteria methodology and its sensor-related applications. In the experimental section the computer-supported and patterns-based IT security development process is presented using the example of an intelligent methane detection sensor. This process is supported by an ontology-based tool for security modeling and analyses. The verified and justified models are transferred straight to the security target specification representing security requirements for the IT product. The novelty of the paper is to provide a patterns-based and computer-aided methodology for the sensors development with a view to achieving their IT security assurance. The paper summarizes the validation experiment focused on this methodology adapted for the sensors system development, and presents directions of future research.

  6. Systematic approach to development of pressure sensors using dielectric electro-active polymer membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    York, A; Seelecke, S; Dunn, J

    2013-01-01

    Dielectric electro-active polymers (DEAPs) have become attractive materials for various actuation and sensing applications due to their high energy and power density, high efficiency, light weight, and fast response speed. However, commercial development has been hindered due to a variety of constraints such as reliability, non-linear behavior, cost of driving electronics, and form factor requirements. This paper presents the systematic development from laboratory concept to commercial readiness of a novel pressure sensing system using a DEAP membrane. The pressure sensing system was designed for in-line pressure measurements for low pressure applications such as health systems monitoring. A first generation sensor was designed, built and tested with a focus on the qualitative capabilities of EAP membranes as sensors. Experimental measurements were conducted that demonstrated the capability of the sensor to output a voltage signal proportional to a changing pressure. Several undesirable characteristics were observed during these initial tests such as strong hysteresis, non-linearity, very limited pressure range, and low fatigue life. A second generation prototype was then designed to remove or compensate for these undesirable characteristics. This prototype was then built and tested. The new design showed an almost complete removal of hysteretic non-linear effects and was capable of operating at 10 × the pressure range of the initial generation. This new design is the framework for a novel DEAP based pressure sensor ready for commercial applications. (paper)

  7. Novel sensors to enable closed-loop active clearance control in gas turbine engines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geisheimer, Jonathan; Holst, Tom

    2014-06-01

    Active clearance control within the turbine section of gas turbine engines presents and opportunity within aerospace and industrial applications to improve operating efficiencies and the life of downstream components. Open loop clearance control is currently employed during the development of all new large core aerospace engines; however, the ability to measure the gap between the blades and the case and close down the clearance further presents as opportunity to gain even greater efficiencies. The turbine area is one of the harshest environments for long term placement of a sensor in addition to the extreme accuracy requirements required to enable closed loop clearance control. This paper gives an overview of the challenges of clearance measurements within the turbine as well as discusses the latest developments of a microwave sensor designed for this application.

  8. A wireless sensor tag platform for container security and integrity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amaya, Ivan A.; Cree, Johnathan V.; Mauss, Fredrick J.

    2011-04-01

    Cargo containers onboard ships are widely used in the global supply chain. The need for container security is evidenced by the Container Security Initiative launched by the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). One method of monitoring cargo containers is using low power wireless sensor tags. The wireless sensor tags are used to set up a network that is comprised of tags internal to the container and a central device. The sensor network reports alarms and other anomalies to a central device, which then relays the message to an outside network upon arrival at the destination port. This allows the port authorities to have knowledge of potential security or integrity issues before physically examining the container. Challenges of using wireless sensor tag networks for container security include battery life, size, environmental conditions, information security, and cost among others. PNNL developed an active wireless sensor tag platform capable of reporting data wirelessly to a central node as well as logging data to nonvolatile memory. The tags, operate at 2.4 GHz over an IEEE 802.15.4 protocol, and were designed to be distributed throughout the inside of a shipping container in the upper support frame. The tags are mounted in a housing that allows for simple and efficient installation or removal prior to, during, or after shipment. The distributed tags monitor the entire container volume. The sensor tag platform utilizes low power electronics and provides an extensible sensor interface for incorporating a wide range of sensors including chemical, biological, and environmental sensors.

  9. Linear variable differential transformer sensor using glass-covered amorphous wires as active core

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiriac, H.; Hristoforou, E.; Neagu, Maria; Pieptanariu, M.

    2000-01-01

    Results concerning linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) displacement sensor using as movable core glass-covered amorphous wires are presented. The LVDT response is linear for a displacement of the movable core up to about 14 mm, with an accuracy of 1 μm. LVDT using glass-covered amorphous wire as an active core presents a high sensitivity and good mechanical and corrosion resistance

  10. Coupled wave sensor technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maki, M.C.

    1988-01-01

    Buried line guided radar sensors have been used successfully for a number of years to provide perimeter security for high value resources. This paper introduces a new complementary sensor advancement at Computing Devices termed 'coupled wave device technology' (CWD). It provides many of the inherent advantages of leakey cable sensors, such as terrain-following and the ability to discriminate between humans and small animals. It also is able to provide a high or wide detection zone, and allows the sensor to be mounted aerially and adjacent to a wall or fence. Several alternative sensors have been developed which include a single-line sensor, a dual-line hybrid sensor that combines the elements of ported coax and CWD technology, and a rapid-deployment portable sensor for temporary or mobile applications. A description of the technology, the sensors, and their characteristics is provided

  11. Variables influencing wearable sensor outcome estimates in individuals with stroke and incomplete spinal cord injury: a pilot investigation validating two research grade sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayaraman, Chandrasekaran; Mummidisetty, Chaithanya Krishna; Mannix-Slobig, Alannah; McGee Koch, Lori; Jayaraman, Arun

    2018-03-13

    Monitoring physical activity and leveraging wearable sensor technologies to facilitate active living in individuals with neurological impairment has been shown to yield benefits in terms of health and quality of living. In this context, accurate measurement of physical activity estimates from these sensors are vital. However, wearable sensor manufacturers generally only provide standard proprietary algorithms based off of healthy individuals to estimate physical activity metrics which may lead to inaccurate estimates in population with neurological impairment like stroke and incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). The main objective of this cross-sectional investigation was to evaluate the validity of physical activity estimates provided by standard proprietary algorithms for individuals with stroke and iSCI. Two research grade wearable sensors used in clinical settings were chosen and the outcome metrics estimated using standard proprietary algorithms were validated against designated golden standard measures (Cosmed K4B2 for energy expenditure and metabolic equivalent and manual tallying for step counts). The influence of sensor location, sensor type and activity characteristics were also studied. 28 participants (Healthy (n = 10); incomplete SCI (n = 8); stroke (n = 10)) performed a spectrum of activities in a laboratory setting using two wearable sensors (ActiGraph and Metria-IH1) at different body locations. Manufacturer provided standard proprietary algorithms estimated the step count, energy expenditure (EE) and metabolic equivalent (MET). These estimates were compared with the estimates from gold standard measures. For verifying validity, a series of Kruskal Wallis ANOVA tests (Games-Howell multiple comparison for post-hoc analyses) were conducted to compare the mean rank and absolute agreement of outcome metrics estimated by each of the devices in comparison with the designated gold standard measurements. The sensor type, sensor location

  12. Structural integrated sensor and actuator systems for active flow control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behr, Christian; Schwerter, Martin; Leester-Schädel, Monika; Wierach, Peter; Dietzel, Andreas; Sinapius, Michael

    2016-04-01

    An adaptive flow separation control system is designed and implemented as an essential part of a novel high-lift device for future aircraft. The system consists of MEMS pressure sensors to determine the flow conditions and adaptive lips to regulate the mass flow and the velocity of a wall near stream over the internally blown Coanda flap. By the oscillating lip the mass flow in the blowing slot changes dynamically, consequently the momentum exchange of the boundary layer over a high lift flap required mass flow can be reduced. These new compact and highly integrated systems provide a real-time monitoring and manipulation of the flow conditions. In this context the integration of pressure sensors into flow sensing airfoils of composite material is investigated. Mechanical and electrical properties of the integrated sensors are investigated under mechanical loads during tensile tests. The sensors contain a reference pressure chamber isolated to the ambient by a deformable membrane with integrated piezoresistors connected as a Wheatstone bridge, which outputs voltage signals depending on the ambient pressure. The composite material in which the sensors are embedded consists of 22 individual layers of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) prepreg. The results of the experiments are used for adapting the design of the sensors and the layout of the laminate to ensure an optimized flux of force in highly loaded structures primarily for future aeronautical applications. It can be shown that the pressure sensor withstands the embedding process into fiber composites with full functional capability and predictable behavior under stress.

  13. Continuous Water Vapor Profiles from Operational Ground-Based Active and Passive Remote Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, D. D.; Feltz, W. F.; Ferrare, R. A.

    2000-01-01

    The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program's Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed site central facility near Lamont, Oklahoma, offers unique operational water vapor profiling capabilities, including active and passive remote sensors as well as traditional in situ radiosonde measurements. Remote sensing technologies include an automated Raman lidar and an automated Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), which are able to retrieve water vapor profiles operationally through the lower troposphere throughout the diurnal cycle. Comparisons of these two water vapor remote sensing methods to each other and to radiosondes over an 8-month period are presented and discussed, highlighting the accuracy and limitations of each method. Additionally, the AERI is able to retrieve profiles of temperature while the Raman lidar is able to retrieve aerosol extinction profiles operationally. These data, coupled with hourly wind profiles from a 915-MHz wind profiler, provide complete specification of the state of the atmosphere in noncloudy skies. Several case studies illustrate the utility of these high temporal resolution measurements in the characterization of mesoscale features within a 3-day time period in which passage of a dryline, warm air advection, and cold front occurred.

  14. Design of electrical capacitance tomography sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Wuqiang

    2010-01-01

    Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) has been developed since the late 1980s for visualization and measurement of a permittivity distribution in a cross section using a multi-electrode capacitance sensor. While the hardware and image reconstruction algorithms for ECT have been published extensively and the topics have been reviewed, few papers have been published to discuss ECT sensors and the design issues, which are crucial for a specific application. This paper will briefly discuss the principles of ECT sensors, but mostly will address key issues for ECT sensor design, with reference to some existing ECT sensors as a good understanding of the key issues would help optimization of the design of ECT sensors. The key issues to be discussed include the number and length of electrodes, the use of external and internal electrodes, implications of wall thickness, earthed screens (including the outer screen, axial end screens and radial screens), driven guard electrodes, dealing with high temperature and high pressure, twin planes for velocity measurement by cross correlation and limitations in sensor diameter. While conventional ECT sensors are circular with the electrodes in a single plane or in twin planes, some non-conventional ECT sensors, such as square, conical and 3D sensors, will also be discussed. As a practical guidance, the procedure to fabricate an ECT sensor will be given. In the end are summary and discussion on future challenges, including re-engineering of ECT sensors. (topical review)

  15. Sensor for metal detection

    KAUST Repository

    Kodzius, Rimantas

    2014-06-26

    NOVELTY - The sensor has a microfluidic flow channel that is provided with an inlet port, an outlet port, and a detection chamber. The detection chamber is provided with a group of sensing electrodes (4) having a working electrode (8), a counter electrode (9), and a reference electrode (10). A flow sensor is configured to measure flow in the channel. A temperature sensor (6) is configured to measure temperature in the channel (3). An electrical connection is configured to connect the sensor to a sensing device. USE - Sensor for detecting metal such as toxic metal in sample such as clinical sample such as stool, saliva, sputum, bronchial lavage, urine, vaginal swab, nasal swab, biopsy, tissue, tears, breath, blood, serum, plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, peritoneal fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, joint fluid, and amniotic fluid, water sample, food sample, air sample, and soil sample (all claimed). ADVANTAGE - The sensor for use with the portable analytical instrument is configured for detection of metalsin samples. The sensor can provide the excellent solution for on-site metal detection, including heavy metal detection. The sensors can provide significant advantages in higher throughput, lower cost, at the same time being less labor intensive and less dependent on individual skills. The disposable design of the sensor, the enhanced reliability and repeatability of measurements can be obtained. The sensors can be widely applied in various industries. DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for the following: (1) a system for detecting metal in sample; and (2) a method for using sensor for detecting metal in sample. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The drawing shows a schematic view of the sensor prototype. Channel (3) Sensing electrodes (4) Temperature sensor (6) Working electrode (8) Counter electrode (9) Reference electrode (10)

  16. First tests of CHERWELL, a Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor: A CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) using 180 nm technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mylroie-Smith, James, E-mail: j.mylroie-smith@qmul.ac.uk [Queen Mary, University of London (United Kingdom); Kolya, Scott; Velthuis, Jaap [University of Bristol (United Kingdom); Bevan, Adrian; Inguglia, Gianluca [Queen Mary, University of London (United Kingdom); Headspith, Jon; Lazarus, Ian; Lemon, Roy [Daresbury Laboratory, STFC (United Kingdom); Crooks, Jamie; Turchetta, Renato; Wilson, Fergus [Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, STFC (United Kingdom)

    2013-12-11

    The Cherwell is a 4T CMOS sensor in 180 nm technology developed for the detection of charged particles. Here, the different test structures on the sensor will be described and first results from tests on the reference pixel variant are shown. The sensors were shown to have a noise of 12 e{sup −} and a signal to noise up to 150 in {sup 55}Fe.

  17. Rapid-response Sensor Networks Leveraging Open Standards and the Internet of Things

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bermudez, L. E.; Lieberman, J. E.; Lewis, L.; Botts, M.; Liang, S.

