Resonance-induced sensitivity enhancement method for conductivity sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Tai, Yu-Chong (Inventor); Shih, Chi-yuan (Inventor); Li, Wei (Inventor); Zheng, Siyang (Inventor)

2009-01-01

Methods and systems for improving the sensitivity of a variety of conductivity sensing devices, in particular capacitively-coupled contactless conductivity detectors. A parallel inductor is added to the conductivity sensor. The sensor with the parallel inductor is operated at a resonant frequency of the equivalent circuit model. At the resonant frequency, parasitic capacitances that are either in series or in parallel with the conductance (and possibly a series resistance) is substantially removed from the equivalent circuit, leaving a purely resistive impedance. An appreciably higher sensor sensitivity results. Experimental verification shows that sensitivity improvements of the order of 10,000-fold are possible. Examples of detecting particulates with high precision by application of the apparatus and methods of operation are described.

A novel thick-film electrical conductivity sensor suitable for liquid and soil conductivity measurements

OpenAIRE

Atkinson, John; Sophocleous, Marios

2015-01-01

Results are reported from an initial evaluation of a novel conductivity sensor that could be incorporated onto a multi-element thick film (screen printed) sensor array designed for soil and water analysis. The new sensor exhibits a repeatable cell constant over a wide range of conductivities and is currently performing very well in an investigation of soil structural properties where its output is being correlated with soil water content in a study of different soil porosities.

Intelligent sensor networks the integration of sensor networks, signal processing and machine learning

CERN Document Server

Hu, Fei

2012-01-01

Although governments worldwide have invested significantly in intelligent sensor network research and applications, few books cover intelligent sensor networks from a machine learning and signal processing perspective. Filling this void, Intelligent Sensor Networks: The Integration of Sensor Networks, Signal Processing and Machine Learning focuses on the close integration of sensing, networking, and smart signal processing via machine learning. Based on the world-class research of award-winning authors, the book provides a firm grounding in the fundamentals of intelligent sensor networks, incl

The tsunami service bus, an integration platform for heterogeneous sensor systems

Science.gov (United States)

Haener, R.; Waechter, J.; Kriegel, U.; Fleischer, J.; Mueller, S.

2009-04-01

components remain unchanged, components can be maintained and evolved independently on each other and service functionality as a whole can be reused. In GITEWS the functional integration pattern was adopted by applying the principles of an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) as a backbone. Four services provided by the so called Tsunami Service Bus (TSB) which are essential for early warning systems are realized compliant to services specified within the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) initiative of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). 3. ARCHITECTURE The integration platform was developed to access proprietary, heterogeneous sensor data and to provide them in a uniform manner for further use. Its core, the TSB provides both a messaging-backbone and -interfaces on the basis of a Java Messaging Service (JMS). The logical architecture of GITEWS consists of four independent layers: • A resource layer where physical or virtual sensors as well as data or model storages provide relevant measurement-, event- and analysis-data: Utilizable for the TSB are any kind of data. In addition to sensors databases, model data and processing applications are adopted. SWE specifies encoding both to access and to describe these data in a comprehensive way: 1. Sensor Model Language (SensorML): Standardized description of sensors and sensor data 2. Observations and Measurements (O&M): Model and encoding of sensor measurements • A service layer to collect and conduct data from heterogeneous and proprietary resources and provide them via standardized interfaces: The TSB enables interaction with sensors via the following services: 1. Sensor Observation Service (SOS): Standardized access to sensor data 2. Sensor Planning Service (SPS): Controlling of sensors and sensor networks 3. Sensor Alert Service (SAS): Active sending of data if defined events occur 4. Web Notification Service (WNS): Conduction of asynchronous dialogues between services • An orchestration layer where atomic services are composed and

Microfabrication of Magnetostrictive Beams for Integrated Sensor Systems

KAUST Repository

Alfadhel, Ahmed

2012-01-01

This dissertation reports the fabrication and characterization of integrated micro sensors consisting of magnetostrictive 500 μm long cantilevers or bridges and conducting interrogation elements. The thin films are fabricated by sputter deposition of NiFe doped with B and Mo and their magnetic properties are optimized by field annealing resulting in a coercivity of 2.4 Oe. An alternating current applied to the interrogation elements magnetizes the magnetostrictive structures, and their longitudinal resonant frequency is detected as an impedance change of the interrogation elements. The significance of using magnetostrictive micro beams is the high resonant frequency of the longitudinal vibration compared to transverse vibration, which can be exploited to develop sensors of high sensitivity.

Testing integrated sensors for cooperative remote monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filby, E.E.; Smith, T.E.; Albano, R.K.; Andersen, M.K.; Lucero, R.L.; Tolk, K.M.; Andrews, N.S.

1996-01-01

The Modular Integrated Monitoring System (MIMS) program, with Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) as the lead lab, was devised to furnish sensors and integrated multi-sensor systems for cooperative remote monitoring. The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), via the Center for Integrated Monitoring and Control (CIMC), provides realistic field tests of the sensors and sensor-integration approach for the MIMS, and for other similar programs. This has two important goals: it helps insure that these systems are truly read for use, and provides a platform so they can be demonstrated for potential users. A remote monitoring test/demonstration has been initiated at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) to track the movement of spent nuclear fuel from one storage location to another, using a straddle carrier and shielded cask combination. Radiation monitors, motion sensors, videocameras, and other devices from several US Department of Energy (DOE) labs and commercial vendors were linked on the network. Currently, project personnel are collecting raw data from this large array of sensors, without trying to program any special network activities or other responses. These data will be used to determine which devices can actually provide useful information for a cooperative monitoring situation, versus those that may be redundant

Microfabricated photoplastic cantilever with integrated photoplastic/carbon based piezoresistive strain sensor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gammelgaard, Lauge; Rasmussen, Peter Andreas; Calleja, M.

2006-01-01

We present an SU-8 micrometer sized cantilever strain sensor with an integrated piezoresistor made of a conductive composite of SU-8 polymer and carbon black particles. The composite has been developed using ultrasonic mixing. Cleanroom processing of the polymer composite has been investigated...

Integration of GMR Sensors with Different Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Cubells-Beltrán, María-Dolores; Reig, Càndid; Madrenas, Jordi; De Marcellis, Andrea; Santos, Joana; Cardoso, Susana; Freitas, Paulo P

2016-06-22

Less than thirty years after the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect was described, GMR sensors are the preferred choice in many applications demanding the measurement of low magnetic fields in small volumes. This rapid deployment from theoretical basis to market and state-of-the-art applications can be explained by the combination of excellent inherent properties with the feasibility of fabrication, allowing the real integration with many other standard technologies. In this paper, we present a review focusing on how this capability of integration has allowed the improvement of the inherent capabilities and, therefore, the range of application of GMR sensors. After briefly describing the phenomenological basis, we deal on the benefits of low temperature deposition techniques regarding the integration of GMR sensors with flexible (plastic) substrates and pre-processed CMOS chips. In this way, the limit of detection can be improved by means of bettering the sensitivity or reducing the noise. We also report on novel fields of application of GMR sensors by the recapitulation of a number of cases of success of their integration with different heterogeneous complementary elements. We finally describe three fully functional systems, two of them in the bio-technology world, as the proof of how the integrability has been instrumental in the meteoric development of GMR sensors and their applications.

Integration of GMR Sensors with Different Technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María-Dolores Cubells-Beltrán

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Less than thirty years after the giant magnetoresistance (GMR effect was described, GMR sensors are the preferred choice in many applications demanding the measurement of low magnetic fields in small volumes. This rapid deployment from theoretical basis to market and state-of-the-art applications can be explained by the combination of excellent inherent properties with the feasibility of fabrication, allowing the real integration with many other standard technologies. In this paper, we present a review focusing on how this capability of integration has allowed the improvement of the inherent capabilities and, therefore, the range of application of GMR sensors. After briefly describing the phenomenological basis, we deal on the benefits of low temperature deposition techniques regarding the integration of GMR sensors with flexible (plastic substrates and pre-processed CMOS chips. In this way, the limit of detection can be improved by means of bettering the sensitivity or reducing the noise. We also report on novel fields of application of GMR sensors by the recapitulation of a number of cases of success of their integration with different heterogeneous complementary elements. We finally describe three fully functional systems, two of them in the bio-technology world, as the proof of how the integrability has been instrumental in the meteoric development of GMR sensors and their applications.

Soil water sensor response to bulk electrical conductivity

Science.gov (United States)

Soil water monitoring using electromagnetic (EM) sensors can facilitate observations of water content at high temporal and spatial resolutions. These sensors measure soil dielectric permittivity (Ka) which is largely a function of volumetric water content. However, bulk electrical conductivity BEC c...

Respiration sensor made from indium tin oxide-coated conductive fabrics

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sun Hee; Lee, Joo Hyeon; Jee, Seung Hyun

2015-02-01

Conductive fabrics with new properties and applications have been the subject of extensive research over the last few years, with wearable respiration sensors attracting much attention. Different methods can be used to obtain fabrics that are electrically conducting, an essential property for various applications. For instance, fabrics can be coated with conductive polymers. Here, indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated conductive fabrics with cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (C-PVA) were prepared using a doctor-blade. The C-PVA was employed in the synthesis to bind ITO on the fabrics with the highest possible mechanical strength. The feasibility of a respiration sensor prepared using the ITO-coated conductive fabric was investigated. The ITO-coated conductive fabric with the C-PVA was demonstrated to have a high potential for use in respiration sensors.

Static and dynamic pile testing of reinforced concrete piles with structure integrated fibre optic strain sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Schilder, Constanze; Kohlhoff, Harald; Hofmann, Detlef; Basedau, Frank; Habel, Wolfgang R.; Baeßler, Matthias; Niederleithinger, Ernst; Georgi, Steven; Herten, Markus

2013-05-01

Static and dynamic pile tests are carried out to determine the load bearing capacity and the quality of reinforced concrete piles. As part of a round robin test to evaluate dynamic load tests, structure integrated fibre optic strain sensors were used to receive more detailed information about the strains along the pile length compared to conventional measurements at the pile head. This paper shows the instrumentation of the pile with extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometers sensors and fibre Bragg gratings sensors together with the results of the conducted static load test as well as the dynamic load tests and pile integrity tests.

INTEGRATED SENSOR EVALUATION CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SAID CIRCUIT

OpenAIRE

Krüger, Jens; Gausa, Dominik

2015-01-01

WO15090426A1 Sensor evaluation device and method for operating said device Integrated sensor evaluation circuit for evaluating a sensor signal (14) received from a sensor (12), having a first connection (28a) for connection to the sensor and a second connection (28b) for connection to the sensor. The integrated sensor evaluation circuit comprises a configuration data memory (16) for storing configuration data which describe signal properties of a plurality of sensor control signals (26a-c). T...

Elements for successful sensor-based process control {Integrated Metrology}

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butler, Stephanie Watts

1998-01-01

Current productivity needs have stimulated development of alternative metrology, control, and equipment maintenance methods. Specifically, sensor applications provide the opportunity to increase productivity, tighten control, reduce scrap, and improve maintenance schedules and procedures. Past experience indicates a complete integrated solution must be provided for sensor-based control to be used successfully in production. In this paper, Integrated Metrology is proposed as the term for an integrated solution that will result in a successful application of sensors for process control. This paper defines and explores the perceived four elements of successful sensor applications: business needs, integration, components, and form. Based upon analysis of existing successful commercially available controllers, the necessary business factors have been determined to be strong, measurable industry-wide business needs whose solution is profitable and feasible. This paper examines why the key aspect of integration is the decision making process. A detailed discussion is provided of the components of most importance to sensor based control: decision-making methods, the 3R's of sensors, and connectivity. A metric for one of the R's (resolution) is proposed to allow focus on this important aspect of measurement. A form for these integrated components which synergistically partitions various aspects of control at the equipment and MES levels to efficiently achieve desired benefits is recommended

Elements for successful sensor-based process control {Integrated Metrology}

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Stephanie Watts

1998-11-01

Current productivity needs have stimulated development of alternative metrology, control, and equipment maintenance methods. Specifically, sensor applications provide the opportunity to increase productivity, tighten control, reduce scrap, and improve maintenance schedules and procedures. Past experience indicates a complete integrated solution must be provided for sensor-based control to be used successfully in production. In this paper, Integrated Metrology is proposed as the term for an integrated solution that will result in a successful application of sensors for process control. This paper defines and explores the perceived four elements of successful sensor applications: business needs, integration, components, and form. Based upon analysis of existing successful commercially available controllers, the necessary business factors have been determined to be strong, measurable industry-wide business needs whose solution is profitable and feasible. This paper examines why the key aspect of integration is the decision making process. A detailed discussion is provided of the components of most importance to sensor based control: decision-making methods, the 3R's of sensors, and connectivity. A metric for one of the R's (resolution) is proposed to allow focus on this important aspect of measurement. A form for these integrated components which synergistically partitions various aspects of control at the equipment and MES levels to efficiently achieve desired benefits is recommended.

Integration of nanostructured materials with MEMS microhotplate platforms to enhance chemical sensor performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benkstein, Kurt D.; Martinez, Carlos J.; Li, Guofeng; Meier, Douglas C.; Montgomery, Christopher B.; Semancik, Steve

2006-01-01

The development of miniaturized chemical sensors is an increasingly active area of research. Such devices, particularly when they feature low mass and low power budgets, can impact a broad range of applications including industrial process monitoring, building security and extraterrestrial exploration. Nanostructured materials, because of their high surface area, can provide critical enhancements in the performance of chemical microsensors. We have worked to integrate nanomaterial films with MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) microhotplate platforms developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in order to gain the benefits of both the materials and the platforms in high-performance chemical sensor arrays. Here, we describe our success in overcoming the challenges of integration and the benefits that we have achieved with regard to the critical sensor performance characteristics of sensor response, speed, stability and selectivity. Nanostructured metal oxide sensing films were locally deposited onto microhotplates via chemical vapor deposition and microcapillary pipetting, and conductive polymer nanoparticle films were deposited via electrophoretic patterning. All films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and evaluated as conductometric gas sensors

A conductive grating sensor for online quantitative monitoring of fatigue crack

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Peiyuan; Cheng, Li; Yan, Xiaojun; Jiao, Shengbo; Li, Yakun

2018-05-01

Online quantitative monitoring of crack damage due to fatigue is a critical challenge for structural health monitoring systems assessing structural safety. To achieve online quantitative monitoring of fatigue crack, a novel conductive grating sensor based on the principle of electrical potential difference is proposed. The sensor consists of equidistant grating channels to monitor the fatigue crack length and conductive bars to provide the circuit path. An online crack monitoring system is established to verify the sensor's capability. The experimental results prove that the sensor is suitable for online quantitative monitoring of fatigue crack. A finite element model for the sensor is also developed to optimize the sensitivity of crack monitoring, which is defined by the rate of sensor resistance change caused by the break of the first grating channel. Analysis of the model shows that the sensor sensitivity can be enhanced by reducing the number of grating channels and increasing their resistance and reducing the resistance of the conductive bar.

Detecting Specific Health-Related Events Using an Integrated Sensor System for Vital Sign Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mourad Adnane

2009-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new method for the detection of apnea/hypopnea periods in physiological data is presented. The method is based on the intelligent combination of an integrated sensor system for long-time cardiorespiratory signal monitoring and dedicated signal-processing packages. Integrated sensors are a PVDF film and conductive fabric sheets. The signal processing package includes dedicated respiratory cycle (RC and QRS complex detection algorithms and a new method using the respiratory cycle variability (RCV for detecting apnea/hypopnea periods in physiological data. Results show that our method is suitable for online analysis of long time series data.

Measuring Conductance of Phenylenediamine as a Molecular Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taekyeong Kim

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We report experimental measurements of molecular conductance as a single molecular sensor by using scanning tunneling microscope-based break-junction (STM-BJ technique. The gap was created after Au atomic point contact was ruptured, and the target molecule was inserted and bonded to the top and bottom electrodes. We successfully measured the conductance for a series of amine-terminated oligophenyl molecules by forming the molecular junctions with Au electrodes. The measured conductance decays exponentially with molecular backbone length, enabling us to detect the type of molecules as a molecular sensor. Furthermore, we demonstrated reversible binary switching in a molecular junction by mechanical control of the gap between the electrodes. Since our method allows us to measure the conductance of a single molecule in ambient conditions, it should open up various practical molecular sensing applications.

Current Trends in Sensors Based on Conducting Polymer Nanomaterials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyeonseok Yoon

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Conducting polymers represent an important class of functional organic materials for next-generation electronic and optical devices. Advances in nanotechnology allow for the fabrication of various conducting polymer nanomaterials through synthesis methods such as solid-phase template synthesis, molecular template synthesis, and template-free synthesis. Nanostructured conducting polymers featuring high surface area, small dimensions, and unique physical properties have been widely used to build various sensor devices. Many remarkable examples have been reported over the past decade. The enhanced sensitivity of conducting polymer nanomaterials toward various chemical/biological species and external stimuli has made them ideal candidates for incorporation into the design of sensors. However, the selectivity and stability still leave room for improvement.

Current Trends in Sensors Based on Conducting Polymer Nanomaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Hyeonseok

2013-01-01

Conducting polymers represent an important class of functional organic materials for next-generation electronic and optical devices. Advances in nanotechnology allow for the fabrication of various conducting polymer nanomaterials through synthesis methods such as solid-phase template synthesis, molecular template synthesis, and template-free synthesis. Nanostructured conducting polymers featuring high surface area, small dimensions, and unique physical properties have been widely used to build various sensor devices. Many remarkable examples have been reported over the past decade. The enhanced sensitivity of conducting polymer nanomaterials toward various chemical/biological species and external stimuli has made them ideal candidates for incorporation into the design of sensors. However, the selectivity and stability still leave room for improvement. PMID:28348348

Research on a haptic sensor made using MCF conductive rubber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Yaoyang; Shimada, Kunio

2008-01-01

To provide a new composite material having a high electrical sensitivity in the fields of robotics and sensing, a magnetic rubber having network-like magnetic clusters was developed by utilizing a magnetic compound fluid (MCF). MCF rubber with small deformations can provide an effective sensor. In this paper, we report many experiments in which changes of the MCF rubber's resistance were observed when the rubber was compressed and a deformation was generated; we then made a trial haptic sensor using the MCF conductive rubber and performed many experiments to observe changes of the electrical resistance of the sensor. The results of experiments showed that the proposed sensor made with MCF conductive rubber is useful for sensing small amounts of pressure or small deformations

Research on a haptic sensor made using MCF conductive rubber

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheng Yaoyang; Shimada, Kunio [Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science Fukushima University, 1 Kanayakawa, Fukushima 960-1296 (Japan)], E-mail: tei@sss.fukushima-u.ac.jp, E-mail: shimadakun@sss.fukushima-u.ac.jp

2008-05-21

To provide a new composite material having a high electrical sensitivity in the fields of robotics and sensing, a magnetic rubber having network-like magnetic clusters was developed by utilizing a magnetic compound fluid (MCF). MCF rubber with small deformations can provide an effective sensor. In this paper, we report many experiments in which changes of the MCF rubber's resistance were observed when the rubber was compressed and a deformation was generated; we then made a trial haptic sensor using the MCF conductive rubber and performed many experiments to observe changes of the electrical resistance of the sensor. The results of experiments showed that the proposed sensor made with MCF conductive rubber is useful for sensing small amounts of pressure or small deformations.

Research on a haptic sensor made using MCF conductive rubber

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yaoyang; Shimada, Kunio

2008-05-01

To provide a new composite material having a high electrical sensitivity in the fields of robotics and sensing, a magnetic rubber having network-like magnetic clusters was developed by utilizing a magnetic compound fluid (MCF). MCF rubber with small deformations can provide an effective sensor. In this paper, we report many experiments in which changes of the MCF rubber's resistance were observed when the rubber was compressed and a deformation was generated; we then made a trial haptic sensor using the MCF conductive rubber and performed many experiments to observe changes of the electrical resistance of the sensor. The results of experiments showed that the proposed sensor made with MCF conductive rubber is useful for sensing small amounts of pressure or small deformations.

Conductive polymer sensor arrays for smart orthopaedic implants

Science.gov (United States)

Micolini, Carolina; Holness, F. B.; Johnson, James A.; Price, Aaron D.

2017-04-01

This study proposes and demonstrates the design, implementation, and characterization of a 3D-printed smartpolymer sensor array using conductive polyaniline (PANI) structures embedded in a polymeric substrate. The piezoresistive characteristics of PANI were studied to evaluate the efficacy of the manufacturing of an embedded pressure sensor. PANI's stability throughout loading and unloading cycles together with the response to incremental loading cycles was investigated. It is demonstrated that this specially developed multi-material additive manufacturing process for polyaniline is a good candidate for the manufacture of implant components with smart-polymer sensors embedded for the analysis of joint loads in orthopaedic implants.

Integrated tracking, classification, and sensor management theory and applications

CERN Document Server

Krishnamurthy, Vikram; Vo, Ba-Ngu

2012-01-01

A unique guide to the state of the art of tracking, classification, and sensor management. This book addresses the tremendous progress made over the last few decades in algorithm development and mathematical analysis for filtering, multi-target multi-sensor tracking, sensor management and control, and target classification. It provides for the first time an integrated treatment of these advanced topics, complete with careful mathematical formulation, clear description of the theory, and real-world applications. Written by experts in the field, Integrated Tracking, Classification, and Sensor Management provides readers with easy access to key Bayesian modeling and filtering methods, multi-target tracking approaches, target classification procedures, and large scale sensor management problem-solving techniques.

Wearable technologies for sweat rate and conductivity sensors

CERN Document Server

Salvo, Pietro

2012-01-01

Hauptbeschreibung Wearable sensors present a new frontier in the development of monitoring techniques. They are of great importance in sectors such as sports and healthcare, as they permit the continuous monitoring of physiological and biological elements, such as ECG and human sweat. Until recently, this could only be carried out in specialized laboratories in the presence of cumbersome, and usually, expensive devices. Sweat monitoring sensors integrated onto textile substrates are not only part of a new field of work but, they also represent the first attempt to implement such an

Vacuum behavior and control of a MEMS stage with integrated thermal displacement sensor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krijnen, B.; Brouwer, Dannis Michel; Abelmann, Leon; Herder, Justus Laurens

2015-01-01

We investigate the applicability of a MEMS stage in a vacuum environment. The stage is suspended by a flexure mechanism and is actuated by electrostatic comb-drives. The position of the stage is measured by an integrated sensor based on the conductance of heat through air. The vacuum behavior of the

Micromachined Thin-Film Sensors for SOI-CMOS Co-Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Laconte, Jean; Flandre, D.; Raskin, Jean-Pierre

Co-integration of sensors with their associated electronics on a single silicon chip may provide many significant benefits regarding performance, reliability, miniaturization and process simplicity without significantly increasing the total cost. Micromachined Thin-Film Sensors for SOI-CMOS Co-integration covers the challenges and interests and demonstrates the successful co-integration of gas flow sensors on dielectric membrane, with their associated electronics, in CMOS-SOI technology. We firstly investigate the extraction of residual stress in thin layers and in their stacking and the release, in post-processing, of a 1 μm-thick robust and flat dielectric multilayered membrane using Tetramethyl Ammonium Hydroxide (TMAH) silicon micromachining solution.

Integrated Temperature Sensors based on Heat Diffusion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Vroonhoven, C.P.L.

2015-01-01

This thesis describes the theory, design and implementation of a new class of integrated temperature sensors, based on heat diffusion. In such sensors, temperature is sensed by measuring the time it takes for heat to diffuse through silicon. An on-chip thermal delay can be determined by geometry and

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.

Electrochemical DNA Hybridization Sensors Based on Conducting Polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Md. Mahbubur; Li, Xiao-Bo; Lopa, Nasrin Siraj; Ahn, Sang Jung; Lee, Jae-Joon

2015-01-01

Conducting polymers (CPs) are a group of polymeric materials that have attracted considerable attention because of their unique electronic, chemical, and biochemical properties. This is reflected in their use in a wide range of potential applications, including light-emitting diodes, anti-static coating, electrochromic materials, solar cells, chemical sensors, biosensors, and drug-release systems. Electrochemical DNA sensors based on CPs can be used in numerous areas related to human health. This review summarizes the recent progress made in the development and use of CP-based electrochemical DNA hybridization sensors. We discuss the distinct properties of CPs with respect to their use in the immobilization of probe DNA on electrode surfaces, and we describe the immobilization techniques used for developing DNA hybridization sensors together with the various transduction methods employed. In the concluding part of this review, we present some of the challenges faced in the use of CP-based DNA hybridization sensors, as well as a future perspective. PMID:25664436

Electrochemical DNA Hybridization Sensors Based on Conducting Polymers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Mahbubur Rahman

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Conducting polymers (CPs are a group of polymeric materials that have attracted considerable attention because of their unique electronic, chemical, and biochemical properties. This is reflected in their use in a wide range of potential applications, including light-emitting diodes, anti-static coating, electrochromic materials, solar cells, chemical sensors, biosensors, and drug-release systems. Electrochemical DNA sensors based on CPs can be used in numerous areas related to human health. This review summarizes the recent progress made in the development and use of CP-based electrochemical DNA hybridization sensors. We discuss the distinct properties of CPs with respect to their use in the immobilization of probe DNA on electrode surfaces, and we describe the immobilization techniques used for developing DNA hybridization sensors together with the various transduction methods employed. In the concluding part of this review, we present some of the challenges faced in the use of CP-based DNA hybridization sensors, as well as a future perspective.

A miniature integrated multimodal sensor for measuring pH, EC and temperature for precision agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Futagawa, Masato; Iwasaki, Taichi; Murata, Hiroaki; Ishida, Makoto; Sawada, Kazuaki

2012-01-01

Making several simultaneous measurements with different kinds of sensors at the same location in a solution is difficult because of crosstalk between the sensors. In addition, because the conditions at different locations in plant beds differ, in situ measurements in agriculture need to be done in small localized areas. We have fabricated a multimodal sensor on a small Si chip in which a pH sensor was integrated with electrical conductivity (EC) and temperature sensors. An ISFET with a Si(3)N(4) membrane was used for the pH sensor. For the EC sensor, the electrical conductivity between platinum electrodes was measured, and the temperature sensor was a p-n junction diode. These are some of the most important measurements required for controlling the conditions in plant beds. The multimodal sensor can be inserted into a plant bed for in situ monitoring. To confirm the absence of crosstalk between the sensors, we made simultaneous measurements of pH, EC, and temperature of a pH buffer solution in a plant bed. When the solution was diluted with hot or cold water, the real time measurements showed changes to the EC and temperature, but no change in pH. We also demonstrated that our sensor was capable of simultaneous in situ measurements in rock wool without being affected by crosstalk.

A novel integrated multifunction micro-sensor for three-dimensional micro-force measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weizhong; Zhao, Yulong; Qin, Yafei

2012-01-01

An integrated multifunction micro-sensor for three-dimensional micro-force precision measurement under different pressure and temperature conditions is introduced in this paper. The integrated sensor consists of three kinds of sensors: a three-dimensional micro-force sensor, an absolute pressure sensor and a temperature sensor. The integrated multifunction micro-sensor is fabricated on silicon wafers by micromachining technology. Different doping doses of boron ion, placement and structure of resistors are tested for the force sensor, pressure sensor and temperature sensor to minimize the cross interference and optimize the properties. A glass optical fiber, with a ladder structure and sharp tip etched by buffer oxide etch solution, is glued on the micro-force sensor chip as the tactile probe. Experimental results show that the minimum force that can be detected by the force sensor is 300 nN; the lateral sensitivity of the force sensor is 0.4582 mV/μN; the probe length is linearly proportional to sensitivity of the micro-force sensor in lateral; the sensitivity of the pressure sensor is 0.11 mv/KPa; the sensitivity of the temperature sensor is 5.836 × 10(-3) KΩ/°C. Thus it is a cost-effective method to fabricate integrated multifunction micro-sensors with different measurement ranges that could be used in many fields.

A Novel Integrated Multifunction Micro-Sensor for Three-Dimensional Micro-Force Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yafei Qin

2012-03-01

Full Text Available An integrated multifunction micro-sensor for three-dimensional micro-force precision measurement under different pressure and temperature conditions is introduced in this paper. The integrated sensor consists of three kinds of sensors: a three-dimensional micro-force sensor, an absolute pressure sensor and a temperature sensor. The integrated multifunction micro-sensor is fabricated on silicon wafers by micromachining technology. Different doping doses of boron ion, placement and structure of resistors are tested for the force sensor, pressure sensor and temperature sensor to minimize the cross interference and optimize the properties. A glass optical fiber, with a ladder structure and sharp tip etched by buffer oxide etch solution, is glued on the micro-force sensor chip as the tactile probe. Experimental results show that the minimum force that can be detected by the force sensor is 300 nN; the lateral sensitivity of the force sensor is 0.4582 mV/μN; the probe length is linearly proportional to sensitivity of the micro-force sensor in lateral; the sensitivity of the pressure sensor is 0.11 mv/KPa; the sensitivity of the temperature sensor is 5.836 × 10−3 KΩ/°C. Thus it is a cost-effective method to fabricate integrated multifunction micro-sensors with different measurement ranges that could be used in many fields.

Methods of Using a Magnetic Field Response Sensor Within Closed, Electrically Conductive Containers

Science.gov (United States)

Woodward, Stanley E.; Taylor, Bryant D.

2010-01-01

Magnetic field response sensors are a class of sensors that are powered via oscillating magnetic fields, and when electrically active, respond with their own magnetic fields with attributes dependent upon the magnitude of the physical quantity being measured. A magnetic field response recorder powers and interrogates the magnetic sensors [see Magnetic-Field-Response Measurement- Acquisition System, NASA Tech Briefs Vol. 30, No, 6 (June 2006, page 28)]. Electrically conductive containers have low transmissivity for radio frequency (RF) energy and thus present problems for magnetic field response sensors. It is necessary in some applications to have a magnetic field response sensor s capacitor placed in these containers. Proximity to conductive surfaces alters the inductance and capacitance of the sensors. As the sensor gets closer to a conductive surface, the electric field and magnetic field energy of the sensor is reduced due to eddy currents being induced in the conductive surface. Therefore, the capacitors and inductors cannot be affixed to a conductive surface or embedded in a conductive material. It is necessary to have a fixed separation away from the conductive material. The minimum distance for separation is determined by the desired sensor response signal to noise ratio. Although the inductance is less than what it would be if it were not in proximity to the conductive surface, the inductance is fixed. As long as the inductance is fixed, all variations of the magnetic field response are due to capacitance changes. Numerous variations of inductor mounting can be utilized, such as providing a housing that provides separation from the conductive material as well as protection from impact damage. The sensor can be on the same flexible substrate with a narrow throat portion of the sensor between the inductor and the capacitor, Figure 1. The throat is of sufficient length to allow the capacitor to be appropriately placed within the container and the inductor

Theory of absorption integrated optical sensor of gaseous materials

Science.gov (United States)

Egorov, A. A.

2010-10-01

The eigen and noneigen (leaky) modes of a three-layer planar integrated optical waveguide are described. The dispersion relation of a three-layer planar waveguide and other dependences are derived, and the cutoff conditions are analyzed. The diagram of propagation constants of the guided and radiation modes of an irregular asymmetric three-layer waveguide and the dependence of the electric field amplitudes of radiation modes of substrate on vertical coordinate in a tantalum integrated optical waveguide are presented. The operating principles of an absorption integrated optical waveguide sensor are investigated. The dependences of sensitivity of an integrated optical waveguide sensor on the sensory cell length, the coupling efficiency of the laser radiation into the waveguide, the absorption cross-section of the studied material, and the level of additive statistical noise are investigated. Some of the prospective areas of application of integrated-optical waveguide sensors are outlined.

Optical sensor for heat conduction measurement in biological tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutierrez-Arroyo, A; Sanchez-Perez, C; Aleman-Garcia, N

2013-01-01

This paper presents the design of a heat flux sensor using an optical fiber system to measure heat conduction in biological tissues. This optoelectronic device is based on the photothermal beam deflection of a laser beam travelling in an acrylic slab this deflection is measured with a fiber optic angle sensor. We measure heat conduction in biological samples with high repeatability and sensitivity enough to detect differences in tissues from three chicken organs. This technique could provide important information of vital organ function as well as the detect modifications due to degenerative diseases or physical damage caused by medications or therapies.

Monolithic integration of a micromachined piezoresistive flow sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Dan; Zhao, Tao; Yang, Zhenchuan; Zhang, Dacheng

2010-01-01

In this paper, a monolithic integrated piezoresistive flow sensor is presented, which was fabricated with an intermediate CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) process compatible with integrated pressure sensors. Four symmetrically arranged silicon diaphragms with piezoresistors on them were used to sense the drag force induced by the input gas flow. A signal conditioning CMOS circuit with a temperature compensation module was designed and fabricated simultaneously on the same chip with an increase of the total chip area by only 35%. An extra step of boron implantation and annealing was inserted into the standard CMOS process to form the piezoresistors. KOH anisotropic etching from the backside and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) from the front side were combined to realize the silicon diaphragms. The integrated flow sensor was packaged and tested. The testing results indicated that the addition of piezoresistor formation and structure releasing did not significantly change any of the circuitry characteristics. The measured sensor output has a quadratic relation with the input flow rate of the fluid as predicted. The tested resolution of the sensor is less than 0.1 L min −1 with a measurement range of 0.1–5 L min −1 and the sensitivity is better than 40 mV per (L min −1 ) with a measurement range of 4–5 L min −1 . The measured noise floor of the sensor is 21.7 µV rtHz −1 .

Development of the interfacial area concentration measurement method using a five sensor conductivity probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Euh, Dong Jin; Yun, Byong Jo; Song, Chul Hwa; Kwon, Tae Soon; Chung, Moon Ki; Lee, Un Chul

2000-01-01

The interfacial area concentration(IAC) is one of the most important parameters in the two-fluid model for two-phase flow analysis. The IAE can be measured by a local conductivity probe method that uses the difference of conductivity between water and air/steam. The number of sensors in the conductivity probe may be differently chosen by considering the flow regime of two-phase flow. The four sensor conductivity probe method predicts the IAC without any assumptions of the bubble shape. The local IAC can be obtained by measuring the three dimensional velocity vector elements at the measuring point, and the directional cosines of the sensors. The five sensor conductivity probe method proposed in this study is based on the four sensor probe method. With the five sensor probe, the local IAC for a given referred measuring area of the probe can be predicted more exactly than the four sensor prober. In this paper, the mathematical approach of the five sensor probe method for measuring the IAC is described, and a numerical simulation is carried out for ideal cap bubbles of which the sizes and locations are determined by a random number generator

Transparent conductive-polymer strain sensors for touch input sheets of flexible displays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takamatsu, Seiichi; Takahata, Tomoyuki; Muraki, Masato; Iwase, Eiji; Matsumoto, Kiyoshi; Shimoyama, Isao

2010-01-01

A transparent conductive polymer-based strain-sensor array, designed especially for touch input sheets of flexible displays, was developed. A transparent conductive polymer, namely poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), was utilized owing to its strength under repeated mechanical bending. PEDOT:PSS strain sensors with a thickness of 130 nm exhibited light transmittance of 92%, which is the same as the transmittance of ITO electrodes widely used in flat panel displays. We demonstrated that the sensor array on a flexible sheet was able to sustain mechanical bending 300 times at a bending radius of 5 mm. The strain sensor shows a gauge factor of 5.2. The touch point on a flexible sheet could be detected from histograms of the outputs of the strain sensors when the sheet was pushed with an input force of 5 N. The touch input could be detected on the flexible sheet with a curved surface (radius of curvature of 20 mm). These results show that the developed transparent conductive polymer-based strain-sensor array is applicable to touch input sheets of mechanically bendable displays.

3D-vertical integration of sensors and electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipton, R.

2007-01-01

Technologies are being developed which enable the vertical integration of sensors and electronics as well as multilayer electronic circuits. New thinning and wafer bonding techniques and the formation of small vias between resulting thin layers of electronics enable the design of dense integrated sensor/readout structures. We discuss candidate technologies based on SOI and bulk CMOS. A prototype 3D chip developed at Fermilab that incorporates three tiers of 0.18μm CMOS is described

Integration and application of optical chemical sensors in microbioreactors.

Science.gov (United States)

Gruber, Pia; Marques, Marco P C; Szita, Nicolas; Mayr, Torsten

2017-08-08

The quantification of key variables such as oxygen, pH, carbon dioxide, glucose, and temperature provides essential information for biological and biotechnological applications and their development. Microfluidic devices offer an opportunity to accelerate research and development in these areas due to their small scale, and the fine control over the microenvironment, provided that these key variables can be measured. Optical sensors are well-suited for this task. They offer non-invasive and non-destructive monitoring of the mentioned variables, and the establishment of time-course profiles without the need for sampling from the microfluidic devices. They can also be implemented in larger systems, facilitating cross-scale comparison of analytical data. This tutorial review presents an overview of the optical sensors and their technology, with a view to support current and potential new users in microfluidics and biotechnology in the implementation of such sensors. It introduces the benefits and challenges of sensor integration, including, their application for microbioreactors. Sensor formats, integration methods, device bonding options, and monitoring options are explained. Luminescent sensors for oxygen, pH, carbon dioxide, glucose and temperature are showcased. Areas where further development is needed are highlighted with the intent to guide future development efforts towards analytes for which reliable, stable, or easily integrated detection methods are not yet available.

Sensor integration and testing in an airborne environment

Science.gov (United States)

Ricks, Timothy P.; Streling, Julie T.; Williams, Kirk W.

2005-11-01

The U.S. Army Redstone Technical Test Center (RTTC) has been supporting captive flight testing of missile sensors and seekers since the 1980's. Successful integration and test of sensors in an airborne environment requires attention to a broad range of disciplines. Data collection requirements drive instrumentation and flight profile configurations, which along with cost and airframe performance factors influence the choice of test aircraft. Installation methods used for instrumentation must take into consideration environmental and airworthiness factors. In addition, integration of test equipment into the aircraft will require an airworthiness release; procedures vary between the government for military aircraft, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the use of private, commercial, or experimental aircraft. Sensor mounting methods will depend on the type of sensor being used, both for sensor performance and crew safety concerns. Pilots will require navigation input to permit the execution of accurate and repeatable flight profiles. Some tests may require profiles that are not supported by standard navigation displays, requiring the use of custom hardware/software. Test locations must also be considered in their effect on successful data collection. Restricted airspace may also be required, depending on sensor emissions and flight profiles.

Conductive ink print on PA66 gear for manufacturing condition monitoring sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Futagawa, Shintaro; Iba, Daisuke; Kamimoto, Takahiro; Nakamura, Morimasa; Miura, Nanako; Iizuka, Takashi; Masuda, Arata; Sone, Akira; Moriwaki, Ichiro

2018-03-01

Failures detection of rotating machine elements, such as gears, is an important issue. The purpose of this study was to try to solve this issue by printing conductive ink on gears to manufacture condition-monitoring sensors. In this work, three types of crack detection sensor were designed and the sprayed conductive ink was directly sintered on polyimide (PI) - coated polyamide (PA) 66 gears by laser. The result showed that it was possible to produce narrow circuit lines of the conductive ink including Ag by laser sintering technique and the complex shape sensors on the lateral side of the PA66 gears, module 1.0 mm and tooth number 48. A preliminary operation test was carried out for investigation of the function of the sensors. As a result of the test, the sensors printed in this work should be effective for detecting cracks at tooth root of the gears and will allow for the development of better equipment and detection techniques for health monitoring of gears.

A Miniature Integrated Multimodal Sensor for Measuring pH, EC and Temperature for Precision Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroaki Murata

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Making several simultaneous measurements with different kinds of sensors at the same location in a solution is difficult because of crosstalk between the sensors. In addition, because the conditions at different locations in plant beds differ, in situ measurements in agriculture need to be done in small localized areas. We have fabricated a multimodal sensor on a small Si chip in which a pH sensor was integrated with electrical conductivity (EC and temperature sensors. An ISFET with a Si₃N₄ membrane was used for the pH sensor. For the EC sensor, the electrical conductivity between platinum electrodes was measured, and the temperature sensor was a p-n junction diode. These are some of the most important measurements required for controlling the conditions in plant beds. The multimodal sensor can be inserted into a plant bed for in situ monitoring. To confirm the absence of crosstalk between the sensors, we made simultaneous measurements of pH, EC, and temperature of a pH buffer solution in a plant bed. When the solution was diluted with hot or cold water, the real time measurements showed changes to the EC and temperature, but no change in pH. We also demonstrated that our sensor was capable of simultaneous in situ measurements in rock wool without being affected by crosstalk.

Wireless Integrated Microelectronic Vacuum Sensor System

Science.gov (United States)

Krug, Eric; Philpot, Brian; Trott, Aaron; Lawrence, Shaun

2013-01-01

NASA Stennis Space Center's (SSC's) large rocket engine test facility requires the use of liquid propellants, including the use of cryogenic fluids like liquid hydrogen as fuel, and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer (gases which have been liquefied at very low temperatures). These fluids require special handling, storage, and transfer technology. The biggest problem associated with transferring cryogenic liquids is product loss due to heat transfer. Vacuum jacketed piping is specifically designed to maintain high thermal efficiency so that cryogenic liquids can be transferred with minimal heat transfer. A vacuum jacketed pipe is essentially two pipes in one. There is an inner carrier pipe, in which the cryogenic liquid is actually transferred, and an outer jacket pipe that supports and seals the vacuum insulation, forming the "vacuum jacket." The integrity of the vacuum jacketed transmission lines that transfer the cryogenic fluid from delivery barges to the test stand must be maintained prior to and during engine testing. To monitor the vacuum in these vacuum jacketed transmission lines, vacuum gauge readings are used. At SSC, vacuum gauge measurements are done on a manual rotation basis with two technicians, each using a handheld instrument. Manual collection of vacuum data is labor intensive and uses valuable personnel time. Additionally, there are times when personnel cannot collect the data in a timely fashion (i.e., when a leak is detected, measurements must be taken more often). Additionally, distribution of this data to all interested parties can be cumbersome. To simplify the vacuum-gauge data collection process, automate the data collection, and decrease the labor costs associated with acquiring these measurements, an automated system that monitors the existing gauges was developed by Invocon, Inc. For this project, Invocon developed a Wireless Integrated Microelectronic Vacuum Sensor System (WIMVSS) that provides the ability to gather vacuum

THE TSUNAMI SERVICE BUS, AN INTEGRATION PLATFORM FOR HETEROGENEOUS SENSOR SYSTEMS

Science.gov (United States)

Fleischer, J.; Häner, R.; Herrnkind, S.; Kriegel, U.; Schwarting, H.; Wächter, J.

2009-12-01

The Tsunami Service Bus (TSB) is the sensor integration platform of the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) [1]. The primary goal of GITEWS is to deliver reliable tsunami warnings as fast as possible. This is achieved on basis of various sensor systems like seismometers, ocean instrumentation, and GPS stations, all providing fundamental data to support prediction of tsunami wave propagation by the GITEWS warning center. However, all these sensors come with their own proprietary data formats and specific behavior. Also new sensor types might be added, old sensors will be replaced. To keep GITEWS flexible the TSB was developed in order to access and control sensors in a uniform way. To meet these requirements the TSB follows the architectural blueprint of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The integration platform implements dedicated services communicating via a service infrastructure. The functionality required for early warnings is provided by loosely coupled services replacing the "hard-wired" coupling at data level. Changes in the sensor specification are confined to the data level without affecting the warning center. Great emphasis was laid on following the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standard [2], specified by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) [3]. As a result the full functionality needed in GITEWS could be achieved by implementing the four SWE services: The Sensor Observation Service for retrieving sensor measurements, the Sensor Alert Service in order to deliver sensor alerts, the Sensor Planning Service for tasking sensors, and the Web Notification Service for conduction messages to various media channels. Beyond these services the TSB also follows SWE Observation & Measurements specifications (O&M) for data encoding and Sensor Model Language (SensorML) for meta information. Moreover, accessing sensors via the TSB is not restricted to GITEWS. Multiple instances of the TSB can be composed to realize federate warning system

Sensor Technology Integration for Efficient and Cost-Effective D and D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varona, J. M.; Lagos, L. E.

2002-01-01

The deactivation and decommissioning of radiologically contaminated facilities require the use of a multitude of technologies to perform characterization, decontamination, dismantlement, and waste management. Current baseline technologies do not provide adequate tools to perform this work in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Examples of such tasks that can be modified to enhance the D and D work include: floor and wall decontamination, pipe decontamination, and surveillance and monitoring. FIU-HCET's Technology Development, Integration and Deployment (TDID) group aims to enhance the D and D process by integrating sensor technology to existing decontamination and remote surveillance tools. These integrated systems have been demonstrated throughout the DOE Complex and commercial nuclear facilities undergoing decommissioning. Finding new ways of integrating technologies utilized in the decommissioning and surveillance and monitoring process has been a goal of this group during the past several years. Current and previous integration projects include: Mobile Integrated Piping Decontamination and Characterization System, On-Line Decontamination and Characterization System, In-Situ Pipe Decontamination and Unplugging System, Remote Hazardous Environment Surveyor (RHES), and the Online Handheld grit blasting decontamination system As a result of integrating sensors with D and D tools, the resulting technologies have removed the downtime currently found in baseline processes by allowing operators and project managers to have real-time contamination data during the specified D and D process. This added component allows project managers to verify that full decontamination and surveillance has been conducted. Through successful demonstration and deployments of the TDID-developed technologies, FIU-HCET has provided tools that can impact the cost, schedule and health and safety of D and D operations in a positive way, leading to shorter downtimes and significant cost

System-level Modeling of Wireless Integrated Sensor Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Virk, Kashif M.; Hansen, Knud; Madsen, Jan

2005-01-01

Wireless integrated sensor networks have emerged as a promising infrastructure for a new generation of monitoring and tracking applications. In order to efficiently utilize the extremely limited resources of wireless sensor nodes, accurate modeling of the key aspects of wireless sensor networks...... is necessary so that system-level design decisions can be made about the hardware and the software (applications and real-time operating system) architecture of sensor nodes. In this paper, we present a SystemC-based abstract modeling framework that enables system-level modeling of sensor network behavior...... by modeling the applications, real-time operating system, sensors, processor, and radio transceiver at the sensor node level and environmental phenomena, including radio signal propagation, at the sensor network level. We demonstrate the potential of our modeling framework by simulating and analyzing a small...

Concept for a MEMS-type vacuum sensor based on electrical conductivity measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. J. Giebel

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The concept of the micro-structured vacuum sensor presented in this article is the measurement of the electrical conductivity of thinned gases in order to develop a small, economical and quite a simple type of vacuum sensor. There are already some approaches for small vacuum sensors. Most of them are based on conservative measurement principles similar to those used in macroscopic vacuum gauges. Ionization gauges use additional sources of energy, like hot cathodes, ultraviolet radiation or high voltage for example, for ionizing gas molecules and thereby increasing the number of charge carriers for measuring low pressures. In contrast, the concept discussed here cannot be found in macroscopic sensor systems because it depends on the microscopic dimension of a gas volume defined by two electrodes. Here we present the concept and the production of a micro-structured vacuum sensor chip, followed by the electrical characterization. Reference measurements with electrodes at a distance of about 1 mm showed currents in the size of picoampere and a conductivity depending on ambient pressure. In comparison with these preliminary measurements, fundamental differences regarding pressure dependence of the conductivity are monitored in the electrical characterization of the micro-structured sensor chip. Finally the future perspectives of this sensor concept are discussed.

Integrated-optic current sensors with a multimode interference waveguide device.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sung-Moon; Chu, Woo-Sung; Kim, Sang-Guk; Oh, Min-Cheol

2016-04-04

Optical current sensors based on polarization-rotated reflection interferometry are demonstrated using polymeric integrated optics and various functional optical waveguide devices. Interferometric sensors normally require bias feedback control for maintaining the operating point, which increases the cost. In order to resolve this constraint of feedback control, a multimode interference (MMI) waveguide device is integrated onto the current-sensor optical chip in this work. From the multiple outputs of the MMI, a 90° phase-shifted transfer function is obtained. Using passive quadrature demodulation, we demonstrate that the sensor could maintain the output signal regardless of the drift in the operating bias-point.

Toward developing long-life water quality sensors for the ISS using planar REDOX and conductivity sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Buehler, M. G.; Kuhlman, G. M.; Keymeulen, D.; Myung, N.; Kounaves, S. P.

2003-01-01

REDOX and conductivity sensors are metal electrodes that are used to detect ionic species in solution by measuring the electrochemical cell current as the voltage is scanned. This paper describes the construction of the sensors, the potentiostat electronics, the measurement methodology, and applications to water quality measurements.

Wireless Sensing System Using Open-circuit, Electrically-conductive Spiral-trace Sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Woodard, Stanley E. (Inventor); Taylor, Bryant D. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A wireless sensing system includes a sensor made from an electrical conductor shaped to form an open-circuit, electrically-conductive spiral trace having inductance and capacitance. In the presence of a time-varying magnetic field, the sensor resonates to generate a harmonic response having a frequency, amplitude and bandwidth. A magnetic field response recorder wirelessly transmits the time-varying magnetic field to the sensor and wirelessly detects the sensor's response frequency, amplitude and bandwidth.

Multi-sensor integration for autonomous robots in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mann, R.C.; Jones, J.P.; Beckerman, M.; Glover, C.W.; Farkas, L.; Bilbro, G.L.; Snyder, W.

1989-01-01

As part of a concerted RandD program in advanced robotics for hazardous environments, scientists and engineers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are performing research in the areas of systems integration, range-sensor-based 3-D world modeling, and multi-sensor integration. This program features a unique teaming arrangement that involves the universities of Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas; Odetics Corporation; and ORNL. This paper summarizes work directed at integrating information extracted from data collected with range sensors and CCD cameras on-board a mobile robot, in order to produce reliable descriptions of the robot's environment. Specifically, the paper describes the integration of two-dimensional vision and sonar range information, and an approach to integrate registered luminance and laser range images. All operations are carried out on-board the mobile robot using a 16-processor hypercube computer. 14 refs., 4 figs

Automatic detection, tracking and sensor integration

Science.gov (United States)

Trunk, G. V.

1988-06-01

This report surveys the state of the art of automatic detection, tracking, and sensor integration. In the area of detection, various noncoherent integrators such as the moving window integrator, feedback integrator, two-pole filter, binary integrator, and batch processor are discussed. Next, the three techniques for controlling false alarms, adapting thresholds, nonparametric detectors, and clutter maps are presented. In the area of tracking, a general outline is given of a track-while-scan system, and then a discussion is presented of the file system, contact-entry logic, coordinate systems, tracking filters, maneuver-following logic, tracking initiating, track-drop logic, and correlation procedures. Finally, in the area of multisensor integration the problems of colocated-radar integration, multisite-radar integration, radar-IFF integration, and radar-DF bearing strobe integration are treated.

One-chip Integrated Module of MEMS Shock Sensor and Sensing Amplifier LSI using Pseudo-SOC Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Iida, Atsuko; Onozuka, Yutaka; Nishigaki, Michihiko; Yamada, Hiroshi; Funaki, Hideyuki; Itaya, Kazuhiko

We have been developing the pseudo-SOC technology for one-chip module integration of heterogeneous devices that realizes high electrical performance and high density of devices embodying the advantages of both SOC technology and SIP technology. Especially, this technology is available for MEMS-LSI integration. We developed a 0.2mm-thickness one-chip module integrating a MEMS shock sensor and a sensing amplifier LSI by applying this technology. The MEMS shock sensor and the sensing amplifier LSI were connected by high-rigidity epoxy resin optimized the material constants to reduce the stress and the warpage resulting from resin shrinkage due to curing. Then the planar insulating layer and the redistributed conducting layer were formed on it for the global layer. The MEMS shock sensor was preformed to be modularized with a glass cap. Electrical contacts were achieved by bonding of Au bumps on the MEMS fixed electrodes and via holes filled with Ag paste of the glass cap. Functional performance was confirmed by obtaining signal corresponding to the reference signal of the pick-up sensor. Furthermore, stress analysis was performed using the FEM model simulation considering the resin shrinkage.

Monolithic integration of micromachined sensors and CMOS circuits based on SOI technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Xiaomei; Tang Yaquan; Zhang Haitao

2008-01-01

This note presents a novel way to monolithically integrate micro-cantilever sensors and signal conditioning circuits by combining SOI CMOS and SOI micromachining technologies. In order to improve the sensor performance and reduce the system volume, an integrated sensor system composed of a piezoresistive cantilever array, a temperature-compensation current reference, a digitally controlled multiplexer and an instrument amplifier is designed and finally fabricated. A post-SOI CMOS process is developed to realize the integrated sensor system which is based on a standard CMOS process with one more mask to define the cantilever structure at the end of the process. Measurements on the finished SOI CMOS devices and circuits show that the integration process has good compatibility both for the cantilever sensors and for the CMOS circuits, and the SOI CMOS integration process can decrease about 25% sequences compared with the bulk silicon CMOS process. (note)

Characterization, Monitoring and Sensor Technology Integrated Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This booklet contains summary sheets that describe FY 1993 characterization, monitoring, and sensor technology (CMST) development projects. Currently, 32 projects are funded, 22 through the OTD Characterization, Monitoring, and Sensor Technology Integrated Program (CMST-IP), 8 through the OTD Program Research and Development Announcement (PRDA) activity managed by the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC), and 2 through Interagency Agreements (IAGs). This booklet is not inclusive of those CMST projects which are funded through Integrated Demonstrations (IDs) and other Integrated Programs (IPs). The projects are in six areas: Expedited Site Characterization; Contaminants in Soils and Groundwater; Geophysical and Hydrogeological Measurements; Mixed Wastes in Drums, Burial Grounds, and USTs; Remediation, D ampersand D, and Waste Process Monitoring; and Performance Specifications and Program Support. A task description, technology needs, accomplishments and technology transfer information is given for each project

Conductivity modeling of gas sensors based on copper ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The main objective of this work is to study the electronic conductivity of copper ... applications, such as gas sensors [11 - 13], catalysts [14], solar cells [15], .... solid systems and adopted to examine the mechanism of the adsorption process [38].

Thermomechanical stability and integrability of an embedded ceramic antenna with an integrated sensor element for wireless reading in harsh environments

Science.gov (United States)

Sturesson, P.; Khaji, Z.; Knaust, S.; Sundqvist, J.; Klintberg, L.; Thornell, G.

2013-12-01

This paper reports on the design, manufacturing and evaluation of a small, wirelessly powered and read resonating antenna circuit with an integrated pressure sensor. The work aims at developing miniature devices suitable for harsh environments, where high temperature prevents the use of conventional, silicon-based microdevices. Here, the device is made of alumina with platinum as conducting material. Ceramic green tapes were structured using high-precision milling, metallized using screen printing, and subsequently laminated to form stacks before they were sintered. The device's frequency shift as a function of temperature was studied up to 900°C. The contributions to the shift both from the thermomechanical deformation of the device at large, and from the integrated and, so far, self-pressurized sensor were sorted out. A total frequency shift of 3200 ppm was observed for the pressure sensor for heating over the whole range. Negligible levels of thermally induced radius of curvature were observed. With three-point bending, a frequency shift of 180 ppm was possible to induce with a curvature of radius of 220 m at a 10 N load. The results indicate that a robust pressure sensor node, which can register pressure changes of a few bars at 900°C and wirelessly transmit the signal, is viable.

Thermomechanical stability and integrability of an embedded ceramic antenna with an integrated sensor element for wireless reading in harsh environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sturesson, P; Sundqvist, J; Thornell, G; Khaji, Z; Knaust, S; Klintberg, L

2013-01-01

This paper reports on the design, manufacturing and evaluation of a small, wirelessly powered and read resonating antenna circuit with an integrated pressure sensor. The work aims at developing miniature devices suitable for harsh environments, where high temperature prevents the use of conventional, silicon-based microdevices. Here, the device is made of alumina with platinum as conducting material. Ceramic green tapes were structured using high-precision milling, metallized using screen printing, and subsequently laminated to form stacks before they were sintered. The device's frequency shift as a function of temperature was studied up to 900°C. The contributions to the shift both from the thermomechanical deformation of the device at large, and from the integrated and, so far, self-pressurized sensor were sorted out. A total frequency shift of 3200 ppm was observed for the pressure sensor for heating over the whole range. Negligible levels of thermally induced radius of curvature were observed. With three-point bending, a frequency shift of 180 ppm was possible to induce with a curvature of radius of 220 m at a 10 N load. The results indicate that a robust pressure sensor node, which can register pressure changes of a few bars at 900°C and wirelessly transmit the signal, is viable

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.

Comparing bulk electrical conductivities spatial series obtained by Time Domain Reflectometry and Electromagnetic Induction sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Saeed, Ali; Ajeel, Ali; dragonetti, giovanna; Comegna, Alessandro; Lamaddalena, Nicola; Coppola, Antonio

2016-04-01

The ability to determine and monitor the effects of salts on soils and plants, are of great importance to agriculture. To control its harmful effects, soil salinity needs to be monitored in space and time. This requires knowledge of its magnitude, temporal dynamics, and spatial variability. Conventional ground survey procedures by direct soil sampling are time consuming, costly and destructive. Alternatively, soil salinity can be evaluated by measuring the bulk electrical conductivity (σb) directly in the field. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) sensors allow simultaneous measurements of water content, θ, and σb. They may be calibrated for estimating the electrical conductivity of the soil solution (σw). However, they have a relatively small observation window and thus they are thought to only provide local-scale measurements. The spatial range of the sensors is limited to tens of centimeters and extension of the information to a large area can be problematic. Also, information on the vertical distribution of the σb soil profile may only be obtained by installing sensors at different depths. In this sense, the TDR may be considered as an invasive technique. Compared to the TDR, other geophysical methods based for example on Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) techniques are non-invasive methods and represent a viable alternative to traditional techniques for soil characterization. The problem is that all these techniques give depth-weighted apparent electrical conductivity (σa) measurements, depending on the specific depth distribution of the σb, as well as on the depth response function of the sensor used. In order to deduce the actual distribution of the bulk electrical conductivity, σb, in the soil profile, one needs to invert the signal coming from EMI. Because of their relatively lower observation window, TDR sensors provide quasi-point values and do not adequately integrate the spatial variability of the chemical concentration distribution in the soil

Conductive Elastomers for Stretchable Electronics, Sensors and Energy Harvesters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-Seo Noh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available There have been a wide variety of efforts to develop conductive elastomers that satisfy both mechanical stretchability and electrical conductivity, as a response to growing demands on stretchable and wearable devices. This article reviews the important progress in conductive elastomers made in three application fields of stretchable technology: stretchable electronics, stretchable sensors, and stretchable energy harvesters. Diverse combinations of insulating elastomers and non-stretchable conductive materials have been studied to realize optimal conductive elastomers. It is noted that similar material combinations and similar structures have often been employed in different fields of application. In terms of stretchability, cyclic operation, and overall performance, fields such as stretchable conductors and stretchable strain/pressure sensors have achieved great advancement, whereas other fields like stretchable memories and stretchable thermoelectric energy harvesting are in their infancy. It is worth mentioning that there are still obstacles to overcome for the further progress of stretchable technology in the respective fields, which include the simplification of material combination and device structure, securement of reproducibility and reliability, and the establishment of easy fabrication techniques. Through this review article, both the progress and obstacles associated with the respective stretchable technologies will be understood more clearly.

Efficient Sensor Integration on Platforms (NeXOS)

Science.gov (United States)

Memè, S.; Delory, E.; Del Rio, J.; Jirka, S.; Toma, D. M.; Martinez, E.; Frommhold, L.; Barrera, C.; Pearlman, J.

2016-12-01

In-situ ocean observing platforms provide power and information transmission capability to sensors. Ocean observing platforms can be mobile, such as ships, autonomous underwater vehicles, drifters and profilers, or fixed, such as buoys, moorings and cabled observatories. The process of integrating sensors on platforms can imply substantial engineering time and resources. Constraints range from stringent mechanical constraints to proprietary communication and control firmware. In NeXOS, the implementation of a PUCK plug and play capability is being done with applications to multiple sensors and platforms. This is complemented with a sensor web enablement that addresses the flow of information from sensor to user. Open standards are being tested in order to assess their costs and benefits in existing and future observing systems. Part of the testing implied open-source coding and hardware prototyping of specific control devices in particular for closed commercial platforms where firmware upgrading is not straightforward or possible without prior agreements or service fees. Some platform manufacturers such as European companies ALSEAMAR[1] and NKE Instruments [2] are currently upgrading their control and communication firmware as part of their activities in NeXOS. The sensor development companies Sensorlab[3] SMID[4] and TRIOS [5]upgraded their firmware with this plug and play functionality. Other industrial players in Europe and the US have been sent NeXOS sensors emulators to test the new protocol on their platforms. We are currently demonstrating that with little effort, it is also possible to have such middleware implemented on very low-cost compact computers such as the open Raspberry Pi[6], and have a full end-to-end interoperable communication path from sensor to user with sensor plug and play capability. The result is an increase in sensor integration cost-efficiency and the demonstration will be used to highlight the benefit to users and ocean observatory

Integrated Structural Health Sensors for Inflatable Space Habitats, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Luna proposes to continue development of integrated high-definition fiber optic sensors (HD-FOS) and carbon nanotube (CNT)-graphene piezoresistive sensors for...

Soft Pneumatic Bending Actuator with Integrated Carbon Nanotube Displacement Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Giffney

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The excellent compliance and large range of motion of soft actuators controlled by fluid pressure has lead to strong interest in applying devices of this type for biomimetic and human-robot interaction applications. However, in contrast to soft actuators fabricated from stretchable silicone materials, conventional technologies for position sensing are typically rigid or bulky and are not ideal for integration into soft robotic devices. Therefore, in order to facilitate the use of soft pneumatic actuators in applications where position sensing or closed loop control is required, a soft pneumatic bending actuator with an integrated carbon nanotube position sensor has been developed. The integrated carbon nanotube position sensor presented in this work is flexible and well suited to measuring the large displacements frequently encountered in soft robotics. The sensor is produced by a simple soft lithography process during the fabrication of the soft pneumatic actuator, with a greater than 30% resistance change between the relaxed state and the maximum displacement position. It is anticipated that integrated resistive position sensors using a similar design will be useful in a wide range of soft robotic systems.

Integration of piezo-capacitive and piezo-electric nanoweb based pressure sensors for imaging of static and dynamic pressure distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Y J; Oh, T I; Woo, E J; Kim, K J

2017-07-01

Recently, highly flexible and soft pressure distribution imaging sensor is in great demand for tactile sensing, gait analysis, ubiquitous life-care based on activity recognition, and therapeutics. In this study, we integrate the piezo-capacitive and piezo-electric nanowebs with the conductive fabric sheets for detecting static and dynamic pressure distributions on a large sensing area. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and electric source imaging are applied for reconstructing pressure distribution images from measured current-voltage data on the boundary of the hybrid fabric sensor. We evaluated the piezo-capacitive nanoweb sensor, piezo-electric nanoweb sensor, and hybrid fabric sensor. The results show the feasibility of static and dynamic pressure distribution imaging from the boundary measurements of the fabric sensors.

Research of a Novel Three-dimensional Force Flexible Tactile Sensor Based on Conductive Rubber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Xu

2010-09-01

Full Text Available A novel three-dimensional force flexible tactile sensor using conductive rubber with "overall injection molding" technique is presented. The sensor is based on conductive rubber’s force-sensitive property. The sensor is flexible and can measure 3-D force. The rubber’s characteristics, the sensor’s structure and its principle are described. The results of simulation will be also presented.

AN/FSY-3 Space Fence System – Sensor Site One/Operations Center Integration Status and Sensor Site Two Planned Capability

Science.gov (United States)

Fonder, G. P.; Hack, P. J.; Hughes, M. R.

This paper covers two topics related to Space Fence System development: Sensor Site One / Operations Center construction and integration status including risk reduction integration and test efforts at the Moorestown, NJ Integrated Test Bed (ITB); and the planned capability of Sensor Site Two. The AN/FSY-3 Space Fence System is a ground-based system of S-band radars integrated with an Operations Center designed to greatly enhance the Air Force Space Surveillance network. The radar architecture is based on Digital Beam-forming. This capability permits tremendous user-defined flexibility to customize volume surveillance and track sectors instantaneously without impacting routine surveillance functions. Space Fence provides unprecedented sensitivity, coverage and tracking accuracy, and contributes to key mission threads with the ability to detect, track and catalog small objects in LEO, MEO and GEO. The system is net-centric and will seamlessly integrate into the existing Space Surveillance Network, providing services to external users—such as JSpOC—and coordinating handoffs to other SSN sites. Sensor Site One construction on the Kwajalein Atoll is in progress and nearing completion. The Operations Center in Huntsville, Alabama has been configured and will be integrated with Sensor Site One in the coming months. System hardware, firmware, and software is undergoing integration testing at the Mooretown, NJ ITB and will be deployed at Sensor Site One and the Operations Center. The preliminary design for Sensor Site Two is complete and will provide critical coverage, timeliness, and operational flexibility to the overall system.

A multilayered integrated sensor for three-dimensional, micro total analysis systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao, Jing; Song, Fuchuan; Seo, Sang-Woo

2013-01-01

This paper presents a layer-by-layer integration approach of different functional devices and demonstrates a heterogeneously integrated optical sensor featuring a micro-ring resonator and a high-speed thin-film InGaAs-based photodetector co-integrated with a microfluidic droplet generation device. A thin optical device structure allows a seamless integration with other polymer-based devices on a silicon platform. The integrated sensor successfully demonstrates its transient measurement capability of two-phase liquid flow in a microfluidic droplet generation device. The proposed approach represents an important step toward fully integrated micro total analysis systems. (paper)

Experimental Investigation of Integrated Optical Intensive Impulse Electric Field Sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bao, Sun; Fu-Shen, Chen

2009-01-01

We design and fabricate an integrated optical electric field sensor with segmented electrode for intensive impulse electric field measurement. The integrated optical sensor is based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer with segmented electrodes. The output/input character of the sensing system is analysed and measured. The maximal detectable electric field range (−75 kV/m to 245 kV/m) is obtained by analysing the results. As a result, the integrated optics electric field sensing system is suitable for transient intensive electric field measurement investigation

Broadband image sensor array based on graphene-CMOS integration

Science.gov (United States)

Goossens, Stijn; Navickaite, Gabriele; Monasterio, Carles; Gupta, Shuchi; Piqueras, Juan José; Pérez, Raúl; Burwell, Gregory; Nikitskiy, Ivan; Lasanta, Tania; Galán, Teresa; Puma, Eric; Centeno, Alba; Pesquera, Amaia; Zurutuza, Amaia; Konstantatos, Gerasimos; Koppens, Frank

2017-06-01

Integrated circuits based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS) are at the heart of the technological revolution of the past 40 years, enabling compact and low-cost microelectronic circuits and imaging systems. However, the diversification of this platform into applications other than microcircuits and visible-light cameras has been impeded by the difficulty to combine semiconductors other than silicon with CMOS. Here, we report the monolithic integration of a CMOS integrated circuit with graphene, operating as a high-mobility phototransistor. We demonstrate a high-resolution, broadband image sensor and operate it as a digital camera that is sensitive to ultraviolet, visible and infrared light (300-2,000 nm). The demonstrated graphene-CMOS integration is pivotal for incorporating 2D materials into the next-generation microelectronics, sensor arrays, low-power integrated photonics and CMOS imaging systems covering visible, infrared and terahertz frequencies.

Environmental sensors based on micromachined cantilevers with integrated read-out

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boisen, Anja; Thaysen, Jacob; Jensenius, Henriette

2000-01-01

-out facilitates measurements in liquid. The probe has been successfully implemented in gaseous as well as in liquid experiments. For example, the probe has been used as an accurate and minute thermal sensor and as a humidity sensor. In liquid, the probe has been used to detect the presence of alcohol in water. (C......An AFM probe with integrated piezoresistive read-out has been developed and applied as a cantilever-based environmental sensor. The probe has a built-in reference cantilever, which makes it possible to subtract background drift directly in the measurement. Moreover, the integrated read...