    2016-12-01

    New sensor technologies provide an unparalleled capability to collect large numbers of diverse observations about the world around us. Networks of such sensors are especially effective for capturing and analyzing unexpected, fast moving events if they can be deployed with a minimum of time, effort, and cost. A rapid-response sensing and processing capability is extremely important in quickly unfolding events not only to collect data for future research.but also to support response efforts that may be needed by providing up-to-date knowledge of the situation. A recent pilot activity coordinated by the Open Geospatial Consortium combined Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards with Internet of Things (IoT) practices to understand better how to set up rapid-response sensor networks in comparable event situations involving accidents or disasters. The networks included weather and environmental sensors, georeferenced UAV and PTZ imagery collectors, and observations from "citizen sensors", as well as virtual observations generated by predictive models. A key feature of each "SWE-IoT" network was one or more Sensor Hubs that connected local, often proprietary sensor device protocols to a common set of standard SWE data types and standard Web interfaces on an IP-based internetwork. This IoT approach provided direct, common, interoperable access to all sensor readings from anywhere on the internetwork of sensors, Hubs, and applications. Sensor Hubs also supported an automated discovery protocol in which activated Hubs registered themselves with a canonical catalog service. As each sensor (wireless or wired) was activated within range of an authorized Hub, it registered itself with that Hub, which in turn registered the sensor and its capabilities with the catalog. Sensor Hub functions were implemented in a range of component types, from personal devices such as smartphones and Raspberry Pi's to full cloud-based sensor services platforms. Connected into a network

  18. Active pixel sensors: the sensor of choice for future space applications?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leijtens, Johan; Theuwissen, Albert; Rao, Padmakumar R.; Wang, Xinyang; Xie, Ning

    2007-10-01

    It is generally known that active pixel sensors (APS) have a number of advantages over CCD detectors if it comes to cost for mass production, power consumption and ease of integration. Nevertheless, most space applications still use CCD detectors because they tend to give better performance and have a successful heritage. To this respect a change may be at hand with the advent of deep sub-micron processed APS imagers (< 0.25-micron feature size). Measurements performed on test structures at the University of Delft have shown that the imagers are very radiation tolerant even if made in a standard process without the use of special design rules. Furthermore it was shown that the 1/f noise associated with deep sub-micron imagers is reduced as compared to previous generations APS imagers due to the improved quality of the gate oxides. Considering that end of life performance will have to be guaranteed, limited budget for adding shielding metal will be available for most applications and lower power operations is always seen as a positive characteristic in space applications, deep sub-micron APS imagers seem to have a number of advantages over CCD's that will probably cause them to replace CCD's in those applications where radiation tolerance and low power operation are important

  19. Low-power high-accuracy micro-digital sun sensor by means of a CMOS image sensor

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, N.; Theuwissen, A.J.P.

    2013-01-01

    A micro-digital sun sensor (?DSS) is a sun detector which senses a satellite’s instant attitude angle with respect to the sun. The core of this sensor is a system-on-chip imaging chip which is referred to as APS+. The APS+ integrates a CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) array of 368×368??pixels , a

  20. A Personalised, Sensor-Based Smart Phone Intervention for Physical Activity and Diet – PRECIOUS N-of-1 Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanna Nurmi

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: There is an urgent need for interventions which can effectively change behaviours, in order to prevent and reduce the impact of costly chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (WHO, 2014. Smartphones offer a platform for cost-effective and broad implementation, and at the same time, via real-time tracking and sensor data, offer unprecedented possibilities for personalising interventions (Jovanov & Milenkovic, 2011. While a great number of health-related applications exist already, the content of these is rarely based on behaviour change theory, and, consequently, evidence for the effectiveness of digital behaviour change applications is minimal (Webb, Joseph, Yardley, & Michie, 2010. Even when health-related applications are theory-based, users will likely not achieve behavioural changes if they do not engage with the applications. This lack of engagement is supported by statistics: a quarter of downloaded apps were only used once (Leger, 2011. A major challenge of health care research is therefore the identification of personal treatment response, and factors which mitigate engagement and effectiveness within individuals. To address these issues, our research group, an EU-funded multi-disciplinary consortium has developed the PREventitive Care Infrastructure based On Ubiquitous Sensing (PRECIOUS mobile application. This app targets behavioural changes in physical activity, diet, and stress, and includes both motivational and action components for each. The service design draws from evidence-based techniques in self-determination theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 2000, motivational interviewing (MI, Miller & Rollnick, 2002, and social cognitive theories (e.g. Schwarzer, 2008, to enhance engagement with the process of behaviour change. Through integrating sensor data, self-reported responses, and self-monitoring records, the system provides each user with a dynamic, personalised trajectory through the app

  1. Moving target tracking through distributed clustering in directional sensor networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Enayet, Asma; Razzaque, Md Abdur; Hassan, Mohammad Mehedi; Almogren, Ahmad; Alamri, Atif

    2014-12-18

    The problem of moving target tracking in directional sensor networks (DSNs) introduces new research challenges, including optimal selection of sensing and communication sectors of the directional sensor nodes, determination of the precise location of the target and an energy-efficient data collection mechanism. Existing solutions allow individual sensor nodes to detect the target's location through collaboration among neighboring nodes, where most of the sensors are activated and communicate with the sink. Therefore, they incur much overhead, loss of energy and reduced target tracking accuracy. In this paper, we have proposed a clustering algorithm, where distributed cluster heads coordinate their member nodes in optimizing the active sensing and communication directions of the nodes, precisely determining the target location by aggregating reported sensing data from multiple nodes and transferring the resultant location information to the sink. Thus, the proposed target tracking mechanism minimizes the sensing redundancy and maximizes the number of sleeping nodes in the network. We have also investigated the dynamic approach of activating sleeping nodes on-demand so that the moving target tracking accuracy can be enhanced while maximizing the network lifetime. We have carried out our extensive simulations in ns-3, and the results show that the proposed mechanism achieves higher performance compared to the state-of-the-art works.

  2. Moving Target Tracking through Distributed Clustering in Directional Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asma Enayet

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The problem of moving target tracking in directional sensor networks (DSNs introduces new research challenges, including optimal selection of sensing and communication sectors of the directional sensor nodes, determination of the precise location of the target and an energy-efficient data collection mechanism. Existing solutions allow individual sensor nodes to detect the target’s location through collaboration among neighboring nodes, where most of the sensors are activated and communicate with the sink. Therefore, they incur much overhead, loss of energy and reduced target tracking accuracy. In this paper, we have proposed a clustering algorithm, where distributed cluster heads coordinate their member nodes in optimizing the active sensing and communication directions of the nodes, precisely determining the target location by aggregating reported sensing data from multiple nodes and transferring the resultant location information to the sink. Thus, the proposed target tracking mechanism minimizes the sensing redundancy and maximizes the number of sleeping nodes in the network. We have also investigated the dynamic approach of activating sleeping nodes on-demand so that the moving target tracking accuracy can be enhanced while maximizing the network lifetime. We have carried out our extensive simulations in ns-3, and the results show that the proposed mechanism achieves higher performance compared to the state-of-the-art works.

  3. Sensor Alerting Capability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henriksson, Jakob; Bermudez, Luis; Satapathy, Goutam

    2013-04-01

    There is a large amount of sensor data generated today by various sensors, from in-situ buoys to mobile underwater gliders. Providing sensor data to the users through standardized services, language and data model is the promise of OGC's Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) initiative. As the amount of data grows it is becoming difficult for data providers, planners and managers to ensure reliability of data and services and to monitor critical data changes. Intelligent Automation Inc. (IAI) is developing a net-centric alerting capability to address these issues. The capability is built on Sensor Observation Services (SOSs), which is used to collect and monitor sensor data. The alerts can be configured at the service level and at the sensor data level. For example it can alert for irregular data delivery events or a geo-temporal statistic of sensor data crossing a preset threshold. The capability provides multiple delivery mechanisms and protocols, including traditional techniques such as email and RSS. With this capability decision makers can monitor their assets and data streams, correct failures or be alerted about a coming phenomena.

  4. Comparison of Self-Report Versus Sensor-Based Methods for Measuring the Amount of Upper Limb Activity Outside the Clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waddell, Kimberly J; Lang, Catherine E

    2018-03-10

    To compare self-reported with sensor-measured upper limb (UL) performance in daily life for individuals with chronic (≥6mo) UL paresis poststroke. Secondary analysis of participants enrolled in a phase II randomized, parallel, dose-response UL movement trial. This analysis compared the accuracy and consistency between self-reported UL performance and sensor-measured UL performance at baseline and immediately post an 8-week intensive UL task-specific intervention. Outpatient rehabilitation. Community-dwelling individuals with chronic (≥6mo) UL paresis poststroke (N=64). Not applicable. Motor Activity Log amount of use scale and the sensor-derived use ratio from wrist-worn accelerometers. There was a high degree of variability between self-reported UL performance and the sensor-derived use ratio. Using sensor-based values as a reference, 3 distinct categories were identified: accurate reporters (reporting difference ±0.1), overreporters (difference >0.1), and underreporters (difference sensor-based assessment. Participants did not consistently or accurately self-report UL performance when compared with the sensor-derived use ratio. Although self-report and sensor-based assessments are moderately associated and appear similar conceptually, these results suggest self-reported UL performance is often not consistent with sensor-measured performance and the measures cannot be used interchangeably. Copyright © 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Remotely deployable aerial inspection using tactile sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacLeod, C. N.; Cao, J.; Pierce, S. G.; Sullivan, J. C.; Pipe, A. G.; Dobie, G.; Summan, R.

    2014-02-01

    For structural monitoring applications, the use of remotely deployable Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) inspection platforms offer many advantages, including improved accessibility, greater safety and reduced cost, when compared to traditional manual inspection techniques. The use of such platforms, previously reported by researchers at the University Strathclyde facilitates the potential for rapid scanning of large areas and volumes in hazardous locations. A common problem for both manual and remote deployment approaches lies in the intrinsic stand-off and surface coupling issues of typical NDE probes. The associated complications of these requirements are obviously significantly exacerbated when considering aerial based remote inspection and deployment, resulting in simple visual techniques being the preferred sensor payload. Researchers at Bristol Robotics Laboratory have developed biomimetic tactile sensors modelled on the facial whiskers (vibrissae) of animals such as rats and mice, with the latest sensors actively sweeping their tips across the surface in a back and forth motion. The current work reports on the design and performance of an aerial inspection platform and the suitability of tactile whisking sensors to aerial based surface monitoring applications.

  6. Accuracy of a Custom Physical Activity and Knee Angle Measurement Sensor System for Patients with Neuromuscular Disorders and Gait Abnormalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank Feldhege

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Long-term assessment of ambulatory behavior and joint motion are valuable tools for the evaluation of therapy effectiveness in patients with neuromuscular disorders and gait abnormalities. Even though there are several tools available to quantify ambulatory behavior in a home environment, reliable measurement of joint motion is still limited to laboratory tests. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a novel inertial sensor system for ambulatory behavior and joint motion measurement in the everyday environment. An algorithm for behavior classification, step detection, and knee angle calculation was developed. The validation protocol consisted of simulated daily activities in a laboratory environment. The tests were performed with ten healthy subjects and eleven patients with multiple sclerosis. Activity classification showed comparable performance to commercially available activPAL sensors. Step detection with our sensor system was more accurate. The calculated flexion-extension angle of the knee joint showed a root mean square error of less than 5° compared with results obtained using an electro-mechanical goniometer. This new system combines ambulatory behavior assessment and knee angle measurement for long-term measurement periods in a home environment. The wearable sensor system demonstrated high validity for behavior classification and knee joint angle measurement in a laboratory setting.

  7. Photon-counting image sensors

    CERN Document Server

    Teranishi, Nobukazu; Theuwissen, Albert; Stoppa, David; Charbon, Edoardo

    2017-01-01

    The field of photon-counting image sensors is advancing rapidly with the development of various solid-state image sensor technologies including single photon avalanche detectors (SPADs) and deep-sub-electron read noise CMOS image sensor pixels. This foundational platform technology will enable opportunities for new imaging modalities and instrumentation for science and industry, as well as new consumer applications. Papers discussing various photon-counting image sensor technologies and selected new applications are presented in this all-invited Special Issue.

  8. Sensing capabilities of piezoelectric wafer active sensors in extreme nuclear environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faisal Haider, Mohammad; Lin, Bin; Yu, Lingyu; Giurgiutiu, Victor

    2017-04-01

    There is considerable demand for structural health monitoring (SHM) at locations where there are substantial radiation fields such as nuclear reactor components, dry cask storage canister, irradiated fuel assemblies, etc. Piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) have been emerged as one of the major SHM sensing technologies. In order to use PWAS to perform SHM in nuclear environment, radiation influence on sensor and sensing capability needs to be investigated to assure the reliability of the PWAS based method. Radiation may cause degradation or even complete failure of sensors. Gamma radiation is one of the major radiation sources near the nuclear source. Therefore, experimental investigation was completed on the gamma radiation endurance of piezoelectric sensors. The irradiation test was done in a Co-60 Gamma Irradiator. Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) and Gallium Orthophosphate (GaPO4) PWAS were exposed under gamma radiation at 100 Gy/hr rate for 20 hours. Electro-mechanical (E/M) admittance signatures and electrical capacitance were measured to evaluate the PWAS performance before and after every 4 hours exposure to gamma radiation. PWAS were kept at room temperature for 6 days after each 4 hours radiation exposure to investigate the effect of time on PWAS by gamma radiation. It was found that, PZT-PWAS show variation in resonance frequency for both in plane and thickness mode E/M admittance. Where, the changes in resonance amplitudes are larger for PZT-PWAS. GaPO4-PWAS E/M impedance/admittance spectra don't show any reasonable change after gamma irradiation. A degradation behavior of electrical properties in the PZT-PWAS was observed. Capacitance value of PZT-PWAS decreases from 3.2 nF to 3.07 nF after exposing to gamma radiation for 20 hours at 100Gy/hour. This degradation behavior of electrical properties may be explained by the pinning of domain walls by some radiation induced effect. GaPO4-PWAS doesn't show reasonable degradation in electrical properties

  9. Advanced Wireless Sensor Nodes - MSFC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varnavas, Kosta; Richeson, Jeff

    2017-01-01

    NASA field center Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, AL), has invested in advanced wireless sensor technology development. Developments for a wireless microcontroller back-end were primarily focused on the commercial Synapse Wireless family of devices. These devices have many useful features for NASA applications, good characteristics and the ability to be programmed Over-The-Air (OTA). The effort has focused on two widely used sensor types, mechanical strain gauges and thermal sensors. Mechanical strain gauges are used extensively in NASA structural testing and even on vehicle instrumentation systems. Additionally, thermal monitoring with many types of sensors is extensively used. These thermal sensors include thermocouples of all types, resistive temperature devices (RTDs), diodes and other thermal sensor types. The wireless thermal board will accommodate all of these types of sensor inputs to an analog front end. The analog front end on each of the sensors interfaces to the Synapse wireless microcontroller, based on the Atmel Atmega128 device. Once the analog sensor output data is digitized by the onboard analog to digital converter (A/D), the data is available for analysis, computation or transmission. Various hardware features allow custom embedded software to manage battery power to enhance battery life. This technology development fits nicely into using numerous additional sensor front ends, including some of the low-cost printed circuit board capacitive moisture content sensors currently being developed at Auburn University.