Status and perspectives of pixel sensors based on 3D vertical integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Re, Valerio [Università di Bergamo, Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Viale Marconi, 5, 24044 Dalmine (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Pavia, Via Bassi, 6, 27100 Pavia (Italy)

2014-11-21

This paper reviews the most recent developments of 3D integration in the field of silicon pixel sensors and readout integrated circuits. This technology may address the needs of future high energy physics and photon science experiments by increasing the electronic functional density in small pixel readout cells and by stacking various device layers based on different technologies, each optimized for a different function. Current efforts are aimed at improving the performance of both hybrid pixel detectors and of CMOS sensors. The status of these activities is discussed here, taking into account experimental results on 3D devices developed in the frame of the 3D-IC consortium. The paper also provides an overview of the ideas that are being currently devised for novel 3D vertically integrated pixel sensors. - Highlights: • 3D integration is a promising technology for pixel sensors in high energy physics. • Experimental results on two-layer 3D CMOS pixel sensors are presented. • The outcome of the first run from the 3D-IC consortium is discussed. • The AIDA network is studying via-last 3D integration of heterogeneous layers. • New ideas based on 3D vertically integrated pixels are being developed for HEP.

Status and perspectives of pixel sensors based on 3D vertical integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Re, Valerio

2014-01-01

This paper reviews the most recent developments of 3D integration in the field of silicon pixel sensors and readout integrated circuits. This technology may address the needs of future high energy physics and photon science experiments by increasing the electronic functional density in small pixel readout cells and by stacking various device layers based on different technologies, each optimized for a different function. Current efforts are aimed at improving the performance of both hybrid pixel detectors and of CMOS sensors. The status of these activities is discussed here, taking into account experimental results on 3D devices developed in the frame of the 3D-IC consortium. The paper also provides an overview of the ideas that are being currently devised for novel 3D vertically integrated pixel sensors. - Highlights: • 3D integration is a promising technology for pixel sensors in high energy physics. • Experimental results on two-layer 3D CMOS pixel sensors are presented. • The outcome of the first run from the 3D-IC consortium is discussed. • The AIDA network is studying via-last 3D integration of heterogeneous layers. • New ideas based on 3D vertically integrated pixels are being developed for HEP

Microfabrication of magnetostrictive beams based on NiFe film doped with B and Mo for integrated sensor systems

KAUST Repository

Alfadhel, Ahmed; Gianchandani, Y.; Kosel, Jü rgen

2012-01-01

This paper reports the development of integrated micro-sensors consisting of 1 -µm-thick magnetostrictive cantilevers or bridges with 500 µm in length and conducting interrogation elements. The thin films are fabricated by sputter deposition of Ni

Integration of conducting polymer network in non-conductive polymer substrates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Thomas Steen; West, Keld; Hassager, Ole

2006-01-01

Anew method for integration ofconjugated, inherently conducting polymers into non-conductive polymer substrates has been developed. Alayer of the conducting polymer is polymerised by chemical oxidation, e.g. using Fe(ID) p-toluene sulfonate (ferri tosylate) followed by washing with a solvent which...... simultaneously removes residual and spent oxidant and at the same time dissolves the top layer of the polymer substrate. This results in an integration of the conducting polymer into the surface layers of the polymer substrate. Several combinations of conducting polymers and substrates have been tested...... absorption during sequential reactive ion etching has allowed for analysis of the PEDOT distribution within the surface layer of thePMMA substrate. The surface resistance ofthe conducting polymer layer remains low while the surface layer at the same time adapts some of the mechanical properties...

A highly sensitive, low-cost, wearable pressure sensor based on conductive hydrogel spheres

KAUST Repository

Tai, Yanlong

2015-01-01

Wearable pressure sensing solutions have promising future for practical applications in health monitoring and human/machine interfaces. Here, a highly sensitive, low-cost, wearable pressure sensor based on conductive single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/alginate hydrogel spheres is reported. Conductive and piezoresistive spheres are embedded between conductive electrodes (indium tin oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate films) and subjected to environmental pressure. The detection mechanism is based on the piezoresistivity of the SWCNT/alginate conductive spheres and on the sphere-electrode contact. Step-by-step, we optimized the design parameters to maximize the sensitivity of the sensor. The optimized hydrogel sensor exhibited a satisfactory sensitivity (0.176 ΔR/R0/kPa-1) and a low detectable limit (10 Pa). Moreover, a brief response time (a few milliseconds) and successful repeatability were also demonstrated. Finally, the efficiency of this strategy was verified through a series of practical tests such as monitoring human wrist pulse, detecting throat muscle motion or identifying the location and the distribution of an external pressure using an array sensor (4 × 4). © 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Novel highly sensitive and wearable pressure sensors from conductive three-dimensional fabric structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Jianfeng; Xu, Bingang

2015-01-01

Pressure sensors based on three-dimensional fabrics have all the excellent properties of the textile substrate: excellent compressibility, good air permeability and moisture transmission ability, which will find applications ranging from the healthcare industry to daily usage. In this paper, novel pressure sensors based on 3D spacer fabrics have been developed by a proposed multi-coating method. By this coating method, carbon black can be coated uniformly on the silicon elastomer which is attached and slightly cured on the 3D fabric surface beforehand. The as-made pressure sensors have good conductivity and can measure external pressure up to 283 kPa with an electrical conductivity range of 9.8 kΩ. The sensitivity of 3D fabric pressure sensors can be as high as 50.31×10 −3 kPa −1 , which is better than other textile based pressure sensors. When the as-made sensors are pressed, their electrical resistance will decrease because of more conductive connections and bending of fibers in the spacer layer. The sensing mechanism related to fiber bending has been explored by using an equivalent resistance model. The newly developed 3D sensor devices can be designed to exhibit different sensing performances by simply changing the structures of fabric substrate, which endows this kind of device more flexibility in related applications. (paper)

NOVA integrated alignment/diagnostic sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-01-01

Under Contract 3772003 to the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Aerojet ElectroSystems Company has investigated a number of alignment system design topics for the NOVA and SHIVA upgrade lasers. Prior reports dealt with the Main Beam Alignment System, and with Multipass Amplifier Alignment Concepts. This report, which completes the contract, examines ways in which the Return Beam Diagnostic (RBD) package and Incident Beam Diagnostic (IBD) packages may be reconfigured to a more integrated package. In particular, the report shows that the RBD optics may be directly integrated in the Pointing Focus and Centering (PFC) sensor, and that the IBD optics may use the same basic common configuration as the PFC/RBD package

Architecture for an integrated real-time air combat and sensor network simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Criswell, Evans A.; Rushing, John; Lin, Hong; Graves, Sara

2007-04-01

An architecture for an integrated air combat and sensor network simulation is presented. The architecture integrates two components: a parallel real-time sensor fusion and target tracking simulation, and an air combat simulation. By integrating these two simulations, it becomes possible to experiment with scenarios in which one or both sides in a battle have very large numbers of primitive passive sensors, and to assess the likely effects of those sensors on the outcome of the battle. Modern Air Power is a real-time theater-level air combat simulation that is currently being used as a part of the USAF Air and Space Basic Course (ASBC). The simulation includes a variety of scenarios from the Vietnam war to the present day, and also includes several hypothetical future scenarios. Modern Air Power includes a scenario editor, an order of battle editor, and full AI customization features that make it possible to quickly construct scenarios for any conflict of interest. The scenario editor makes it possible to place a wide variety of sensors including both high fidelity sensors such as radars, and primitive passive sensors that provide only very limited information. The parallel real-time sensor network simulation is capable of handling very large numbers of sensors on a computing cluster of modest size. It can fuse information provided by disparate sensors to detect and track targets, and produce target tracks.

An Integrated Intrusion Detection Model of Cluster-Based Wireless Sensor Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xuemei; Yan, Bo; Zhang, Xinzhong; Rong, Chuitian

2015-01-01

Considering wireless sensor network characteristics, this paper combines anomaly and mis-use detection and proposes an integrated detection model of cluster-based wireless sensor network, aiming at enhancing detection rate and reducing false rate. Adaboost algorithm with hierarchical structures is used for anomaly detection of sensor nodes, cluster-head nodes and Sink nodes. Cultural-Algorithm and Artificial-Fish-Swarm-Algorithm optimized Back Propagation is applied to mis-use detection of Sink node. Plenty of simulation demonstrates that this integrated model has a strong performance of intrusion detection.

Integrated organic electronic based optochemical sensors using polarization filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraker, Elke; Haase, Anja; Lamprecht, Bernhard; Jakopic, Georg; Konrad, Christian; Koestler, Stefan

2008-01-01

A compact, integrated photoluminescence based oxygen and pH sensor, utilizing an organic light emitting device (OLED) as the light source and an organic photodiode (OPD) as the detection unit, is described. The main challenge in such an integrated sensor is the suppression of the excitation light at the detector, which is typically by many orders of magnitude higher in intensity than the emitted fluorescence. In our approach, we refrain from utilizing edge filters which require narrow band excitation sources and dyes with an adequate large Stokes shift. We rather developed an integrated sensor concept relying on two polarizers to separate the emission and excitation light. One polarizer is located right after the OLED, while the other one, oriented at 90 deg. to the first, is placed in front of the OPD. The main advantage of this solution is that any combination of excitation and emission light is acceptable, even if the two signals overlap spectrally. This is especially important for the use of OLEDs as the excitation sources, as these devices typically exhibit a broad spectral emission

Wearable Fall Detector using Integrated Sensors and Energy Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Sungmook; Hong, Seungki; Kim, Jaemin; Lee, Sangkyu; Hyeon, Taeghwan; Lee, Minbaek; Kim, Dae-Hyeong

2015-11-01

Wearable devices have attracted great attentions as next-generation electronic devices. For the comfortable, portable, and easy-to-use system platform in wearable electronics, a key requirement is to replace conventional bulky and rigid energy devices into thin and deformable ones accompanying the capability of long-term energy supply. Here, we demonstrate a wearable fall detection system composed of a wristband-type deformable triboelectric generator and lithium ion battery in conjunction with integrated sensors, controllers, and wireless units. A stretchable conductive nylon is used as electrodes of the triboelectric generator and the interconnection between battery cells. Ethoxylated polyethylenimine, coated on the surface of the conductive nylon electrode, tunes the work function of a triboelectric generator and maximizes its performance. The electrical energy harvested from the triboelectric generator through human body motions continuously recharges the stretchable battery and prolongs hours of its use. The integrated energy supply system runs the 3-axis accelerometer and related electronics that record human body motions and send the data wirelessly. Upon the unexpected fall occurring, a custom-made software discriminates the fall signal and an emergency alert is immediately sent to an external mobile device. This wearable fall detection system would provide new opportunities in the mobile electronics and wearable healthcare.

Design and Fabrication of Vertically-Integrated CMOS Image Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Skorka, Orit; Joseph, Dileepan

2011-01-01

Technologies to fabricate integrated circuits (IC) with 3D structures are an emerging trend in IC design. They are based on vertical stacking of active components to form heterogeneous microsystems. Electronic image sensors will benefit from these technologies because they allow increased pixel-level data processing and device optimization. This paper covers general principles in the design of vertically-integrated (VI) CMOS image sensors that are fabricated by flip-chip bonding. These sensors are composed of a CMOS die and a photodetector die. As a specific example, the paper presents a VI-CMOS image sensor that was designed at the University of Alberta, and fabricated with the help of CMC Microsystems and Micralyne Inc. To realize prototypes, CMOS dies with logarithmic active pixels were prepared in a commercial process, and photodetector dies with metal-semiconductor-metal devices were prepared in a custom process using hydrogenated amorphous silicon. The paper also describes a digital camera that was developed to test the prototype. In this camera, scenes captured by the image sensor are read using an FPGA board, and sent in real time to a PC over USB for data processing and display. Experimental results show that the VI-CMOS prototype has a higher dynamic range and a lower dark limit than conventional electronic image sensors. PMID:22163860

Integrated Electromechanical Transduction Schemes for Polymer MEMS Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damien Thuau

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Polymer Micro ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS have the potential to constitute a powerful alternative to silicon-based MEMS devices for sensing applications. Although the use of commercial photoresists as structural material in polymer MEMS has been widely reported, the integration of functional polymer materials as electromechanical transducers has not yet received the same amount of interest. In this context, we report on the design and fabrication of different electromechanical schemes based on polymeric materials ensuring different transduction functions. Piezoresistive transduction made of carbon nanotube-based nanocomposites with a gauge factor of 200 was embedded within U-shaped polymeric cantilevers operating either in static or dynamic modes. Flexible resonators with integrated piezoelectric transduction were also realized and used as efficient viscosity sensors. Finally, piezoelectric-based organic field effect transistor (OFET electromechanical transduction exhibiting a record sensitivity of over 600 was integrated into polymer cantilevers and used as highly sensitive strain and humidity sensors. Such advances in integrated electromechanical transduction schemes should favor the development of novel all-polymer MEMS devices for flexible and wearable applications in the future.

Demonstration of Sensor Data Integration Across Naval Aviation Maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

2018-02-01

Concepts, Programs and Processes; Maintenance Unit Department, Division Organization; Manpower Management ; and Aviation Officers.” http...Naval Aviation Maintenance Alejandra Jolodosky and Adi Zolotov February 2018 This work was performed under Federal Government Contract...underutilized sensor data. CNA proposed a pilot program that integrated sensor data across maintenance levels to expedite repairs of aviation parts

Integral Sensor Fault Detection and Isolation for Railway Traction Drive.

Science.gov (United States)

Garramiola, Fernando; Del Olmo, Jon; Poza, Javier; Madina, Patxi; Almandoz, Gaizka

2018-05-13

Due to the increasing importance of reliability and availability of electric traction drives in Railway applications, early detection of faults has become an important key for Railway traction drive manufacturers. Sensor faults are important sources of failures. Among the different fault diagnosis approaches, in this article an integral diagnosis strategy for sensors in traction drives is presented. Such strategy is composed of an observer-based approach for direct current (DC)-link voltage and catenary current sensors, a frequency analysis approach for motor current phase sensors and a hardware redundancy solution for speed sensors. None of them requires any hardware change requirement in the actual traction drive. All the fault detection and isolation approaches have been validated in a Hardware-in-the-loop platform comprising a Real Time Simulator and a commercial Traction Control Unit for a tram. In comparison to safety-critical systems in Aerospace applications, Railway applications do not need instantaneous detection, and the diagnosis is validated in a short time period for reliable decision. Combining the different approaches and existing hardware redundancy, an integral fault diagnosis solution is provided, to detect and isolate faults in all the sensors installed in the traction drive.

Correction of temperature and bulk electrical conductivity effects on soil water content measurements using ECH2O EC-5, TE and 5TE sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbaum, Ulrike; Huisman, Sander; Vrba, Jan; Vereecken, Harry; Bogena, Heye

2010-05-01

For a monitoring of dynamic spatiotemporal soil moisture patterns at the catchment scale, automated and continuously measuring systems that provide spatial coverage and high temporal resolution are needed. Promising techniques like wireless sensor networks (e.g. SoilNet) have to integrate low-cost electromagnetic soil water content sensors [1], [2]. However, the measurement accuracy of such sensors is often deteriorated by effects of temperature and soil bulk electrical conductivity. The objective of this study is to derive and validate correction functions for such temperature and electrical conductivity effects for the ECH2O EC-5, TE and 5TE sensors. We used dielectric liquids with known dielectric properties for two different laboratory experiments. In the first experiment, the temperature of eight reference liquids with permittivity ranging from 7 to 42 was varied from 5 to 40°C. All sensor types showed an underestimation of permittivity for low temperatures and an overestimation for high temperatures. In the second experiment, the conductivity of the reference liquids was increased by adding NaCl. The highest deviations occurred for high permittivity and electrical conductivity between ~0.8 and 1.5 dS/m (underestimation from 8 to 16 permittivity units depending on sensor type). For higher electrical conductivity (2.5 dS/m), the permittivity was overestimated (10 permittivity units for the EC-5 and 7 for the 5TE sensor). Based on these measurements on reference liquids, we derived empirical correction functions that are able to correct thermal and conductivity effects on measured sensor response. These correction functions were validated using three soil samples (coarse sand, silty clay loam and bentonite). For the temperature correction function, the results corresponded better with theoretical predictions after correction for temperature effects on the sensor circuitry. It was also shown that the application of the conductivity correction functions improved

Integration of amperometric sensors for microchip capillary electrophoresis application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dicorato, F; Moore, E; Glennon, J

2011-01-01

Capillary electrophoresis is a technique for the separation and analysis of chemical compounds. Techniques adopted from the microchip technology knowledge have led to recent developments of electrophoresis system with integration on microchip. Microchip Capillary Electrophoresis (μCE) systems offer a series of advantages as easy integration for Lab-on-a-chip applications, high performance, portability, speed, minimal solvent and sample requirements. A new technological challenge aims at the development of an economic modular microchip capillary electrophoresis systems using separable and independent units concerning the sensor. In this project we worked on the development of an interchangeable amperometric sensor in order to provide a solution to such electrode passivation and facilitating the use of tailored sensors for specific analyte detection besides. Fluidic chips have been machined from cyclic olefin polymer pallets (Zeonor) using a micro-injection molding machine.

A Sensor Middleware for integration of heterogeneous medical devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Brito, M; Vale, L; Carvalho, P; Henriques, J

2010-01-01

In this paper, the architecture of a modular, service-oriented, Sensor Middleware for data acquisition and processing is presented. The described solution was developed with the purpose of solving two increasingly relevant problems in the context of modern pHealth systems: i) to aggregate a number of heterogeneous, off-the-shelf, devices from which clinical measurements can be acquired and ii) to provide access and integration with an 802.15.4 network of wearable sensors. The modular nature of the Middleware provides the means to easily integrate pre-processing algorithms into processing pipelines, as well as new drivers for adding support for new sensor devices or communication technologies. Tests performed with both real and artificially generated data streams show that the presented solution is suitable for use both in a Windows PC or a Windows Mobile PDA with minimal overhead.

Integration of amperometric sensors for microchip capillary electrophoresis application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dicorato, F; Moore, E [Life Sciences Interface Group, Tyndall National Institute, Lee Maltings, Dyke Parade, Cork (Ireland); Glennon, J, E-mail: eric.moore@tyndall.ie [Chemistry Department, University College Cork, College Road, Cork (Ireland)

2011-08-17

Capillary electrophoresis is a technique for the separation and analysis of chemical compounds. Techniques adopted from the microchip technology knowledge have led to recent developments of electrophoresis system with integration on microchip. Microchip Capillary Electrophoresis ({mu}CE) systems offer a series of advantages as easy integration for Lab-on-a-chip applications, high performance, portability, speed, minimal solvent and sample requirements. A new technological challenge aims at the development of an economic modular microchip capillary electrophoresis systems using separable and independent units concerning the sensor. In this project we worked on the development of an interchangeable amperometric sensor in order to provide a solution to such electrode passivation and facilitating the use of tailored sensors for specific analyte detection besides. Fluidic chips have been machined from cyclic olefin polymer pallets (Zeonor) using a micro-injection molding machine.

Organic Optical Sensor Based on Monolithic Integration of Organic Electronic Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoi Lam Tam

2015-09-01

Full Text Available A novel organic optical sensor that integrates a front organic light-emitting diode (OLED and an organic photodiode (OPD is demonstrated. The stripe-shaped cathode is used in the OLED components to create light signals, while the space between the stripe-shaped cathodes serves as the detection window for integrated OPD units. A MoO3 (5 nm/Ag (15 nm bi-layer inter-electrode is interposed between the vertically stacked OLED and OPD units, serving simultaneously as the cathode for the front OLED and an anode for the upper OPD units in the sensor. In the integrated sensor, the emission of the OLED units is confined by the area of the opaque stripe-shaped cathodes, optimized to maximize the reflected light passing through the window space for detection by the OPD components. This can ensure high OLED emission output, increasing the signal/noise ratio. The design and fabrication flexibility of an integrated OLED/OPD device also has low cost benefits, and is light weight and ultra-thin, making it possible for application in wearable units, finger print identification, image sensors, smart light sources, and compact information systems.

Integration of a Miniaturized Conductivity Sensor into an Animal-Borne Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-30

an Animal -Borne Instrument Lars Boehme Sea Mammal Research Unit Scottish Oceans Institute University of St Andrews St Andrews, KY16 8LB United... Kingdom phone: +44 1334-462677 fax: +44 1334-463443 email: lb284@st-andrews.ac.uk Robin Pascal Sensors Development Group National...Oceanography Centre Southampton, SO14 3ZY United Kingdom phone: +44 2380-596138 fax: +44 2380-593029 email: rwp@nerc.ac.uk Phil Lovell

A Ubiquitous Sensor Network Platform for Integrating Smart Devices into the Semantic Sensor Web

Science.gov (United States)

de Vera, David Díaz Pardo; Izquierdo, Álvaro Sigüenza; Vercher, Jesús Bernat; Gómez, Luis Alfonso Hernández

2014-01-01

Ongoing Sensor Web developments make a growing amount of heterogeneous sensor data available to smart devices. This is generating an increasing demand for homogeneous mechanisms to access, publish and share real-world information. This paper discusses, first, an architectural solution based on Next Generation Networks: a pilot Telco Ubiquitous Sensor Network (USN) Platform that embeds several OGC® Sensor Web services. This platform has already been deployed in large scale projects. Second, the USN-Platform is extended to explore a first approach to Semantic Sensor Web principles and technologies, so that smart devices can access Sensor Web data, allowing them also to share richer (semantically interpreted) information. An experimental scenario is presented: a smart car that consumes and produces real-world information which is integrated into the Semantic Sensor Web through a Telco USN-Platform. Performance tests revealed that observation publishing times with our experimental system were well within limits compatible with the adequate operation of smart safety assistance systems in vehicles. On the other hand, response times for complex queries on large repositories may be inappropriate for rapid reaction needs. PMID:24945678

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.

Materials and Techniques for Implantable Nutrient Sensing Using Flexible Sensors Integrated with Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Wei; Liew, Guoguang; Li, Ya; Hao, Yafeng; Pan, Huizhuo; Wang, Hanjie; Ning, Baoan; Xu, Hang; Huang, Xian

2018-06-01

The combination of novel materials with flexible electronic technology may yield new concepts of flexible electronic devices that effectively detect various biological chemicals to facilitate understanding of biological processes and conduct health monitoring. This paper demonstrates single- or multichannel implantable flexible sensors that are surface modified with conductive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) such as copper-MOF and cobalt-MOF with large surface area, high porosity, and tunable catalysis capability. The sensors can monitor important nutriments such as ascorbicacid, glycine, l-tryptophan (l-Trp), and glucose with detection resolutions of 14.97, 0.71, 4.14, and 54.60 × 10 -6 m, respectively. In addition, they offer sensing capability even under extreme deformation and complex surrounding environment with continuous monitoring capability for 20 d due to minimized use of biological active chemicals. Experiments using live cells and animals indicate that the MOF-modified sensors are biologically safe to cells, and can detect l-Trp in blood and interstitial fluid. This work represents the first effort in integrating MOFs with flexible sensors to achieve highly specific and sensitive implantable electrochemical detection and may inspire appearance of more flexible electronic devices with enhanced capability in sensing, energy storage, and catalysis using various properties of MOFs. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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

Spirally Structured Conductive Composites for Highly Stretchable, Robust Conductors and Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaodong; Han, Yangyang; Zhang, Xinxing; Lu, Canhui

2017-07-12

Flexible and stretchable electronics are highly desirable for next generation devices. However, stretchability and conductivity are fundamentally difficult to combine for conventional conductive composites, which restricts their widespread applications especially as stretchable electronics. Here, we innovatively develop a new class of highly stretchable and robust conductive composites via a simple and scalable structural approach. Briefly, carbon nanotubes are spray-coated onto a self-adhesive rubber film, followed by rolling up the film completely to create a spirally layered structure within the composites. This unique spirally layered structure breaks the typical trade-off between stretchability and conductivity of traditional conductive composites and, more importantly, restrains the generation and propagation of mechanical microcracks in the conductive layer under strain. Benefiting from such structure-induced advantages, the spirally layered composites exhibit high stretchability and flexibility, good conductive stability, and excellent robustness, enabling the composites to serve as highly stretchable conductors (up to 300% strain), versatile sensors for monitoring both subtle and large human activities, and functional threads for wearable electronics. This novel and efficient methodology provides a new design philosophy for manufacturing not only stretchable conductors and sensors but also other stretchable electronics, such as transistors, generators, artificial muscles, etc.

Open architecture design and approach for the Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA)

Science.gov (United States)

Moulton, Christine L.; Krzywicki, Alan T.; Hepp, Jared J.; Harrell, John; Kogut, Michael

2015-05-01

Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA) is designed in response to stovepiped integration approaches. The design, based on the principles of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) and Open Architectures, addresses the problem of integration, and is not designed for specific sensors or systems. The use of SOA and Open Architecture approaches has led to a flexible, extensible architecture. Using these approaches, and supported with common data formats, open protocol specifications, and Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) system architecture documents, an integration-focused architecture has been developed. ISA can help move the Department of Defense (DoD) from costly stovepipe solutions to a more cost-effective plug-and-play design to support interoperability.

Comparative VOCs sensing performance for conducting polymer and porphyrin functionalized carbon nanotubes based sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Kunal; Rushi, Arti; Ghosh, Prasanta; Shirsat, Mahendra

2018-05-01

We report sensors for detection of ethyl alcohol, a prominent volatile organic compound (VOC). Single walled carbon nanotubes were selected as main sensing backbone. As efficiency of sensor is dependent upon the choice of sensing materials, the performances of conducting polymer and porphyrin based sensors were compared. Chemiresistive sensing modality was adopted to observe the performance of sensors. It has been found that porphyrin based sensor shows higher affinity towards ethyl alcohol.

Hybrid integrated sensor for position measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, B.; Schott, H.; Just, H.-J.

1986-01-01

The design, fabrication and performance of an integrated two-dimensional position sensitive photodetector are presented. The optoelectronic device used as sensitive element in the circuit is a full area position sensitive photodiode (PPD) with high linearity over the full sensitive area. The PPD is integrated with the analog electronics in a hybrid circuit using thick film technology. The analog electronics includes the signal amplification and the signal conditioning to form the output signals proportional to the light beam center position at the sensor surface and an output signal proportional to the light beam intensity. Using hybrid integration a new position sensitive transducer is developed giving output signals, transmiting in large distances without problems and driving directly actuators in any control system

Electrically Conductive TPU Nanofibrous Composite with High Stretchability for Flexible Strain Sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Lu; Wang, Xiao-Xiong; He, Xiao-Xiao; Nie, Guang-Di; Zhang, Jun; Zhang, Bin; Guo, Wen-Zhe; Long, Yun-Ze

2018-03-01

Highly stretchable and electrically conductive thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofibrous composite based on electrospinning for flexible strain sensor and stretchable conductor has been fabricated via in situ polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) on TPU nanofibrous membrane. The PANI/TPU membrane-based sensor could detect a strain from 0 to 160% with fast response and excellent stability. Meanwhile, the TPU composite has good stability and durability. Besides, the composite could be adapted to various non-flat working environments and could maintain opportune conductivity at different operating temperatures. This work provides an easy operating and low-cost method to fabricate highly stretchable and electrically conductive nanofibrous membrane, which could be applied to detect quick and tiny human actions.

Integrated Microfluidic Sensor System with Magnetostrictive Resonators

KAUST Repository

Liang, Cai; Kosel, Jü rgen; Gooneratne, Chinthaka

2011-01-01

The present embodiments describe a method that integrates a magnetostrictive sensor with driving and detecting elements into a microfluidic chip to detect a chemical, biochemical or biomedical species. These embodiments may also measure the properties of a fluid such as viscosity, pH values. The whole system can be referred to lab-on-a-chip (LOC) or micro-total-analysis-systems (.mu.TAS). In particular, this present embodiments include three units, including a microfluidics unit, a magnetostrictive sensor, and driving/detecting elements. An analyzer may also be provided to analyze an electrical signal associated with a feature of a target specimen.

Integrated Microfluidic Sensor System with Magnetostrictive Resonators

KAUST Repository

Liang, Cai

2011-12-08

The present embodiments describe a method that integrates a magnetostrictive sensor with driving and detecting elements into a microfluidic chip to detect a chemical, biochemical or biomedical species. These embodiments may also measure the properties of a fluid such as viscosity, pH values. The whole system can be referred to lab-on-a-chip (LOC) or micro-total-analysis-systems (.mu.TAS). In particular, this present embodiments include three units, including a microfluidics unit, a magnetostrictive sensor, and driving/detecting elements. An analyzer may also be provided to analyze an electrical signal associated with a feature of a target specimen.

Integrated optical sensors for the chemical domain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lambeck, Paul

2006-01-01

During the last decade there has been a rapidly growing interest in integrated optical (IO) sensors, expecially because many of them principally allow for sensitive, real time, label-free-on-site measurements of the concentration of (bio-)chemical species. This review aims at giving an overview of

Integration and embedding of vital signs sensors and other devices into textiles

OpenAIRE

Abreu, Maria José Araújo Marques; Carvalho, Helder; Catarino, André P.; Rocha, A. M.

2010-01-01

The development of ubiquitous vital sign monitoring has become a very up-to-date research theme for many academics and industrial companies in the last years. With new materials and integration techniques, it is possible to implement vital sign monitoring in an economic manner, directly into textile products. This unobtrusive presence of sensors is especially important for the monitoring of children or elderly people. This paper focuses on two aspects of sensor integration: Integration of off...

Application of a sensor array based on capillary-attached conductive gas sensors for odor identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bahraminejad, Behzad; Basri, Shahnor; Isa, Maryam; Hambali, Zarida

2010-01-01

An electronic nose based on an array of capillary-attached conductive gas sensors was fabricated. The identification ability of the developed structure was investigated by employing different categories of simple and complex odor databases. Feature data sets were generated from the dynamic and steady state responses of the sensor array to the applied odor databases. Combinations of different feature extraction and classification methods were used to detect target gases. Validation of each technique was evaluated. Achievements of the study proved high classification rates of the fabricated e-nose in odor identification. It was indicated that gas identification is possible by applying the early selected portion of transient responses of the developed sensor array. The ability of the mentioned structure in analyzing gas mixtures was also investigated. The results presented high accuracy in the classification of gas mixtures

Miniaturised Prandtl tube with integrated pressure sensors for micro-thruster plume characterisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, Marcel; Ma, Kechun; de Boer, Meint J.; Groenesteijn, Jarno; Lötters, Joost Conrad; Wiegerink, Remco J.

2014-01-01

A miniaturised Prandtl-tube sensor incorporating a 6 mm long 40 μm diameter microchannel with integrated pressure sensors has been realised. The sensor has been designed for the characterisation of rarefied plume flow from a MEMS-based monopropellant propulsion system for high-accuracy attitude

Study of the Integration of LIDAR and Photogrammetric Datasets by in Situ Camera Calibration and Integrated Sensor Orientation

Science.gov (United States)

Mitishita, E.; Costa, F.; Martins, M.

2017-05-01

Photogrammetric and Lidar datasets should be in the same mapping or geodetic frame to be used simultaneously in an engineering project. Nowadays direct sensor orientation is a common procedure used in simultaneous photogrammetric and Lidar surveys. Although the direct sensor orientation technologies provide a high degree of automation process due to the GNSS/INS technologies, the accuracies of the results obtained from the photogrammetric and Lidar surveys are dependent on the quality of a group of parameters that models accurately the user conditions of the system at the moment the job is performed. This paper shows the study that was performed to verify the importance of the in situ camera calibration and Integrated Sensor Orientation without control points to increase the accuracies of the photogrammetric and LIDAR datasets integration. The horizontal and vertical accuracies of photogrammetric and Lidar datasets integration by photogrammetric procedure improved significantly when the Integrated Sensor Orientation (ISO) approach was performed using Interior Orientation Parameter (IOP) values estimated from the in situ camera calibration. The horizontal and vertical accuracies, estimated by the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the 3D discrepancies from the Lidar check points, increased around of 37% and 198% respectively.

Sensor-integrated polymer actuators for closed-loop drug delivery system

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Han; Wang, Chunlei; Kulinsky, Lawrence; Zoval, Jim; Madou, Marc

2006-03-01

This work presents manufacturing and testing of a closed-loop drug delivery system where drug release is achieved by an electrochemical actuation of an array of polymeric valves on a set of drug reservoirs. The valves are based on bi-layer structures made of polypyrrole/gold in the shape of a flap that is hinged on one side of a valve seat. Drugs stored in the underlying chambers are released by bending the bi-layer flaps back with a small applied bias. These polymeric valves simultaneously function as both drug release components and biological/chemical sensors responding to a specific biological or environmental stimulus. The sensors may send signals to the control module to realize closed-loop control of the drug release. In this study a glucose sensor has been integrated with the polymeric actuators through immobilization of glucose oxidase(GOx) within polypyrrole(PPy) valves. Sensitivities per unit area of the integrated glucose sensor have been measured and compared before and after the actuation of the sensor/actuator PPy/DBS/GOx film. Other sensing parameters such as linear range and response time were discussed as well. Using an array of these sensor/actuator cells, the amount of released drug, e.g. insulin, can be precisely controlled according to the surrounding glucose concentration detected by the glucose sensor. Activation of these reservoirs can be triggered either by the signal from the sensor, or by the signal from the operator. This approach also serves as the initial step to use the proposed system as an implantable drug delivery platform in the future.

An improved electrical-conductance sensor for void-fraction measurement in a horizontal pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Min Seok; Jemg, Dong Wook; Kim, Sin; Lee, Bo An; Won, Woo Youn; Lee, Yeon Gun

2015-01-01

The electrical-impedance method has been widely used for void-fraction measurement in two-phase flow due to its many favorable features. In the impedance method, the response characteristics of the electrical signal heavily depend upon flow pattern, as well as phasic volume. Thus, information on the flow pattern should be given for reliable void-fraction measurement. This study proposes an improved electrical-conductance sensor composed of a three-electrode set of adjacent and opposite electrodes. In the proposed sensor, conductance readings are directly converted into the flow pattern through a specified criterion and are consecutively used to estimate the corresponding void fraction. Since the flow pattern and the void fraction are evaluated by reading conductance measurements, complexity of data processing can be significantly reduced and real-time information provided. Before actual applications, several numerical calculations are performed to optimize electrode and insulator sizes, and optimal design is verified by static experiments. Finally, the proposed sensor is applied for air-water two-phase flow in a horizontal loop with a 40-mm inner diameter and a 5-m length, and its measurement results are compared with those of a wire-mesh sensor

Capacitive Micro Pressure Sensor Integrated with a Ring Oscillator Circuit on Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Yang Liu

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The study investigates a capacitive micro pressure sensor integrated with a ring oscillator circuit on a chip. The integrated capacitive pressure sensor is fabricated using the commercial CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor process and a post-process. The ring oscillator is employed to convert the capacitance of the pressure sensor into the frequency output. The pressure sensor consists of 16 sensing cells in parallel. Each sensing cell contains a top electrode and a lower electrode, and the top electrode is a sandwich membrane. The pressure sensor needs a post-CMOS process to release the membranes after completion of the CMOS process. The post-process uses etchants to etch the sacrificial layers, and to release the membranes. The advantages of the post-process include easy execution and low cost. Experimental results reveal that the pressure sensor has a high sensitivity of 7 Hz/Pa in the pressure range of 0–300 kPa.

Map Matching and Real World Integrated Sensor Data Warehousing (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burton, E.

2014-02-01

The inclusion of interlinked temporal and spatial elements within integrated sensor data enables a tremendous degree of flexibility when analyzing multi-component datasets. The presentation illustrates how to warehouse, process, and analyze high-resolution integrated sensor datasets to support complex system analysis at the entity and system levels. The example cases presented utilizes in-vehicle sensor system data to assess vehicle performance, while integrating a map matching algorithm to link vehicle data to roads to demonstrate the enhanced analysis possible via interlinking data elements. Furthermore, in addition to the flexibility provided, the examples presented illustrate concepts of maintaining proprietary operational information (Fleet DNA) and privacy of study participants (Transportation Secure Data Center) while producing widely distributed data products. Should real-time operational data be logged at high resolution across multiple infrastructure types, map matched to their associated infrastructure, and distributed employing a similar approach; dependencies between urban environment infrastructures components could be better understood. This understanding is especially crucial for the cities of the future where transportation will rely more on grid infrastructure to support its energy demands.

A Low-Power Integrated Humidity CMOS Sensor by Printing-on-Chip Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang-Hung Lee

2014-05-01

Full Text Available A low-power, wide-dynamic-range integrated humidity sensing chip is implemented using a printable polymer sensing material with an on-chip pulse-width-modulation interface circuit. By using the inkjet printing technique, poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene/polystyrene sulfonate that has humidity sensing features can be printed onto the top metal layer of a 0.35 μm CMOS IC. The developed printing-on-chip humidity sensor achieves a heterogeneous three dimensional sensor system-on-chip architecture. The humidity sensing of the implemented printing-on-chip sensor system is experimentally tested. The sensor shows a sensitivity of 0.98% to humidity in the atmosphere. The maximum dynamic range of the readout circuit is 9.8 MΩ, which can be further tuned by the frequency of input signal to fit the requirement of the resistance of printed sensor. The power consumption keeps only 154 μW. This printing-on-chip sensor provides a practical solution to fulfill an ultra-small integrated sensor for the applications in miniaturized sensing systems.

A low-power integrated humidity CMOS sensor by printing-on-chip technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chang-Hung; Chuang, Wen-Yu; Cowan, Melissa A; Wu, Wen-Jung; Lin, Chih-Ting

2014-05-23

A low-power, wide-dynamic-range integrated humidity sensing chip is implemented using a printable polymer sensing material with an on-chip pulse-width-modulation interface circuit. By using the inkjet printing technique, poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene)/polystyrene sulfonate that has humidity sensing features can be printed onto the top metal layer of a 0.35 μm CMOS IC. The developed printing-on-chip humidity sensor achieves a heterogeneous three dimensional sensor system-on-chip architecture. The humidity sensing of the implemented printing-on-chip sensor system is experimentally tested. The sensor shows a sensitivity of 0.98% to humidity in the atmosphere. The maximum dynamic range of the readout circuit is 9.8 MΩ, which can be further tuned by the frequency of input signal to fit the requirement of the resistance of printed sensor. The power consumption keeps only 154 μW. This printing-on-chip sensor provides a practical solution to fulfill an ultra-small integrated sensor for the applications in miniaturized sensing systems.

Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW)-Based Wireless Temperature Sensor for Harsh Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Qiulin; Guo, Yanjie; Zhang, Lei; Lu, Fei; Dong, Helei; Xiong, Jijun

2018-05-03

This paper presents a new wireless sensor structure based on a substrate integrated circular waveguide (SICW) for the temperature test in harsh environments. The sensor substrate material is 99% alumina ceramic, and the SICW structure is composed of upper and lower metal plates and a series of metal cylindrical sidewall vias. A rectangular aperture antenna integrated on the surface of the SICW resonator is used for electromagnetic wave transmission between the sensor and the external antenna. The resonant frequency of the temperature sensor decreases when the temperature increases, because the relative permittivity of the alumina ceramic increases with temperature. The temperature sensor presented in this paper was tested four times at a range of 30⁻1200 °C, and a broad band coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed antenna was used as an interrogation antenna during the test process. The resonant frequency changed from 2.371 to 2.141 GHz as the temperature varied from 30 to 1200 °C, leading to a sensitivity of 0.197 MHz/°C. The quality factor of the sensor changed from 3444.6 to 35.028 when the temperature varied from 30 to 1000 °C.

Large Scale Environmental Monitoring through Integration of Sensor and Mesh Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raja Jurdak

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Monitoring outdoor environments through networks of wireless sensors has received interest for collecting physical and chemical samples at high spatial and temporal scales. A central challenge to environmental monitoring applications of sensor networks is the short communication range of the sensor nodes, which increases the complexity and cost of monitoring commodities that are located in geographically spread areas. To address this issue, we propose a new communication architecture that integrates sensor networks with medium range wireless mesh networks, and provides users with an advanced web portal for managing sensed information in an integrated manner. Our architecture adopts a holistic approach targeted at improving the user experience by optimizing the system performance for handling data that originates at the sensors, traverses the mesh network, and resides at the server for user consumption. This holistic approach enables users to set high level policies that can adapt the resolution of information collected at the sensors, set the preferred performance targets for their application, and run a wide range of queries and analysis on both real-time and historical data. All system components and processes will be described in this paper.

Large Scale Environmental Monitoring through Integration of Sensor and Mesh Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jurdak, Raja; Nafaa, Abdelhamid; Barbirato, Alessio

2008-11-24

Monitoring outdoor environments through networks of wireless sensors has received interest for collecting physical and chemical samples at high spatial and temporal scales. A central challenge to environmental monitoring applications of sensor networks is the short communication range of the sensor nodes, which increases the complexity and cost of monitoring commodities that are located in geographically spread areas. To address this issue, we propose a new communication architecture that integrates sensor networks with medium range wireless mesh networks, and provides users with an advanced web portal for managing sensed information in an integrated manner. Our architecture adopts a holistic approach targeted at improving the user experience by optimizing the system performance for handling data that originates at the sensors, traverses the mesh network, and resides at the server for user consumption. This holistic approach enables users to set high level policies that can adapt the resolution of information collected at the sensors, set the preferred performance targets for their application, and run a wide range of queries and analysis on both real-time and historical data. All system components and processes will be described in this paper.

Integration Of Sensor Orientation Data Into An Augmented Reality Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edgaras Artemčiukas

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Currently, such microelectromechanical sensors as accelerome­ters, gyroscopes and magnetometers are the dominant sensors in mobile devices. The market of mobile devices is constantly expanding and focused on sensor integration process by adding supplementary functionality for the applications; therefore, it is possible to adapt these sensors for augmented reality technology solutions. Many augmented reality solutions are based on computer vision processing methods in order to identify and track markers or other objects. However, the main problem is chaotic environment, lighting conditions where object recognition and tracking in real-time becomes difficult and sometimes is an impossible process. This paper analyses possibilities to apply microelectromechanical sensors. Additionally, it investigates quaternion use for sensor data to estimate reliable and accurate camera orientation and represent virtual content in augmented reality technology.

Real-time trace gas sensor using a multimode diode laser and multiple-line integrated cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Karpf, Andreas; Rao, Gottipaty N

2015-07-01

We describe and demonstrate a highly sensitive trace gas sensor based on a simplified design that is capable of measuring sub-ppb concentrations of NO2 in tens of milliseconds. The sensor makes use of a relatively inexpensive Fabry-Perot diode laser to conduct off-axis cavity enhanced spectroscopy. The broad frequency range of a multimode Fabry-Perot diode laser spans a large number of absorption lines, thereby removing the need for a single-frequency tunable laser source. The use of cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy enhances the sensitivity of the sensor by providing a pathlength on the order of 1 km in a small volume. Off-axis alignment excites a large number of cavity modes simultaneously, thereby reducing the sensor's susceptibility to vibration. Multiple-line integrated absorption spectroscopy (where one integrates the absorption spectra over a large number of rovibronic transitions of the molecular species) further improves the sensitivity of detection. Relatively high laser power (∼400  mW) is used to compensate for the low coupling efficiency of a broad linewidth laser to the optical cavity. The approach was demonstrated using a 407 nm diode laser to detect trace quantities of NO2 in zero air. Sensitivities of 750 ppt, 110 ppt, and 65 ppt were achieved using integration times of 50 ms, 5 s, and 20 s respectively.

Passive Sensor Integration for Vehicle Self-Localization in Urban Traffic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanlei Gu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This research proposes an accurate vehicular positioning system which can achieve lane-level performance in urban canyons. Multiple passive sensors, which include Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS receivers, onboard cameras and inertial sensors, are integrated in the proposed system. As the main source for the localization, the GNSS technique suffers from Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS propagation and multipath effects in urban canyons. This paper proposes to employ a novel GNSS positioning technique in the integration. The employed GNSS technique reduces the multipath and NLOS effects by using the 3D building map. In addition, the inertial sensor can describe the vehicle motion, but has a drift problem as time increases. This paper develops vision-based lane detection, which is firstly used for controlling the drift of the inertial sensor. Moreover, the lane keeping and changing behaviors are extracted from the lane detection function, and further reduce the lateral positioning error in the proposed localization system. We evaluate the integrated localization system in the challenging city urban scenario. The experiments demonstrate the proposed method has sub-meter accuracy with respect to mean positioning error.

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.

Integrated fiber optic sensors for hot spot detection and temperature field reconstruction in satellites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rapp, S; Baier, H

2010-01-01

Large satellites are often equipped with more than 1000 temperature sensors during the test campaign. Hundreds of them are still used for monitoring during launch and operation in space. This means an additional mass and especially high effort in assembly, integration and verification on a system level. So the use of fiber Bragg grating temperature sensors is investigated as they offer several advantages. They are lightweight, small in size and electromagnetically immune, which fits well in space applications. Their multiplexing capability offers the possibility to build extensive sensor networks including dozens of sensors of different types, such as strain sensors, accelerometers and temperature sensors. The latter allow the detection of hot spots and the reconstruction of temperature fields via proper algorithms, which is shown in this paper. A temperature sensor transducer was developed, which can be integrated into satellite sandwich panels with negligible mechanical influence. Mechanical and thermal vacuum tests were performed to verify the space compatibility of the developed sensor system. Proper reconstruction algorithms were developed to estimate the temperature field and detect thermal hot spots on the panel surface. A representative hardware demonstrator has been built and tested, which shows the capability of using an integrated fiber Bragg grating temperature sensor network for temperature field reconstruction and hot spot detection in satellite structures

Status and perspectives of pixel sensors based on 3D vertical integration

CERN Document Server

Re, V

2014-01-01

This paper reviews the most recent developments of 3D integration in the field of silicon pixel sensors and readout integrated circuits. This technology may address the needs of future high energy physics and photon science experiments by increasing the electronic functional density in small pixel readout cells and by stacking various device layers based on different technologies, each optimized for a different function. Current efforts are aimed at improving the performance of both hybrid pixel detectors and of CMOS sensors. The status of these activities is discussed here, taking into account experimental results on 3D devices developed in the frame of the 3D-IC consortium. The paper also provides an overview of the ideas that are being currently devised for novel 3D vertically integrated pixel sensors.

MICROBIAL BIOFILMS AS INTEGRATIVE SENSORS OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, Richard A., Michael A. Lewis, Andreas Nocker and Joe E. Lepo. In press. Microbial Biofilms as Integrative Sensors of Environmental Quality. In: Estuarine Indicators Workshop Proceedings. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 34 p. (ERL,GB 1198). Microbial biofilms are comple...

Smart Cities Intelligence System (SMACiSYS) Integrating Sensor Web with Spatial Data Infrastructures (sensdi)

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, D.; Painho, M.

2017-09-01

The paper endeavours to enhance the Sensor Web with crucial geospatial analysis capabilities through integration with Spatial Data Infrastructure. The objective is development of automated smart cities intelligence system (SMACiSYS) with sensor-web access (SENSDI) utilizing geomatics for sustainable societies. There has been a need to develop automated integrated system to categorize events and issue information that reaches users directly. At present, no web-enabled information system exists which can disseminate messages after events evaluation in real time. Research work formalizes a notion of an integrated, independent, generalized, and automated geo-event analysing system making use of geo-spatial data under popular usage platform. Integrating Sensor Web With Spatial Data Infrastructures (SENSDI) aims to extend SDIs with sensor web enablement, converging geospatial and built infrastructure, and implement test cases with sensor data and SDI. The other benefit, conversely, is the expansion of spatial data infrastructure to utilize sensor web, dynamically and in real time for smart applications that smarter cities demand nowadays. Hence, SENSDI augments existing smart cities platforms utilizing sensor web and spatial information achieved by coupling pairs of otherwise disjoint interfaces and APIs formulated by Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) keeping entire platform open access and open source. SENSDI is based on Geonode, QGIS and Java, that bind most of the functionalities of Internet, sensor web and nowadays Internet of Things superseding Internet of Sensors as well. In a nutshell, the project delivers a generalized real-time accessible and analysable platform for sensing the environment and mapping the captured information for optimal decision-making and societal benefit.

SMART CITIES INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM (SMACiSYS INTEGRATING SENSOR WEB WITH SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES (SENSDI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Bhattacharya

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The paper endeavours to enhance the Sensor Web with crucial geospatial analysis capabilities through integration with Spatial Data Infrastructure. The objective is development of automated smart cities intelligence system (SMACiSYS with sensor-web access (SENSDI utilizing geomatics for sustainable societies. There has been a need to develop automated integrated system to categorize events and issue information that reaches users directly. At present, no web-enabled information system exists which can disseminate messages after events evaluation in real time. Research work formalizes a notion of an integrated, independent, generalized, and automated geo-event analysing system making use of geo-spatial data under popular usage platform. Integrating Sensor Web With Spatial Data Infrastructures (SENSDI aims to extend SDIs with sensor web enablement, converging geospatial and built infrastructure, and implement test cases with sensor data and SDI. The other benefit, conversely, is the expansion of spatial data infrastructure to utilize sensor web, dynamically and in real time for smart applications that smarter cities demand nowadays. Hence, SENSDI augments existing smart cities platforms utilizing sensor web and spatial information achieved by coupling pairs of otherwise disjoint interfaces and APIs formulated by Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC keeping entire platform open access and open source. SENSDI is based on Geonode, QGIS and Java, that bind most of the functionalities of Internet, sensor web and nowadays Internet of Things superseding Internet of Sensors as well. In a nutshell, the project delivers a generalized real-time accessible and analysable platform for sensing the environment and mapping the captured information for optimal decision-making and societal benefit.

Prototyping of a highly performant and integrated piezoresistive force sensor for microscale applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komati, Bilal; Agnus, Joël; Clévy, Cédric; Lutz, Philippe

2014-01-01

In this paper, the prototyping of a new piezoresistive microforce sensor is presented. An original design taking advantage of both the mechanical and bulk piezoresistive properties of silicon is presented, which enables the easy fabrication of a very small, large-range, high-sensitivity with high integration potential sensor. The sensor is made of two silicon strain gauges for which widespread and known microfabrication processes are used. The strain gauges present a high gauge factor which allows a good sensitivity of this force sensor. The dimensions of this sensor are 700 μm in length, 100 μm in width and 12 μm in thickness. These dimensions make its use convenient with many microscale applications, notably its integration in a microgripper. The fabricated sensor is calibrated using an industrial force sensor. The design, microfabrication process and performances of the fabricated piezoresistive force sensor are innovative thanks to its resolution of 100 nN and its measurement range of 2 mN. This force sensor also presents a high signal-to-noise ratio, typically 50 dB when a 2 mN force is applied at the tip of the force sensor. (paper)

Advanced Integrated Multi-Sensor Surveillance (AIMS. Operator Machine Interface (OMI) Definition Study

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Baker, Kevin; Youngson, Gord

2007-01-01

To enhance the capability of airborne search and rescue (SAR) and surveillance, particularly at night and in poor weather, a multi sensor electro optical imaging system, the Advanced Integrated Multi sensor Surveillance (AIMS...

STUDY OF THE INTEGRATION OF LIDAR AND PHOTOGRAMMETRIC DATASETS BY IN SITU CAMERA CALIBRATION AND INTEGRATED SENSOR ORIENTATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Mitishita

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Photogrammetric and Lidar datasets should be in the same mapping or geodetic frame to be used simultaneously in an engineering project. Nowadays direct sensor orientation is a common procedure used in simultaneous photogrammetric and Lidar surveys. Although the direct sensor orientation technologies provide a high degree of automation process due to the GNSS/INS technologies, the accuracies of the results obtained from the photogrammetric and Lidar surveys are dependent on the quality of a group of parameters that models accurately the user conditions of the system at the moment the job is performed. This paper shows the study that was performed to verify the importance of the in situ camera calibration and Integrated Sensor Orientation without control points to increase the accuracies of the photogrammetric and LIDAR datasets integration. The horizontal and vertical accuracies of photogrammetric and Lidar datasets integration by photogrammetric procedure improved significantly when the Integrated Sensor Orientation (ISO approach was performed using Interior Orientation Parameter (IOP values estimated from the in situ camera calibration. The horizontal and vertical accuracies, estimated by the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE of the 3D discrepancies from the Lidar check points, increased around of 37% and 198% respectively.

Ontology alignment architecture for semantic sensor Web integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Susel; Marsa-Maestre, Ivan; Velasco, Juan R; Alarcos, Bernardo

2013-09-18

Sensor networks are a concept that has become very popular in data acquisition and processing for multiple applications in different fields such as industrial, medicine, home automation, environmental detection, etc. Today, with the proliferation of small communication devices with sensors that collect environmental data, semantic Web technologies are becoming closely related with sensor networks. The linking of elements from Semantic Web technologies with sensor networks has been called Semantic Sensor Web and has among its main features the use of ontologies. One of the key challenges of using ontologies in sensor networks is to provide mechanisms to integrate and exchange knowledge from heterogeneous sources (that is, dealing with semantic heterogeneity). Ontology alignment is the process of bringing ontologies into mutual agreement by the automatic discovery of mappings between related concepts. This paper presents a system for ontology alignment in the Semantic Sensor Web which uses fuzzy logic techniques to combine similarity measures between entities of different ontologies. The proposed approach focuses on two key elements: the terminological similarity, which takes into account the linguistic and semantic information of the context of the entity's names, and the structural similarity, based on both the internal and relational structure of the concepts. This work has been validated using sensor network ontologies and the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI) tests. The results show that the proposed techniques outperform previous approaches in terms of precision and recall.

Ontology Alignment Architecture for Semantic Sensor Web Integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernardo Alarcos

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Sensor networks are a concept that has become very popular in data acquisition and processing for multiple applications in different fields such as industrial, medicine, home automation, environmental detection, etc. Today, with the proliferation of small communication devices with sensors that collect environmental data, semantic Web technologies are becoming closely related with sensor networks. The linking of elements from Semantic Web technologies with sensor networks has been called Semantic Sensor Web and has among its main features the use of ontologies. One of the key challenges of using ontologies in sensor networks is to provide mechanisms to integrate and exchange knowledge from heterogeneous sources (that is, dealing with semantic heterogeneity. Ontology alignment is the process of bringing ontologies into mutual agreement by the automatic discovery of mappings between related concepts. This paper presents a system for ontology alignment in the Semantic Sensor Web which uses fuzzy logic techniques to combine similarity measures between entities of different ontologies. The proposed approach focuses on two key elements: the terminological similarity, which takes into account the linguistic and semantic information of the context of the entity’s names, and the structural similarity, based on both the internal and relational structure of the concepts. This work has been validated using sensor network ontologies and the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI tests. The results show that the proposed techniques outperform previous approaches in terms of precision and recall.

PATTERN RECOGNITION STUDIES OF HALOGENATED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS USING CONDUCTING POLYMER SENSOR ARRAYS. (R825323)

Science.gov (United States)

Direct measurement of volatile and semivolatile halogenated organic compounds of environmental interest was carried out using arrays of conducting polymer sensors. Mathematical expressions of the sensor arrays using microscopic polymer network model is described. A classical, non...

On-chip nanofluidic integration of acoustic sensors towards high Q in liquid

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Ji; Liu, Zifeng; Zhang, Hongxiang; Liu, Bohua; Zhang, Menglun; Zhang, Hao; Pang, Wei

2017-11-01

This paper reports an on-chip acoustic sensor comprising a piston-mode film bulk acoustic resonator and a monolithically integrated nanochannel. The resonator with the channel exhibits a resonance frequency (f) of 2.5 GHz and a quality (Q) factor of 436 in deionized water. The f × Q product is as high as 1.1 × 1012, which is the highest among all the acoustic wave sensors in the liquid phase. The sensor consumes 2 pl liquid volume and thus greatly saves the precious assays in biomedical testing. The Q factor is investigated, and real-time viscosity tests of glucose solution are demonstrated. The highly miniaturized and integrated sensor is capable to be arrayed with readout-circuitry, which opens an avenue for portable applications and lab-on-chip systems.

A Fully Integrated Humidity Sensor System-on-Chip Fabricated by Micro-Stamping Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Che-Wei; Huang, Yu-Jie; Lu, Shey-Shi; Lin, Chih-Ting

2012-01-01

A fully integrated humidity sensor chip was designed, implemented, and tested. Utilizing the micro-stamping technology, the pseudo-3D sensor system-on-chip (SSoC) architecture can be implemented by stacking sensing materials directly on the top of a CMOS-fabricated chip. The fabricated sensor system-on-chip (2.28 mm × 2.48 mm) integrated a humidity sensor, an interface circuit, a digital controller, and an On-Off Keying (OOK) wireless transceiver. With low power consumption, i.e., 750 μW without RF operation, the sensitivity of developed sensor chip was experimentally verified in the relative humidity (RH) range from 32% to 60%. The response time of the chip was also experimentally verified to be within 5 seconds from RH 36% to RH 64%. As a consequence, the implemented humidity SSoC paves the way toward the an ultra-small sensor system for various applications.

Integrated passive and wireless sensor for magnetic fields, temperature and humidity

KAUST Repository

Li, Bodong; Yassine, Omar; Kosel, Jü rgen

2013-01-01

This paper presents a surface acoustic wave-based passive and wireless sensor that can measure magnetic field, temperature and humidity. A thin film giant magnetoimpedance sensor, a thermally sensitive LiNbO3 substrate and a humidity sensitive hydrogel are integrated together with a surface acoustic wave transducer to realize the multifunctional sensor. The device is characterized using a network analyzer under sequentially changing humidity, temperature and magnetic field conditions. The first hand results show the sensor response to all three sensing parameters with small temperature interference on the magnetic signals. © 2013 IEEE.

Integrated passive and wireless sensor for magnetic fields, temperature and humidity

KAUST Repository

Li, Bodong

2013-11-01

This paper presents a surface acoustic wave-based passive and wireless sensor that can measure magnetic field, temperature and humidity. A thin film giant magnetoimpedance sensor, a thermally sensitive LiNbO3 substrate and a humidity sensitive hydrogel are integrated together with a surface acoustic wave transducer to realize the multifunctional sensor. The device is characterized using a network analyzer under sequentially changing humidity, temperature and magnetic field conditions. The first hand results show the sensor response to all three sensing parameters with small temperature interference on the magnetic signals. © 2013 IEEE.

A Reconfigurable Readout Integrated Circuit for Heterogeneous Display-Based Multi-Sensor Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyeonghwan Park

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a reconfigurable multi-sensor interface and its readout integrated circuit (ROIC for display-based multi-sensor systems, which builds up multi-sensor functions by utilizing touch screen panels. In addition to inherent touch detection, physiological and environmental sensor interfaces are incorporated. The reconfigurable feature is effectively implemented by proposing two basis readout topologies of amplifier-based and oscillator-based circuits. For noise-immune design against various noises from inherent human-touch operations, an alternate-sampling error-correction scheme is proposed and integrated inside the ROIC, achieving a 12-bit resolution of successive approximation register (SAR of analog-to-digital conversion without additional calibrations. A ROIC prototype that includes the whole proposed functions and data converters was fabricated in a 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS process, and its feasibility was experimentally verified to support multiple heterogeneous sensing functions of touch, electrocardiogram, body impedance, and environmental sensors.

Integrated cable vibration control system using wireless sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Seunghoo; Cho, Soojin; Sim, Sung-Han

2017-04-01

As the number of long-span bridges is increasing worldwide, maintaining their structural integrity and safety become an important issue. Because the stay cable is a critical member in most long-span bridges and vulnerable to wind-induced vibrations, vibration mitigation has been of interest both in academia and practice. While active and semi-active control schemes are known to be quite effective in vibration reduction compared to the passive control, requirements for equipment including data acquisition, control devices, and power supply prevent a widespread adoption in real-world applications. This study develops an integrated system for vibration control of stay-cables using wireless sensors implementing a semi-active control. Arduino, a low-cost single board system, is employed with a MEMS digital accelerometer and a Zigbee wireless communication module to build the wireless sensor. The magneto-rheological (MR) damper is selected as a damping device, controlled by an optimal control algorithm implemented on the Arduino sensing system. The developed integrated system is tested in a laboratory environment using a cable to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system on vibration reduction. The proposed system is shown to reduce the vibration of stay-cables with low operating power effectively.

Integrated Analysis of Environment-driven Operational Effects in Sensor Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Alfred J [ORNL; Perumalla, Kalyan S [ORNL

2007-07-01

There is a rapidly growing need to evaluate sensor network functionality and performance in the context of the larger environment of infrastructure and applications in which the sensor network is organically embedded. This need, which is motivated by complex applications related to national security operations, leads to a paradigm fundamentally different from that of traditional data networks. In the sensor networks of interest to us, the network dynamics depend strongly on sensor activity, which in turn is triggered by events in the environment. Because the behavior of sensor networks is sensitive to these driving phenomena, the integrity of the sensed observations, measurements and resource usage by the network can widely vary. It is therefore imperative to accurately capture the environmental phenomena, and drive the simulation of the sensor network operation by accounting fully for the environment effects. In this paper, we illustrate the strong, intimate coupling between the sensor network operation and the driving phenomena in their applications with an example sensor network designed to detect and track gaseous plumes.

Sharing human-generated observations by integrating HMI and the Semantic Sensor Web.

Science.gov (United States)

Sigüenza, Alvaro; Díaz-Pardo, David; Bernat, Jesús; Vancea, Vasile; Blanco, José Luis; Conejero, David; Gómez, Luis Hernández

2012-01-01

Current "Internet of Things" concepts point to a future where connected objects gather meaningful information about their environment and share it with other objects and people. In particular, objects embedding Human Machine Interaction (HMI), such as mobile devices and, increasingly, connected vehicles, home appliances, urban interactive infrastructures, etc., may not only be conceived as sources of sensor information, but, through interaction with their users, they can also produce highly valuable context-aware human-generated observations. We believe that the great promise offered by combining and sharing all of the different sources of information available can be realized through the integration of HMI and Semantic Sensor Web technologies. This paper presents a technological framework that harmonizes two of the most influential HMI and Sensor Web initiatives: the W3C's Multimodal Architecture and Interfaces (MMI) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) with its semantic extension, respectively. Although the proposed framework is general enough to be applied in a variety of connected objects integrating HMI, a particular development is presented for a connected car scenario where drivers' observations about the traffic or their environment are shared across the Semantic Sensor Web. For implementation and evaluation purposes an on-board OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative) architecture was built, integrating several available HMI, Sensor Web and Semantic Web technologies. A technical performance test and a conceptual validation of the scenario with potential users are reported, with results suggesting the approach is sound.

Wireless passive polymer-derived SiCN ceramic sensor with integrated resonator/antenna

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yan; Yu, Yuxi; San, Haisheng; Wang, Yansong; An, Linan

2013-10-01

This paper presents a passive wireless polymer-derived silicon carbonitride (SiCN) ceramic sensor based on cavity radio frequency resonator together with integrated slot antenna. The effect of the cavity sensor dimensions on the Q-factor and resonant frequency is investigated by numerical simulation. A sensor with optimal dimensions is designed and fabricated. It is demonstrated that the sensor signal can be wirelessly detected at distances up to 20 mm. Given the high-temperature stability of the SiCN, the sensor is very promising for high-temperature wireless sensing applications.

A Fully Integrated Humidity Sensor System-on-Chip Fabricated by Micro-Stamping Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Ting Lin

2012-08-01

Full Text Available A fully integrated humidity sensor chip was designed, implemented, and tested. Utilizing the micro-stamping technology, the pseudo-3D sensor system-on-chip (SSoC architecture can be implemented by stacking sensing materials directly on the top of a CMOS-fabricated chip. The fabricated sensor system-on-chip (2.28 mm × 2.48 mm integrated a humidity sensor, an interface circuit, a digital controller, and an On-Off Keying (OOK wireless transceiver. With low power consumption, i.e., 750 μW without RF operation, the sensitivity of developed sensor chip was experimentally verified in the relative humidity (RH range from 32% to 60%. The response time of the chip was also experimentally verified to be within 5 seconds from RH 36% to RH 64%. As a consequence, the implemented humidity SSoC paves the way toward the an ultra-small sensor system for various applications.

Integrated navigation method of a marine strapdown inertial navigation system using a star sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Qiuying; Diao, Ming; Gao, Wei; Zhu, Minghong; Xiao, Shu

2015-01-01

This paper presents an integrated navigation method of the strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) using a star sensor. According to the principle of SINS, its own navigation information contains an error that increases with time. Hence, the inertial attitude matrix from the star sensor is introduced as the reference information to correct the SINS increases error. For the integrated navigation method, the vehicle’s attitude can be obtained in two ways: one is calculated from SINS; the other, which we have called star sensor attitude, is obtained as the product between the SINS position and the inertial attitude matrix from the star sensor. Therefore, the SINS position error is introduced in the star sensor attitude error. Based on the characteristics of star sensor attitude error and the mathematical derivation, the SINS navigation errors can be obtained by the coupling calculation between the SINS attitude and the star sensor attitude. Unlike several current techniques, the navigation process of this method is non-radiating and invulnerable to jamming. The effectiveness of this approach was demonstrated by simulation and experimental study. The results show that this integrated navigation method can estimate the attitude error and the position error of SINS. Therefore, the SINS navigation accuracy is improved. (paper)

A Miniaturized Optical Sensor with Integrated Gas Cell

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ayerden, N.P.; Ghaderi, M.; De Graaf, G.; Wolffenbuttel, R.F.

2015-01-01

The design, fabrication and characterization of a highly integrated optical gas sensor is presented. The gas cell takes up most of the space in a microspectrometer and is the only component that has so far not been miniaturized. Using the tapered resonator cavity of a linear variable optical filter

Preparation of a Highly Conductive Seed Layer for Calcium Sensor Fabrication with Enhanced Sensing Performance

KAUST Repository

Ahmad, Rafiq

2018-03-16

The seed layer plays a crucial role in achieving high electrical conductivity and ensuring higher performance of devices. In this study, we report fabrication of a solution-gated field-effect transistor (FET) sensor based on zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) modified iron oxide nanoparticles (α-FeO NPs) grown on a highly conductive sandwich-like seed layer (ZnO seed layer/Ag nanowires/ZnO seed layer). The sandwich-like seed layer and ZnO NRs modification with α-FeO NPs provide excellent conductivity and prevent possible ZnO NRs surface damage from low pH enzyme immobilization, respectively. The highly conductive solution-gated FET sensor employed the calmodulin (CaM) immobilization on the surface of α-FeO-ZnO NRs for selective detection of calcium ions (Ca). The solution-gated FET sensor exhibited a substantial change in conductance upon introduction of different concentrations of Ca and showed high sensitivity (416.8 μA cm mM) and wide linear range (0.01-3.0 mM). In addition, the total Ca concentration in water and serum samples was also measured. Compared to the analytically obtained data, our sensor was found to measure Ca in the water and serum samples accurately, suggesting a potential alternative for Ca determination in water and serum samples, specifically used for drinking/irrigation and clinical analysis.

A Novel Integrated Structure with a Radial Displacement Sensor and a Permanent Magnet Biased Radial Magnetic Bearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinji Sun

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a novel integrated structure is proposed in order to reduce the axial length of the high speed of a magnetically suspended motor (HSMSM to ensure the maximum speed, which combines radial displacement sensor probes and the permanent magnet biased radial magnetic bearing in HSMSM. The sensor probes are integrated in the magnetic bearing, and the sensor preamplifiers are placed in the control system of the HSMSM, separate from the sensor probes. The proposed integrated structure can save space in HSMSMs, improve the working frequency, reduce the influence of temperature on the sensor circuit, and improve the stability of HSMSMs.

Flexible micro flow sensor for micro aerial vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Rong; Que, Ruiyi; Liu, Peng

2017-12-01

This article summarizes our studies on micro flow sensors fabricated on a flexible polyimide circuit board by a low-cost hybrid process of thin-film deposition and circuit printing. The micro flow sensor has merits of flexibility, structural simplicity, easy integrability with circuits, and good sensing performance. The sensor, which adheres to an object surface, can detect the surface flow around the object. In our study, we install the fabricated micro flow sensors on micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) to detect the surface flow variation around the aircraft wing and deduce the aerodynamic parameters of the MAVs in flight. Wind tunnel experiments using the sensors integrated with the MAVs are also conducted.

Deep Kalman Filter: Simultaneous Multi-Sensor Integration and Modelling; A GNSS/IMU Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseinyalamdary, Siavash

2018-04-24

Bayes filters, such as the Kalman and particle filters, have been used in sensor fusion to integrate two sources of information and obtain the best estimate of unknowns. The efficient integration of multiple sensors requires deep knowledge of their error sources. Some sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), have complicated error sources. Therefore, IMU error modelling and the efficient integration of IMU and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations has remained a challenge. In this paper, we developed deep Kalman filter to model and remove IMU errors and, consequently, improve the accuracy of IMU positioning. To achieve this, we added a modelling step to the prediction and update steps of the Kalman filter, so that the IMU error model is learned during integration. The results showed our deep Kalman filter outperformed the conventional Kalman filter and reached a higher level of accuracy.