  10. High-fidelity optical reporting of neuronal electrical activity with an ultrafast fluorescent voltage sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    St-Pierre, François; Marshall, Jesse D; Yang, Ying; Gong, Yiyang; Schnitzer, Mark J; Lin, Michael Z

    2015-01-01

    Accurate optical reporting of electrical activity in genetically defined neuronal populations is a long-standing goal in neuroscience. Here we describe Accelerated Sensor of Action Potentials 1 (ASAP1), a novel voltage sensor design in which a circularly permuted green fluorescent protein is inserted within an extracellular loop of a voltage-sensing domain, rendering fluorescence responsive to membrane potential. ASAP1 demonstrates on- and off- kinetics of 2.1 and 2.0 ms, reliably detects single action potentials and subthreshold potential changes, and tracks trains of action potential waveforms up to 200 Hz in single trials. With a favorable combination of brightness, dynamic range, and speed, ASAP1 enables continuous monitoring of membrane potential in neurons at KHz frame rates using standard epifluorescence microscopy. PMID:24755780

  11. Activity-Dependent IGF-1 Exocytosis is Controlled by the Ca2+-Sensor Synaptotagmin-10

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Peng; Maximov, Anton; Südhof, Thomas C.

    2011-01-01

    Synaptotagmins Syt1, Syt2, Syt7, and Syt9 act as Ca2+-sensors for synaptic and neuroendocrine exocytosis, but the function of other synaptotagmins remains unknown. Here, we show that olfactory bulb neurons secrete IGF-1 by an activity-dependent pathway of exocytosis, and that Syt10 functions as the Ca2+-sensor that triggers IGF-1 exocytosis in these neurons. Deletion of Syt10 impaired activity-dependent IGF-1 secretion in olfactory bulb neurons, resulting in smaller neurons and an overall decrease in synapse numbers. Exogenous IGF-1 completely reversed the Syt10 knockout phenotype. Syt10 co-localized with IGF-1 in somatodendritic vesicles of olfactory bulb neurons, and Ca2+-binding to Syt10 caused these vesicles to undergo exocytosis, thereby secreting IGF-1. Thus, Syt10 controls a previously unrecognized pathway of Ca2+-dependent exocytosis that is spatially and temporally distinct from Ca2+-dependent synaptic vesicle exocytosis controlled by Syt1 in the same neurons, and two different synaptotagmins regulate distinct Ca2+-dependent membrane fusion reactions during exocytosis in the same neuron. PMID:21496647

  12. Noise analysis of a novel hybrid active-passive pixel sensor for medical X-ray imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Safavian, N.; Izadi, M.H.; Sultana, A.; Wu, D.; Karim, K.S.; Nathan, A.; Rowlands, J.A.

    2009-01-01

    Passive pixel sensor (PPS) is one of the most widely used architectures in large area amorphous silicon (a-Si) flat panel imagers. It consists of a detector and a thin film transistor (TFT) acting as a readout switch. While the PPS is advantageous in terms of providing a simple and small architecture suitable for high-resolution imaging, it directly exposes the signal to the noise of data line and external readout electronics, causing significant increase in the minimum readable sensor input signal. In this work we present the operation and noise performance of a hybrid 3-TFT current programmed, current output active pixel sensor (APS) suitable for real-time X-ray imaging. The pixel circuit extends the application of a-Si TFT from conventional switching element to on-pixel amplifier for enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and higher imager dynamic range. The capability of operation in both passive and active modes as well as being able to compensate for inherent instabilities of the TFTs makes the architecture a good candidate for X-ray imaging modalities with a wide range of incoming X-ray intensities. Measurement and theoretical calculations reveal a value for input refferd noise below the 1000 electron noise limit for real-time fluoroscopy. (copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  13. Smart Home Wireless Sensor Nodes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lynggaard, Per

    . This paper introduces an approach that considerably lowers the wireless sensor node power consumption and the amount of transmitted sensor events. It uses smart objects that include artificial intelligence to efficiently process the sensor event on location and thereby saves the costly wireless...

  14. Influence of zirconium doping in ceria lattice as an active electrode in amperometric electrochemical ammonia gas sensor using oxygen pumping current

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharan, R.; Dutta, Atanu; Roy, Mainak

    2016-01-01

    An amperometric electrochemical sensor using Ce-Zr system as ammonia gas detecting electrode is reported. Using lanthanum gallate based electrolyte La_0_._8Sr_0_._2Ga_0_._8Mg_0_._1Ni_0_._1O_3 (LSGMN) and lanthanum strontium cobaltite La_0_._5Sr_0_._5CoO_3 (LSC) as oxygen reduction electrode, the sensor was found to be highly sensitive to NH_3 gas down to few ppm level, when operated in the temperature range 300-450°C. Keeping LSC electrodecomposition same, when sensing properties were studied with the variation of Zr concentration in ceria for active electrode, sensor with 30 mol % Zr doped ceria showed highest sensitivity of 28μA/ decade at 400°C. For all active electrodecompositions Ce_1_-_xZr_xO_2 (x = 0 to 0.7) highest sensitivity was observed at 400°C. All the sensors performed reproducibly with time response and recovery time 40 and 120 seconds respectively. (author)

  15. Active Pixel Sensors in ams H18/H35 HV-CMOS Technology for the ATLAS HL-LHC Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Ristic, Branislav

    2016-09-21

    Deep sub micron HV-CMOS processes offer the opportunity for sensors built by industry standard techniques while being HV tolerant, making them good candidates for drift-based, fast collecting, thus radiation-hard pixel detectors. For the upgrade of the ATLAS Pixel Detector towards the HL-LHC requirements, active pixel sensors in HV-CMOS technology were investigated. These implement amplifier and discriminator stages directly in insulating deep n-wells, which also act as collecting electrodes. The deep n-wells allow for bias voltages up to 150V leading to a depletion depth of several 10um. Prototype sensors in the ams H18 180nm and H35 350nm HV-CMOS processes have been manufactured, acting as a potential drop-in replacement for the current ATLAS Pixel sensors, thus leaving higher level processing such as trigger handling to dedicated read-out chips. Sensors were thoroughly tested in lab measurements as well as in testbeam experiments. Irradiation with X-rays and protons revealed a tolerance to ionizing doses o...

  16. A monolithic active pixel sensor for ionizing radiation using a 180 nm HV-SOI process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hemperek, Tomasz; Kishishita, Tetsuichi; Krueger, Hans; Wermes, Norbert [Institute of Physics, University of Bonn, Bonn (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    An improved SOI-MAPS (Silicon On Insulator Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor) for ionizing radiation based on thick-180 nm High Voltage SOI technology (HV-SOI) has been developed. Similar to existing Fully Depleted SOI-based (FD-SOI) MAPS, a buried silicon oxide inter-dielectric (BOX) layer is used to separate the CMOS electronics from the handle wafer which is used as a depleted charge collection layer. Standard FD-SOI MAPS suffer from radiation damage such as transistor threshold voltage shifts due to trapped charge in the buried oxide layer and charged interface states created at the silicon oxide boundaries (back gate effect). The X-FAB 180 nm HV-SOI technology offers an additional isolation using a deep non-depleted implant between the BOX layer and the active circuitry which mitigates this problem. Therefore we see in this technology a high potential to implement radiation-tolerant MAPS with fast charge collection. The design and measurement results from first prototypes are presented including radiation tolerance to total ionizing dose and charge collection properties of neutron irradiated samples.

  17. Characteristic evaluation of acoustic emission sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Hyun Kyu; Joo, Y. S.; Lee, N. H

    2000-12-01

    This report introduces the various kinds of Acoustic Emission(AE) sensors as well as the basic principle of AE sensors in order to select AE sensor suitably. The described sensors include : high sensitivity sensor, broadband sensor, underwater sensor, miniature sensor, directional sensor, integral pre-amplifier sensor. Sensor has two critical aspects of reliability and repeatability. For the high reliability, sensor has to be calibrated in accordance with ASTM standard E 1106 which explains to measure the characteristics of AE sensor accurately. For investigating the degradation of AE sensor under the severe environment for example the high radiation condition, It is important to perform the repeatability test which is described in detail in according to the ASTM standard E 976. Two kinds of AE sensor applications are also summarized.

  18. Multi-Parameter Aerosol Scattering Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenberg, Paul S.; Fischer, David G.

    2011-01-01

    This work relates to the development of sensors that measure specific aerosol properties. These properties are in the form of integrated moment distributions, i.e., total surface area, total mass, etc., or mathematical combinations of these moment distributions. Specifically, the innovation involves two fundamental features: a computational tool to design and optimize such sensors and the embodiment of these sensors in actual practice. The measurement of aerosol properties is a problem of general interest. Applications include, but are not limited to, environmental monitoring, assessment of human respiratory health, fire detection, emission characterization and control, and pollutant monitoring. The objectives for sensor development include increased accuracy and/or dynamic range, the inclusion in a single sensor of the ability to measure multiple aerosol properties, and developing an overall physical package that is rugged, compact, and low in power consumption, so as to enable deployment in harsh or confined field applications, and as distributed sensor networks. Existing instruments for this purpose include scattering photometers, direct-reading mass instruments, Beta absorption devices, differential mobility analyzers, and gravitational samplers. The family of sensors reported here is predicated on the interaction of light and matter; specifically, the scattering of light from distributions of aerosol particles. The particular arrangement of the sensor, e.g. the wavelength(s) of incident radiation, the number and location of optical detectors, etc., can be derived so as to optimize the sensor response to aerosol properties of practical interest. A key feature of the design is the potential embodiment as an extremely compact, integrated microsensor package. This is of fundamental importance, as it enables numerous previously inaccessible applications. The embodiment of these sensors is inherently low maintenance and high reliability by design. The novel and

  19. Computer-Aided Sensor Development Focused on Security Issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrzej Bialas

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines intelligent sensor and sensor system development according to the Common Criteria methodology, which is the basic security assurance methodology for IT products and systems. The paper presents how the development process can be supported by software tools, design patterns and knowledge engineering. The automation of this process brings cost-, quality-, and time-related advantages, because the most difficult and most laborious activities are software-supported and the design reusability is growing. The paper includes a short introduction to the Common Criteria methodology and its sensor-related applications. In the experimental section the computer-supported and patterns-based IT security development process is presented using the example of an intelligent methane detection sensor. This process is supported by an ontology-based tool for security modeling and analyses. The verified and justified models are transferred straight to the security target specification representing security requirements for the IT product. The novelty of the paper is to provide a patterns-based and computer-aided methodology for the sensors development with a view to achieving their IT security assurance. The paper summarizes the validation experiment focused on this methodology adapted for the sensors system development, and presents directions of future research.

  20. Macroenvironmental factors including GDP per capita and physical activity in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, Adrian J; Van Stralen, Maartje M; Kunst, Anton E; Te Velde, Saskia J; Van Lenthe, Frank J; Salmon, Jo; Brug, Johannes

    2013-02-01

    Socioeconomic inequalities in physical activity at the individual level are well reported. Whether inequalities in economic development and other macroenvironmental variables between countries are also related to physical activity at the country level is comparatively unstudied. We examined the relationship between country-level data on macroenvironmental factors (gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, public sector expenditure on health, percentage living in urban areas, and cars per 1000 population) with country-level physical activity prevalence obtained from previous pan-European studies. Studies that assessed leisuretime physical activity (n = 3 studies including 27 countries in adults, n = 2 studies including 28 countries in children) and total physical activity (n = 3 studies in adults including 16 countries) were analyzed separately as were studies among adults and children. Strong and consistent positive correlations were observed between country prevalence of leisure-time physical activity and country GDP per capita in adults (average r = 0.70; all studies, P G 0.05). In multivariate analysis, country prevalence of leisure-time physical activity among adults remained associated with country GDP per capita (two of three studies) but not urbanization or educational attainment. Among school-age populations, no association was found between country GDP per capita and country prevalence of leisure-time physical activity. In those studies that assessed total physical activity (which also includes occupational and transport physical activity), no association with country GDP per capita was observed. Clear differences in national leisure-time physical activity levels throughout Europe may be a consequence of economic development. Lack of economic development of some countries in Europe may make increasing leisure-time physical activity more difficult. Further examination of the link between country GDP per capita and national physical activity levels (across

  1. Radiation effects on active pixel sensors (APS); Effets de l'irradiation sur les capteurs a pixels actifs (APS)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen, M; David, J P [ONERA-CERT/, 31 - Toulouse (France)

    1999-07-01

    Active pixel sensor (APS) is a new generation of image sensors which presents several advantages relatively to charge coupled devices (CCDs) particularly for space applications (APS requires only 1 voltage to operate which reduces considerably current consumption). Irradiation was performed using {sup 60}Co gamma radiation at room temperature and at a dose rate of 150 Gy(Si)/h. 2 types of APS have been tested: photodiode-APS and photoMOS-APS. The results show that photoMOS-APS is more sensitive to radiation effects than photodiode-APS. Important parameters of image sensors like dark currents increase sharply with dose levels. Nevertheless photodiode-APS sensitivity is one hundred time lower than photoMOS-APS sensitivity.

  2. Gait Analysis Using Wearable Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hutian Feng

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Gait analysis using wearable sensors is an inexpensive, convenient, and efficient manner of providing useful information for multiple health-related applications. As a clinical tool applied in the rehabilitation and diagnosis of medical conditions and sport activities, gait analysis using wearable sensors shows great prospects. The current paper reviews available wearable sensors and ambulatory gait analysis methods based on the various wearable sensors. After an introduction of the gait phases, the principles and features of wearable sensors used in gait analysis are provided. The gait analysis methods based on wearable sensors is divided into gait kinematics, gait kinetics, and electromyography. Studies on the current methods are reviewed, and applications in sports, rehabilitation, and clinical diagnosis are summarized separately. With the development of sensor technology and the analysis method, gait analysis using wearable sensors is expected to play an increasingly important role in clinical applications.

  3. Gait Analysis Using Wearable Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Weijun; Liu, Tao; Zheng, Rencheng; Feng, Hutian

    2012-01-01

    Gait analysis using wearable sensors is an inexpensive, convenient, and efficient manner of providing useful information for multiple health-related applications. As a clinical tool applied in the rehabilitation and diagnosis of medical conditions and sport activities, gait analysis using wearable sensors shows great prospects. The current paper reviews available wearable sensors and ambulatory gait analysis methods based on the various wearable sensors. After an introduction of the gait phases, the principles and features of wearable sensors used in gait analysis are provided. The gait analysis methods based on wearable sensors is divided into gait kinematics, gait kinetics, and electromyography. Studies on the current methods are reviewed, and applications in sports, rehabilitation, and clinical diagnosis are summarized separately. With the development of sensor technology and the analysis method, gait analysis using wearable sensors is expected to play an increasingly important role in clinical applications. PMID:22438763

  4. Relational-Based Sensor Data Cleansing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iftikhar, Nadeem; Liu, Xiufeng; Nordbjerg, Finn Ebertsen

    2015-01-01

    cleansing approaches, such as classification, prediction and moving average are not suited for embedded sensor devices, due to the limited storage and processing capabilities. In this paper, we propose a sensor data cleansing approach using the relational-based technologies, including constraints, triggers...... and granularity-based data aggregation. The proposed approach is simple but effective to cleanse different types of dirty data, including delayed data, incomplete data, incorrect data, duplicate data and missing data. We evaluate the proposed strategy to verify its efficiency, effectiveness and adaptability.......Today sensors are widely used in many monitoring applications. Due to some random environmental effects and/or sensing failures, the collected sensor data is typically noisy. Thus, it is critical to cleanse the sensor data before using it to answer queries or conduct data analysis. Popular data...

  5. Condition Monitoring Through Advanced Sensor and Computational Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jung Taek; Park, Won Man; Kim, Jung Soo; Seong, Soeng Hwan; Hur, Sub; Cho, Jae Hwan; Jung, Hyung Gue

    2005-05-01

    The overall goal of this joint research project was to develop and demonstrate advanced sensors and computational technology for continuous monitoring of the condition of components, structures, and systems in advanced and next-generation nuclear power plants (NPPs). This project included investigating and adapting several advanced sensor technologies from Korean and US national laboratory research communities, some of which were developed and applied in non-nuclear industries. The project team investigated and developed sophisticated signal processing, noise reduction, and pattern recognition techniques and algorithms. The researchers installed sensors and conducted condition monitoring tests on two test loops, a check valve (an active component) and a piping elbow (a passive component), to demonstrate the feasibility of using advanced sensors and computational technology to achieve the project goal. Acoustic emission (AE) devices, optical fiber sensors, accelerometers, and ultrasonic transducers (UTs) were used to detect mechanical vibratory response of check valve and piping elbow in normal and degraded configurations. Chemical sensors were also installed to monitor the water chemistry in the piping elbow test loop. Analysis results of processed sensor data indicate that it is feasible to differentiate between the normal and degraded (with selected degradation mechanisms) configurations of these two components from the acquired sensor signals, but it is questionable that these methods can reliably identify the level and type of degradation. Additional research and development efforts are needed to refine the differentiation techniques and to reduce the level of uncertainties

  6. Gas Sensors Based on Semiconducting Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Feng

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available One-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures are unique sensing materials for the fabrication of gas sensors. In this article, gas sensors based on semiconducting nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs are comprehensively reviewed. Individual nanowires or nanowire network films are usually used as the active detecting channels. In these sensors, a third electrode, which serves as the gate, is used to tune the carrier concentration of the nanowires to realize better sensing performance, including sensitivity, selectivity and response time, etc. The FET parameters can be modulated by the presence of the target gases and their change relate closely to the type and concentration of the gas molecules. In addition, extra controls such as metal decoration, local heating and light irradiation can be combined with the gate electrode to tune the nanowire channel and realize more effective gas sensing. With the help of micro-fabrication techniques, these sensors can be integrated into smart systems. Finally, some challenges for the future investigation and application of nanowire field-effect gas sensors are discussed.

  7. A Physical Activity Reference Data-Set Recorded from Older Adults Using Body-Worn Inertial Sensors and Video Technology—The ADAPT Study Data-Set

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Kevin Bourke

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Physical activity monitoring algorithms are often developed using conditions that do not represent real-life activities, not developed using the target population, or not labelled to a high enough resolution to capture the true detail of human movement. We have designed a semi-structured supervised laboratory-based activity protocol and an unsupervised free-living activity protocol and recorded 20 older adults performing both protocols while wearing up to 12 body-worn sensors. Subjects’ movements were recorded using synchronised cameras (≥25 fps, both deployed in a laboratory environment to capture the in-lab portion of the protocol and a body-worn camera for out-of-lab activities. Video labelling of the subjects’ movements was performed by five raters using 11 different category labels. The overall level of agreement was high (percentage of agreement >90.05%, and Cohen’s Kappa, corrected kappa, Krippendorff’s alpha and Fleiss’ kappa >0.86. A total of 43.92 h of activities were recorded, including 9.52 h of in-lab and 34.41 h of out-of-lab activities. A total of 88.37% and 152.01% of planned transitions were recorded during the in-lab and out-of-lab scenarios, respectively. This study has produced the most detailed dataset to date of inertial sensor data, synchronised with high frame-rate (≥25 fps video labelled data recorded in a free-living environment from older adults living independently. This dataset is suitable for validation of existing activity classification systems and development of new activity classification algorithms.

  8. Wearable PPG sensor based alertness scoring system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dey, Jishnu; Bhowmik, Tanmoy; Sahoo, Saswata; Tiwari, Vijay Narayan

    2017-07-01

    Quantifying mental alertness in today's world is important as it enables the person to adopt lifestyle changes for better work efficiency. Miniaturized sensors in wearable devices have facilitated detection/monitoring of mental alertness. Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors through Heart Rate Variability (HRV) offer one such opportunity by providing information about one's daily alertness levels without requiring any manual interference from the user. In this paper, a smartwatch based alertness estimation system is proposed. Data collected from PPG sensor of smartwatch is processed and fed to machine learning based model to get a continuous alertness score. Utility functions are designed based on statistical analysis to give a quality score on different stages of alertness such as awake, long sleep and short duration power nap. An intelligent data collection approach is proposed in collaboration with the motion sensor in the smartwatch to reduce battery drainage. Overall, our proposed wearable based system provides a detailed analysis of alertness over a period in a systematic and optimized manner. We were able to achieve an accuracy of 80.1% for sleep/awake classification along with alertness score. This opens up the possibility for quantifying alertness levels using a single PPG sensor for better management of health related activities including sleep.

  9. Digital Sensor Technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomas, Ken D. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Quinn, Edward L. [Technology Resources, Dana Point, CA (United States); Mauck, Jerry L. [Technology Resources, Dana Point, CA (United States); Bockhorst, Richard M. [Technology Resources, Dana Point, CA (United States)

    2015-02-01

    The nuclear industry has been slow to incorporate digital sensor technology into nuclear plant designs due to concerns with digital qualification issues. However, the benefits of digital sensor technology for nuclear plant instrumentation are substantial in terms of accuracy and reliability. This paper, which refers to a final report issued in 2013, demonstrates these benefits in direct comparisons of digital and analog sensor applications. Improved accuracy results from the superior operating characteristics of digital sensors. These include improvements in sensor accuracy and drift and other related parameters which reduce total loop uncertainty and thereby increase safety and operating margins. An example instrument loop uncertainty calculation for a pressure sensor application is presented to illustrate these improvements. This is a side-by-side comparison of the instrument loop uncertainty for both an analog and a digital sensor in the same pressure measurement application. Similarly, improved sensor reliability is illustrated with a sample calculation for determining the probability of failure on demand, an industry standard reliability measure. This looks at equivalent analog and digital temperature sensors to draw the comparison. The results confirm substantial reliability improvement with the digital sensor, due in large part to ability to continuously monitor the health of a digital sensor such that problems can be immediately identified and corrected. This greatly reduces the likelihood of a latent failure condition of the sensor at the time of a design basis event. Notwithstanding the benefits of digital sensors, there are certain qualification issues that are inherent with digital technology and these are described in the report. One major qualification impediment for digital sensor implementation is software common cause failure (SCCF).

  10. Electrospinning cellulose based nanofibers for sensor applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nartker, Steven

    2009-12-01

    Bacterial pathogens have recently become a serious threat to the food and water supply. A biosensor based on an electrochemical immunoassay has been developed for detecting food borne pathogens, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7. These sensors consist of several materials including, cellulose, cellulose nitrate, polyaniline and glass fibers. The current sensors have not been optimized in terms of microscale architecture and materials. The major problem associated with the current sensors is the limited concentration range of pathogens that provides a linear response on the concentration conductivity chart. Electrospinning is a process that can be used to create a patterned fiber mat design that will increase the linear range and lower the detection limit of these sensors by improving the microscale architecture. Using the electrospinning process to produce novel mats of cellulose nitrate will offer improved surface area, and the cellulose nitrate can be treated to further improve chemical interactions required for sensor activity. The macro and micro architecture of the sensor is critical to the performance of the sensors. Electrospinning technology can be used to create patterned architectures of nanofibers that will enhance sensor performance. To date electrospinning of cellulose nitrate has not been performed and optimization of the electrospinning process will provide novel materials suitable for applications such as filtration and sensing. The goal of this research is to identify and elucidate the primary materials and process factors necessary to produce cellulose nitrate nanofibers using the electrospinning process that will improve the performance of biosensors. Cellulose nitrate is readily dissolved in common organic solvents such as acetone, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and N,N dimethylformamide (DMF). These solvents can be mixed with other latent solvents such as ethanol and other alcohols to provide a solvent system with good electrospinning behavior

  11. A hands-on course in sensors using the Arduino and Raspberry Pi

    CERN Document Server

    Ziemann, Volker

    2018-01-01

    A Hands-On Course in Sensors using the Arduino and Raspberry Pi is the first book to give a practical and wide-ranging account of how to interface sensors and actuators with micro-controllers, Raspberry Pi and other control systems. The author describes the progression of raw signals through conditioning stages, digitization, data storage and presentation. The collection, processing, and understanding of sensor data plays a central role in industrial and scientific activities. This book builds simplified models of large industrial or scientific installations that contain hardware and other building blocks, including services for databases, web servers, control systems, and messaging brokers. A range of case studies are included within the book, including a weather station, geophones, a water-colour monitor, capacitance measurement, the profile of laser beam, and a remote-controlled and fire-seeking robot This book is suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking hands-on laboratory course...

  12. Sensors Applications, Volume 4, Sensors for Automotive Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marek, Jiri; Trah, Hans-Peter; Suzuki, Yasutoshi; Yokomori, Iwao

    2003-07-01

    An international team of experts from the leading companies in this field gives a detailed picture of existing as well as future applications. They discuss in detail current technologies, design and construction concepts, market considerations and commercial developments. Topics covered include vehicle safety, fuel consumption, air conditioning, emergency control, traffic control systems, and electronic guidance using radar and video. Meeting the growing need for comprehensive information on the capabilities, potentials and limitations of modern sensor systems, Sensors Applications is a book series covering the use of sophisticated technologies and materials for the creation of advanced sensors and their implementation in the key areas process monitoring, building control, health care, automobiles, aerospace, environmental technology and household appliances.

  13. Intelligent Sensors for Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmalzel, John L.

    2008-01-01

    IEEE 1451 Smart Sensors contribute to a number of ISHM goals including cost reduction achieved through: a) Improved configuration management (TEDS); and b) Plug-and-play re-configuration. Intelligent Sensors are adaptation of Smart Sensors to include ISHM algorithms; this offers further benefits: a) Sensor validation. b) Confidence assessment of measurement, and c) Distributed ISHM processing. Space-qualified intelligent sensors are possible a) Size, mass, power constraints. b) Bus structure/protocol.

  14. Physical Layer Secret-Key Generation Scheme for Transportation Security Sensor Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Bin; Zhang, Jianfeng

    2017-06-28

    Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are widely used in different disciplines, including transportation systems, agriculture field environment monitoring, healthcare systems, and industrial monitoring. The security challenge of the wireless communication link between sensor nodes is critical in WSNs. In this paper, we propose a new physical layer secret-key generation scheme for transportation security sensor network. The scheme is based on the cooperation of all the sensor nodes, thus avoiding the key distribution process, which increases the security of the system. Different passive and active attack models are analyzed in this paper. We also prove that when the cooperative node number is large enough, even when the eavesdropper is equipped with multiple antennas, the secret-key is still secure. Numerical results are performed to show the efficiency of the proposed scheme.

  15. Monolithic active pixel sensor development for the upgrade of the ALICE inner tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aglieri, G.; Cavicchioli, C.; Chalmet, P. L.; Chanlek, N.; Collu, A.; Giubilato, P.; Hillemanns, H.; Junique, A.; Keil, M.; Kim, D.; Kim, J.; Kugathasan, T.; Lattuca, A.; Mager, M.; Marin Tobon, C. A.; Marras, D.; Martinengo, P.; Mattiazzo, S.; Mazza, G.; Mugnier, H.; Musa, L.; Pantano, D.; Puggioni, C.; Rousset, J.; Reidt, F.; Riedler, P.; Siddhanta, S.; Snoeys, W.; Usai, G.; van Hoorne, J. W.; Yang, P.; Yi, J.

    2013-12-01

    ALICE plans an upgrade of its Inner Tracking System for 2018. The development of a monolithic active pixel sensor for this upgrade is described. The TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS imaging sensor process has been chosen as it is possible to use full CMOS in the pixel due to the offering of a deep pwell and also to use different starting materials. The ALPIDE development is an alternative to approaches based on a rolling shutter architecture, and aims to reduce power consumption and integration time by an order of magnitude below the ALICE specifications, which would be quite beneficial in terms of material budget and background. The approach is based on an in-pixel binary front-end combined with a hit-driven architecture. Several prototypes have already been designed, submitted for fabrication and some of them tested with X-ray sources and particles in a beam. Analog power consumption has been limited by optimizing the Q/C of the sensor using Explorer chips. Promising but preliminary first results have also been obtained with a prototype ALPIDE. Radiation tolerance up to the ALICE requirements has also been verified.