Multi-function microfluidic platform for sensor integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandes, Ana C.; Semenova, Daria; Panjan, Peter

2018-01-01

The limited availability of metabolite-specific sensors for continuous sampling and monitoring is one of the main bottlenecks contributing to failures in bioprocess development. Furthermore, only a limited number of approaches exist to connect currently available measurement systems with high...... throughput reactor units. This is especially relevant in the biocatalyst screening and characterization stage of process development. In this work, a strategy for sensor integration in microfluidic platforms is demonstrated, to address the need for rapid, cost-effective and high-throughput screening...... of the sample solution up to 10 times. In order to highlight the features of the proposed platform, inline monitoring of glucose levels is presented and discussed. Glucose was chosen due to its importance in biotechnology as a relevant substrate. The platform demonstrated continuous measurement of substrate...

Multi-function microfluidic platform for sensor integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Ana C; Semenova, Daria; Panjan, Peter; Sesay, Adama M; Gernaey, Krist V; Krühne, Ulrich

2018-03-06

The limited availability of metabolite-specific sensors for continuous sampling and monitoring is one of the main bottlenecks contributing to failures in bioprocess development. Furthermore, only a limited number of approaches exist to connect currently available measurement systems with high throughput reactor units. This is especially relevant in the biocatalyst screening and characterization stage of process development. In this work, a strategy for sensor integration in microfluidic platforms is demonstrated, to address the need for rapid, cost-effective and high-throughput screening in bioprocesses. This platform is compatible with different sensor formats by enabling their replacement and was built in order to be highly flexible and thus suitable for a wide range of applications. Moreover, this re-usable platform can easily be connected to analytical equipment, such as HPLC, laboratory scale reactors or other microfluidic chips through the use of standardized fittings. In addition, the developed platform includes a two-sensor system interspersed with a mixing channel, which allows the detection of samples that might be outside the first sensor's range of detection, through dilution of the sample solution up to 10 times. In order to highlight the features of the proposed platform, inline monitoring of glucose levels is presented and discussed. Glucose was chosen due to its importance in biotechnology as a relevant substrate. The platform demonstrated continuous measurement of substrate solutions for up to 12 h. Furthermore, the influence of the fluid velocity on substrate diffusion was observed, indicating the need for in-flow calibration to achieve a good quantitative output. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Embedded sensing: integrating sensors in 3-D printed structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Dijkshoorn

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Current additive manufacturing allows for the implementation of electrically interrogated 3-D printed sensors. In this contribution various technologies, sensing principles and applications are discussed. We will give both an overview of some of the sensors presented in literature as well as some of our own recent work on 3-D printed sensors. The 3-D printing methods discussed include fused deposition modelling (FDM, using multi-material printing and poly-jetting. Materials discussed are mainly thermoplastics and include thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU, both un-doped as well as doped with carbon black, polylactic acid (PLA and conductive inks. The sensors discussed are based on biopotential sensing, capacitive sensing and resistive sensing with applications in surface electromyography (sEMG and mechanical and tactile sensing. As these sensors are based on plastics they are in general flexible and therefore open new possibilities for sensing in soft structures, e.g. as used in soft robotics. At the same time they show many of the characteristics of plastics like hysteresis, drift and non-linearity. We will argue that 3-D printing of embedded sensors opens up exciting new possibilities but also that these sensors require us to rethink how to exploit non-ideal sensors.

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.

Sol-gel zinc oxide humidity sensors integrated with a ring oscillator circuit on-a-chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ming-Zhi; Dai, Ching-Liang; Wu, Chyan-Chyi

2014-10-28

The study develops an integrated humidity microsensor fabricated using the commercial 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The integrated humidity sensor consists of a humidity sensor and a ring oscillator circuit on-a-chip. The humidity sensor is composed of a sensitive film and branch interdigitated electrodes. The sensitive film is zinc oxide prepared by sol-gel method. After completion of the CMOS process, the sensor requires a post-process to remove the sacrificial oxide layer and to coat the zinc oxide film on the interdigitated electrodes. The capacitance of the sensor changes when the sensitive film adsorbs water vapor. The circuit is used to convert the capacitance of the humidity sensor into the oscillation frequency output. Experimental results show that the output frequency of the sensor changes from 84.3 to 73.4 MHz at 30 °C as the humidity increases 40 to 90%RH.

Modular multiple sensors information management for computer-integrated surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaccarella, Alberto; Enquobahrie, Andinet; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; Momi, Elena De

2012-09-01

In the past 20 years, technological advancements have modified the concept of modern operating rooms (ORs) with the introduction of computer-integrated surgery (CIS) systems, which promise to enhance the outcomes, safety and standardization of surgical procedures. With CIS, different types of sensor (mainly position-sensing devices, force sensors and intra-operative imaging devices) are widely used. Recently, the need for a combined use of different sensors raised issues related to synchronization and spatial consistency of data from different sources of information. In this study, we propose a centralized, multi-sensor management software architecture for a distributed CIS system, which addresses sensor information consistency in both space and time. The software was developed as a data server module in a client-server architecture, using two open-source software libraries: Image-Guided Surgery Toolkit (IGSTK) and OpenCV. The ROBOCAST project (FP7 ICT 215190), which aims at integrating robotic and navigation devices and technologies in order to improve the outcome of the surgical intervention, was used as the benchmark. An experimental protocol was designed in order to prove the feasibility of a centralized module for data acquisition and to test the application latency when dealing with optical and electromagnetic tracking systems and ultrasound (US) imaging devices. Our results show that a centralized approach is suitable for minimizing synchronization errors; latency in the client-server communication was estimated to be 2 ms (median value) for tracking systems and 40 ms (median value) for US images. The proposed centralized approach proved to be adequate for neurosurgery requirements. Latency introduced by the proposed architecture does not affect tracking system performance in terms of frame rate and limits US images frame rate at 25 fps, which is acceptable for providing visual feedback to the surgeon in the OR. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Deep Kalman Filter: Simultaneous Multi-Sensor Integration and Modelling; A GNSS/IMU Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siavash Hosseinyalamdary

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Bayes filters, such as the Kalman and particle filters, have been used in sensor fusion to integrate two sources of information and obtain the best estimate of unknowns. The efficient integration of multiple sensors requires deep knowledge of their error sources. Some sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU, have complicated error sources. Therefore, IMU error modelling and the efficient integration of IMU and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS observations has remained a challenge. In this paper, we developed deep Kalman filter to model and remove IMU errors and, consequently, improve the accuracy of IMU positioning. To achieve this, we added a modelling step to the prediction and update steps of the Kalman filter, so that the IMU error model is learned during integration. The results showed our deep Kalman filter outperformed the conventional Kalman filter and reached a higher level of accuracy.

Automatic monitoring of ecosystem structure and functions using integrated low-cost near surface sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J.; Ryu, Y.; Jiang, C.; Hwang, Y.

2016-12-01

Near surface sensors are able to acquire more reliable and detailed information with higher temporal resolution than satellite observations. Conventional near surface sensors usually work individually, and thus they require considerable manpower from data collection through information extraction and sharing. Recent advances of Internet of Things (IoT) provides unprecedented opportunities to integrate various low-cost sensors as an intelligent near surface observation system for monitoring ecosystem structure and functions. In this study, we developed a Smart Surface Sensing System (4S), which can automatically collect, transfer, process and analyze data, and then publish time series results on public-available website. The system is composed of micro-computer Raspberry pi, micro-controller Arduino, multi-spectral spectrometers made from Light Emitting Diode (LED), visible and near infrared cameras, and Internet module. All components are connected with each other and Raspberry pi intelligently controls the automatic data production chain. We did intensive tests and calibrations in-lab. Then, we conducted in-situ observations at a rice paddy field and a deciduous broadleaf forest. During the whole growth season, 4S obtained landscape images, spectral reflectance in red, green, blue, and near infrared, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR), and leaf area index (LAI) continuously. Also We compared 4S data with other independent measurements. NDVI obtained from 4S agreed well with Jaz hyperspectrometer at both diurnal and seasonal scales (R2 = 0.92, RMSE = 0.059), and 4S derived fPAR and LAI were comparable to LAI-2200 and destructive measurements in both magnitude and seasonal trajectory. We believe that the integrated low-cost near surface sensor could help research community monitoring ecosystem structure and functions closer and easier through a network system.

Integrated NEMS and optoelectronics for sensor applications.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Czaplewski, David A.; Serkland, Darwin Keith; Olsson, Roy H., III; Bogart, Gregory R. (Symphony Acoustics, Rio Rancho, NM); Krishnamoorthy, Uma; Warren, Mial E.; Carr, Dustin Wade (Symphony Acoustics, Rio Rancho, NM); Okandan, Murat; Peterson, Kenneth Allen

2008-01-01

This work utilized advanced engineering in several fields to find solutions to the challenges presented by the integration of MEMS/NEMS with optoelectronics to realize a compact sensor system, comprised of a microfabricated sensor, VCSEL, and photodiode. By utilizing microfabrication techniques in the realization of the MEMS/NEMS component, the VCSEL and the photodiode, the system would be small in size and require less power than a macro-sized component. The work focused on two technologies, accelerometers and microphones, leveraged from other LDRD programs. The first technology was the nano-g accelerometer using a nanophotonic motion detection system (67023). This accelerometer had measured sensitivity of approximately 10 nano-g. The Integrated NEMS and optoelectronics LDRD supported the nano-g accelerometer LDRD by providing advanced designs for the accelerometers, packaging, and a detection scheme to encapsulate the accelerometer, furthering the testing capabilities beyond bench-top tests. A fully packaged and tested die was never realized, but significant packaging issues were addressed and many resolved. The second technology supported by this work was the ultrasensitive directional microphone arrays for military operations in urban terrain and future combat systems (93518). This application utilized a diffraction-based sensing technique with different optical component placement and a different detection scheme from the nano-g accelerometer. The Integrated NEMS LDRD supported the microphone array LDRD by providing custom designs, VCSELs, and measurement techniques to accelerometers that were fabricated from the same operational principles as the microphones, but contain proof masses for acceleration transduction. These devices were packaged at the end of the work.

A microfabricated fringing field capacitive pH sensor with an integrated readout circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arefin, Md Shamsul; Redoute, Jean-Michel; Rasit Yuce, Mehmet; Bulut Coskun, M.; Alan, Tuncay; Neild, Adrian

2014-01-01

This work presents a microfabricated fringe-field capacitive pH sensor using interdigitated electrodes and an integrated modulation-based readout circuit. The changes in capacitance of the sensor result from the permittivity changes due to pH variations and are converted to frequency shifts using a crossed-coupled voltage controlled oscillator readout circuit. The shift in resonant frequency of the readout circuit is 30.96 MHz for a change in pH of 1.0–5.0. The sensor can be used for the measurement of low pH levels, such as gastric acid, and can be integrated with electronic pills. The measurement results show high repeatability, low noise, and a stable output.

A microfabricated fringing field capacitive pH sensor with an integrated readout circuit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arefin, Md Shamsul, E-mail: md.arefin@monash.edu; Redoute, Jean-Michel; Rasit Yuce, Mehmet [Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne (Australia); Bulut Coskun, M.; Alan, Tuncay; Neild, Adrian [Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne (Australia)

2014-06-02

This work presents a microfabricated fringe-field capacitive pH sensor using interdigitated electrodes and an integrated modulation-based readout circuit. The changes in capacitance of the sensor result from the permittivity changes due to pH variations and are converted to frequency shifts using a crossed-coupled voltage controlled oscillator readout circuit. The shift in resonant frequency of the readout circuit is 30.96 MHz for a change in pH of 1.0–5.0. The sensor can be used for the measurement of low pH levels, such as gastric acid, and can be integrated with electronic pills. The measurement results show high repeatability, low noise, and a stable output.

SAW-Based Phononic Crystal Microfluidic Sensor-Microscale Realization of Velocimetry Approaches for Integrated Analytical Platform Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Oseev, Aleksandr; Lucklum, Ralf; Zubtsov, Mikhail; Schmidt, Marc-Peter; Mukhin, Nikolay V; Hirsch, Soeren

2017-09-23

The current work demonstrates a novel surface acoustic wave (SAW) based phononic crystal sensor approach that allows the integration of a velocimetry-based sensor concept into single chip integrated solutions, such as Lab-on-a-Chip devices. The introduced sensor platform merges advantages of ultrasonic velocimetry analytic systems and a microacoustic sensor approach. It is based on the analysis of structural resonances in a periodic composite arrangement of microfluidic channels confined within a liquid analyte. Completed theoretical and experimental investigations show the ability to utilize periodic structure localized modes for the detection of volumetric properties of liquids and prove the efficacy of the proposed sensor concept.

Sol-Gel Zinc Oxide Humidity Sensors Integrated with a Ring Oscillator Circuit On-a-Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Zhi Yang

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The study develops an integrated humidity microsensor fabricated using the commercial 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS process. The integrated humidity sensor consists of a humidity sensor and a ring oscillator circuit on-a-chip. The humidity sensor is composed of a sensitive film and branch interdigitated electrodes. The sensitive film is zinc oxide prepared by sol-gel method. After completion of the CMOS process, the sensor requires a post-process to remove the sacrificial oxide layer and to coat the zinc oxide film on the interdigitated electrodes. The capacitance of the sensor changes when the sensitive film adsorbs water vapor. The circuit is used to convert the capacitance of the humidity sensor into the oscillation frequency output. Experimental results show that the output frequency of the sensor changes from 84.3 to 73.4 MHz at 30 °C as the humidity increases 40 to 90%RH.

Sensitivity studies on the multi-sensor conductivity probe measurement technique for two-phase flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Worosz, Ted [Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 230 Reber Building, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Bernard, Matt [The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 (United States); Kong, Ran; Toptan, Aysenur [Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 230 Reber Building, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Kim, Seungjin, E-mail: skim@psu.edu [Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 230 Reber Building, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Hoxie, Chris [The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 (United States)

2016-12-15

Highlights: • Revised conductivity probe circuit to eliminate signal “ghosting” among sensors. • Higher sampling frequencies suggested for bubble number frequency and a{sub i} measurements. • Two-phase parameter sensitivity to measurement duration and bubble number investigated. • Sensors parallel to pipe wall recommended for symmetric bubble velocity measurements. • Sensor separation distance ratio (s/d) greater than four minimizes bubble velocity error. - Abstract: The objective of this study is to advance the local multi-sensor conductivity probe measurement technique through systematic investigation into several practical aspects of a conductivity probe measurement system. Firstly, signal “ghosting” among probe sensors is found to cause artificially high bubble velocity measurements and low interfacial area concentration (a{sub i}) measurements that depend on sampling frequency and sensor impedance. A revised electrical circuit is suggested to eliminate this artificial variability. Secondly, the sensitivity of the probe measurements to sampling frequency is investigated in 13 two-phase flow conditions with superficial liquid and gas velocities ranging from 1.00–5.00 m/s and 0.17–2.0 m/s, respectively. With increasing gas flow rate, higher sampling frequencies, greater than 100 kHz in some cases, are required to adequately capture the bubble number frequency and a{sub i} measurements. This trend is due to the increase in gas velocity and the transition to the slug flow regime. Thirdly, the sensitivity of the probe measurements to the measurement duration as well as the sample number is investigated for the same flow conditions. Measurements of both group-I (spherical/distorted) and group-II (cap/slug/churn-turbulent) bubbles are found to be relatively insensitive to both the measurement duration and the number of bubbles, as long as the measurements are made for a duration long enough to capture a collection of samples characteristic to a

Porous palladium coated conducting polymer nanoparticles for ultrasensitive hydrogen sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jun Seop; Kim, Sung Gun; Cho, Sunghun; Jang, Jyongsik

2015-12-01

Hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel, is of key importance to various industrial applications, including fuel cells and in the aerospace and automotive industries. However, hydrogen gas is odorless, colorless, and highly flammable; thus appropriate safety protocol implementation and monitoring are essential. Highly sensitive hydrogen leak detection and surveillance sensor systems are needed; additionally, the ability to maintain uniformity through repetitive hydrogen sensing is becoming increasingly important. In this report, we detail the fabrication of porous palladium coated conducting polymer (3-carboxylate polypyrrole) nanoparticles (Pd@CPPys) to detect hydrogen gas. The Pd@CPPys are produced by means of facile alkyl functionalization and chemical reduction of a pristine 3-carboxylate polypyrrole nanoparticle-contained palladium precursor (PdCl2) solution. The resulting Pd@CPPy-based sensor electrode exhibits ultrahigh sensitivity (0.1 ppm) and stability toward hydrogen gas at room temperature due to the palladium sensing layer.Hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel, is of key importance to various industrial applications, including fuel cells and in the aerospace and automotive industries. However, hydrogen gas is odorless, colorless, and highly flammable; thus appropriate safety protocol implementation and monitoring are essential. Highly sensitive hydrogen leak detection and surveillance sensor systems are needed; additionally, the ability to maintain uniformity through repetitive hydrogen sensing is becoming increasingly important. In this report, we detail the fabrication of porous palladium coated conducting polymer (3-carboxylate polypyrrole) nanoparticles (Pd@CPPys) to detect hydrogen gas. The Pd@CPPys are produced by means of facile alkyl functionalization and chemical reduction of a pristine 3-carboxylate polypyrrole nanoparticle-contained palladium precursor (PdCl2) solution. The resulting Pd@CPPy-based sensor electrode exhibits ultrahigh sensitivity (0.1 ppm

The Design of a Novel Flexible Tactile Sensor Based on Pressure-conductive Rubber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Xu

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A novel flexible tactile sensor using conductive rubber with electrical-wires knitted method is presented. The sensor’s design is based on rubber’s pressure-sensitive property. It is flexible and can be mounted on any object to measure tactile information. The mathematic piezoresistivity model of the rubber is described, and we also discuss the sensor’s structure and scanning method. The simulation results show that the sensor can detect pressure accurately.

An Object Model for Integrating Diverse Remote Sensing Satellite Sensors: A Case Study of Union Operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuli Hu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the Earth Observation sensor web environment, the rapid, accurate, and unified discovery of diverse remote sensing satellite sensors, and their association to yield an integrated solution for a comprehensive response to specific emergency tasks pose considerable challenges. In this study, we propose a remote sensing satellite sensor object model, based on the object-oriented paradigm and the Open Geospatial Consortium Sensor Model Language. The proposed model comprises a set of sensor resource objects. Each object consists of identification, state of resource attribute, and resource method. We implement the proposed attribute state description by applying it to different remote sensors. A real application, involving the observation of floods at the Yangtze River in China, is undertaken. Results indicate that the sensor inquirer can accurately discover qualified satellite sensors in an accurate and unified manner. By implementing the proposed union operation among the retrieved sensors, the inquirer can further determine how the selected sensors can collaboratively complete a specific observation requirement. Therefore, the proposed model provides a reliable foundation for sharing and integrating multiple remote sensing satellite sensors and their observations.

Multi-Sensor Integration to Map Odor Distribution for the Detection of Chemical Sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Gao

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the problem of mapping odor distribution derived from a chemical source using multi-sensor integration and reasoning system design. Odor localization is the problem of finding the source of an odor or other volatile chemical. Most localization methods require a mobile vehicle to follow an odor plume along its entire path, which is time consuming and may be especially difficult in a cluttered environment. To solve both of the above challenges, this paper proposes a novel algorithm that combines data from odor and anemometer sensors, and combine sensors’ data at different positions. Initially, a multi-sensor integration method, together with the path of airflow was used to map the pattern of odor particle movement. Then, more sensors are introduced at specific regions to determine the probable location of the odor source. Finally, the results of odor source location simulation and a real experiment are presented.

A CMOS pressure sensor with integrated interface for passive RFID applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, Fangming; He, Yigang; Wu, Xiang; Fu, Zhihui

2014-01-01

This paper presents a CMOS pressure sensor with integrated interface for passive RFID sensing applications. The pressure sensor consists of three parts: top electrode, dielectric layer and bottom electrode. The dielectric layer consists of silicon oxide and an air gap. The bottom electrode is made of polysilicon. The gap is formed by sacrificial layer release and the Al vapor process is used to seal the gap and form the top electrode. The sensor interface is based on phase-locked architecture, which allows the use of fully digital blocks. The proposed pressure sensor and interface is fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. The measurement results show the pressure sensor achieves excellent linearity with a sensitivity of 1.2 fF kPa −1 . The sensor interface consumes only 1.1 µW of power at 0.5 V voltage supply, which is at least an order of magnitude better than state-of-the-art designs. (paper)

Integrated chemical sensor array platform based on a light emitting diode, xerogel-derived sensor elements, and high-speed pin printing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Eun Jeong; Bright, Frank V.

2002-01-01

We report a new, solid-state, integrated optical array sensor platform. By using pin printing technology in concert with sol-gel-processing methods, we form discrete xerogel-based microsensor elements that are on the order of 100 μm in diameter and 1 μm thick directly on the face of a light emitting diode (LED). The LED serves as the light source to excite chemically responsive luminophores sequestered within the doped xerogel microsensors and the analyte-dependent emission from within the doped xerogel is detected with a charge coupled device (CCD). We overcome the problem of background illumination from the LED reaching the CCD and the associated biasing that results by coating the LED first with a thin layer of blue paint. The thin paint layer serves as an optical filter, knocking out the LEDs red-edge spectral tail. The problem of the spatially-dependent fluence across the LED face is solved entirely by performing ratiometric measurements. We illustrate the performance of the new sensor scheme by forming an array of 100 discrete O 2 -responsive sensing elements on the face of a single LED. The combination of pin printing with an integrated sensor and light source platform results in a rapid method of forming (∼1 s per sensor element) reusable sensor arrays. The entire sensor array can be calibrated using just one sensor element. Array-to-array reproducibly is <8%. Arrays can be formed using single or multiple pins with indistinguishable analytical performance

SITEGI Project: Applying Geotechnologies to Road Inspection. Sensor Integration and software processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Martínez-Sánchez

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Infrastructure management represents a critical economic milestone. The current decision-making process in infrastructure rehabilitation is essentially based on qualitative parameters obtained from visual inspections and subject to the ability of technicians. In order to increase both efficiency and productivity in infrastructure management, this work addresses the integration of different instrumentation and sensors in a mobile mapping vehicle. This vehicle allows the continuous recording of quantitative data suitable for roadside inspection. The geometric integration and synchronization of these sensors is achieved through hardware and/or software strategies that permit the georeferencing of the data obtained with each sensor. In addition, a visualization software for simpler data management was implemented using Qt framework, PCL library and C++. As a result, the developed system supports the decision-making in road inspection, providing quantitative information suitable for sophisticated analysis systems.

SMART CITIES INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM (SMACiSYS) INTEGRATING SENSOR WEB WITH SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURES (SENSDI)

OpenAIRE

D. Bhattacharya; M. Painho

2017-01-01

The paper endeavours to enhance the Sensor Web with crucial geospatial analysis capabilities through integration with Spatial Data Infrastructure. The objective is development of automated smart cities intelligence system (SMACiSYS) with sensor-web access (SENSDI) utilizing geomatics for sustainable societies. There has been a need to develop automated integrated system to categorize events and issue information that reaches users directly. At present, no web-enabled information system exists...

Integrated High Resolution Digital Color Light Sensor in 130 nm CMOS Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drago Strle

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article presents a color light detection system integrated in 130 nm CMOS technology. The sensors and corresponding electronics detect light in a CIE XYZ color luminosity space using on-chip integrated sensors without any additional process steps, high-resolution analog-to-digital converter, and dedicated DSP algorithm. The sensor consists of a set of laterally arranged integrated photodiodes that are partly covered by metal, where color separation between the photodiodes is achieved by lateral carrier diffusion together with wavelength-dependent absorption. A high resolution, hybrid, ∑∆ ADC converts each photo diode’s current into a 22-bit digital result, canceling the dark current of the photo diodes. The digital results are further processed by the DSP, which calculates normalized XYZ or RGB color and intensity parameters using linear transformations of the three photo diode responses by multiplication of the data with a transformation matrix, where the coefficients are extracted by training in combination with a pseudo-inverse operation and the least-mean square approximation. The sensor system detects the color light parameters with 22-bit accuracy, consumes less than 60 μA on average at 10 readings per second, and occupies approx. 0.8 mm2 of silicon area (including three photodiodes and the analog part of the ADC. The DSP is currently implemented on FPGA.

Integrated High Resolution Digital Color Light Sensor in 130 nm CMOS Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Strle, Drago; Nahtigal, Uroš; Batistell, Graciele; Zhang, Vincent Chi; Ofner, Erwin; Fant, Andrea; Sturm, Johannes

2015-07-22

This article presents a color light detection system integrated in 130 nm CMOS technology. The sensors and corresponding electronics detect light in a CIE XYZ color luminosity space using on-chip integrated sensors without any additional process steps, high-resolution analog-to-digital converter, and dedicated DSP algorithm. The sensor consists of a set of laterally arranged integrated photodiodes that are partly covered by metal, where color separation between the photodiodes is achieved by lateral carrier diffusion together with wavelength-dependent absorption. A high resolution, hybrid, ∑∆ ADC converts each photo diode's current into a 22-bit digital result, canceling the dark current of the photo diodes. The digital results are further processed by the DSP, which calculates normalized XYZ or RGB color and intensity parameters using linear transformations of the three photo diode responses by multiplication of the data with a transformation matrix, where the coefficients are extracted by training in combination with a pseudo-inverse operation and the least-mean square approximation. The sensor system detects the color light parameters with 22-bit accuracy, consumes less than 60 μA on average at 10 readings per second, and occupies approx. 0.8 mm(2) of silicon area (including three photodiodes and the analog part of the ADC). The DSP is currently implemented on FPGA.

Fabric strain sensor integrated with CNPECs for repeated large deformation

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Weijing

Flexible and soft strain sensors that can be used in smart textiles for wearable applications are much desired. They should meet the requirements of low modulus, large working range and good fatigue resistance as well as good sensing performances. However, there were no commercial products available and the objective of the thesis is to investigate fabric strain sensors based on carbon nanoparticle (CNP) filled elastomer composites (CNPECs) for potential wearing applications. Conductive CNPECs were fabricated and investigated. The introduction of silicone oil (SO) significantly decreased modulus of the composites to less than 1 MPa without affecting their deformability and they showed good stability after heat treatment. With increase of CNP concentration, a percolation appeared in electrical resistivity and the composites can be divided into three ranges. I-V curves and impedance spectra together with electro-mechanical studies demonstrated a balance between sensitivity and working range for the composites with CNP concentrations in post percolation range, and were preferred for sensing applications only if the fatigue life was improved. Due to the good elasticity and failure resist property of knitted fabric under repeated extension, it was adopted as substrate to increase the fatigue life of the conductive composites. After optimization of processing parameters, the conductive fabric with CNP concentration of 9.0CNP showed linear I-V curves when voltage is in the range of -1 V/mm and 1 V/mm and negligible capacitive behavior when frequency below 103 Hz even with strain of 60%. It showed higher sensitivity due to the combination of nonlinear resistance-strain behavior of the CNPECs and non-even strain distribution of knitted fabric under extension. The fatigue life of the conductive fabric was greatly improved. Extended on the studies of CNPECs and the coated conductive fabrics, a fabric strain sensor was designed, fabricated and packaged. The Young's modulus of

Development of a Conductivity Sensor for Monitoring Groundwater Resources to Optimize Water Management in Smart City Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Parra, Lorena; Sendra, Sandra; Lloret, Jaime; Bosch, Ignacio

2015-08-26

The main aim of smart cities is to achieve the sustainable use of resources. In order to make the correct use of resources, an accurate monitoring and management is needed. In some places, like underground aquifers, access for monitoring can be difficult, therefore the use of sensors can be a good solution. Groundwater is very important as a water resource. Just in the USA, aquifers represent the water source for 50% of the population. However, aquifers are endangered due to the contamination. One of the most important parameters to monitor in groundwater is the salinity, as high salinity levels indicate groundwater salinization. In this paper, we present a specific sensor for monitoring groundwater salinization. The sensor is able to measure the electric conductivity of water, which is directly related to the water salinization. The sensor, which is composed of two copper coils, measures the magnetic field alterations due to the presence of electric charges in the water. Different salinities of the water generate different alterations. Our sensor has undergone several tests in order to obtain a conductivity sensor with enough accuracy. First, several prototypes are tested and are compared with the purpose of choosing the best combination of coils. After the best prototype was selected, it was calibrated using up to 30 different samples. Our conductivity sensor presents an operational range from 0.585 mS/cm to 73.8 mS/cm, which is wide enough to cover the typical range of water salinities. With this work, we have demonstrated that it is feasible to measure water conductivity using solenoid coils and that this is a low cost application for groundwater monitoring.

SensInDenT-Noncontact Sensors Integrated Into Dental Treatment Units.

Science.gov (United States)

Teichmann, Daniel; Teichmann, Maren; Weitz, Philippe; Wolfart, Stefan; Leonhardt, Steffen; Walter, Marian

2017-02-01

This paper presents the first system design (SensInDenT) for noncontact cardiorespiratory monitoring during dental treatment. The system is integrated into a dental treatment unit, and combines sensors based on electromagnetic, optical, and mechanical coupling at different sensor locations. The measurement principles and circuits are described and a system overview is presented. Furthermore, a first proof of concept is provided by taking measurements in healthy volunteers under laboratory conditions.

Process development for waveguide chemical sensors with integrated polymeric sensitive layers

Science.gov (United States)

Amberkar, Raghu; Gao, Zhan; Park, Jongwon; Henthorn, David B.; Kim, Chang-Soo

2008-02-01

Due to the proper optical property and flexibility in the process development, an epoxy-based, high-aspect ratio photoresist SU-8 is now attracting attention in optical sensing applications. Manipulation of the surface properties of SU-8 waveguides is critical to attach functional films such as chemically-sensitive layers. We describe a new integration process to immobilize fluorescence molecules on SU-8 waveguide surface for application to intensity-based optical chemical sensors. We use two polymers for this application. Spin-on, hydrophobic, photopatternable silicone is a convenient material to contain fluorophore molecules and to pattern a photolithographically defined thin layer on the surface of SU-8. We use fumed silica powders as an additive to uniformly disperse the fluorophores in the silicone precursor. In general, additional processes are not critically required to promote the adhesion between the SU-8 and silicone. The other material is polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA). Recently we demonstrated a novel photografting method to modify the surface of SU-8 using a surface bound initiator to control its wettability. The activated surface is then coated with a monomer precursor solution. Polymerization follows when the sample is exposed to UV irradiation, resulting in a grafted PEGDA layer incorporating fluorophores within the hydrogel matrix. Since this method is based the UV-based photografting reaction, it is possible to grow off photolithographically defined hydrogel patterns on the waveguide structures. The resulting films will be viable integrated components in optical bioanalytical sensors. This is a promising technique for integrated chemical sensors both for planar type waveguide and vertical type waveguide chemical sensors.

Miniaturized multi-sensor for aquatic studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birkelund, Karen; Hyldgård, Anders; Mortensen, Dennis; Thomsen, Erik V

2011-01-01

We have developed and fabricated a multi-sensor chip for fisheries' research and demonstrated the functionality under controlled conditions. The outer dimensions of the sensor chip are 3.0 × 7.4 × 0.8 mm 3 and both sides of the chip are utilized for sensors. Hereby a more compact chip is achieved that allows for direct exposure to the seawater and thereby more accurate measurements. The chip contains a piezo-resistive pressure sensor, a pn-junction photodiode sensitive to visible light, a four-terminal platinum resistor for temperature measurement and four conductivity electrodes for the determination of the salinity of saltwater. Pressure, light intensity, temperature and salinity are all essential parameters when mapping the migration route of fish. The pressure sensor has a sensitivity of S = 1.44 × 10 −7 Pa −1 and is optimized to 20 bar pressure; the light sensor has a quantum efficiency between 52% and 74% in the range of visible light. The temperature sensor responds linearly with temperature and has a temperature coefficient of resistance of 2.9 × 10 −3 K −1 . The conductivity sensor can measure the salinity with an accuracy of ±0.1 psu. This is all together the smallest and best functioning fully integrated MEMS-based multi-sensor made to date for this specific application. However, each single-sensor performance can be optimized by introducing a considerably more complicated process sequence. In this paper, a new simpler process for integrating the four sensors on one single chip is presented in details for the first time. Further, an optimized performance of the individual sensors is presented

A High-Temperature Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor with an Integrated Signal-Conditioning Circuit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zong Yao

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the design and fabrication of a high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensor with an integrated signal-conditioning circuit, which consists of an encapsulated pressure-sensitive chip, a temperature compensation circuit and a signal-conditioning circuit. A silicon on insulation (SOI material and a standard MEMS process are used in the pressure-sensitive chip fabrication, and high-temperature electronic components are adopted in the temperature-compensation and signal-conditioning circuits. The entire pressure sensor achieves a hermetic seal and can be operated long-term in the range of −50 °C to 220 °C. Unlike traditional pressure sensor output voltage ranges (in the dozens to hundreds of millivolts, the output voltage of this sensor is from 0 V to 5 V, which can significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio and measurement accuracy in practical applications of long-term transmission based on experimental verification. Furthermore, because this flexible sensor’s output voltage is adjustable, general follow-up pressure transmitter devices for voltage converters need not be used, which greatly reduces the cost of the test system. Thus, the proposed high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensor with an integrated signal-conditioning circuit is expected to be highly applicable to pressure measurements in harsh environments.

Integrating distributed Bayesian inference and reinforcement learning for sensor management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grappiolo, C.; Whiteson, S.; Pavlin, G.; Bakker, B.

2009-01-01

This paper introduces a sensor management approach that integrates distributed Bayesian inference (DBI) and reinforcement learning (RL). DBI is implemented using distributed perception networks (DPNs), a multiagent approach to performing efficient inference, while RL is used to automatically

Low Power Consumption Wireless Sensor Communication System Integrated with an Energy Harvesting Power Source

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Vlad MARSIC

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the testing results of a wireless sensor communication system with low power consumption integrated with an energy harvesting power source. The experiments focus on the system’s capability to perform continuous monitoring and to wirelessly transmit the data acquired from the sensors to a user base station, for realization of completely battery-free wireless sensor system. Energy harvesting technologies together with system design optimization for power consumption minimization ensure the system’s energy autonomous capability demonstrated in this paper by presenting the promising testing results achieved following its integration with structural health monitoring and body area network applications.