  16. Monolithic active pixel sensor development for the upgrade of the ALICE inner tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aglieri, G; Cavicchioli, C; Hillemanns, H; Junique, A; Keil, M; Kugathasan, T; Mager, M; Tobon, C A Marin; Martinengo, P; Chalmet, P L; Mugnier, H; Chanlek, N; Collu, A; Marras, D; Giubilato, P; Mattiazzo, S; Kim, D; Kim, J; Lattuca, A; Mazza, G

    2013-01-01

    ALICE plans an upgrade of its Inner Tracking System for 2018. The development of a monolithic active pixel sensor for this upgrade is described. The TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS imaging sensor process has been chosen as it is possible to use full CMOS in the pixel due to the offering of a deep pwell and also to use different starting materials. The ALPIDE development is an alternative to approaches based on a rolling shutter architecture, and aims to reduce power consumption and integration time by an order of magnitude below the ALICE specifications, which would be quite beneficial in terms of material budget and background. The approach is based on an in-pixel binary front-end combined with a hit-driven architecture. Several prototypes have already been designed, submitted for fabrication and some of them tested with X-ray sources and particles in a beam. Analog power consumption has been limited by optimizing the Q/C of the sensor using Explorer chips. Promising but preliminary first results have also been obtained with a prototype ALPIDE. Radiation tolerance up to the ALICE requirements has also been verified

  17. Development of Microfabricated Chemical Gas Sensors and Sensor Arrays for Aerospace Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, G. W.; Neudeck, P. G.; Fralick, G.; Thomas, V.; Liu, C. C.; Wu, W. H.; Ward, B.; Makel, D.

    2002-01-01

    Aerospace applications require the development of chemical sensors with capabilities beyond those of commercially available sensors. In particular, factors such as minimal sensor size, weight, and power consumption are particularly important. Development areas which have potential aerospace applications include launch vehicle leak detection, engine health monitoring, fire detection, and environmental monitoring. Sensor development for these applications is based on progress in three types of technology: 1) Micromachining and microfabrication (Microsystem) technology to fabricate miniaturized sensors. 2) The use of nanocrystalline materials to develop sensors with improved stability combined with higher sensitivity. 3) The development of high temperature semiconductors, especially silicon carbide. However, due to issues of selectivity and cross-sensitivity, individual sensors are limited in the amount of information that they can provide in environments that contain multiple chemical species. Thus, sensor arrays are being developed to address detection needs in such multi-species environments. This paper discusses the needs of space applications as well as the point-contact sensor technology and sensor arrays being developed to address these needs. Sensors to measure hydrogen, hydrocarbons, hydrazine, nitrogen oxides (NO,), carbon monoxide, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are being developed as well as arrays for leak, fire, and emissions detection. Demonstrations of the technology will also be discussed. It is concluded that microfabricated sensor technology has significant potential for use in a range of aerospace applications.

  18. Active-Optical Sensors Using Red NDVI Compared to Red Edge NDVI for Prediction of Corn Grain Yield in North Dakota, U.S.A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Lakesh K; Bu, Honggang; Denton, Anne; Franzen, David W

    2015-11-02

    Active-optical sensor readings from an N non-limiting area standard established within a farm field are used to predict yield in the standard. Lower yield predictions from sensor readings obtained from other parts of the field outside of the N non-limiting standard area indicate a need for supplemental N. Active-optical sensor algorithms for predicting corn (Zea mays, L.) yield to direct in-season nitrogen (N) fertilization in corn utilize red NDVI (normalized differential vegetative index). Use of red edge NDVI might improve corn yield prediction at later growth stages when corn leaves cover the inter-row space resulting in "saturation" of red NDVI readings. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of red edge NDVI in two active-optical sensors (GreenSeeker™ and Holland Scientific Crop Circle™) improved corn yield prediction. Nitrogen rate experiments were established at 15 sites in North Dakota (ND). Sensor readings were conducted at V6 and V12 corn. Red NDVI and red edge NDVI were similar in the relationship of readings with yield at V6. At V12, the red edge NDVI was superior to the red NDVI in most comparisons, indicating that it would be most useful in developing late-season N application algorithms.

  19. Active-Optical Sensors Using Red NDVI Compared to Red Edge NDVI for Prediction of Corn Grain Yield in North Dakota, U.S.A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Lakesh K.; Bu, Honggang; Denton, Anne; Franzen, David W.

    2015-01-01

    Active-optical sensor readings from an N non-limiting area standard established within a farm field are used to predict yield in the standard. Lower yield predictions from sensor readings obtained from other parts of the field outside of the N non-limiting standard area indicate a need for supplemental N. Active-optical sensor algorithms for predicting corn (Zea mays, L.) yield to direct in-season nitrogen (N) fertilization in corn utilize red NDVI (normalized differential vegetative index). Use of red edge NDVI might improve corn yield prediction at later growth stages when corn leaves cover the inter-row space resulting in “saturation” of red NDVI readings. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of red edge NDVI in two active-optical sensors (GreenSeeker™ and Holland Scientific Crop Circle™) improved corn yield prediction. Nitrogen rate experiments were established at 15 sites in North Dakota (ND). Sensor readings were conducted at V6 and V12 corn. Red NDVI and red edge NDVI were similar in the relationship of readings with yield at V6. At V12, the red edge NDVI was superior to the red NDVI in most comparisons, indicating that it would be most useful in developing late-season N application algorithms. PMID:26540057

  20. Metal/Metal Oxide Differential Electrode pH Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    West, William; Buehler, Martin; Keymeulen, Didier

    2007-01-01

    Solid-state electrochemical sensors for measuring the degrees of acidity or alkalinity (in terms of pH values) of liquid solutions are being developed. These sensors are intended to supplant older electrochemical pH sensors that include glass electrode structures and reference solutions. The older sensors are fragile and subject to drift. The present developmental solid-state sensors are more rugged and are expected to be usable in harsh environments. The present sensors are based on a differential-electrode measurement principle. Each sensor includes two electrodes, made of different materials, in equilibrium with the solution of interest.

  1. RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS SENSORS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayo, Robert M.; Stephens, Daniel L.

    2009-01-01

    Providing technical means to detect, prevent, and reverse the threat of potential illicit use of radiological or nuclear materials is among the greatest challenges facing contemporary science and technology. In this short article, we provide brief description and overview of the state-of-the-art in sensor development for the detection of radioactive materials, as well as an identification of the technical needs and challenges faced by the detection community. We begin with a discussion of gamma-ray and neutron detectors and spectrometers, followed by a description of imaging sensors, active interrogation, and materials development, before closing with a brief discussion of the unique challenges posed in fielding sensor systems.

  2. Kalman Filter for Estimation of Sensor Acceleration Using Six - axis Inertial Sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jung Keun

    2015-01-01

    Although an accelerometer is a sensor that measures acceleration, it cannot be used by itself to measure the acceleration when the orientation of the sensor changes. This paper introduces a Kalman filter for the estimation of a sensor acceleration based on a six-axis inertial sensor (i.e., a three-axis accelerometer and three-axis gyroscope). The novelty of the proposed Kalman filter lies in the fact that its state vector includes not only the tilt angle variable but also the sensor acceleration. Thus, the filter can explicitly estimate the latter with a high accuracy. The accuracy of acceleration estimates were validated experimentally under three different dynamic conditions, using an optical motion capture system. It could be concluded that the performance of the proposed Kalman filter was comparable to that of the state-of-the-art estimation algorithm employed by the Xsens MTw. The proposed algorithm may be more suitable than inertial/magnetic sensor-based algorithms for various applications adopting six-axis inertial sensors

  3. Smart sensors and systems

    CERN Document Server

    Kyung, Chong-Min; Yasuura, Hiroto; Liu, Yongpan

    2015-01-01

     This book describes for readers technology used for effective sensing of our physical world and intelligent processing techniques for sensed information, which are essential to the success of Internet of Things (IoTs).  The authors provide a multidisciplinary view of sensor technology from MEMS, biological, chemical, and electrical domains and showcase smart sensor systems in real applications including smart home, transportation, medical, environmental, agricultural, etc.  Unlike earlier books on sensors, this book will provide a “global” view on smart sensors covering abstraction levels from device, circuit, systems, and algorithms.  .

  4. MAPLE activities and applications in gas sensors

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Jelínek, Miroslav; Remsa, Jan; Kocourek, Tomáš; Kubešová, B.; Schůrek, J.; Myslík, V.

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 105, č. 3 (2011), 643-649 ISSN 0947-8396 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100522 Keywords : MAPLE * gas sensors * biomedicine * thin films Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 1.630, year: 2011

  5. Alkaline pH sensor molecules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murayama, Takashi; Maruyama, Ichiro N

    2015-11-01

    Animals can survive only within a narrow pH range. This requires continual monitoring of environmental and body-fluid pH. Although a variety of acidic pH sensor molecules have been reported, alkaline pH sensor function is not well understood. This Review describes neuronal alkaline pH sensors, grouped according to whether they monitor extracellular or intracellular alkaline pH. Extracellular sensors include the receptor-type guanylyl cyclase, the insulin receptor-related receptor, ligand-gated Cl- channels, connexin hemichannels, two-pore-domain K+ channels, and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. Intracellular sensors include TRP channels and gap junction channels. Identification of molecular mechanisms underlying alkaline pH sensing is crucial for understanding how animals respond to environmental alkaline pH and how body-fluid pH is maintained within a narrow range. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Flexible Graphene-Based Wearable Gas and Chemical Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Eric; Meyyappan, M; Nalwa, Hari Singh

    2017-10-11

    Wearable electronics is expected to be one of the most active research areas in the next decade; therefore, nanomaterials possessing high carrier mobility, optical transparency, mechanical robustness and flexibility, lightweight, and environmental stability will be in immense demand. Graphene is one of the nanomaterials that fulfill all these requirements, along with other inherently unique properties and convenience to fabricate into different morphological nanostructures, from atomically thin single layers to nanoribbons. Graphene-based materials have also been investigated in sensor technologies, from chemical sensing to detection of cancer biomarkers. The progress of graphene-based flexible gas and chemical sensors in terms of material preparation, sensor fabrication, and their performance are reviewed here. The article provides a brief introduction to graphene-based materials and their potential applications in flexible and stretchable wearable electronic devices. The role of graphene in fabricating flexible gas sensors for the detection of various hazardous gases, including nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), ammonia (NH 3 ), hydrogen (H 2 ), hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and humidity in wearable technology, is discussed. In addition, applications of graphene-based materials are also summarized in detecting toxic heavy metal ions (Cd, Hg, Pb, Cr, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Ag), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including nitrobenzene, toluene, acetone, formaldehyde, amines, phenols, bisphenol A (BPA), explosives, chemical warfare agents, and environmental pollutants. The sensitivity, selectivity and strategies for excluding interferents are also discussed for graphene-based gas and chemical sensors. The challenges for developing future generation of flexible and stretchable sensors for wearable technology that would be usable for the Internet of Things (IoT) are also highlighted.

  7. Sensor system for web inspection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sleefe, Gerard E.; Rudnick, Thomas J.; Novak, James L.

    2002-01-01

    A system for electrically measuring variations over a flexible web has a capacitive sensor including spaced electrically conductive, transmit and receive electrodes mounted on a flexible substrate. The sensor is held against a flexible web with sufficient force to deflect the path of the web, which moves relative to the sensor.

  8. Water-Cut Sensor System

    KAUST Repository

    Karimi, Muhammad Akram; Shamim, Atif; Arsalan, Muhammad

    2018-01-01

    Provided in some embodiments is a method of manufacturing a pipe conformable water-cut sensors system. Provided in some embodiments is method for manufacturing a water-cut sensor system that includes providing a helical T-resonator, a helical ground

  9. Vibration welding system with thin film sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Wayne W; Abell, Jeffrey A; Li, Xiaochun; Choi, Hongseok; Zhao, Jingzhou

    2014-03-18

    A vibration welding system includes an anvil, a welding horn, a thin film sensor, and a process controller. The anvil and horn include working surfaces that contact a work piece during the welding process. The sensor measures a control value at the working surface. The measured control value is transmitted to the controller, which controls the system in part using the measured control value. The thin film sensor may include a plurality of thermopiles and thermocouples which collectively measure temperature and heat flux at the working surface. A method includes providing a welder device with a slot adjacent to a working surface of the welder device, inserting the thin film sensor into the slot, and using the sensor to measure a control value at the working surface. A process controller then controls the vibration welding system in part using the measured control value.

  10. Characterization study of an intensified complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor active pixel sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, J. A.; Chen, D.; Turchetta, R.; Royle, G. J.

    2011-03-01

    An intensified CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) has been constructed for operation in low-light-level applications: a high-gain, fast-light decay image intensifier has been coupled via a fiber optic stud to a prototype "VANILLA" APS, developed by the UK based MI3 consortium. The sensor is capable of high frame rates and sparse readout. This paper presents a study of the performance parameters of the intensified VANILLA APS system over a range of image intensifier gain levels when uniformly illuminated with 520 nm green light. Mean-variance analysis shows the APS saturating around 3050 Digital Units (DU), with the maximum variance increasing with increasing image intensifier gain. The system's quantum efficiency varies in an exponential manner from 260 at an intensifier gain of 7.45 × 103 to 1.6 at a gain of 3.93 × 101. The usable dynamic range of the system is 60 dB for intensifier gains below 1.8 × 103, dropping to around 40 dB at high gains. The conclusion is that the system shows suitability for the desired application.

  11. Carbon nanotube-based ethanol sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brahim, Sean; Colbern, Steve; Gump, Robert; Moser, Alex; Grigorian, Leonid

    2009-01-01

    Sensors containing metal-carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid materials as the active sensing layer were demonstrated for ethanol vapor detection at room temperature. The metal-CNT hybrid materials were synthesized by infiltrating single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with the transition metals Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Pd or Pt. Each sensor was prepared by drop-casting dilute dispersions of a metal-CNT hybrid onto quartz substrate electrodes and the impedimetric responses to varying ethanol concentration were recorded. Upon exposure to ethanol vapor, the ac impedance (Z') of the sensors was found to decrease to different extents. The sensor containing pristine CNT material was virtually non-responsive at low ethanol concentrations (<50 ppm). In contrast, all metal-CNT hybrid sensors showed extremely high sensitivity to trace ethanol levels with 100-fold or more gains in sensitivity relative to the starting SWNT sensor. All hybrid sensors, with the exception of Ni filled CNT, exhibited significantly larger sensor responses to ethanol vapor up to 250 ppm compared to the starting SWNT sensor.