Integration and analysis of neighbor discovery and link quality estimation in wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Radi, Marjan; Dezfouli, Behnam; Abu Bakar, Kamalrulnizam; Abd Razak, Shukor

2014-01-01

Network connectivity and link quality information are the fundamental requirements of wireless sensor network protocols to perform their desired functionality. Most of the existing discovery protocols have only focused on the neighbor discovery problem, while a few number of them provide an integrated neighbor search and link estimation. As these protocols require a careful parameter adjustment before network deployment, they cannot provide scalable and accurate network initialization in large-scale dense wireless sensor networks with random topology. Furthermore, performance of these protocols has not entirely been evaluated yet. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive simulation study on the efficiency of employing adaptive protocols compared to the existing nonadaptive protocols for initializing sensor networks with random topology. In this regard, we propose adaptive network initialization protocols which integrate the initial neighbor discovery with link quality estimation process to initialize large-scale dense wireless sensor networks without requiring any parameter adjustment before network deployment. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to provide a detailed simulation study on the performance of integrated neighbor discovery and link quality estimation protocols for initializing sensor networks. This study can help system designers to determine the most appropriate approach for different applications.

Integration and Analysis of Neighbor Discovery and Link Quality Estimation in Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjan Radi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Network connectivity and link quality information are the fundamental requirements of wireless sensor network protocols to perform their desired functionality. Most of the existing discovery protocols have only focused on the neighbor discovery problem, while a few number of them provide an integrated neighbor search and link estimation. As these protocols require a careful parameter adjustment before network deployment, they cannot provide scalable and accurate network initialization in large-scale dense wireless sensor networks with random topology. Furthermore, performance of these protocols has not entirely been evaluated yet. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive simulation study on the efficiency of employing adaptive protocols compared to the existing nonadaptive protocols for initializing sensor networks with random topology. In this regard, we propose adaptive network initialization protocols which integrate the initial neighbor discovery with link quality estimation process to initialize large-scale dense wireless sensor networks without requiring any parameter adjustment before network deployment. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to provide a detailed simulation study on the performance of integrated neighbor discovery and link quality estimation protocols for initializing sensor networks. This study can help system designers to determine the most appropriate approach for different applications.

Proteus II: Design and Evaluation of an Integrated Power-Efficient Underwater Sensor Node

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kleunen, W.A.P.; Moseley, N.A.; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Meratnia, Nirvana

2015-01-01

We describe the design and evaluation of an integrated low-cost underwater sensor node designed for reconfigurability, allowing continuous operation on a relatively small rechargeable battery for one month. The node uses a host CPU for the network protocols and processing sensor data and a separate

An implantable, batteryless, and wireless capsule with integrated impedance and pH sensors for gastroesophageal reflux monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Hung; Landge, Vaibhav; Tata, Uday; Seo, Young-Sik; Rao, Smitha; Tang, Shou-Jiang; Tibbals, H F; Spechler, Stuart; Chiao, J-C

2012-11-01

In this study, a device for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) monitoring has been prototyped. The system consists of an implantable, batteryless and wireless transponder with integrated impedance and pH sensors; and a wearable, external reader that wirelessly powers up the transponder and interprets the transponded radio-frequency signals. The transponder implant with the total size of 0.4 cm × 0.8 cm × 3.8 cm harvests radio frequency energy to operate dual-sensor and load-modulation circuitry. The external reader can store the data in a memory card and/or send it to a base station wirelessly, which is optional in the case of multiple-patient monitoring in a hospital or conducting large-scale freely behaving animal experiments. Tests were carried out to verify the signal transduction reliability in different situations for antenna locations and orientation. In vitro, experiments were conducted in a mannequin model by positioning the sensor capsule inside the wall of a tube mimicking the esophagus. Different liquids with known pH values were flushed through the tube creating reflux episodes and wireless signals were recorded. Live pigs under anesthesia were used for the animal models with the transponder implant attached on the esophageal wall. The reflux episodes were created while the sensor data were recorded wirelessly. The data were compared with those recorded independently by a clinically used wireless pH sensor capsule placed next to our implant transponder. The results showed that our transponder detected every episode in both acid and nonacid nature, while the commercial pH sensor missed events that had similar, repeated pH values, and failed to detect pH values higher than 10. Our batteryless transponder does not require a battery thus allowing longer diagnosis and prognosis periods to monitor drug efficacy, as well as providing accurate assessment of GERD symptoms.

Electrical Impedance Measurements of PZT Nanofiber Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Galos

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Electrical impedance measurements of PZT nanofiber sensors were performed using a variety of methods over a frequency spectrum ranging from DC to 1.8 GHz. The nanofibers formed by electrospinning with diameters ranging from 10 to 150 nm were collected and integrated into sensors using microfabrication techniques. Special matching circuits with ultrahigh input impedance were fabricated to produce low noise, measurable sensor outputs. Material properties including resistivity and dielectric constant are derived from the impedance measurements. The resulting material properties are also compared with those of individual nanofibers being tested using conductive AFM and Scanning Conductive Microscopy.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDS) and OLED-based structurally integrated optical sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cai, Yuankun [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2010-01-01

General introduction to OLED basics and OLED-based structurally integrated sensors was provided in chapter 1 and chapter 2. As discussed in chapter 3, OLEDs were developed or improved using novel engineering methods for better charge injection (increased by over 1 order of magnitude) and efficiency. As the excitation sources, these OLEDs have preferred characteristics for sensor applications, including narrowed emission, emission at desired wavelength, and enhanced output for reduced EL background, higher absorption and improved device lifetime. In addition to OLEDs with desired performance, sensor integration requires oxidase immobilization with the sensor film for O₂-based biological and chemical sensing. Nanoparticles such as ZnO have large surface area and high isoelectric point (~9.5), which favors enzyme immobilization via physical adsorption as well as Coulombic bonding. In chapter 4, it was demonstrated that ZnO could be used for this purpose, although future work is needed to further bond the ZnO to the sensor film. In chapter 5, single unit sensor was extended to multianalyte parallel sensing based on an OLED platform, which is compact and integrated with silicon photodiodes and electronics. Lactate and glucose were simultaneously monitored with a low limit of detection 0.02 mM, fast response time (~1 minute) and dynamic range from 0-8.6 ppm of dissolved oxygen. As discovered in previous work, the dynamic range covers 0-100% gas phase O₂ or 0-40 ppm dissolved oxygen at room temperature. PL decay curve, which is used to extract the decay time, is usually not a simple exponential at high O₂ concentration, which indicates that O₂ is not equally accessible for different luminescent sites. This creates a challenge for data analysis, which however was successfully processed by stretched exponential as shown in chapter 6. This also provides an insight about the distribution of O₂:dye collisional quenching

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDS) and OLED-based structurally integrated optical sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Yuankun

2010-01-01

General introduction to OLED basics and OLED-based structurally integrated sensors was provided in chapter 1 and chapter 2. As discussed in chapter 3, OLEDs were developed or improved using novel engineering methods for better charge injection (increased by over 1 order of magnitude) and efficiency. As the excitation sources, these OLEDs have preferred characteristics for sensor applications, including narrowed emission, emission at desired wavelength, and enhanced output for reduced EL background, higher absorption and improved device lifetime. In addition to OLEDs with desired performance, sensor integration requires oxidase immobilization with the sensor film for O 2 -based biological and chemical sensing. Nanoparticles such as ZnO have large surface area and high isoelectric point (∼9.5), which favors enzyme immobilization via physical adsorption as well as Coulombic bonding. In chapter 4, it was demonstrated that ZnO could be used for this purpose, although future work is needed to further bond the ZnO to the sensor film. In chapter 5, single unit sensor was extended to multianalyte parallel sensing based on an OLED platform, which is compact and integrated with silicon photodiodes and electronics. Lactate and glucose were simultaneously monitored with a low limit of detection 0.02 mM, fast response time (∼ 1 minute) and dynamic range from 0-8.6 ppm of dissolved oxygen. As discovered in previous work, the dynamic range covers 0-100% gas phase O 2 or 0-40 ppm dissolved oxygen at room temperature. PL decay curve, which is used to extract the decay time, is usually not a simple exponential at high O 2 concentration, which indicates that O 2 is not equally accessible for different luminescent sites. This creates a challenge for data analysis, which however was successfully processed by stretched exponential as shown in chapter 6. This also provides an insight about the distribution of O 2 :dye collisional quenching rate due to microheterogeneity. Effect of Ti

Methanol sensor for integration with GaP nanowire photocathode

Science.gov (United States)

Novák, J.; Laurenčíková, A.; Hasenohrl, S.; Eliáš, P.; Kováč, J.

2017-05-01

We proposed a new type of the methanol concentration sensor that may be integrated directly to the GaP nanostructured photocathode. Necessary attribute for this design is the possibility to make it compatible with p-type of semiconductor. This condition follows from the fact that photocathodes for the CO2 splitting are exclusively prepared from p-type of semiconductors. Design of methanol sensor emanates from this principle. On the GaP substrate is deposited thin Pt supporting layer (100-200 nm thick).This layer is covered by 500 nm thick Nafion membrane that serves as proton filter. On the top of Nafion layer is deposited top Pt contact layer covered by thin nanostructured Pt layer layer with various thickness (0.5 -5 nm). This nanostructured Pt is formed into small islands. It serves as an absorption layer for methanol. Sensor detection properties were estimated from monitoring of I-V characteristics. They were measured in dark and under various methanol concentrations. Dark current values are in order 10-9 A, and this current increases up to order of microamps for methanol of concentration more than 95%.These measurements proved high sensitivity of the GaP compatible sensor structure. Methanol sensors were realized in form of narrow stripe on the side of the photocathode.

Beamstop with integrated X-ray sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Paul J; Cohen, Aina E; Soltis, S Michael

2003-05-01

A versatile beamstop with an integrated sensor has been developed at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) using non-specialized components. A diameter of 1.5 mm was achieved using a commercial subminiature surface mount PIN diode (Phillips BAP64) molded into a tungsten epoxy composite cup. The cup is supported on a thin fiberglass arm with printed circuit traces to transmit the signal from the diode. The assembly has an active area of approximately 100 micro m in diameter. As the diode is encapsulated in plastic, the response diminishes with decreasing energy but is still useful at 6 keV.

A Scalable Data Integration and Analysis Architecture for Sensor Data of Pediatric Asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Stripelis, Dimitris; Ambite, José Luis; Chiang, Yao-Yi; Eckel, Sandrah P; Habre, Rima

2017-04-01

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the United States there are 6.8 million children living with asthma. Despite the importance of the disease, the available prognostic tools are not sufficient for biomedical researchers to thoroughly investigate the potential risks of the disease at scale. To overcome these challenges we present a big data integration and analysis infrastructure developed by our Data and Software Coordination and Integration Center (DSCIC) of the NIBIB-funded Pediatric Research using Integrated Sensor Monitoring Systems (PRISMS) program. Our goal is to help biomedical researchers to efficiently predict and prevent asthma attacks. The PRISMS-DSCIC is responsible for collecting, integrating, storing, and analyzing real-time environmental, physiological and behavioral data obtained from heterogeneous sensor and traditional data sources. Our architecture is based on the Apache Kafka, Spark and Hadoop frameworks and PostgreSQL DBMS. A main contribution of this work is extending the Spark framework with a mediation layer, based on logical schema mappings and query rewriting, to facilitate data analysis over a consistent harmonized schema. The system provides both batch and stream analytic capabilities over the massive data generated by wearable and fixed sensors.

The MMI Device Ontology: Enabling Sensor Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Rueda, C.; Galbraith, N.; Morris, R. A.; Bermudez, L. E.; Graybeal, J.; Arko, R. A.; Mmi Device Ontology Working Group

2010-12-01

The Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI) project has developed an ontology for devices to describe sensors and sensor networks. This ontology is implemented in the W3C Web Ontology Language (OWL) and provides an extensible conceptual model and controlled vocabularies for describing heterogeneous instrument types, with different data characteristics, and their attributes. It can help users populate metadata records for sensors; associate devices with their platforms, deployments, measurement capabilities and restrictions; aid in discovery of sensor data, both historic and real-time; and improve the interoperability of observational oceanographic data sets. We developed the MMI Device Ontology following a community-based approach. By building on and integrating other models and ontologies from related disciplines, we sought to facilitate semantic interoperability while avoiding duplication. Key concepts and insights from various communities, including the Open Geospatial Consortium (eg., SensorML and Observations and Measurements specifications), Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET), and W3C Semantic Sensor Network Incubator Group, have significantly enriched the development of the ontology. Individuals ranging from instrument designers, science data producers and consumers to ontology specialists and other technologists contributed to the work. Applications of the MMI Device Ontology are underway for several community use cases. These include vessel-mounted multibeam mapping sonars for the Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program and description of diverse instruments on deepwater Ocean Reference Stations for the OceanSITES program. These trials involve creation of records completely describing instruments, either by individual instances or by manufacturer and model. Individual terms in the MMI Device Ontology can be referenced with their corresponding Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) in sensor-related metadata specifications (e

Note: Development of a microfabricated sensor to measure thermal conductivity of picoliter scale liquid samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Byoung Kyoo; Yi, Namwoo; Park, Jaesung; Kim, Dongsik

2012-10-01

This paper presents a thermal analysis device, which can measure thermal conductivity of picoliter scale liquid sample. We employ the three omega method with a microfabricated AC thermal sensor with nanometer width heater. The liquid sample is confined by a micro-well structure fabricated on the sensor surface. The performance of the instrument was verified by measuring the thermal conductivity of 27-picoliter samples of de-ionized (DI) water, ethanol, methanol, and DI water-ethanol mixtures with accuracies better than 3%. Furthermore, another analytical scheme allows real-time thermal conductivity measurement with 5% accuracy. To the best of our knowledge, this technique requires the smallest volume of sample to measure thermal property ever.

Chemistry integrated circuit: chemical system on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakazato, Kazuo

2014-03-28

By integrating chemical reactions on a large-scale integration (LSI) chip, new types of device can be created. For biomedical applications, monolithically integrated sensor arrays for potentiometric, amperometric and impedimetric sensing of biomolecules have been developed. The potentiometric sensor array detects pH and redox reaction as a statistical distribution of fluctuations in time and space. For the amperometric sensor array, a microelectrode structure for measuring multiple currents at high speed has been proposed. The impedimetric sensor array is designed to measure impedance up to 10 MHz. The multimodal sensor array will enable synthetic analysis and make it possible to standardize biosensor chips. Another approach is to create new functional devices by integrating molecular systems with LSI chips, for example image sensors that incorporate biological materials with a sensor array. The quantum yield of the photoelectric conversion of photosynthesis is 100%, which is extremely difficult to achieve by artificial means. In a recently developed process, a molecular wire is plugged directly into a biological photosynthetic system to efficiently conduct electrons to a gold electrode. A single photon can be detected at room temperature using such a system combined with a molecular single-electron transistor.

Advanced Sensors for Airborne Magnetic Measurements

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bobb, L

2001-01-01

Numerous ground tests and platform tests were conducted to evaluate platform integration issues and the performance of the POLATOMIC 2000 magnetometer, a laser-pumped helium-4 total magnetic field sensor...

A highly sensitive, low-cost, wearable pressure sensor based on conductive hydrogel spheres

KAUST Repository

Tai, Yanlong; Mulle, Matthieu; Ventura, Isaac Aguilar; Lubineau, Gilles

2015-01-01

Wearable pressure sensing solutions have promising future for practical applications in health monitoring and human/machine interfaces. Here, a highly sensitive, low-cost, wearable pressure sensor based on conductive single-walled carbon nanotube

An integrated approach to sensor FDI and signal reconstruction in HTGRs – Part I: Theoretical framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uren, Kenneth R.; Schoor, George van; Rand, Carel P. du; Botha, Anrika

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An integrated sensor fault detection and isolation method for nuclear power plants. • Utilise techniques such as non-temporal parity space and principal component analysis. • Utilise statistical methods and fuzzy systems for sensor fault isolation. • Allow the detection of multiple sensor faults. • Proposed methodology suitable for online implementation. - Abstract: Sensor fault detection and isolation (FDI) is an important element in modern nuclear power plant (NPP) diagnostic systems. In this respect, sensor FDI of generation II and III water-cooled nuclear energy systems has become an active research topic to continually improve levels of reliability, safety, and operation. However, evolutionary advances in reactor and component technology together with different energy conversion methodologies support the investigation of alternative approaches to sensor FDI. Within this context, the basic aim of this two part series is to propose, implement and evaluate an integrated approach for sensor FDI and signal reconstruction in generation IV nuclear high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). In part I of this two part series, the methodology and theoretical background of the integrated sensor FDI and signal reconstruction approach are given. This approach combines techniques such as non-temporal parity space analysis (PSA), principal component analysis (PCA), sensor fusion and fuzzy decision systems to form a more powerful sensor FDI methodology that exploits the strengths of the individual techniques. An illustrative example of the PCA algorithm is given making use of actual data retrieved from a pilot plant called the pebble bed micro model (PBMM). This is a prototype gas turbine power plant based on the first design configuration of the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR). In part II, the described integrated sensor fault detection approach will be evaluated by means of two case studies. In the first case study the approach will be evaluated

Cantilever-based bio-chemical sensor integrated in a microliquid handling system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thaysen, Jacob; Marie, Rodolphe; Boisen, Anja

2001-01-01

The cantilevers have integrated piezoresistive readout which, compared to optical readout, enables simple measurements on even non-transparent liquids, such as blood. First, we introduce a simple theory for using piezoresistive cantilevers as surface stress sensors. Then, the sensor fabrication...... based on conventional microfabrication is described and the sensor characterization is discussed. During the characterization we found a stress sensitivity of (ΔR/R)=4.6:10 -4 (N/m)-1 and a minimum detectable surface stress change of 2.6 mN/m. Aqua regia etch of gold on top of the cantilevers has been...... monitored, and immobilization of single-stranded thiol modified DNA-oligos has been detected by the sensor. Finally, it is demonstrated that it is possible to analyze two samples simultaneously by utilizing the laminar flow in the microliquid handling system....

Mechanical behaviour of textile-reinforced thermoplastics with integrated sensor network components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hufenbach, W.; Adam, F.; Fischer, W.-J.; Kunadt, A.; Weck, D.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Consideration of two types of integrated bus systems for textile-reinforced thermoplastics with embedded sensor networks. → Specimens with bus systems made of flexible printed circuit boards show good mechanical performance compared to the reference. → Inhomogeneous interface and reduced stiffnesses and strengths for specimens with bus systems basing on single copper wires. -- Abstract: The embedding of sensor networks into textile-reinforced thermoplastics enables the design of function-integrative lightweight components suitable for high volume production. In order to investigate the mechanical behaviour of such functionalised composites, two types of bus systems are selected as exemplary components of sensor networks. These elements are embedded into glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene (GF/PP) during the layup process of unconsolidated weft-knitted GF/PP-preforms. Two fibre orientations are considered and orthotropic composite plates are manufactured by hot pressing technology. Micrograph investigations and computer tomography analyses show different interface qualities between the thermoplastic composite and the two types of bus systems. Mechanical tests under tensile and flexural loading indicate a significant influence of the embedded bus system elements on the structural stiffness and strength.

High-Resolution Silicon-based Particle Sensor with Integrated Amplification, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This SBIR Phase I project will deliver a breakthrough in particle-detection sensors, by integrating an amplifying junction as part of the detector topology. Focusing...

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.

Patterned, highly stretchable and conductive nanofibrous PANI/PVDF strain sensors based on electrospinning and in situ polymerization

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Gui-Feng; Yan, Xu; Yu, Miao; Jia, Meng-Yang; Pan, Wei; He, Xiao-Xiao; Han, Wen-Peng; Zhang, Zhi-Ming; Yu, Liang-Min; Long, Yun-Ze

2016-01-01

A facile fabrication strategy via electrospinning and followed by in situ polymerization to fabricate a patterned, highly stretchable, and conductive polyaniline/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PANI/PVDF) nanofibrous membrane is reported. Owing to the patterned structure, the nanofibrous PANI/PVDF strain sensor can detect a strain up to 110%, for comparison, which is 2.6 times higher than the common nonwoven PANI/PVDF mat and much larger than the previously reported values (usually less than 15%). Meanwhile, the conductivity of the patterned strain sensor shows a linear response to the applied strain in a wide range from 0% to about 85%. Additionally, the patterned PANI/PVDF strain sensor can completely recover to its original electrical and mechanical values within a strain range of more than 22%, and exhibits good durability over 10 000 folding-unfolding tests. Furthermore, the strain sensor also can be used to detect finger motion. The results demonstrate promising application of the patterned nanofibrous membrane in flexible electronic fields.A facile fabrication strategy via electrospinning and followed by in situ polymerization to fabricate a patterned, highly stretchable, and conductive polyaniline/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PANI/PVDF) nanofibrous membrane is reported. Owing to the patterned structure, the nanofibrous PANI/PVDF strain sensor can detect a strain up to 110%, for comparison, which is 2.6 times higher than the common nonwoven PANI/PVDF mat and much larger than the previously reported values (usually less than 15%). Meanwhile, the conductivity of the patterned strain sensor shows a linear response to the applied strain in a wide range from 0% to about 85%. Additionally, the patterned PANI/PVDF strain sensor can completely recover to its original electrical and mechanical values within a strain range of more than 22%, and exhibits good durability over 10 000 folding-unfolding tests. Furthermore, the strain sensor also can be used to detect finger

A film bulk acoustic resonator-based high-performance pressure sensor integrated with temperature control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Mengying; Zhao, Zhan; Du, Lidong; Fang, Zhen

2017-01-01

This paper presented a high-performance pressure sensor based on a film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR). The support film of the FBAR chip was made of silicon nitride and the part under the resonator area was etched to enhance the sensitivity and improve the linearity of the pressure sensor. A micro resistor temperature sensor and a micro resistor heater were integrated in the chip to monitor and control the operating temperature. The sensor chip was fabricated, and packaged in an oscillator circuit for differential pressure detection. When the detected pressure ranged from  −100 hPa to 600 hPa, the sensitivity of the improved FBAR pressure sensor was  −0.967 kHz hPa −1 , namely  −0.69 ppm hPa −1 , which was 19% higher than that of existing sensors with a complete support film. The nonlinearity of the improved sensor was less than  ±0.35%, while that of the existing sensor was  ±5%. To eliminate measurement errors from humidity, the temperature control system integrated in the sensor chip controlled the temperature of the resonator up to 75 °C, with accuracy of  ±0.015 °C and power of 20 mW. (paper)

Microfabrication of magnetostrictive beams based on NiFe film doped with B and Mo for integrated sensor systems

KAUST Repository

Alfadhel, Ahmed

2012-03-09

This paper reports the development of integrated micro-sensors consisting of 1 -µm-thick magnetostrictive cantilevers or bridges with 500 µm in length and conducting interrogation elements. The thin films are fabricated by sputter deposition of NiFe doped with B and Mo, and the magnetic properties are enhanced by field annealing, resulting in a coercivity of 2.4 Oe. In operation, an alternating current applied to the interrogation elements magnetizes the magnetostrictive structures. The longitudinal resonant frequency is detected as an impedance change of the interrogation elements. The magnetostrictive micro-beams provide high resonant frequencies—2.95 MHz for the cantilever and 5.46 MHz for the bridge—which can be exploited to develop sensors of high sensitivity.

Integration of Grid and Sensor Web for Flood Monitoring and Risk Assessment from Heterogeneous Data

Science.gov (United States)

Kussul, Nataliia; Skakun, Sergii; Shelestov, Andrii

2013-04-01

Over last decades we have witnessed the upward global trend in natural disaster occurrence. Hydrological and meteorological disasters such as floods are the main contributors to this pattern. In recent years flood management has shifted from protection against floods to managing the risks of floods (the European Flood risk directive). In order to enable operational flood monitoring and assessment of flood risk, it is required to provide an infrastructure with standardized interfaces and services. Grid and Sensor Web can meet these requirements. In this paper we present a general approach to flood monitoring and risk assessment based on heterogeneous geospatial data acquired from multiple sources. To enable operational flood risk assessment integration of Grid and Sensor Web approaches is proposed [1]. Grid represents a distributed environment that integrates heterogeneous computing and storage resources administrated by multiple organizations. SensorWeb is an emerging paradigm for integrating heterogeneous satellite and in situ sensors and data systems into a common informational infrastructure that produces products on demand. The basic Sensor Web functionality includes sensor discovery, triggering events by observed or predicted conditions, remote data access and processing capabilities to generate and deliver data products. Sensor Web is governed by the set of standards, called Sensor Web Enablement (SWE), developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Different practical issues regarding integration of Sensor Web with Grids are discussed in the study. We show how the Sensor Web can benefit from using Grids and vice versa. For example, Sensor Web services such as SOS, SPS and SAS can benefit from the integration with the Grid platform like Globus Toolkit. The proposed approach is implemented within the Sensor Web framework for flood monitoring and risk assessment, and a case-study of exploiting this framework, namely the Namibia SensorWeb Pilot Project, is

Integration of Fiber-Optic Sensor Arrays into a Multi-Modal Tactile Sensor Processing System for Robotic End-Effectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Kampmann

2014-04-01

Full Text Available With the increasing complexity of robotic missions and the development towards long-term autonomous systems, the need for multi-modal sensing of the environment increases. Until now, the use of tactile sensor systems has been mostly based on sensing one modality of forces in the robotic end-effector. The use of a multi-modal tactile sensory system is motivated, which combines static and dynamic force sensor arrays together with an absolute force measurement system. This publication is focused on the development of a compact sensor interface for a fiber-optic sensor array, as optic measurement principles tend to have a bulky interface. Mechanical, electrical and software approaches are combined to realize an integrated structure that provides decentralized data pre-processing of the tactile measurements. Local behaviors are implemented using this setup to show the effectiveness of this approach.

Integrated CMOS sensor technologies for the CLIC tracker

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)754303

2017-01-01

Integrated technologies are attractive candidates for an all silicon tracker at the proposed future multi-TeV linear e+e- collider CLIC. In this context CMOS circuitry on a high resistivity epitaxial layer has been studied using the ALICE Investigator test-chip. Test-beam campaigns have been performed to study the Investigator performance and a Technology Computer Aided Design based simulation chain has been developed to further explore the sensor technology.

A contact lens with integrated telecommunication circuit and sensors for wireless and continuous tear glucose monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, H; Liao, Y; Lingley, A R; Afanasiev, A; Lähdesmäki, I; Otis, B P; Parviz, B A

2012-01-01

We present an integrated functional contact lens, composed of a differential glucose sensor module, metal interconnects, sensor read-out circuit, antenna and telecommunication circuit, to monitor tear glucose levels wirelessly, continuously and non-invasively. The electrochemical differential sensor module is based on immobilization of activated and de-activated glucose oxidase. We characterized the sensor on a model polymer eye and determined that it showed good repeatability, molecular interference rejection and linearity in the range of 0–2 mM glucose, covering normal tear glucose concentrations (0.1–0.6 mM). We also report the temperature, ageing and protein-fouling sensitivity of the sensor. We report the design and implementation of a low-power (3 µW) sensor read-out and telecommunication circuit to deliver wireless power and transmit data for the sensor module. Using this small chip (0.36 mm 2 ), we produced an integrated contact lens with sensors and demonstrated wireless operation of the system and glucose read-out over the distance of several centimeters. (paper)

Integrated optical readout for miniaturization of cantilever-based sensor system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordström, Maria; Zauner, Dan; Calleja, Montserrat

2007-01-01

The authors present the fabrication and characterization of an integrated optical readout scheme based on single-mode waveguides for cantilever-based sensors. The cantilever bending is read out by monitoring changes in the optical intensity of light transmitted through the cantilever that also acts...

Transient plane source (tps) sensors for simultaneous measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of insulators, fluids and conductors

Science.gov (United States)

Maqsood, Asghari; Anis-ur-Rehman, M.

2013-12-01

Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity are two important physical properties for designing any food engineering processes1. The knowledge of thermal properties of the elements, compounds and different materials in many industrial applications is a requirement for their final functionality. Transient plane source (tps) sensors are reported2 to be useful for the simultaneous measurement of thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity of insulators, conductor liquids3 and high-TC superconductors4. The tps-sensor consists of a resistive element in the shape of double spiral made of 10 micrometer thick Ni-foils covered on both sides with 25 micrometer thick Kapton. This sensor acts both as a heat source and a resistance thermometer for recording the time dependent temperature increase. From the knowledge of the temperature co-efficient of the metal spiral, the temperature increase of the sensor can be determined precisely by placing the sensor in between two surfaces of the same material under test. This temperature increase is then related to the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity by simple relations2,5. The tps-sensor has been used to measure thermal conductivities from 0.001 Wm-1K-1to 600 Wm-1K-1 and temperature ranges covered from 77K- 1000K. This talk gives the design, advantages and limitations of the tpl-sensor along with its applications to the measurementof thermal properties in a variety of materials.

Transient plane source (tps) sensors for simultaneous measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of insulators, fluids and conductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maqsood, Asghari; Anis-ur-Rehman, M

2013-01-01

Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity are two important physical properties for designing any food engineering processes 1 . The knowledge of thermal properties of the elements, compounds and different materials in many industrial applications is a requirement for their final functionality. Transient plane source (tps) sensors are reported 2 to be useful for the simultaneous measurement of thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity of insulators, conductor liquids 3 and high-T C superconductors 4 . The tps-sensor consists of a resistive element in the shape of double spiral made of 10 micrometer thick Ni-foils covered on both sides with 25 micrometer thick Kapton. This sensor acts both as a heat source and a resistance thermometer for recording the time dependent temperature increase. From the knowledge of the temperature co-efficient of the metal spiral, the temperature increase of the sensor can be determined precisely by placing the sensor in between two surfaces of the same material under test. This temperature increase is then related to the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity by simple relations 2,5 . The tps-sensor has been used to measure thermal conductivities from 0.001 Wm −1 K −1 to 600 Wm −1 K −1 and temperature ranges covered from 77K– 1000K. This talk gives the design, advantages and limitations of the tpl-sensor along with its applications to the measurementof thermal properties in a variety of materials

Microchamber arrays with an integrated long luminescence lifetime pH sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Poehler, Elisabeth; Pfeiffer, Simon A; Herm, Marc; Gaebler, Michael; Busse, Benedikt; Nagl, Stefan

2016-04-01

A pH probe with a microsecond luminescence lifetime was obtained via covalent coupling of 6-carboxynaphthofluorescein (CNF) moieties to ruthenium-tris-(1,10-phenanthroline)(2+). The probe was covalently attached to amino-modified poly-(2-hydroxyethyl)methacrylate (pHEMA) and showed a pH-dependent FRET with luminescence lifetimes of 681 to 1260 ns and a working range from ca. pH 6.5 to 9.0 with a pKa of 7.79 ± 0.14. The pH sensor matrix was integrated via spin coating as ca. 1- to 2-μm-thick layer into "CytoCapture" cell culture dishes of 6 mm in diameter. These contained a microcavity array of square-shaped regions of 40 μm length and width and 15 μm depth that was homogeneously coated with the pH sensor matrix. The sensor layer showed fast response times in both directions. A microscopic setup was developed that enabled imaging of the pH inside the microchamber arrays over many hours. As a proof of principle, we monitored the pH of Escherichia coli cell cultures grown in the microchamber arrays. The integrated sensor matrix allowed pH monitoring spatially resolved in every microchamber, and the differences in cell growth between individual chambers could be resolved and quantified.

Design and Development of a Flexible Strain Sensor for Textile Structures Based on a Conductive Polymer Composite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claude Dufour

2007-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is to develop a smart flexible sensor adapted to textile structures, able to measure their strain deformations. The sensors are “smart” because of their capacity to adapt to the specific mechanical properties of textile structures that are lightweight, highly flexible, stretchable, elastic, etc. Because of these properties, textile structures are continuously in movement and easily deformed, even under very low stresses. It is therefore important that the integration of a sensor does not modify their general behavior. The material used for the sensor is based on a thermoplastic elastomer (Evoprene/carbon black nanoparticle composite, and presents general mechanical properties strongly compatible with the textile substrate. Two preparation techniques are investigated: the conventional melt-mixing process, and the solvent process which is found to be more adapted for this particular application. The preparation procedure is fully described, namely the optimization of the process in terms of filler concentration in which the percolation theory aspects have to be considered. The sensor is then integrated on a thin, lightweight Nylon fabric, and the electromechanical characterization is performed to demonstrate the adaptability and the correct functioning of the sensor as a strain gauge on the fabric. A normalized relative resistance is defined in order to characterize the electrical response of the sensor. Finally, the influence of environmental factors, such as temperature and atmospheric humidity, on the sensor performance is investigated. The results show that the sensor’s electrical resistance is particularly affected by humidity. This behavior is discussed in terms of the sensitivity of the carbon black filler particles to the presence of water.

Highly processable method for the construction of miniature conducting polymer moisture sensors

Science.gov (United States)

McGovern, Scott T.; Spinks, Geoffrey M.; Wallace, Gordon G.

2005-02-01

A polymer blend incorporating polyaniline (PAn) was used as a sensing medium in the construction of a resistance based humidity sensor. Aniline monomer was polymerised to PAn emeraldine salt (ES) in the presence of poly (butyl acrylate-co-vinyl acetate) and the processable blend was developed by redissolving 1-2 w/w% of the resulting sensing polymer residue in dichloromethane (DCM). Some of this residue was washed in ammonia solution to de-dope the PAn to emeraldine base (EB) to act as a protective layer on the surface of the sensing polymer. This residue was then washed with distilled water until a neutral pH was realised with the waste water, dried and redissolved in DCM at 1-2 w/w% to create a processable blend barrier polymer solution. The final sensor design utilised 125μm polyester insulated platinum wire as conducting electrodes that were dip coated in the PAn ES blend solution and dried in a desiccator. A protective coating was then applied by dip coating in the EB blend solution. The sensors had an overall final thickness of less than 200μm and showed high sensitivity to humidity, low resistance, and good reversibility without hysteresis. The EB protective layer was shown to give more stable and predictable responses to the sensors when placed inside curing epoxies. Polymer based thin film humidity sensors have the advantage that the high processability of the material allows for simple fabrication of a range of geometries including smaller sensor designs. Such sensors may find uses in detecting water content in a number of areas including composite materials, electronic textiles, food/electronics packaging and corrosion detection.

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.