  12. OGC® Sensor Web Enablement Standards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Percivall

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available This article provides a high-level overview of and architecture for the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC standards activities that focus on sensors, sensor networks, and a concept called the “Sensor Web”. This OGC work area is known as Sensor Web Enablement (SWE. This article has been condensed from "OGC® Sensor Web Enablement: Overview And High Level Architecture," an OGC White Paper by Mike Botts, PhD, George Percivall, Carl Reed, PhD, and John Davidson which can be downloaded from http://www.opengeospatial.org/pt/15540. Readers interested in greater technical and architecture detail can download and read the OGC SWE Architecture Discussion Paper titled “The OGC Sensor Web Enablement Architecture” (OGC document 06-021r1, http://www.opengeospatial.org/pt/14140.

  13. Wireless Biological Electronic Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Yue

    2017-10-09

    The development of wireless biological electronic sensors could open up significant advances for both fundamental studies and practical applications in a variety of areas, including medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and defense applications. One of the major challenges in the development of wireless bioelectronic sensors is the successful integration of biosensing units and wireless signal transducers. In recent years, there are a few types of wireless communication systems that have been integrated with biosensing systems to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors. To successfully construct wireless biological electronic sensors, there are several interesting questions: What types of biosensing transducers can be used in wireless bioelectronic sensors? What types of wireless systems can be integrated with biosensing transducers to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors? How are the electrical sensing signals generated and transmitted? This review will highlight the early attempts to address these questions in the development of wireless biological electronic sensors.

  14. SYMBIOTIC SENSING: Exploring and Exploiting Cooperative Sensing in Heterogeneous Sensor Networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Le Viet Duc, L Duc

    2016-01-01

    During the last several years we have witnessed the emergence of smartphone-based sensing applications that include activity recognition, urban sensing, social sensing, and health monitoring. In fact, most smartphones have various sensors, wireless communication interfaces, a large memory capacity,

  15. Sensor Technologies on Flexible Substrates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koehne, Jessica

    2016-01-01

    NASA Ames has developed sensor technologies on flexible substrates integrated into textiles for personalized environment monitoring and human performance evaluation. Current technologies include chemical sensing for gas leak and event monitoring and biological sensors for human health and performance monitoring. Targeted integration include next generation EVA suits and flexible habitats.

  16. 1st National Conference on Sensors

    CERN Document Server

    D’Amico, Arnaldo; Natale, Corrado; Siciliano, Pietro; Seeber, Renato; Stefano, Luca; Bizzarri, Ranieri; Andò, Bruno

    2014-01-01

    This book contains a selection of papers presented at the First National Conference on Sensors held in Rome 15-17 February 2011. The conference highlighted state-of-the-art results from both theoretical and applied research in the field of sensors and related technologies. This book presents material in an interdisciplinary approach, covering many aspects of the disciplines related to sensors, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications.   ·         Provides a selection of the best papers from the First Italian National Conference on Sensors; ·         Covers a broad range of topics relating to sensors and microsystems, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications;       ·        Offers interdisciplinary coverage, aimed at defining a common ground for sensors beyond the specific differences among the different particular implementation of sensors.

  17. 2nd National Conference on Sensors

    CERN Document Server

    Baldini, Francesco; Natale, Corrado; Betta, Giovanni; Siciliano, Pietro

    2015-01-01

    This book contains a selection of papers presented at the Second National Conference on Sensors held in Rome 19-21 February 2014. The conference highlighted state-of-the-art results from both theoretical and applied research in the field of sensors and related technologies. This book presents material in an interdisciplinary approach, covering many aspects of the disciplines related to sensors, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications. ·         Provides a selection of the best papers from the Second Italian National Conference on Sensors; ·         Covers a broad range of topics relating to sensors and microsystems, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications; ·         Offers interdisciplinary coverage, aimed at defining a common ground for sensors beyond the specific differences among the different particular implementation of sensors.

  18. Methods and apparatuses for low-noise magnetic sensors

    KAUST Repository

    Kosel, Jü rgen; Sun, Jian

    2015-01-01

    Magnetic sensors are disclosed, as well as methods for fabricating and using the same. In some embodiments, an EMR effect sensor includes a semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a conductive layer substantially coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a first voltage lead coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the first voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a second voltage lead coupled to the conductive layer. In some embodiments, the second voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. Embodiments of a Hall effect sensor having the same or similar structure are also disclosed.

  19. Methods and apparatuses for low-noise magnetic sensors

    KAUST Repository

    Kosel, Jurgen

    2015-10-20

    Magnetic sensors are disclosed, as well as methods for fabricating and using the same. In some embodiments, an EMR effect sensor includes a semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a conductive layer substantially coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a first voltage lead coupled to the semiconductor layer. In some embodiments, the first voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. In some embodiments, the EMR effect sensor may include a second voltage lead coupled to the conductive layer. In some embodiments, the second voltage lead may be configured to provide a voltage for measurement by a voltage measurement circuit. Embodiments of a Hall effect sensor having the same or similar structure are also disclosed.

  20. Transient multivariable sensor evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vilim, Richard B.; Heifetz, Alexander

    2017-02-21

    A method and system for performing transient multivariable sensor evaluation. The method and system includes a computer system for identifying a model form, providing training measurement data, generating a basis vector, monitoring system data from sensor, loading the system data in a non-transient memory, performing an estimation to provide desired data and comparing the system data to the desired data and outputting an alarm for a defective sensor.

  1. The promise of mHealth: daily activity monitoring and outcome assessments by wearable sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobkin, Bruce H; Dorsch, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    Mobile health tools that enable clinicians and researchers to monitor the type, quantity, and quality of everyday activities of patients and trial participants have long been needed to improve daily care, design more clinically meaningful randomized trials of interventions, and establish cost-effective, evidence-based practices. Inexpensive, unobtrusive wireless sensors, including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and pressure-sensitive textiles, combined with Internet-based communications and machine-learning algorithms trained to recognize upper- and lower-extremity movements, have begun to fulfill this need. Continuous data from ankle triaxial accelerometers, for example, can be transmitted from the home and community via WiFi or a smartphone to a remote data analysis server. Reports can include the walking speed and duration of every bout of ambulation, spatiotemporal symmetries between the legs, and the type, duration, and energy used during exercise. For daily care, this readily accessible flow of real-world information allows clinicians to monitor the amount and quality of exercise for risk factor management and compliance in the practice of skills. Feedback may motivate better self-management as well as serve home-based rehabilitation efforts. Monitoring patients with chronic diseases and after hospitalization or the start of new medications for a decline in daily activity may help detect medical complications before rehospitalization becomes necessary. For clinical trials, repeated laboratory-quality assessments of key activities in the community, rather than by clinic testing, self-report, and ordinal scales, may reduce the cost and burden of travel, improve recruitment and retention, and capture more reliable, valid, and responsive ratio-scaled outcome measures that are not mere surrogates for changes in daily impairment, disability, and functioning.

  2. Detection of Early Morning Daily Activities with Static Home and Wearable Wireless Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Vanderpool

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a flexible, cost-effective, wireless in-home activity monitoring system for assisting patients with cognitive impairments due to traumatic brain injury (TBI. The system locates the subject with fixed home sensors and classifies early morning bathroom activities of daily living with a wearable wireless accelerometer. The system extracts time- and frequency-domain features from the accelerometer data and classifies these features with a hybrid classifier that combines Gaussian mixture models and a finite state machine. In particular, the paper establishes that despite similarities between early morning bathroom activities of daily living, it is possible to detect and classify these activities with high accuracy. It also discusses system training and provides data to show that with proper feature selection, accurate detection and classification are possible for any subject with no subject specific training.

  3. Multiple Usage of Existing Satellite Sensors

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Keeney, James T

    2006-01-01

    .... Space offers a near-perfect vacuum to operate a passive or active sensor. Volume, mass and power on satellites is limited and risk management approaches tended to remove such sensors from satellite systems...

  4. Sensors and Microsystems : AISEM 2011 Proceedings

    CERN Document Server

    Natale, Corrado; Mosiello, Lucia; Zappa, Giovanna

    2012-01-01

    This book contains a selection of papers presented at the 16th AISEM (“Associazione Italiana Sensori e Microsistemi”) National Conference on Sensors and Microsystems, held in Rome 7-9 February 2011. The conference highlighted updated results from both theoretical and applied research in the field of sensors and microsystems. This book presents material in an interdisciplinary approach, covering many aspects of the disciplines related to sensors and microsystems, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications. Provides a selection of the best papers from the most recent AISEM conference; Covers a broad range of topics relating to sensors and microsystems, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications; Offers interdisciplinary coverage, aimed at defining a common ground for sensors beyond the specific differences among the different particular implementation of sensors.              

  5. Development of a Tactile Sensor Array

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marian, Nicolae; Drimus, Alin; Bilberg, Arne

    2010-01-01

    Flexible grasping robots are needed for enabling automated, profitable and competitive production of small batch sizes including complex handling processes of often fragile objects. This development will create new conditions for value-adding activities in the production of the future world....... The paper describes the related research work we have developed for sensor design, exploration and control for a robot gripping system, in order to analyze normal forces applied on the tactile pixels for gripping force control and generate tactile images for gripping positioning and object recognition....... Section 1 gives an introduction of principles and technologies in tactile sensing for robot grippers. Section 2 presents the sensor cell (taxel) and array design and characterization. Section 3 introduces object recognition and shape analysis ideas showing a few preliminary examples, where geometrical...

  6. Stepped-frequency radar sensors theory, analysis and design

    CERN Document Server

    Nguyen, Cam

    2016-01-01

    This book presents the theory, analysis and design of microwave stepped-frequency radar sensors. Stepped-frequency radar sensors are attractive for various sensing applications that require fine resolution. The book consists of five chapters. The first chapter describes the fundamentals of radar sensors including applications followed by a review of ultra-wideband pulsed, frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW), and stepped-frequency radar sensors. The second chapter discusses a general analysis of radar sensors including wave propagation in media and scattering on targets, as well as the radar equation. The third chapter addresses the analysis of stepped-frequency radar sensors including their principles and design parameters. Chapter 4 presents the development of two stepped-frequency radar sensors at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies based on microwave integrated circuits (MICs), microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs) and printed-circuit antennas, and discusses their signal processing....

  7. Simulation of Smart Home Activity Datasets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Synnott

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available A globally ageing population is resulting in an increased prevalence of chronic conditions which affect older adults. Such conditions require long-term care and management to maximize quality of life, placing an increasing strain on healthcare resources. Intelligent environments such as smart homes facilitate long-term monitoring of activities in the home through the use of sensor technology. Access to sensor datasets is necessary for the development of novel activity monitoring and recognition approaches. Access to such datasets is limited due to issues such as sensor cost, availability and deployment time. The use of simulated environments and sensors may address these issues and facilitate the generation of comprehensive datasets. This paper provides a review of existing approaches for the generation of simulated smart home activity datasets, including model-based approaches and interactive approaches which implement virtual sensors, environments and avatars. The paper also provides recommendation for future work in intelligent environment simulation.

  8. Simulation of Smart Home Activity Datasets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Synnott, Jonathan; Nugent, Chris; Jeffers, Paul

    2015-06-16

    A globally ageing population is resulting in an increased prevalence of chronic conditions which affect older adults. Such conditions require long-term care and management to maximize quality of life, placing an increasing strain on healthcare resources. Intelligent environments such as smart homes facilitate long-term monitoring of activities in the home through the use of sensor technology. Access to sensor datasets is necessary for the development of novel activity monitoring and recognition approaches. Access to such datasets is limited due to issues such as sensor cost, availability and deployment time. The use of simulated environments and sensors may address these issues and facilitate the generation of comprehensive datasets. This paper provides a review of existing approaches for the generation of simulated smart home activity datasets, including model-based approaches and interactive approaches which implement virtual sensors, environments and avatars. The paper also provides recommendation for future work in intelligent environment simulation.

  9. Contact CMOS imaging of gaseous oxygen sensor array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daivasagaya, Daisy S; Yao, Lei; Yi Yung, Ka; Hajj-Hassan, Mohamad; Cheung, Maurice C; Chodavarapu, Vamsy P; Bright, Frank V

    2011-10-01

    We describe a compact luminescent gaseous oxygen (O 2 ) sensor microsystem based on the direct integration of sensor elements with a polymeric optical filter and placed on a low power complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imager integrated circuit (IC). The sensor operates on the measurement of excited-state emission intensity of O 2 -sensitive luminophore molecules tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) ([Ru(dpp) 3 ] 2+ ) encapsulated within sol-gel derived xerogel thin films. The polymeric optical filter is made with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that is mixed with a dye (Sudan-II). The PDMS membrane surface is molded to incorporate arrays of trapezoidal microstructures that serve to focus the optical sensor signals on to the imager pixels. The molded PDMS membrane is then attached with the PDMS color filter. The xerogel sensor arrays are contact printed on top of the PDMS trapezoidal lens-like microstructures. The CMOS imager uses a 32 × 32 (1024 elements) array of active pixel sensors and each pixel includes a high-gain phototransistor to convert the detected optical signals into electrical currents. Correlated double sampling circuit, pixel address, digital control and signal integration circuits are also implemented on-chip. The CMOS imager data is read out as a serial coded signal. The CMOS imager consumes a static power of 320 µW and an average dynamic power of 625 µW when operating at 100 Hz sampling frequency and 1.8 V DC. This CMOS sensor system provides a useful platform for the development of miniaturized optical chemical gas sensors.

  10. Overview of Fiber-Optical Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Depaula, Ramon P.; Moore, Emery L.

    1987-01-01

    Design, development, and sensitivity of sensors using fiber optics reviewed. State-of-the-art and probable future developments of sensors using fiber optics described in report including references to work in field. Serves to update previously published surveys. Systems incorporating fiber-optic sensors used in medical diagnosis, navigation, robotics, sonar, power industry, and industrial controls.

  11. Models and control for force/torque sensors in robotics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johansson, Gert.

    1992-01-01

    One of the important problems in automatic assembly is the relative positioning accuracy between the parts in the assembly process. Inaccurate positions cause large insertion forces, wear and might damage the parts. They can also completely disable the assembly process. A solution to this problem is to detect the positioning error and to make a relevant adjustment of the position or path. This thesis presents a solution based on active feedback of force/torque data from a wrist mounted sensor. A task independent control algorithm has been realized through a sensor model concept. The sensor model includes an algorithm that transforms force/torque input to relevant motion of the end effector. The transformation is specified by a set of parameters e.g. desired forces, compliance and stopping criteria. The problem with gravity forces for varying end effector orientation is compensated by an algorithm, divided into three complexity levels. The compensation method includes a calibration sequence to ensure valid end effector properties to be used in the algorithm. A problem with available robot technology is bad integration possibilities for external sensors. To allow necessary modifications and expansions, an open and general control system architecture is proposed. The architecture is based in a computer workstation and transputers in pipeline for the robot specific operations. (au)

  12. Development of a thinned back-illuminated CMOS active pixel sensor for extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy and imaging in space science

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waltham, N.R.; Prydderch, M.; Mapson-Menard, H.; Pool, P.; Harris, A.

    2007-01-01

    We describe our programme to develop a large-format, science-grade, monolithic CMOS active pixel sensor for future space science missions, and in particular an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrograph for solar physics studies on ESA's Solar Orbiter. Our route to EUV sensitivity relies on adapting the back-thinning and rear-illumination techniques first developed for CCD sensors. Our first large-format sensor consists of 4kx3k 5 μm pixels fabricated on a 0.25 μm CMOS imager process. Wafer samples of these sensors have been thinned by e2v technologies with the aim of obtaining good sensitivity at EUV wavelengths. We present results from both front- and back-illuminated versions of this sensor. We also present our plans to develop a new sensor of 2kx2k 10 μm pixels, which will be fabricated on a 0.35 μm CMOS process. In progress towards this goal, we have designed a test-structure consisting of six arrays of 512x512 10 μm pixels. Each of the arrays has been given a different pixel design to allow verification of our models, and our progress towards optimizing a design for minimal system readout noise and maximum dynamic range. These sensors will also be back-thinned for characterization at EUV wavelengths

  13. Particulate matter sensor with a heater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Matthew [Austin, TX

    2011-08-16

    An apparatus to detect particulate matter. The apparatus includes a sensor electrode, a shroud, and a heater. The electrode measures a chemical composition within an exhaust stream. The shroud surrounds at least a portion of the sensor electrode, exclusive of a distal end of the sensor electrode exposed to the exhaust stream. The shroud defines an air gap between the sensor electrode and the shroud and an opening toward the distal end of the sensor electrode. The heater is mounted relative to the sensor electrode. The heater burns off particulate matter in the air gap between the sensor electrode and the shroud.

  14. Active aeroelastic flutter analysis and vibration control of supersonic beams using the piezoelectric actuator/sensor pairs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Zhi-Guang; Li, Feng-Ming

    2011-01-01

    The active vibration control of all kinds of structures by using the piezoelectric material has been extensively investigated. In this paper, the active aeroelastic flutter characteristics and vibration control of supersonic beams applying the piezoelectric material are studied further. The piezoelectric materials are bonded on the top and bottom surfaces of the beams to act as the actuator and sensor so that the active aeroelastic flutter suppression for the supersonic beams can be conducted. The supersonic piston theory is adopted to evaluate the aerodynamic pressure. Hamilton's principle with the assumed mode method is used to develop the dynamical model of the structural systems. By using the standard eigenvalue methodology, the solutions for the complex eigenvalue problem are obtained. A negative velocity feedback control strategy is used to obtain active damping. The aeroelastic flutter bounds are calculated and the active aeroelastic flutter characteristics are analyzed. The impulse responses of the structural system are obtained by using the Houbolt numerical algorithm to study the active aeroelastic vibration control. The influences of the non-dimensional aerodynamic pressure on the active flutter control are analyzed. From the numerical results it is observed that the aeroelastic flutter characteristics of the supersonic beams can be significantly improved and that the aeroelastic vibration amplitudes can be remarkably reduced, especially at the flutter points, by using the piezoelectric actuator/sensor pairs which can provide an active damping. Within a certain value of the feedback control gain, with the increase of it, the flutter aerodynamic pressure (or flutter velocity) can be increased and the control results are also improved

  15. Fiber optic sensor and method for making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vartuli, James Scott; Bousman, Kenneth Sherwood; Deng, Kung-Li; McEvoy, Kevin Paul; Xia, Hua

    2010-05-18

    A fiber optic sensor including a fiber having a modified surface integral with the fiber wherein the modified surface includes an open pore network with optical agents dispersed within the open pores of the open pore network. Methods for preparing the fiber optic sensor are also provided. The fiber optic sensors can withstand high temperatures and harsh environments.

  16. Microfabricated Formaldehyde Gas Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen C. Cheung

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Formaldehyde is a volatile organic compound that is widely used in textiles, paper, wood composites, and household materials. Formaldehyde will continuously outgas from manufactured wood products such as furniture, with adverse health effects resulting from prolonged low-level exposure. New, microfabricated sensors for formaldehyde have been developed to meet the need for portable, low-power gas detection. This paper reviews recent work including silicon microhotplates for metal oxide-based detection, enzyme-based electrochemical sensors, and nanowire-based sensors. This paper also investigates the promise of polymer-based sensors for low-temperature, low-power operation.

  17. Radiation effects on active pixel sensors (APS); Effets de l'irradiation sur les capteurs a pixels actifs (APS)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen, M.; David, J.P. [ONERA-CERT/, 31 - Toulouse (France)

    1999-07-01

    Active pixel sensor (APS) is a new generation of image sensors which presents several advantages relatively to charge coupled devices (CCDs) particularly for space applications (APS requires only 1 voltage to operate which reduces considerably current consumption). Irradiation was performed using {sup 60}Co gamma radiation at room temperature and at a dose rate of 150 Gy(Si)/h. 2 types of APS have been tested: photodiode-APS and photoMOS-APS. The results show that photoMOS-APS is more sensitive to radiation effects than photodiode-APS. Important parameters of image sensors like dark currents increase sharply with dose levels. Nevertheless photodiode-APS sensitivity is one hundred time lower than photoMOS-APS sensitivity.

  18. Long-term fluorescence lifetime imaging of a genetically encoded sensor for caspase-3 activity in mouse tumor xenografts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zherdeva, Victoria; Kazachkina, Natalia I.; Shcheslavskiy, Vladislav; Savitsky, Alexander P.

    2018-03-01

    Caspase-3 is known for its role in apoptosis and programmed cell death regulation. We detected caspase-3 activation in vivo in tumor xenografts via shift of mean fluorescence lifetimes of a caspase-3 sensor. We used the genetically encoded sensor TR23K based on the red fluorescent protein TagRFP and chromoprotein KFP linked by 23 amino acid residues (TagRFP-23-KFP) containing a specific caspase cleavage DEVD motif to monitor the activity of caspase-3 in tumor xenografts by means of fluorescence lifetime imaging-Forster resonance energy transfer. Apoptosis was induced by injection of paclitaxel for A549 lung adenocarcinoma and etoposide and cisplatin for HEp-2 pharynx adenocarcinoma. We observed a shift in lifetime distribution from 1.6 to 1.9 ns to 2.1 to 2.4 ns, which indicated the activation of caspase-3. Even within the same tumor, the lifetime varied presumably due to the tumor heterogeneity and the different depth of tumor invasion. Thus, processing time-resolved fluorescence images allows detection of both the cleaved and noncleaved states of the TR23K sensor in real-time mode during the course of several weeks noninvasively. This approach can be used in drug screening, facilitating the development of new anticancer agents as well as improvement of chemotherapy efficiency and its adaptation for personal treatment.

  19. Compact, self-contained enhanced-vision system (EVS) sensor simulator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiana, Carlo

    2007-04-01

    We describe the model SIM-100 PC-based simulator, for imaging sensors used, or planned for use, in Enhanced Vision System (EVS) applications. Typically housed in a small-form-factor PC, it can be easily integrated into existing out-the-window visual simulators for fixed-wing or rotorcraft, to add realistic sensor imagery to the simulator cockpit. Multiple bands of infrared (short-wave, midwave, extended-midwave and longwave) as well as active millimeter-wave RADAR systems can all be simulated in real time. Various aspects of physical and electronic image formation and processing in the sensor are accurately (and optionally) simulated, including sensor random and fixed pattern noise, dead pixels, blooming, B-C scope transformation (MMWR). The effects of various obscurants (fog, rain, etc.) on the sensor imagery are faithfully represented and can be selected by an operator remotely and in real-time. The images generated by the system are ideally suited for many applications, ranging from sensor development engineering tradeoffs (Field Of View, resolution, etc.), to pilot familiarization and operational training, and certification support. The realistic appearance of the simulated images goes well beyond that of currently deployed systems, and beyond that required by certification authorities; this level of realism will become necessary as operational experience with EVS systems grows.

  20. Interfacing Sensors To Micro Controllers

    KAUST Repository

    Norain, Mohamed

    2018-01-01

    This lecture will cover the most common interface and interface techniques between sensors and microcontrollers. The presentation will introduce the pros and cons of each interface type including analogue, digital and serial output sensors. It will also cover the basic required electronics knowledge to help you in selecting and designing your next sensor to microcontroller interface.

  1. Interfacing Sensors To Micro Controllers

    KAUST Repository

    Norain, Mohamed

    2018-01-15

    This lecture will cover the most common interface and interface techniques between sensors and microcontrollers. The presentation will introduce the pros and cons of each interface type including analogue, digital and serial output sensors. It will also cover the basic required electronics knowledge to help you in selecting and designing your next sensor to microcontroller interface.

  2. Embedded fiber optic ultrasonic sensors and generators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorighi, John F.; Krishnaswamy, Sridhar; Achenbach, Jan D.

    1995-04-01

    Ultrasonic sensors and generators based on fiber-optic systems are described. It is shown that intrinsic fiber optic Fabry-Perot ultrasound sensors that are embedded in a structure can be stabilized by actively tuning the laser frequency. The need for this method of stabilization is demonstrated by detecting piezoelectric transducer-generated ultrasonic pulses in the presence of low frequency dynamic strains that are intentionally induced to cause sensor drift. The actively stabilized embedded fiber optic Fabry-Perot sensor is also shown to have sufficient sensitivity to detect ultrasound that is generated in the interior of a structure by means of a high-power optical fiber that pipes energy from a pulsed laser to an embedded generator of ultrasound.

  3. Synchronizing data from irregularly sampled sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uluyol, Onder

    2017-07-11

    A system and method include receiving a set of sampled measurements for each of multiple sensors, wherein the sampled measurements are at irregular intervals or different rates, re-sampling the sampled measurements of each of the multiple sensors at a higher rate than one of the sensor's set of sampled measurements, and synchronizing the sampled measurements of each of the multiple sensors.

  4. The art of wireless sensor networks

    CERN Document Server

    2014-01-01

    During the last one and a half decades, wireless sensor networks have witnessed significant growth and tremendous development in both academia and industry.   “The Art of Wireless Sensor Networks: Volume 1: Fundamentals” focuses on the fundamentals concepts in the design, analysis, and implementation of wireless sensor networks. It covers the various layers of the lifecycle of this type of network from the physical layer up to the application layer. Its rationale is that the first volume covers contemporary design issues, tools, and protocols for radio-based two-dimensional terrestrial sensor networks. All the book chapters in this volume include up-to-date research work spanning various classic facets of the physical properties and functional behavior of wireless sensor networks, including physical layer, medium access control, data routing, topology management, mobility management, localization, task management, data management, data gathering, security, middleware, sensor technology, standards, and ...

  5. Design and TCAD simulation of planar p-on-n active-edge pixel sensors for the next generation of FELs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dalla Betta, G.-F., E-mail: gianfranco.dallabetta@unitn.it [Università di Trento, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, I-38123 Trento (Italy); TIFPA INFN, I-38123 Trento (Italy); Batignani, G. [Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Fisica, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Benkechkache, M.A. [TIFPA INFN, I-38123 Trento (Italy); University Constantine 1, Department of Electronics in the Science and Technology Faculty, I-25017 Constantine (Algeria); Bettarini, S.; Casarosa, G. [Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Fisica, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Comotti, D. [Università di Pavia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell' Informazione, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pavia, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); Fabris, L. [INFN Sezione di Pavia, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); Università di Bergamo, Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Scienze Applicate, I-24044 Dalmine (Italy); Forti, F. [Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Fisica, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Grassi, M. [Università di Pavia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell' Informazione, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pavia, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); Latreche, S. [University Constantine 1, Department of Electronics in the Science and Technology Faculty, I-25017 Constantine (Algeria); Lodola, L.; Malcovati, P. [Università di Pavia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell' Informazione, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pavia, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); Manghisoni, M. [INFN Sezione di Pavia, I-27100 Pavia (Italy); Università di Bergamo, Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Scienze Applicate, I-24044 Dalmine (Italy); and others

    2016-07-11

    We report on the design and TCAD simulations of planar p-on-n sensors with active edge aimed at a four-side buttable X-ray detector module for future FEL applications. Edge terminations with different number of guard rings were designed to find the best trade-off between breakdown voltage and border gap size. The methodology of the sensor design, the optimization of the most relevant parameters to maximize the breakdown voltage and the final layout are described.

  6. Design and TCAD simulation of planar p-on-n active-edge pixel sensors for the next generation of FELs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dalla Betta, G.-F.; Batignani, G.; Benkechkache, M.A.; Bettarini, S.; Casarosa, G.; Comotti, D.; Fabris, L.; Forti, F.; Grassi, M.; Latreche, S.; Lodola, L.; Malcovati, P.; Manghisoni, M.

    2016-01-01

    We report on the design and TCAD simulations of planar p-on-n sensors with active edge aimed at a four-side buttable X-ray detector module for future FEL applications. Edge terminations with different number of guard rings were designed to find the best trade-off between breakdown voltage and border gap size. The methodology of the sensor design, the optimization of the most relevant parameters to maximize the breakdown voltage and the final layout are described.