Smart Sensors' Role in Integrated System Health Management

Science.gov (United States)

Perotti, Jose M.; Mata, Carlos

2005-01-01

During the last decade, there has been a major effort in the aerospace industry to reduce the cost per pond of payload and become competitive in the international market. Competition from Europe, Japan, and China has reduced this cost to almost a third from 1990 to 2000. This cost has leveled in recent years to an average price of around $12,000/pound of payload. One of NASA's goals is to promote the development of technologies to reduce this cost by a factor of 10 or more Exploration of space, specially manned exploration missions, involves very complex launch and flight vehicles, associated ground support systems, and extensive human support during all phases of the mission. When considering the Space Shuttle Program, we can see that vehicle and ground support systems' processing, operation, and maintenance represent a large percentage of the program cost and time. Reducing operating, processing and maintenance costs will greatly reduce the cost of Exploration programs. The Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) concept is one of the technologies that will help reduce these operating, processing and maintenance costs. ISHM is an integrated health monitoring system applicable to both flight and ground systems. It automatically and autonomously acquires information from sensors and actuators and processes that information using the ISHM-embedded knowledge. As a result, it establishes the health of the system based on the acquired information and its prior knowledge. When this concept is fully implemented, ISHM systems shall be able to perform failure prediction and remediation before actual hard failures occurs, preventing its costly consequences. Data sources, sensors, and their associated data acquisition systems, constitute the foundation of the system. A smart sensing architecture is required to support the acquisition of reliable, high quality data, required by the ISHM. A thorough definition of the smart sensor architectures, their embedded diagnostic

APPROACH FOR IMPROVING THE INTEGRATED SENSOR ORIENTATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Mitishita

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The direct determination of exterior orientation parameters (EOP of aerial images via integration of the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU and GPS is often used in photogrammetric mapping nowadays. The accuracies of the EOP depend on the accurate parameters related to sensors mounting when the job is performed (offsets of the IMU relative to the projection centre and the angles of boresigth misalignment between the IMU and the photogrammetric coordinate system. In principle, when the EOP values do not achieve the required accuracies for the photogrammetric application, the approach, known as Integrated Sensor Orientation (ISO, is used to refine the direct EOP. ISO approach requires accurate Interior Orientation Parameters (IOP and standard deviation of the EOP under flight condition. This paper investigates the feasibility of use the in situ camera calibration to obtain these requirements. The camera calibration uses a small sub block of images, extracted from the entire block. A digital Vexcel UltraCam XP camera connected to APPLANIX POS AVTM system was used to get two small blocks of images that were use in this study. The blocks have different flight heights and opposite flight directions. The proposed methodology improved significantly the vertical and horizontal accuracies of the 3D point intersection. Using a minimum set of control points, the horizontal and vertical accuracies achieved nearly one image pixel of resolution on the ground (GSD. The experimental results are shown and discussed.

Nanocantilever based mass sensor integrated with cmos circuitry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davis, Zachary James; Abadal, G.; Campabadal, F.

2003-01-01

We have demonstrated the successful integration of a cantilever based mass detector with standard CMOS circuitry. The purpose of the circuitry is to facilitate the readout of the cantilever's deflection in order to measure resonant frequency shifts of the cantilever. The principle and design...... of the mass detector are presented showing that miniaturization of such cantilever based resonant devices leads to highly sensitive mass sensors, which have the potential to detect single molecules. The design of the readout circuitry used for the first electrical characterization of an integrated cantilever...... with CMOS circuitry is demonstrated. The electrical characterization of the device shows that the resonant behavior of the cantilever depends on the applied voltages, which corresponds to theory....

Low Power Consumption Wireless Sensor Communication System Integrated with an Energy Harvesting Power Source

OpenAIRE

Vlad MARSIC; Alessandro GIULIANO; Meiling ZHU

2013-01-01

This paper presents the testing results of a wireless sensor communication system with low power consumption integrated with an energy harvesting power source. The experiments focus on the system’s capability to perform continuous monitoring and to wirelessly transmit the data acquired from the sensors to a user base station, for realization of completely battery-free wireless sensor system. Energy harvesting technologies together with system design optimization for power consumption minimiza...

Optimization and validation of highly selective microfluidic integrated silicon nanowire chemical sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Ehfaed, Nuri. A. K. H.; Bathmanathan, Shillan A. L.; Dhahi, Th S.; Adam, Tijjani; Hashim, Uda; Noriman, N. Z.

2017-09-01

The study proposed characterization and optimization of silicon nanosensor for specific detection of heavy metal. The sensor was fabricated in-house and conventional photolithography coupled with size reduction via dry etching process in an oxidation furnace. Prior to heavy metal heavy metal detection, the capability to aqueous sample was determined utilizing serial DI water at various. The sensor surface was surface modified with Organofunctional alkoxysilanes (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) to create molecular binding chemistry. This has allowed interaction between heavy metals being measured and the sensor component resulting in increasing the current being measured. Due to its, excellent detection capabilities, this sensor was able to identify different group heavy metal species. The device was further integrated with sub-50 µm for chemical delivery.

Ultrasensitive Wearable Soft Strain Sensors of Conductive, Self-healing, and Elastic Hydrogels with Synergistic "Soft and Hard" Hybrid Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan-Jun; Cao, Wen-Tao; Ma, Ming-Guo; Wan, Pengbo

2017-08-02

Robust, stretchable, and strain-sensitive hydrogels have recently attracted immense research interest because of their potential application in wearable strain sensors. The integration of the synergistic characteristics of decent mechanical properties, reliable self-healing capability, and high sensing sensitivity for fabricating conductive, elastic, self-healing, and strain-sensitive hydrogels is still a great challenge. Inspired by the mechanically excellent and self-healing biological soft tissues with hierarchical network structures, herein, functional network hydrogels are fabricated by the interconnection between a "soft" homogeneous polymer network and a "hard" dynamic ferric (Fe 3+ ) cross-linked cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs-Fe 3+ ) network. Under stress, the dynamic CNCs-Fe 3+ coordination bonds act as sacrificial bonds to efficiently dissipate energy, while the homogeneous polymer network leads to a smooth stress-transfer, which enables the hydrogels to achieve unusual mechanical properties, such as excellent mechanical strength, robust toughness, and stretchability, as well as good self-recovery property. The hydrogels demonstrate autonomously self-healing capability in only 5 min without the need of any stimuli or healing agents, ascribing to the reorganization of CNCs and Fe 3+ via ionic coordination. Furthermore, the resulted hydrogels display tunable electromechanical behavior with sensitive, stable, and repeatable variations in resistance upon mechanical deformations. Based on the tunable electromechanical behavior, the hydrogels can act as a wearable strain sensor to monitor finger joint motions, breathing, and even the slight blood pulse. This strategy of building synergistic "soft and hard" structures is successful to integrate the decent mechanical properties, reliable self-healing capability, and high sensing sensitivity together for assembling a high-performance, flexible, and wearable strain sensor.

Polydimethylsiloxane-integratable micropressure sensor for microfluidic chips

KAUST Repository

Wang, Limu

2009-09-17

A novel microfluidicpressuresensor which can be fully integrated into polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) is reported. The sensor produces electrical signals directly. We integrated PDMS-based conductive composites into a 30 μm thick membrane and bonded it to the microchannel side wall. The response time of the sensor is approximately 100 ms and can work within a pressure range as wide as 0–100 kPa. The resolution of this micropressure sensor is generally 0.1 kPa but can be increased to 0.01 kPa at high pressures as a result of the quadratic relationship between resistance and pressure. The PDMS-based nature of the sensor ensures its perfect bonding with PDMS chips, and the standard photolithographic process of the sensor allows one-time fabrication of three dimensional structures or even microsensor arrays. The theoretical calculations are in good agreement with experimental observations.

Polydimethylsiloxane-integratable micropressure sensor for microfluidic chips

KAUST Repository

Wang, Limu; Zhang, Mengying; Yang, Min; Zhu, Weiming; Wu, Jinbo; Gong, Xiuqing; Wen, Weijia

2009-01-01

A novel microfluidicpressuresensor which can be fully integrated into polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) is reported. The sensor produces electrical signals directly. We integrated PDMS-based conductive composites into a 30 μm thick membrane and bonded it to the microchannel side wall. The response time of the sensor is approximately 100 ms and can work within a pressure range as wide as 0–100 kPa. The resolution of this micropressure sensor is generally 0.1 kPa but can be increased to 0.01 kPa at high pressures as a result of the quadratic relationship between resistance and pressure. The PDMS-based nature of the sensor ensures its perfect bonding with PDMS chips, and the standard photolithographic process of the sensor allows one-time fabrication of three dimensional structures or even microsensor arrays. The theoretical calculations are in good agreement with experimental observations.

Chemical sensors fabricated by a photonic integrated circuit foundry

Science.gov (United States)

Stievater, Todd H.; Koo, Kee; Tyndall, Nathan F.; Holmstrom, Scott A.; Kozak, Dmitry A.; Goetz, Peter G.; McGill, R. Andrew; Pruessner, Marcel W.

2018-02-01

We describe the detection of trace concentrations of chemical agents using waveguide-enhanced Raman spectroscopy in a photonic integrated circuit fabricated by AIM Photonics. The photonic integrated circuit is based on a five-centimeter long silicon nitride waveguide with a trench etched in the top cladding to allow access to the evanescent field of the propagating mode by analyte molecules. This waveguide transducer is coated with a sorbent polymer to enhance detection sensitivity and placed between low-loss edge couplers. The photonic integrated circuit is laid-out using the AIM Photonics Process Design Kit and fabricated on a Multi-Project Wafer. We detect chemical warfare agent simulants at sub parts-per-million levels in times of less than a minute. We also discuss anticipated improvements in the level of integration for photonic chemical sensors, as well as existing challenges.

3D-Printed Disposable Wireless Sensors with Integrated Microelectronics for Large Area Environmental Monitoring

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2017-05-19

Large area environmental monitoring can play a crucial role in dealing with crisis situations. However, it is challenging as implementing a fixed sensor network infrastructure over large remote area is economically unfeasible. This work proposes disposable, compact, dispersible 3D-printed wireless sensor nodes with integrated microelectronics which can be dispersed in the environment and work in conjunction with few fixed nodes for large area monitoring applications. As a proof of concept, the wireless sensing of temperature, humidity, and H2S levels are shown which are important for two critical environmental conditions namely forest fires and industrial leaks. These inkjet-printed sensors and an antenna are realized on the walls of a 3D-printed cubic package which encloses the microelectronics developed on a 3D-printed circuit board. Hence, 3D printing and inkjet printing are uniquely combined in order to realize a low-cost, fully integrated wireless sensor node.

Polypyrrole Porous Micro Humidity Sensor Integrated with a Ring Oscillator Circuit on Chip

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ming-Zhi; Dai, Ching-Liang; Lu, De-Hao

2010-01-01

This study presents the design and fabrication of a capacitive micro humidity sensor integrated with a five-stage ring oscillator circuit on chip using the complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The area of the humidity sensor chip is about 1 mm2. The humidity sensor consists of a sensing capacitor and a sensing film. The sensing capacitor is constructed from spiral interdigital electrodes that can enhance the sensitivity of the sensor. The sensing film of the sensor is polypyrrole, which is prepared by the chemical polymerization method, and the film has a porous structure. The sensor needs a post-CMOS process to coat the sensing film. The post-CMOS process uses a wet etching to etch the sacrificial layers, and then the polypyrrole is coated on the sensing capacitor. The sensor generates a change in capacitance when the sensing film absorbs or desorbs vapor. The ring oscillator circuit converts the capacitance variation of the sensor into the oscillation frequency output. Experimental results show that the sensitivity of the humidity sensor is about 99 kHz/%RH at 25 °C. PMID:22163459

Manufacturing a Micro-model with Integrated Fibre Optic Pressure Sensors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zarikos, I.; Hassanizadeh, S.M.; van Oosterhout, L.M.; van Oordt, Wim

The measurement of fluid pressure inside pores is a major challenge in experimental studies of two-phase flow in porous media. In this paper, we describe the manufacturing procedure of a micro-model with integrated fibre optic pressure sensors. They have a circular measurement window with a diameter

Micromachined thin-film sensors for SOI-CMOS co-integration

CERN Document Server

Laconte, Jean; Raskin, Jean-Pierre

2006-01-01

Co-integration of MEMS and MOS in SOI technology is promising and well demonstrated hereThe impact of Micromachining on SOI devices is deeply analyzed for the first timeInclude extensive TMAH etching, residual stress, microheaters, gas-flow sensors reviewResidual stresses in thin films need to be more and more monitored in MEMS designsTMAH micromachining is an attractive alternative to KOH.

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Sensor Deposited on Integrated Circuit for Radiation Detection

CERN Document Server

Despeisse, M; Jarron, P; Kaplon, J; Moraes, D; Nardulli, A; Powolny, F; Wyrsch, N

2008-01-01

Radiation detectors based on the deposition of a 10 to 30 mum thick hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) sensor directly on top of integrated circuits have been developed. The performance of this detector technology has been assessed for the first time in the context of particle detectors. Three different circuits were designed in a quarter micron CMOS technology for these studies. The so-called TFA (Thin-Film on ASIC) detectors obtained after deposition of a-Si:H sensors on the developed circuits are presented. High internal electric fields (104 to 105 V/cm) can be built in the a-Si:H sensor and overcome the low mobility of electrons and holes in this amorphous material. However, the deposited sensor's leakage current at such fields turns out to be an important parameter which limits the performance of a TFA detector. Its detailed study is presented as well as the detector's pixel segmentation. Signal induction by generated free carrier motion in the a-Si:H sensor has been characterized using a 660 nm pul...

Radio frequency and capacitive sensors for dielectric characterization of low-conductivity media

Science.gov (United States)

Sheldon, Robert T.

Low-conductivity media are found in a vast number of applications, for example as electrical insulation or as the matrix polymer in high strength-to-weight ratio structural composites. In some applications, these materials are subjected to extreme environmental, thermal, and mechanical conditions that can affect the material's desired performance. In a more general sense, a medium may be comprised of one or more layers with unknown material properties that may affect the desired performance of the entire structure. It is often, therefore, of great import to be able to characterize the material properties of these media for the purpose of estimating their future performance in a certain application. Low-conductivity media, or dielectrics, are poor electrical conductors and permit electromagnetic waves and static electric fields to pass through with minimal attenuation. The amount of electrical energy that may be stored (and lost) in these fields depends directly upon the material property, permittivity, which is generally complex, frequency-dependent and has a measurable effect on sensors designed to characterize dielectric media. In this work, two different types of dielectric sensors: radio frequency resonant antennas and lower-frequency (work, the capability of characterizing multilayer dielectric structures is studied using a patch antenna, a type of antenna that is primarily designed for data communications in the microwave bands but has application in the field of nondestructive evaluation as well. Each configuration of a patch antenna has a single lowest resonant (dominant mode) frequency that is dependent upon the antenna's substrate material and geometry as well as the permittivity and geometry of exterior materials. Here, an extant forward model is validated using well-characterized microwave samples and a new method of resonant frequency and quality factor determination from measured data is presented. Excellent agreement between calculated and measured

Use of capacitive sensors with the instantaneous profile method to determine hydraulic conductivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eurileny Lucas de Almeida

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Due to the need to monitor soil water tension continuously, the instantaneous profile method is considered laborious, requiring a lot of time, and especially manpower, to set up and maintain. The aim of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using capacitive sensors in place of tensiometers with the instantaneous profile method in an area of the Lower Acaraú Irrigated Perimeter. The experiment was carried out in a Eutrophic Red-Yellow Argisol. The sensors were installed 15, 30, 45 and 60 cm from the surface, and powered by photovoltaic panels, using a power manager to charge the battery and to supply power at night. Records from the capacitive sensors were collected every five minutes and stored on a data acquisition board. With the simultaneous measurement of soil moisture obtained by the sensors, and the total soil water potential from the soil water retention curve, it was possible to determine the hydraulic conductivity as a function of the volumetric water content for each period using the Richards equation. At the end of the experiment, the advantage of using capacitive sensors with the instantaneous profile method was confirmed as an alternative to using a tensiometer. The main advantages of using capacitive sensors were to make the method less laborious and to allow moisture readings at higher tensions in soils of a sandy texture.

Integrating wireless sensor network for monitoring subsidence phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Marturià, Jordi; Lopez, Ferran; Gigli, Giovanni; Intrieri, Emanuele; Mucchi, Lorenzo; Fornaciai, Alessandro

2016-04-01

An innovative wireless sensor network (WSN) for the 3D superficial monitoring of deformations (such as landslides and subsidence) is being developed in the frame of the Wi-GIM project (Wireless sensor network for Ground Instability Monitoring - LIFE12 ENV/IT/001033). The surface movement is detected acquiring the position (x, y and z) by integrating large bandwidth technology able to detect the 3D coordinates of the sensor with a sub-meter error, with continuous wave radar, which allows decreasing the error down to sub-cm. The Estació neighborhood in Sallent is located over the old potassium mine Enrique. This zone has been affected by a subsidence process over more than twenty years. The implementation of a wide network for ground auscultation has allowed monitoring the process of subsidence since 1997. This network consists of: i) a high-precision topographic leveling network to control the subsidence in surface; ii) a rod extensometers network to monitor subsurface deformation; iii) an automatic Leica TCA Total Station to monitor building movements; iv) an inclinometers network to measure the horizontal displacements on subsurface and v) a piezometer to measure the water level. Those networks were implemented within an alert system for an organized an efficient response of the civil protection authorities in case of an emergency. On 23rd December 2008, an acceleration of subsoil movements (of approx. 12-18 cm/year) provoked the activation of the emergency plan by the Catalan Civil Protection. This implied the preventive and scheduled evacuation of the neighbours (January 2009) located in the area with a higher risk of collapse: around 120 residents of 43 homes. As a consequence, the administration implemented a compensation plan for the evacuation of the whole neighbourhood residents and the demolition of 405 properties. In this work, the adaptation and integration process of Wi-GIM system with those conventional monitoring network are presented for its testing

Characterization, Monitoring, and Sensor Technology Integrated Program (CMST-IP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-04-01

The Characterization, Monitoring, and Sensor Technology Integrated Program seeks to deliver needed technologies, timely and cost-effectively, to the Office of Waste Management (EM-30), the Office of Environmental Restoration (EM-40), and the Office of Facility Transition and Management (EM-60). The scope of characterizations monitoring, and sensor technology needs that are required by those organizations encompass: (1) initial location and characterization of wastes and waste environments - prior to treatment; (2) monitoring of waste retrieval, remediation and treatment processes; (3) characterization of the co-position of final waste treatment forms to evaluate the performance of waste treatments processes; and (4) site closure and compliance monitoring. Wherever possible, the CMST-IP fosters technology transfer and commercialization of technologies that it sponsors

3-Axis Fully-Integrated Capacitive Tactile Sensor with Flip-Bonded CMOS on LTCC Interposer.

Science.gov (United States)

Asano, Sho; Muroyama, Masanori; Nakayama, Takahiro; Hata, Yoshiyuki; Nonomura, Yutaka; Tanaka, Shuji

2017-10-25

This paper reports a 3-axis fully integrated differential capacitive tactile sensor surface-mountable on a bus line. The sensor integrates a flip-bonded complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) with capacitive sensing circuits on a low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) interposer with Au through vias by Au-Au thermo-compression bonding. The CMOS circuit and bonding pads on the sensor backside were electrically connected through Au bumps and the LTCC interposer, and the differential capacitive gap was formed by an Au sealing frame. A diaphragm for sensing 3-axis force was formed in the CMOS substrate. The dimensions of the completed sensor are 2.5 mm in width, 2.5 mm in length, and 0.66 mm in thickness. The fabricated sensor output coded 3-axis capacitive sensing data according to applied 3-axis force by three-dimensional (3D)-printed pins. The measured sensitivity was as high as over 34 Count/mN for normal force and 14 to 15 Count/mN for shear force with small noise, which corresponds to less than 1 mN. The hysteresis and the average cross-sensitivity were also found to be less than 2% full scale and 11%, respectively.

Integrating Metal-Oxide-Decorated CNT Networks with a CMOS Readout in a Gas Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suhwan Kim

2012-02-01

Full Text Available We have implemented a tin-oxide-decorated carbon nanotube (CNT network gas sensor system on a single die. We have also demonstrated the deposition of metallic tin on the CNT network, its subsequent oxidation in air, and the improvement of the lifetime of the sensors. The fabricated array of CNT sensors contains 128 sensor cells for added redundancy and increased accuracy. The read-out integrated circuit (ROIC was combined with coarse and fine time-to-digital converters to extend its resolution in a power-efficient way. The ROIC is fabricated using a 0.35 µm CMOS process, and the whole sensor system consumes 30 mA at 5 V. The sensor system was successfully tested in the detection of ammonia gas at elevated temperatures.

Integration of thin film giant magnetoimpedance sensor and surface acoustic wave transponder

KAUST Repository

Li, Bodong

2012-03-09

Passive and remote sensing technology has many potential applications in implantable devices, automation, or structural monitoring. In this paper, a tri-layer thin film giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) sensor with the maximum sensitivity of 16%/Oe and GMI ratio of 44% was combined with a two-port surface acoustic wave(SAW) transponder on a common substrate using standard microfabrication technology resulting in a fully integrated sensor for passive and remote operation. The implementation of the two devices has been optimized by on-chip matching circuits. The measurement results clearly show a magnetic field response at the input port of the SAW transponder that reflects the impedance change of the GMI sensor.

Integration of thin film giant magnetoimpedance sensor and surface acoustic wave transponder

KAUST Repository

Li, Bodong; Salem, Nedime Pelin M. H.; Giouroudi, Ioanna; Kosel, Jü rgen

2012-01-01

Passive and remote sensing technology has many potential applications in implantable devices, automation, or structural monitoring. In this paper, a tri-layer thin film giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) sensor with the maximum sensitivity of 16%/Oe and GMI ratio of 44% was combined with a two-port surface acoustic wave(SAW) transponder on a common substrate using standard microfabrication technology resulting in a fully integrated sensor for passive and remote operation. The implementation of the two devices has been optimized by on-chip matching circuits. The measurement results clearly show a magnetic field response at the input port of the SAW transponder that reflects the impedance change of the GMI sensor.

A multi-axis MEMS sensor with integrated carbon nanotube-based piezoresistors for nanonewton level force metrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullinan, Michael A; Panas, Robert M; Culpepper, Martin L

2012-01-01

This paper presents the design and fabrication of a multi-axis microelectromechanical system (MEMS) force sensor with integrated carbon nanotube (CNT)-based piezoresistive sensors. Through the use of proper CNT selection and sensor fabrication techniques, the performance of the CNT-based MEMS force sensor was increased by approximately two orders of magnitude as compared to current CNT-based sensor systems. The range and resolution of the force sensor were determined as 84 μN and 5.6 nN, respectively. The accuracy of the force sensor was measured to be better than 1% over the device’s full range. (paper)

Integration of reconfigurable potentiometric electrochemical sensors into a digital microfluidic platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Farzbod, Ali; Moon, Hyejin

2018-05-30

This paper presents the demonstration of on-chip fabrication of a potassium-selective sensor array enabled by electrowetting on dielectric digital microfluidics for the first time. This demonstration proves the concept that electrochemical sensors can be seamlessly integrated with sample preparation units in a digital microfluidic platform. More significantly, the successful on-chip fabrication of a sensor array indicates that sensors become reconfigurable and have longer lifetime in a digital microfluidic platform. The on-chip fabrication of ion-selective electrodes includes electroplating Ag followed by forming AgCl layer by chemical oxidation and depositing a thin layer of desired polymer-based ion selective membrane on one of the sensor electrodes. In this study, potassium ionophores work as potassium ion channels and make the membrane selective to potassium ions. This selectiveness results in the voltage difference across the membrane layer, which is correlated with potassium ion concentration. The calibration curve of the fabricated potassium-selective electrode demonstrates the slope of 58 mV/dec for potassium concentration in KCl sample solutions and shows good agreement with the ideal Nernstian response. The proposed sensor platform is an outstanding candidate for a portable home-use for continuous monitoring of ions thanks to its advantages such as easy automation of sample preparation and detection processes, elongated sensor lifetime, minimal membrane and sample consumption, and user-definable/reconfigurable sensor array. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integration of f-MWCNT Sensor and Printed Circuits on Paper Substrate

OpenAIRE

Xie, Li; Feng, Yi; Mantysalo, Matti; Chen, Qiang; Zheng, Li-Rong

2013-01-01

The integration of sensors endows the packages with intelligence and interactivity. This paper is considered the most suitable substrate of smart packages because it is cost-effective, light, flexible, and recyclable. However, common concern exists regarding the reliability of paper-based system against bending and folding. In this paper, inkjet-printing of silver nanoparticles is used to form circuit pattern as well as interconnections for system integration on paper substrate. A humidity se...

Polypyrrole Porous Micro Humidity Sensor Integrated with a Ring Oscillator Circuit on Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

De-Hao Lu

2010-11-01

Full Text Available This study presents the design and fabrication of a capacitive micro humidity sensor integrated with a five-stage ring oscillator circuit on chip using the complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS process. The area of the humidity sensor chip is about 1 mm2. The humidity sensor consists of a sensing capacitor and a sensing film. The sensing capacitor is constructed from spiral interdigital electrodes that can enhance the sensitivity of the sensor. The sensing film of the sensor is polypyrrole, which is prepared by the chemical polymerization method, and the film has a porous structure. The sensor needs a post-CMOS process to coat the sensing film. The post-CMOS process uses a wet etching to etch the sacrificial layers, and then the polypyrrole is coated on the sensing capacitor. The sensor generates a change in capacitance when the sensing film absorbs or desorbs vapor. The ring oscillator circuit converts the capacitance variation of the sensor into the oscillation frequency output. Experimental results show that the sensitivity of the humidity sensor is about 99 kHz/%RH at 25 °C.

Package-friendly piezoresistive pressure sensors with on-chip integrated packaging-stress-suppressed suspension (PS3) technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jiachou; Li, Xinxin

2013-01-01

An on-chip integrated packaging-stress-suppressed suspension (PS 3 ) technology for a packaging-stress-free pressure sensor is proposed and developed. With a MIS (microholes interetch and sealing) micromachining process implemented only from the front-side of a single-side polished (1 1 1) silicon wafer, a compact cantilever-shaped PS 3 is on-chip integrated surrounding a piezoresistive pressure-sensing structure to provide a packaging-process/substrate-friendly method for low-cost but high-performance sensor applications. With the MIS process, the chip size of the PS 3 -enclosed pressure sensor is as small as 0.8 mm × 0.8 mm. Compared with a normal pressure sensor without PS 3 (but with an identical pressure-sensing structure), the proposed pressure sensor has the same sensitivity of 0.046 mV kPa −1 (3.3 V) −1 . However, without using the thermal compensation technique, a temperature coefficient of offset of only 0.016% °C −1 FS is noted for the sensor with PS 3 , which is about 15 times better than that for the sensor without PS 3 . Featuring effective isolation and elimination of the influence from packaging stress, the PS 3 technique is promising to be widely used for packaging-friendly mechanical sensors. (paper)

Electrical conductivity sensors as a means to quantify hydrologic connectivity of desert riverscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Jaeger, K. L.; Olden, J. D.

2010-12-01

Fundamental to addressing issues in the emerging fields of landscape conservation biogeography and genetics is an understanding of the physical processes, in particular hydrologic processes, under which that landscape is operating. In arid and semi-arid landscapes, however, quantifying the considerable spatial and temporal variability of streamflow patterns historically has been limited by the substantial physical effort and monetary cost required to install monitoring equipment. Recently, internally-recording temperature sensors have been modified to measure relative conductivity as an indicator for the onset and cessation of streamflow, providing an inexpensive method of quantifying the timing, duration, and frequency of surface flow that can be implemented at a broad spatial scale. In this study, we characterize surface water connectivity across several mountain watersheds as a means to understanding landscape-scale hydrologic connectivity important to aquatic biota, in particular, amphibians. In the semi-arid Huachuca mountain range of southeastern Arizona, USA, a total of 44 conductivity sensors were installed at approximately 2-km intervals throughout 8 canyons underlain by granite, limestone, and other sedimentary geologic units. Sensor locations represent a range of hydrologic and geomorphic settings including perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral reaches within bedrock, travertine, sand-bedded and coarser-grained channel morphologies. Sensors were deployed in early April 2010 at a 15-minute logging interval and data from 31 sensors were retrieved in mid-August 2010; a time period representing the cessation of the spring snow runoff period and approximately the middle of the North American monsoon period. Cessation and onset of surface flow were identified by a large negative or positive increase in the slope (first derivative) of the data record, respectively. The sensors indicate a distinct springtime stream drying (mid-April to early May 2010

High accuracy thermal conductivity measurement of aqueous cryoprotective agents and semi-rigid biological tissues using a microfabricated thermal sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xin M.; Sekar, Praveen K.; Zhao, Gang; Zhou, Xiaoming; Shu, Zhiquan; Huang, Zhongping; Ding, Weiping; Zhang, Qingchuan; Gao, Dayong

2015-01-01

An improved thermal-needle approach for accurate and fast measurement of thermal conductivity of aqueous and soft biomaterials was developed using microfabricated thermal conductivity sensors. This microscopic measuring device was comprehensively characterized at temperatures from 0 °C to 40 °C. Despite the previous belief, system calibration constant was observed to be highly temperature-dependent. Dynamic thermal conductivity response during cooling (40 °C to –40 °C) was observed using the miniaturized single tip sensor for various concentrations of CPAs, i.e., glycerol, ethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide. Chicken breast, chicken skin, porcine limb, and bovine liver were assayed to investigate the effect of anatomical heterogeneity on thermal conductivity using the arrayed multi-tip sensor at 20 °C. Experimental results revealed distinctive differences in localized thermal conductivity, which suggests the use of approximated or constant property values is expected to bring about results with largely inflated uncertainties when investigating bio-heat transfer mechanisms and/or performing sophisticated thermal modeling with complex biological tissues. Overall, the presented micro thermal sensor with automated data analysis algorithm is a promising approach for direct thermal conductivity measurement of aqueous solutions and soft biomaterials and is of great value to cryopreservation of tissues, hyperthermia or cryogenic, and other thermal-based clinical diagnostics and treatments. PMID:25993037

Design and Fabrication of Low Cost Thick Film pH Sensor using Silver Chlorinated Reference Electrodes with Integrated Temperature Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiranto Goib

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the design and fabrication of thick film pH sensor, in which the reference electrode has been formed by chlorination of Ag using FeCl3. The process was aimed to replace Ag/AgCl paste commonly used as reference electrodes. Fabricated using thick film screen printing technology on Al2O3 substrate, the pH sensor showed a measured sensitivity of -52.97, -53.17 and -53.68 mV/pH at 25°C, 45°C, and 65°C, respectively. The measured values were close to the theoretical Nernstian slope of -59 mV/pH 25°C.The sensor was also designed with an integrated Ruthenium based temperature sensor for future temperature compensation. The measured resistance temperature characteristics showed a linear reasponse over the range of 25 – 80°C. This miniaturised planar sensor should find wide application, especially in field water quality monitoring, replacing their glass type counterparts.

Integrated Passive And Wireless Sensor

KAUST Repository

Li, Bodong; Kosel, Jü rgen

2015-01-01

A passive and wireless sensor is provided for sensing at least one of magnetic field, temperature or humidity. The sensor can provide only one of the sensing functions, individually or any combination of them simultaneously. It can be used for various applications where magnetic field changes, temperature and/or humidity need to be measured. In one or more embodiments, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor is provided that can measure one or more of a magnetic field (or current that generates the magnetic field), temperature and humidity. In one or more embodiments, a magnetoimpedence (MI) sensor (for example a thin film giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) sensor), a thermally sensitive (for example a Lithium Niobite (LiNbO.sub.3)) substrate, and a humidity sensitive film (for example a hydrogel film) can be used as sensing elements.

Integrated Passive And Wireless Sensor

KAUST Repository

Li, Bodong

2015-04-30

A passive and wireless sensor is provided for sensing at least one of magnetic field, temperature or humidity. The sensor can provide only one of the sensing functions, individually or any combination of them simultaneously. It can be used for various applications where magnetic field changes, temperature and/or humidity need to be measured. In one or more embodiments, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor is provided that can measure one or more of a magnetic field (or current that generates the magnetic field), temperature and humidity. In one or more embodiments, a magnetoimpedence (MI) sensor (for example a thin film giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) sensor), a thermally sensitive (for example a Lithium Niobite (LiNbO.sub.3)) substrate, and a humidity sensitive film (for example a hydrogel film) can be used as sensing elements.

Method for Signal Processing of Electric Field Modulation Sensor in a Conductive Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. I. Miseyk

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In investigating the large waters and deep oceans the most promising are modulation sensors for measuring electric field in a conducting environment in a very low frequency range in devices of autonomous or non-autonomous vertical sounding. When using sensors of this type it is necessary to solve the problem of enhancement and measurement of the modulated signal from the baseband noise.The work analyses hydrodynamic and electromagnetic noise at the input of transducer with "rotating" sensitive axis. By virtue of matching the measuring electrodes with the signal processing circuit a conclusion has been drawn that the proposed basic model of a transducer with "rotating” sensitive axis is the most efficient in terms of enhancement and measurement of modulated signal from the baseband noise. It has been shown that it is undesirable for transducers to have the rotation of electrodes resulting, in this case, in arising noise to be synchronously changed with transducer rotation frequency (modulation frequency. This will complicate the further signal-noise enhancement later in their processing.The paper justifies the choice of demodulation output signal, called synchronous demodulation using a low-pass filter with a cutoff frequency much lower than the carrier frequency to provide an output signal in the range of very low frequency and dc electric fields.The paper offers an original circuit to process the signals taken from the modulation sensor with "rotating" measurement base. This circuit has advantages over the earlier known circuits for measuring electric fields in a conducting (marine environment in the ultralow frequency range of these fields in terms of sensitivity and measuring accuracy of modulation sensors.

Temperature Sensors Integrated into a CMOS Image Sensor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abarca Prouza, A.N.; Xie, S.; Markenhof, Jules; Theuwissen, A.J.P.