  7. Layer-by-layer construction of graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film on activated GCE for application as a nitrite sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cui, Lili; Pu, Tao; Liu, Ying; He, Xingquan

    2013-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A novel nitrite sensor was prepared by using LBL technique which for the first time used the activated positively charged glassy carbon electrode (A-GCE) as the substrate. The nitrite sensor shows super stability for consecutive CV testing and rather low detection limit. -- Abstract: In this paper, a novel graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film was prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) technique which for the first time used the activated positively charged glassy carbon electrode (A-GCE) as the substrate. The surface morphology of graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). It is found that graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film modified GCE exhibits good catalytic activity toward the oxidation of nitrite. The oxidation current barely decreases in consecutive CV test. Furthermore, the modified GCE shows long-term stability after 70 days. The super good stability can be attributed to the immobilization and dispersion of electroactive cobalt phthalocyanine by graphene, and using A-GCE as substrate which can enhance the interaction force between GCE and electroactive cobalt phthalocyanine. The nitrite sensor shows rather low detection limit of 0.084 μM at a signal-to-noise ratio = 3 (S/N = 3)

  8. Real-time investigation of human topoisomerase I reaction kinetics using an optical sensor: a fast method for drug screening and determination of active enzyme concentrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristoffersen, Emil L.; Jørgensen, Line A.; Franch, Oskar; Etzerodt, Michael; Frøhlich, Rikke; Bjergbæk, Lotte; Stougaard, Magnus; Ho, Yi-Ping; Knudsen, Birgitta R.

    2015-05-01

    Human DNA topoisomerase I (hTopI) is a nuclear enzyme that catalyzes relaxation of super helical tension that arises in the genome during essential DNA metabolic processes. This is accomplished through a common reaction mechanism shared among the type IB topoisomerase enzymes, including eukaryotic and poxvirus topoisomerase I. The mechanism of hTopI is specifically targeted in cancer treatment using camptothecin derivatives. These drugs convert the hTopI activity into a cellular poison, and hence the cytotoxic effects of camptothecin derivatives correlate with the hTopI activity. Therefore, fast and reliable techniques for high throughput measurements of hTopI activity are of high clinical interest. Here we demonstrate potential applications of a fluorophore-quencher based DNA sensor designed for measurement of hTopI cleavage-ligation activities, which are the catalytic steps affected by camptothecin. The kinetic analysis of the hTopI reaction with the DNA sensor exhibits a characteristic burst profile. This is the result of a two-step ping-pong reaction mechanism, where a fast first reaction, the one creating the signal, is followed by a slower second reaction necessary for completion of the catalytic cycle. Hence, the burst profile holds information about two reactions in the enzymatic mechanism. Moreover, it allows the amount of active enzyme in the reaction to be determined. The presented results pave the way for future high throughput drug screening and the potential of measuring active hTopI concentrations in clinical samples for individualized treatment.Human DNA topoisomerase I (hTopI) is a nuclear enzyme that catalyzes relaxation of super helical tension that arises in the genome during essential DNA metabolic processes. This is accomplished through a common reaction mechanism shared among the type IB topoisomerase enzymes, including eukaryotic and poxvirus topoisomerase I. The mechanism of hTopI is specifically targeted in cancer treatment using

  9. An Introduction to LANL Mixed Potential Sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mukundan, Rangachary [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Brosha, Eric Lanich [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Kreller, Cortney [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2015-01-26

    These are slides for a webinar given on the topics of an introduction to LANL mixed potential sensors. Topics include the history of LANL electrochemical sensor work, an introduction to mixed potential sensors, LANL uniqueness, and an application of LANL mixed potential sensors. The summary is as follows: Improved understanding of the mixed-potential sensor mechanism (factors controlling the sensor response identified), sensor design optimized to maximize sensor sensitivity and durability (porous electrolyte/dense electrodes), electrodes selected for various specific applications (CO, HC, H2), sensor operating parameters optimized for improved gas selectivity (NOx, NH3).

  10. Development of Innovative and Inexpensive Optical Sensors in Wireless Ad-hoc Sensor Networks for Environmental Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mollenhauer, Hannes; Schima, Robert; Assing, Martin; Mollenhauer, Olaf; Dietrich, Peter; Bumberger, Jan

    2015-04-01

    Due to the heterogeneity and dynamic of ecosystems, the observation and monitoring of natural processes necessitate a high temporal and spatial resolution. This also requires inexpensive and adaptive measurements as well as innovative monitoring strategies. To this end, the application of ad-hoc wireless sensor networks holds the potential of creating an adequate monitoring platform. In order to achieve a comprehensive monitoring in space and time with affordability, it is necessary to reduce the sensor costs. Common investigation methods, especially with regard to vegetation processes, are based on optical measurements. In particular, different wavelengths correspond to specific properties of the plants and preserve the possibility to derive information about the ecosystem, e.g. photosynthetic performance or nutrient content. In this context, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) sensors and hyperspectral sensors are in major use. This work aims the development, evaluation and application of inexpensive but high performance optical sensors for the implementation in wireless sensor networks. Photosynthetically active radiation designates the spectral range from 400 to 700 nanometers that photosynthetic organisms are able to use in the process of photosynthesis. PAR sensors enable the detection of the reflected solar light of the vegetation in the whole PAR wave band. The amount of absorption indicates photosynthetic activity of the plant, with good approximation. Hyperspectral sensors observe specific parts or rather distinct wavelengths of the solar light spectrum and facilitate the determination of the main pigment classes, e.g. Chlorophyll, Carotenoid and Anthocyanin. Due to the specific absorption of certain pigments, a characteristic spectral signature can be seen in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, known as narrow-band peaks. In an analogous manner, also the presence and concentration of different nutrients cause a characteristic spectral

  11. Guard Cell and Tropomyosin Inspired Chemical Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacquelyn K.S. Nagel

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Sensors are an integral part of many engineered products and systems. Biological inspiration has the potential to improve current sensor designs as well as inspire innovative ones. This paper presents the design of an innovative, biologically-inspired chemical sensor that performs “up-front” processing through mechanical means. Inspiration from the physiology (function of the guard cell coupled with the morphology (form and physiology of tropomyosin resulted in two concept variants for the chemical sensor. Applications of the sensor design include environmental monitoring of harmful gases, and a non-invasive approach to detect illnesses including diabetes, liver disease, and cancer on the breath.

  12. Polymer Optical Fiber Sensor and the Prediction of Sensor Response Utilizing Artificial Neural Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haroglu, Derya

    The global market researches showed that there is a growing trend in the field of polymer optical fiber (POF) and POF sensors. Telecommunications, medicine, defense, aerospace, and automotive are the application areas of fiber optic sensors, where the automotive industry is the most promising application area for innovations in the field of POF sensors. The POF sensors in automobiles are particularly for detection of seat occupancy, and intelligent pedestrian protection systems. This dissertation investigates graded index perfluorinated polymer optical fiber as an intensity modulated intrinsic sensor for application in automotive seat occupancy sensing. Since a fiber optic sensor has a high bandwidth, is small in size, is lightweight, and is immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI) it offers higher performance than that of its electrical based counterparts such as strain gauge, elastomeric bladder, and resistive sensor systems. This makes the fiber optic sensor a potential suitable material for seat occupancy sensing. A textile-based fiber optic sensor was designed to be located in the area beneath the typical seated human's thighs. The pressure interval under which the proposed POF sensor design could perform well was found to be between 0.18 and 0.21 N/cm2, where perfluorinated (PF) graded index (GI) POF (62.5/750 mum) was used as the POF material. In addition, the effect of the automotive seat covering including face material (fabric) and foam backing to the sensor's performance was analyzed. The face fabric structure and the thickness of foam backing were not found to be significant factors to change the sensor results. A research study, survey, was conducted of which purpose was to better understand market demands in terms of sensor performance characteristics for automotive seat weight sensors, as a part of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) House of Quality analysis. The companies joined the survey agreed on the first 5 most important sensor

  13. Magnetic actuators and sensors

    CERN Document Server

    Brauer, John R

    2014-01-01

    An accessible, comprehensive guide on magnetic actuators and sensors, this fully updated second edition of Magnetic Actuators and Sensors includes the latest advances, numerous worked calculations, illustrations, and real-life applications. Covering magnetics, actuators, sensors, and systems, with updates of new technologies and techniques, this exemplary learning tool emphasizes computer-aided design techniques, especially magnetic finite element analysis, commonly used by today's engineers. Detailed calculations, numerous illustrations, and discussions of discrepancies make this text an inva

  14. An activity recognition model using inertial sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network for frozen shoulder rehabilitation exercises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Hsueh-Chun; Chiang, Shu-Yin; Lee, Kai; Kan, Yao-Chiang

    2015-01-19

    This paper proposes a model for recognizing motions performed during rehabilitation exercises for frozen shoulder conditions. The model consists of wearable wireless sensor network (WSN) inertial sensor nodes, which were developed for this study, and enables the ubiquitous measurement of bodily motions. The model employs the back propagation neural network (BPNN) algorithm to compute motion data that are formed in the WSN packets; herein, six types of rehabilitation exercises were recognized. The packets sent by each node are converted into six components of acceleration and angular velocity according to three axes. Motor features such as basic acceleration, angular velocity, and derivative tilt angle were input into the training procedure of the BPNN algorithm. In measurements of thirteen volunteers, the accelerations and included angles of nodes were adopted from possible features to demonstrate the procedure. Five exercises involving simple swinging and stretching movements were recognized with an accuracy of 85%-95%; however, the accuracy with which exercises entailing spiral rotations were recognized approximately 60%. Thus, a characteristic space and enveloped spectrum improving derivative features were suggested to enable identifying customized parameters. Finally, a real-time monitoring interface was developed for practical implementation. The proposed model can be applied in ubiquitous healthcare self-management to recognize rehabilitation exercises.

  15. An Activity Recognition Model Using Inertial Sensor Nodes in a Wireless Sensor Network for Frozen Shoulder Rehabilitation Exercises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsueh-Chun Lin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a model for recognizing motions performed during rehabilitation exercises for frozen shoulder conditions. The model consists of wearable wireless sensor network (WSN inertial sensor nodes, which were developed for this study, and enables the ubiquitous measurement of bodily motions. The model employs the back propagation neural network (BPNN algorithm to compute motion data that are formed in the WSN packets; herein, six types of rehabilitation exercises were recognized. The packets sent by each node are converted into six components of acceleration and angular velocity according to three axes. Motor features such as basic acceleration, angular velocity, and derivative tilt angle were input into the training procedure of the BPNN algorithm. In measurements of thirteen volunteers, the accelerations and included angles of nodes were adopted from possible features to demonstrate the procedure. Five exercises involving simple swinging and stretching movements were recognized with an accuracy of 85%–95%; however, the accuracy with which exercises entailing spiral rotations were recognized approximately 60%. Thus, a characteristic space and enveloped spectrum improving derivative features were suggested to enable identifying customized parameters. Finally, a real-time monitoring interface was developed for practical implementation. The proposed model can be applied in ubiquitous healthcare self-management to recognize rehabilitation exercises.

  16. Urodynamic pressure sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Thomas

    1991-01-01

    A transducer system was developed for measuring the closing pressure profile along the female urethra, which provides up to five sensors within the functional length of the urethra. This new development is an improvement over an earlier measurement method that has a smaller sensor area and was unable to respond to transient events. Three sensors were constructed; one of them was subjected to approximately eight hours of use in a clinical setting during which 576 data points were obtained. The complete instrument system, including the signal conditioning electronics, data acquisition unit, and the computer with its display and printer is described and illustrated.

  17. USGS VDP Infrasound Sensor Evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Slad, George William [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Merchant, Bion J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2016-10-01

    Sandia National Laboratories has tested and evaluated two infrasound sensors, the model VDP100 and VDP250, built in-house at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory. The purpose of the infrasound sensor evaluation was to determine a measured sensitivity, self-noise, dynamic range and nominal transfer function. Notable features of the VDP sensors include novel and durable construction and compact size.

  18. High pressure fiber optic sensor system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guida, Renato; Xia, Hua; Lee, Boon K; Dekate, Sachin N

    2013-11-26

    The present application provides a fiber optic sensor system. The fiber optic sensor system may include a small diameter bellows, a large diameter bellows, and a fiber optic pressure sensor attached to the small diameter bellows. Contraction of the large diameter bellows under an applied pressure may cause the small diameter bellows to expand such that the fiber optic pressure sensor may measure the applied pressure.

  19. Wide dynamic logarithmic InGaAs sensor suitable for eye-safe active imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Yang; Bouvier, Christian; Arion, Bogdan; Noguier, Vincent

    2016-05-01

    In this paper, we present a simple method to analyze the injection efficiency of the photodiode interface circuit under fast shuttering conditions for active Imaging applications. This simple model has been inspired from the companion model for reactive elements largely used in CAD. In this paper, we demonstrate that traditional CTIA photodiode interface is not adequate for active imaging where fast and precise shuttering operation is necessary. Afterwards we present a direct amplification based photodiode interface which can provide an accurate and fast shuttering operation on photodiode. These considerations have been used in NIT's newly developed ROIC and corresponding SWIR sensors both in VGA 15um pitch (NSC1201) and also in QVGA 25um pitch (NSC1401).

  20. A column level, low power, 1 M sample/s double ramp A/D converter for monolithic active pixel sensors in high energy physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pillet, N.; Heini, S.; Hu, Y.

    2010-01-01

    Monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) using standard low cost CMOS technologies available from industrial manufacturers have demonstrated excellent tracking performances for minimum ionizing particles. The need for highly granular, fast, thin sensors with a full digital output drives an R and D effort, aiming to design and optimize a low power high speed A/D converter integrated at the column level. Following this main issue, a double digital ramp A/D converter has been proposed for CMOS monolithic active pixel sensors in this paper. This A/D converter responds to the constraints of size, power dissipation and precision for CMOS sensors for particle detection. It also represents a first step in order to reach the high speed of conversion needed for this kind of application. The A/D converter has a resolution of 4 bits for conversion speed of 1 M sample/s with only 264 μW of static consumption in a very particular pitch of 25 μmx900 μm.