2017-01-01

In this work, a novel approach is presented for measuring relative temperature variations inside the pixel array of a CMOS image sensor itself. This approach can give important information when compensation for dark (current) fixed pattern noise (FPN) is needed. The test image sensor consists of

A miniaturized oxygen sensor integrated on fiber surface based on evanescent-wave induced fluorescence quenching

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiong, Yan [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500 (China); Oil and Gas Field Applied Chemistry Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500 (China); Tan, Jun; Wang, Chengjie; Zhu, Ying [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500 (China); Fang, Shenwen [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500 (China); Oil and Gas Field Applied Chemistry Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500 (China); Wu, Jiayi; Wang, Qing [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500 (China); Duan, Ming, E-mail: swpua124@126.com [State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500 (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500 (China); Oil and Gas Field Applied Chemistry Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500 (China)

2016-11-15

In this work, a miniaturized sensor was integrated on fiber surface and developed for oxygen determination through evanescent-wave induced fluorescence quenching. The sensor was designed by using light emitting diode (LED) as light source and optical fiber as light transmission element. Tris(2,2′-bipyridyl) ruthenium ([Ru(bpy){sub 3}]{sup 2+}) fluorophore was immobilized in the organically modified silicates (ORMOSILs) film and coated onto the fiber surface. When light propagated by total internal reflection (TIR) in the fiber core, evanescent wave could be produced on the fiber surface and excite [Ru(bpy){sub 3}]{sup 2+} fluorophore to produce fluorescence emission. Then oxygen could be determinated by its quenching effect on the fluorescence and its concentration could be evaluated according to Stern–Volumer model. Through integrating evanescent wave excitation and fluorescence quenching on fiber surface, the sensor was successfully miniaturized and exhibit improved performances of high sensitivity (1.4), excellent repeatability (1.2%) and fast analysis (12 s) for oxygen determination. The sensor provided a newly portable method for in-situ and real-time measurement of oxygen and showed potential for practical oxygen analysis in different application fields. Furthermore, the fabrication of this sensor provides a miniaturized and portable detection platform for species monitoring by simple modular design. - Highlights: • ORMOSILs sensing film immobilized with [Ru(bpy){sub 3}]{sup 2+} fluorophore was coated on fiber surface. • Evanescent wave on the fiber surface was utilized as excitation source to produce fluorescence. • Oxygen was measured based on its quenching effect on evanescent wave-induce fluorescence. • Sensor fabrication was miniaturized by integrating detection and sensing elements on the fiber. • The modular design sensor provides a detection platform for other species monitoring.

Silver nanowire/polymer composite soft conductive film fabricated by large-area compatible coating for flexible pressure sensor array

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Sujie; Li, Siying; Peng, Sai; Huang, Yukun; Zhao, Jiaqing; Tang, Wei; Guo, Xiaojun

2018-01-01

Soft conductive films composed of a silver nanowire (AgNW) network, a neutral-pH PEDOT:PSS over-coating layer and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer substrate are fabricated by large area compatible coating processes. The neutral-pH PEDOT:PSS layer is shown to be able to significantly improve the conductivity, stretchability and air stability of the conductive films. The soft conductive films are patterned using a simple maskless patterning approach to fabricate an 8 × 8 flexible pressure sensor array. It is shown that such soft conductive films can help to improve the sensitivity and reduce the signal crosstalk over the pressure sensor array. Project supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (No. 16JC1400603).

Integrated pressure and temperature sensor with high immunity against external disturbance for flexible endoscope operation

Science.gov (United States)

Maeda, Yusaku; Maeda, Kohei; Kobara, Hideki; Mori, Hirohito; Takao, Hidekuni

2017-04-01

In this study, an integrated pressure and temperature sensor device for a flexible endoscope with long-term stability in in vivo environments was developed and demonstrated. The sensor, which is embedded in the thin wall of the disposable endoscope hood, is intended for use in endoscopic surgery. The device surface is coated with a Cr layer to prevent photoelectronic generation induced by the strong light of the endoscope. The integrated temperature sensor allows compensation for the effect of the temperature drift on a pressure signal. The fabricated device pressure resolution is 0.4 mmHg; the corresponding pressure error is 3.2 mmHg. The packaged device was used in a surgical simulation in an animal experiment. Pressure and temperature monitoring was achieved even in a pH 1 acid solution. The device enables intraluminal pressure and temperature measurements of the stomach, which facilitate the maintenance of internal stomach conditions. The applicability of the sensor was successfully demonstrated in animal experiments.

3-Axis Fully-Integrated Capacitive Tactile Sensor with Flip-Bonded CMOS on LTCC Interposer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sho Asano

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper reports a 3-axis fully integrated differential capacitive tactile sensor surface-mountable on a bus line. The sensor integrates a flip-bonded complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS with capacitive sensing circuits on a low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC interposer with Au through vias by Au-Au thermo-compression bonding. The CMOS circuit and bonding pads on the sensor backside were electrically connected through Au bumps and the LTCC interposer, and the differential capacitive gap was formed by an Au sealing frame. A diaphragm for sensing 3-axis force was formed in the CMOS substrate. The dimensions of the completed sensor are 2.5 mm in width, 2.5 mm in length, and 0.66 mm in thickness. The fabricated sensor output coded 3-axis capacitive sensing data according to applied 3-axis force by three-dimensional (3D-printed pins. The measured sensitivity was as high as over 34 Count/mN for normal force and 14 to 15 Count/mN for shear force with small noise, which corresponds to less than 1 mN. The hysteresis and the average cross-sensitivity were also found to be less than 2% full scale and 11%, respectively.

Manufacturing technology of integrated textile-based sensor networks for in situ monitoring applications of composite wind turbine blades

Science.gov (United States)

Haentzsche, Eric; Mueller, Ralf; Huebner, Matthias; Ruder, Tristan; Unger, Reimar; Nocke, Andreas; Cherif, Chokri

2016-10-01

Based on in situ strain sensors consisting of piezo-resistive carbon filament yarns (CFYs), which have been successfully integrated into textile reinforcement structures during their textile-technological manufacturing process, a continuous load of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) components has been realised. These sensors are also suitable for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. The two-dimensional sensor layout is made feasible by the usage of a modular warp yarn path manipulation unit. Using a functional model of a small wind turbine blade in thermoset composite design, the sensor function for basic SHM applications (e.g. static load monitoring) are demonstrated. Any mechanical loads along the pressure or suction side of the wind turbine blade can be measured and calculated via a correlative change in resistance of the CFYs within the textile reinforcement plies. Performing quasi-static load tests on both tensile specimen and full-scale wind turbine blade, elementary results have been obtained concerning electro-mechanical behaviour and spatial resolution of global and even local static stresses according to the CFY sensor integration length. This paper demonstrates the great potential of textile-based and textile-technological integrated sensors in reinforcement structures for future SHM applications of FRPs.

Unvoiced Speech Recognition Using Tissue-Conductive Acoustic Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heracleous Panikos

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We present the use of stethoscope and silicon NAM (nonaudible murmur microphones in automatic speech recognition. NAM microphones are special acoustic sensors, which are attached behind the talker's ear and can capture not only normal (audible speech, but also very quietly uttered speech (nonaudible murmur. As a result, NAM microphones can be applied in automatic speech recognition systems when privacy is desired in human-machine communication. Moreover, NAM microphones show robustness against noise and they might be used in special systems (speech recognition, speech transform, etc. for sound-impaired people. Using adaptation techniques and a small amount of training data, we achieved for a 20 k dictation task a word accuracy for nonaudible murmur recognition in a clean environment. In this paper, we also investigate nonaudible murmur recognition in noisy environments and the effect of the Lombard reflex on nonaudible murmur recognition. We also propose three methods to integrate audible speech and nonaudible murmur recognition using a stethoscope NAM microphone with very promising results.

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.

Optimization of sensor introduction into laminated composite materials

Science.gov (United States)

Schaaf, Kristin; Nemat-Nasser, Sia

2008-03-01

This work seeks to extend the functionality of the composite material beyond that of simply load-bearing and to enable in situ sensing, without compromising the structural integrity of the host composite material. Essential to the application of smart composites is the issue of the mechanical coupling of the sensor to the host material. Here we present various methods of embedding sensors within the host composite material. In this study, quasi-static three-point bending (short beam) and fatigue three-point bending (short beam) tests are conducted in order to characterize the effects of introducing the sensors into the host composite material. The sensors that are examined include three types of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) thin film sensors: silver ink with a protective coating of urethane, silver ink without a protective coating, and nickel-copper alloy without a protective coating. The methods of sensor integration include placement at the midplane between the layers of prepreg material as well as a sandwich configuration in which a PVDF thin film sensor is placed between the first and second and nineteenth and twentieth layers of prepreg. Each PVDF sensor is continuous and occupies the entire layer, lying in the plane normal to the thickness direction in laminated composites. The work described here is part of an ongoing effort to understand the structural effects of integrating microsensor networks into a host composite material.

Inertial navigation sensor integrated motion analysis for autonomous vehicle navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Barry; Bhanu, Bir

1992-01-01

Recent work on INS integrated motion analysis is described. Results were obtained with a maximally passive system of obstacle detection (OD) for ground-based vehicles and rotorcraft. The OD approach involves motion analysis of imagery acquired by a passive sensor in the course of vehicle travel to generate range measurements to world points within the sensor FOV. INS data and scene analysis results are used to enhance interest point selection, the matching of the interest points, and the subsequent motion-based computations, tracking, and OD. The most important lesson learned from the research described here is that the incorporation of inertial data into the motion analysis program greatly improves the analysis and makes the process more robust.

An integrative solution for managing, tracing and citing sensor-related information

Science.gov (United States)

Koppe, Roland; Gerchow, Peter; Macario, Ana; Schewe, Ingo; Rehmcke, Steven; Düde, Tobias

2017-04-01

In a data-driven scientific world, the need to capture information on sensors used in the data acquisition process has become increasingly important. Following the recommendations of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), we started by adopting the SensorML standard for describing platforms, devices and sensors. However, it soon became obvious to us that understanding, implementing and filling such standards costs significant effort and cannot be expected from every scientist individually. So we developed a web-based sensor management solution (https://sensor.awi.de) for describing platforms, devices and sensors as hierarchy of systems which supports tracing changes to a system whereas hiding complexity. Each platform contains devices where each device can have sensors associated with specific identifiers, contacts, events, related online resources (e.g. manufacturer factsheets, calibration documentation, data processing documentation), sensor output parameters and geo-location. In order to better understand and address real world requirements, we have closely interacted with field-going scientists in the context of the key national infrastructure project "FRontiers in Arctic marine Monitoring ocean observatory" (FRAM) during the software development. We learned that not only the lineage of observations is crucial for scientists but also alert services using value ranges, flexible output formats and information on data providers (e.g. FTP sources) for example. Mostly important, persistent and citable versions of sensor descriptions are required for traceability and reproducibility allowing seamless integration with existing information systems, e.g. PANGAEA. Within the context of the EU-funded Ocean Data Interoperability Platform project (ODIP II) and in cooperation with 52north we are proving near real-time data via Sensor Observation Services (SOS) along with sensor descriptions based on our sensor management solution. ODIP II also aims to develop a harmonized

Semantically-Enabled Sensor Plug & Play for the Sensor Web

Science.gov (United States)

Bröring, Arne; Maúe, Patrick; Janowicz, Krzysztof; Nüst, Daniel; Malewski, Christian

2011-01-01

Environmental sensors have continuously improved by becoming smaller, cheaper, and more intelligent over the past years. As consequence of these technological advancements, sensors are increasingly deployed to monitor our environment. The large variety of available sensor types with often incompatible protocols complicates the integration of sensors into observing systems. The standardized Web service interfaces and data encodings defined within OGC’s Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) framework make sensors available over the Web and hide the heterogeneous sensor protocols from applications. So far, the SWE framework does not describe how to integrate sensors on-the-fly with minimal human intervention. The driver software which enables access to sensors has to be implemented and the measured sensor data has to be manually mapped to the SWE models. In this article we introduce a Sensor Plug & Play infrastructure for the Sensor Web by combining (1) semantic matchmaking functionality, (2) a publish/subscribe mechanism underlying the SensorWeb, as well as (3) a model for the declarative description of sensor interfaces which serves as a generic driver mechanism. We implement and evaluate our approach by applying it to an oil spill scenario. The matchmaking is realized using existing ontologies and reasoning engines and provides a strong case for the semantic integration capabilities provided by Semantic Web research. PMID:22164033

Electrical Design and Evaluation of Asynchronous Serial Bus Communication Network of 48 Sensor Platform LSIs with Single-Ended I/O for Integrated MEMS-LSI Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Chenzhong; Tanaka, Shuji; Nakayama, Takahiro; Hata, Yoshiyuki

2018-01-01

For installing many sensors in a limited space with a limited computing resource, the digitization of the sensor output at the site of sensation has advantages such as a small amount of wiring, low signal interference and high scalability. For this purpose, we have developed a dedicated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) Large-Scale Integration (LSI) (referred to as “sensor platform LSI”) for bus-networked Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS)-LSI integrated sensors. In this LSI, collision avoidance, adaptation and event-driven functions are simply implemented to relieve data collision and congestion in asynchronous serial bus communication. In this study, we developed a network system with 48 sensor platform LSIs based on Printed Circuit Board (PCB) in a backbone bus topology with the bus length being 2.4 m. We evaluated the serial communication performance when 48 LSIs operated simultaneously with the adaptation function. The number of data packets received from each LSI was almost identical, and the average sampling frequency of 384 capacitance channels (eight for each LSI) was 73.66 Hz. PMID:29342923

Electrical Design and Evaluation of Asynchronous Serial Bus Communication Network of 48 Sensor Platform LSIs with Single-Ended I/O for Integrated MEMS-LSI Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chenzhong Shao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available For installing many sensors in a limited space with a limited computing resource, the digitization of the sensor output at the site of sensation has advantages such as a small amount of wiring, low signal interference and high scalability. For this purpose, we have developed a dedicated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS Large-Scale Integration (LSI (referred to as “sensor platform LSI” for bus-networked Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS-LSI integrated sensors. In this LSI, collision avoidance, adaptation and event-driven functions are simply implemented to relieve data collision and congestion in asynchronous serial bus communication. In this study, we developed a network system with 48 sensor platform LSIs based on Printed Circuit Board (PCB in a backbone bus topology with the bus length being 2.4 m. We evaluated the serial communication performance when 48 LSIs operated simultaneously with the adaptation function. The number of data packets received from each LSI was almost identical, and the average sampling frequency of 384 capacitance channels (eight for each LSI was 73.66 Hz.

Monolithic micro-electro-thermal actuator integrated with a lateral displacement sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yan; Choi, Young-Soo; Lee, Dong-Weon

2010-01-01

This paper presents monolithically fabricated horizontal thermal actuators integrated with piezoresistive sensors for in situ displacement sensing. The great advantage of a hybrid system is the use of closed feedback control for improving the transient response of a thermal actuator and positioning accuracy. It consists of two 'hot arms' made of doped silicon for Joule heating-induced thermal expansion when a current flow passes through them. The piezoresistor is embedded in the base of the 'cold arm' flexure for monitoring the tip deflection and for performance characterization. This 'cold arm' is not a part of the electrical circuit, which further improves the heat power efficiency and the measurement accuracy. Optimization is achieved mainly through modification of the geometry as well as the fabrication process. The fabricated micro-electro-thermal actuator with an integrated sensor is intended for use as a scanning cantilever in atomic force microscope or as a sample holder to drive the moving object through arrays configuration.

Microprocessor-based integration of microfluidic control for the implementation of automated sensor monitoring and multithreaded optimization algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Ezra, Elishai; Maor, Idan; Bavli, Danny; Shalom, Itai; Levy, Gahl; Prill, Sebastian; Jaeger, Magnus S; Nahmias, Yaakov

2015-08-01

Microfluidic applications range from combinatorial synthesis to high throughput screening, with platforms integrating analog perfusion components, digitally controlled micro-valves and a range of sensors that demand a variety of communication protocols. Currently, discrete control units are used to regulate and monitor each component, resulting in scattered control interfaces that limit data integration and synchronization. Here, we present a microprocessor-based control unit, utilizing the MS Gadgeteer open framework that integrates all aspects of microfluidics through a high-current electronic circuit that supports and synchronizes digital and analog signals for perfusion components, pressure elements, and arbitrary sensor communication protocols using a plug-and-play interface. The control unit supports an integrated touch screen and TCP/IP interface that provides local and remote control of flow and data acquisition. To establish the ability of our control unit to integrate and synchronize complex microfluidic circuits we developed an equi-pressure combinatorial mixer. We demonstrate the generation of complex perfusion sequences, allowing the automated sampling, washing, and calibrating of an electrochemical lactate sensor continuously monitoring hepatocyte viability following exposure to the pesticide rotenone. Importantly, integration of an optical sensor allowed us to implement automated optimization protocols that require different computational challenges including: prioritized data structures in a genetic algorithm, distributed computational efforts in multiple-hill climbing searches and real-time realization of probabilistic models in simulated annealing. Our system offers a comprehensive solution for establishing optimization protocols and perfusion sequences in complex microfluidic circuits.

Fluid conductivity sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, F. M.

1985-01-01

Apparatus for sensing the electrical conductivity of fluid which can be used to detonate an electro explosive device for operating a release mechanism for uncoupling a parachute canopy from its load upon landing in water. An operating network connected to an ignition capacitor and to a conductivity sensing circuit and connected in controlling relation to a semiconductor switch has a voltage independent portion which controls the time at which the semiconductor switch is closed to define a discharge path to detonate the electro explosive device independent of the rate of voltage rise on the ignition capacitor. The operating network also has a voltage dependent portion which when a voltage of predetermined magnitude is developed on the conductivity sensing circuit in response to fluid not having the predetermined condition of conductivity, the voltage dependent portion closes the semiconductor switch to define the discharge path when the energy level is insufficient to detonate the electro explosive device. A regulated current source is connected in relation to the conductivity sensing circuit and to the electrodes thereof in a manner placing the circuit voltage across the electrodes when the conductivity of the fluid is below a predetermined magnitude so that the sensing circuit does not respond thereto and placing the circuit voltage across the sensing circuit when the conductivity of the fluid is greater than a predetermined magnitude. The apparatus is operated from a battery, and the electrodes are of dissimilar metals so selected and connected relative to the polarity portions of the circuit to maximize utilization of the battery output voltage

A Differential Electrochemical Readout ASIC With Heterogeneous Integration of Bio-Nano Sensors for Amperometric Sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghoreishizadeh, Sara S; Taurino, Irene; De Micheli, Giovanni; Carrara, Sandro; Georgiou, Pantelis

2017-10-01

A monolithic biosensing platform is presented for miniaturized amperometric electrochemical sensing in CMOS. The system consists of a fully integrated current readout circuit for differential current measurement as well as on-die sensors developed by growing platinum nanostructures (Pt-nanoS) on top of electrodes implemented with the top metal layer. The circuit is based on the switch-capacitor technique and includes pseudodifferential integrators for concurrent sampling of the differential sensor currents. The circuit further includes a differential to single converter and a programmable gain amplifier prior to an ADC. The system is fabricated in [Formula: see text] technology and measures current within [Formula: see text] with minimum input-referred noise of [Formula: see text] and consumes [Formula: see text] from a [Formula: see text] supply. Differential sensing for nanostructured sensors is proposed to build highly sensitive and offset-free sensors for metabolite detection. This is successfully tested for bio-nano-sensors for the measurement of glucose in submilli molar concentrations with the proposed readout IC. The on-die electrodes are nanostructured and cyclic voltammetry run successfully through the readout IC to demonstrate detection of [Formula: see text].

Pericellular oxygen monitoring with integrated sensor chips for reproducible cell culture experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Kieninger, J; Aravindalochanan, K; Sandvik, J A; Pettersen, E O; Urban, G A

2014-04-01

Here we present an application, in two tumour cell lines, based on the Sensing Cell Culture Flask system as a cell culture monitoring tool for pericellular oxygen sensing. T-47D (human breast cancer) and T98G (human brain cancer) cells were cultured either in atmospheric air or in a glove-box set at 4% oxygen, in both cases with 5% CO2 in the gas phase. Pericellular oxygen tension was measured with the help of an integrated sensor chip comprising oxygen sensor arrays. Obtained results illustrate variation of pericellular oxygen tension in attached cells covered by stagnant medium. Independent of incubation conditions, low pericellular oxygen concentration levels, usually associated with hypoxia, were found in dense cell cultures. Respiration alone brought pericellular oxygen concentration down to levels which could activate hypoxia-sensing regulatory processes in cultures believed to be aerobic. Cells in culture believed to experience conditions of mild hypoxia may, in reality, experience severe hypoxia. This would lead to incorrect assumptions and suggests that pericellular oxygen concentration readings are of great importance to obtain reproducible results when dealing with hypoxic and normoxic (aerobic) incubation conditions. The Sensing Cell Culture Flask system allows continuous monitoring of pericellular oxygen concentration with outstanding long-term stability and no need for recalibration during cell culture experiments. The sensor is integrated into the flask bottom, thus in direct contact with attached cells. No additional equipment needs to be inserted into the flask during culturing. Transparency of the electrochemical sensor chip allows optical inspection of cells attached on top of the sensor. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Highly Sensitive Reentrant Cavity-Microstrip Patch Antenna Integrated Wireless Passive Pressure Sensor for High Temperature Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Lu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A novel reentrant cavity-microstrip patch antenna integrated wireless passive pressure sensor was proposed in this paper for high temperature applications. The reentrant cavity was analyzed from aspects of distributed model and equivalent lumped circuit model, on the basis of which an optimal sensor structure integrated with a rectangular microstrip patch antenna was proposed to better transmit/receive wireless signals. In this paper, the proposed sensor was fabricated with high temperature resistant alumina ceramic and silver metalization with weld sealing, and it was measured in a hermetic metal tank with nitrogen pressure loading. It was verified that the sensor was highly sensitive, keeping stable performance up to 300 kPa with an average sensitivity of 981.8 kHz/kPa at temperature 25°C, while, for high temperature measurement, the sensor can operate properly under pressure of 60–120 kPa in the temperature range of 25–300°C with maximum pressure sensitivity of 179.2 kHz/kPa. In practical application, the proposed sensor is used in a method called table lookup with a maximum error of 5.78%.

Water quality sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishizuka, Keiko; Takahashi, Masanori; Watanabe, Atsushi; Ibe, Hidefumi.

1994-01-01

The sensor of the present invention can directly measure oxygen/hydrogen peroxide concentrations in reactor water under radiation irradiation condition, and it has a long life time. Namely, an oxygen sensor comprises electrodes attached on both sides of high temperature/radiation resistant ion conductive material in which ions are sufficiently diffused within a temperature range of from a room temperature to 300degC. It has a performance for measuring electromotive force caused by the difference of a partial pressure between a reference gas and a gas to be measured contained in the high temperature/radiation resistant material. A hydrogen peroxide sensor has the oxygen sensor described above, to which a filter for causing decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is attached. The sensor of the present invention can directly measure oxygen/hydrogen peroxide concentrations in a reactor water of a BWR type reactor under high temperature/radiation irradiation condition. Accordingly, accurate water quality environment in the reactor water can be recognized. As a result, determination of incore corrosion environment is established thereby enabling to attain reactor integrity, safety and long life. (I.S.)

Conducting Polymers Functionalized with Phthalocyanine as Nitrogen Dioxide Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. D. Deshpande

2002-05-01

Full Text Available The conducting polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole and polythiophene were functionalized with copper phthalocyanine using chemical oxidation method. The obtained polymers viz. PANI-CuPc, PPy-CuPc and PT-CuPc were studied as chemical sensors by their response characteristics after exposure to various chemical vapors such as methanol, ammonia and nitrogen dioxide. The results obtained showed that these polymers have moderate sensitivity towards the methanol as well as ammonia vapors whereas they show tremendous sensitivity towards nitrogen dioxide vapors. The sensitivity factor of as high as 50,000 was obtained for PT-CuPc polymers in nitrogen dioxide. In comparison to this, the sensitivity factors of about 100 and 40 were obtained, when these polymers were exposed to ammonia and methanol vapors. The very high selectivity towards the nitrogen dioxide was explained on the basis of charge transfer complex formed between, the phthalocyanine donor and nitrogen dioxide acceptor molecules. On the other hand, ammonia becomes a competing electron donor in CuPc containing conducting polymers. The very low response towards the methanol may be explained on the basis very little charge transfer / interaction between CuPc containing polymers and methanol. Thus, CuPc incorporated conducting polymers have much higher selectivity than their original homopolymer.

Integrating Sensor-Collected Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

2008-11-01

APPENDIX H: ACRONYMS & GLOSSARY OF TERMS______________________________________________ KML Keyhole Markup Language L LADAR Laser Radar LAN Local... close to the sensor as possible. I endorse the Task Force’s findings and recommendations and encourage you to review the report. Dr. William...deeply-buried targets – require that the relevant sensors be in close proximity to the target. The task force discussed the requirements of close -in

Suitability of Strain Gage Sensors for Integration into Smart Sport Equipment: A Golf Club Example.

Science.gov (United States)

Umek, Anton; Zhang, Yuan; Tomažič, Sašo; Kos, Anton

2017-04-21

Wearable devices and smart sport equipment are being increasingly used in amateur and professional sports. Smart sport equipment employs various sensors for detecting its state and actions. The correct choice of the most appropriate sensor(s) is of paramount importance for efficient and successful operation of sport equipment. When integrated into the sport equipment, ideal sensors are unobstructive, and do not change the functionality of the equipment. The article focuses on experiments for identification and selection of sensors that are suitable for the integration into a golf club with the final goal of their use in real time biofeedback applications. We tested two orthogonally affixed strain gage (SG) sensors, a 3-axis accelerometer, and a 3-axis gyroscope. The strain gage sensors are calibrated and validated in the laboratory environment by a highly accurate Qualisys Track Manager (QTM) optical tracking system. Field test results show that different types of golf swing and improper movement in early phases of golf swing can be detected with strain gage sensors attached to the shaft of the golf club. Thus they are suitable for biofeedback applications to help golfers to learn repetitive golf swings. It is suggested that the use of strain gage sensors can improve the golf swing technical error detection accuracy and that strain gage sensors alone are enough for basic golf swing analysis. Our final goal is to be able to acquire and analyze as many parameters of a smart golf club in real time during the entire duration of the swing. This would give us the ability to design mobile and cloud biofeedback applications with terminal or concurrent feedback that will enable us to speed-up motor skill learning in golf.

Strain sensors for high field pulse magnets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez, Christian [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Zheng, Yan [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Easton, Daniel [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Farinholt, Kevin M [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Park, Gyuhae [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

In this paper we present an investigation into several strain sensing technologies that are being considered to monitor mechanical deformation within the steel reinforcement shells used in high field pulsed magnets. Such systems generally operate at cryogenic temperatures to mitigate heating issues that are inherent in the coils of nondestructive, high field pulsed magnets. The objective of this preliminary study is to characterize the performance of various strain sensing technologies at liquid nitrogen temperatures (-196 C). Four sensor types are considered in this investigation: fiber Bragg gratings (FBG), resistive foil strain gauges (RFSG), piezoelectric polymers (PVDF), and piezoceramics (PZT). Three operational conditions are considered for each sensor: bond integrity, sensitivity as a function of temperature, and thermal cycling effects. Several experiments were conducted as part of this study, investigating adhesion with various substrate materials (stainless steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber), sensitivity to static (FBG and RFSG) and dynamic (RFSG, PVDF and PZT) load conditions, and sensor diagnostics using PZT sensors. This work has been conducted in collaboration with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), and the results of this study will be used to identify the set of sensing technologies that would be best suited for integration within high field pulsed magnets at the NHMFL facility.

#2) Sensor Technology-State of the Science | Science ...

Science.gov (United States)

Establish market surveys of commercially-available air quality sensorsConduct an extensive literature survey describing the state of sensor technologiesInvestigate emerging technologies and their potential to meet future air quality monitoring needs for the Agency as well as other partners/stakeholders Develop sensor user guidesEducate sensor developers/sensors users on the state of low cost censorsFacilitate knowledge transfer to Federal/Regional/State air quality associatesWork directly with sensor developers to dramatically speed up the development of next generation air monitoring Support ORD’s Sensor Roadmap by focusing on areas of highest priority (NAAQS, Air Toxics, Citizen Science)Establish highly integrated research efforts across ORD and its partners (internal/external) to ensure consistent The National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose.

Carbon nanotube based pressure sensor for flexible electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

So, Hye-Mi; Sim, Jin Woo; Kwon, Jinhyeong; Yun, Jongju; Baik, Seunghyun; Chang, Won Seok

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The electromechanical change of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes. • Fabrication of CNT field-effect transistor on flexible substrate. • CNT based FET integrated active pressure sensor. • The integrated device yields an increase in the source-drain current under pressure. - Abstract: A pressure sensor was developed based on an arrangement of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) supported by a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix. The VACNTs embedded in the PDMS matrix were structurally flexible and provided repeated sensing operation due to the high elasticities of both the polymer and the carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The conductance increased in the presence of a loading pressure, which compressed the material and induced contact between neighboring CNTs, thereby producing a dense current path and better CNT/metal contacts. To achieve flexible functional electronics, VACNTs based pressure sensor was integrated with field-effect transistor, which is fabricated using sprayed semiconducting carbon nanotubes on plastic substrate

Carbon nanotube based pressure sensor for flexible electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

So, Hye-Mi [Department of Nano Mechanics, Nanomechanical Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Sim, Jin Woo [Advanced Nano Technology Ltd., Seoul 132-710 (Korea, Republic of); Kwon, Jinhyeong [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 305-701 (Korea, Republic of); Yun, Jongju; Baik, Seunghyun [SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Department of Energy Science and School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Chang, Won Seok, E-mail: paul@kimm.re.kr [Department of Nano Mechanics, Nanomechanical Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of)

2013-12-15

Highlights: • The electromechanical change of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes. • Fabrication of CNT field-effect transistor on flexible substrate. • CNT based FET integrated active pressure sensor. • The integrated device yields an increase in the source-drain current under pressure. - Abstract: A pressure sensor was developed based on an arrangement of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) supported by a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix. The VACNTs embedded in the PDMS matrix were structurally flexible and provided repeated sensing operation due to the high elasticities of both the polymer and the carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The conductance increased in the presence of a loading pressure, which compressed the material and induced contact between neighboring CNTs, thereby producing a dense current path and better CNT/metal contacts. To achieve flexible functional electronics, VACNTs based pressure sensor was integrated with field-effect transistor, which is fabricated using sprayed semiconducting carbon nanotubes on plastic substrate.

Electrochemical cell with integrated hydrocarbon gas sensor for automobile exhaust gas; Elektrochemische Zelle mit integriertem Kohlenwasserstoff-Gassensor fuer das Automobilabgas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Biskupski, D.; Moos, R. [Univ. Bayreuth (Germany). Bayreuth Engine Research Center, Lehrstuhl fuer Funktionsmaterialien; Wiesner, K.; Fleischer, M. [Siemens AG, Corporate Technology, CT PS 6, Muenchen (Germany)

2007-07-01

In the future sensors will be necessary to control the compliance with hydrocarbon limiting values, allowing a direct detection of the hydrocarbons. Appropriate sensor-active functional materials are metal oxides, which have a hydrocarbon sensitivity but are also dependent on the oxygen partial pressure. It is proposed that the gas-sensing layer should be integrated into an electrochemical cell. The authors show that the integration of a resistive oxygen sensor into a pump cell allows a defined oxygen concentration level at the sensor layer in any exhaust gas.

Integrating Fiber Optic Strain Sensors into Metal Using Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Hehr, Adam; Norfolk, Mark; Wenning, Justin; Sheridan, John; Leser, Paul; Leser, Patrick; Newman, John A.

2018-03-01

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing, a rather new three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, uses ultrasonic energy to produce metallurgical bonds between layers of metal foils near room temperature. This low temperature attribute of the process enables integration of temperature sensitive components, such as fiber optic strain sensors, directly into metal structures. This may be an enabling technology for Digital Twin applications, i.e., virtual model interaction and feedback with live load data. This study evaluates the consolidation quality, interface robustness, and load sensing limits of commercially available fiber optic strain sensors embedded into aluminum alloy 6061. Lastly, an outlook on the technology and its applications is described.

A Magnetic Tracking System based on Highly Sensitive Integrated Hall Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Schlageter, Vincent; Drljaca, Predrag; Popovic, Radivoje S.; KuČERA, Pavel

A tracking system with five degrees of freedom based on a 2D-array of 16 Hall sensors and a permanent magnet is presented in this paper. The sensitivity of the Hall sensors is increased by integrated micro- and external macro-flux-concentrators. Detection distance larger than 20cm (during one hour without calibration) is achieved using a magnet of 0.2cm3. This corresponds to a resolution of the sensors of 0.05µTrms. The position and orientation of the marker is displayed in real time at least 20 times per second. The sensing system is small enough to be hand-held and can be used in a normal environment. This presented tracking system has been successfully applied to follow a small swallowed magnet through the entire human digestive tube. This approach is extremely promising as a new non-invasive diagnostic technique in gastro-enterology.

Integrated oxygen sensors based on Mg-doped SrTiO3 fabricated by screen-printing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zheng, H.; Toft Sørensen, O.

1998-01-01

This paper describes the fabrication and testing of Mg-doped SrTiO3 thick-film oxygen sensors with an integrated Pt heater. The results show that the sensor exhibits a PO2 dependence according to R proportional to PO2-1/4 in the considered PO2 range(2.5 x 10(-5) bar

Air launch wireless sensor nodes (ALSN) for battle damage assessment (BDA)

Science.gov (United States)

Back, Jason M.; Beck, Steven D.; Frank, Mark A.; Hoenes, Eric

2006-05-01

This paper summarizes the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) sponsored development and demonstration of an Air Launched Sensor Node (ALSN) system designed to fill DTRA's immediate need to support the Global Strike requirement of weapon-borne deliverable sensors for Battle Damage Assessment (BDA). Unattended ground sensors were integrated into a CBU-103 Tactical Munitions Dispenser (TMD), and flight test demonstrated with the 46 th Test Wing at Eglin AFB, FL. The objectives of the ALSN program were to repackage an existing multi-sensor node system to conform to the payload envelope and deployment configuration design; to integrate this payload into the CBU-103 TMD; and to conduct a combined payload flight test demonstration. The final sensor node included multiple sensors a microphone, a geophone, and multiple directional Passive Infrared (PIR) detectors with processing electronics, a low power wireless communications 802.15.4 mesh network, GPS (Global Positioning System), and power integrated into a form-fit BLU-97 munitions deployable package. This paper will present and discuss the flight test, results, and ALSN performance.

Measurement of local two-phase flow parameters of nanofluids using conductivity double-sensor probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Yu Sun; Chang, Soon Heung

2011-04-04

A two-phase flow experiment using air and water-based γ-Al2O3 nanofluid was conducted to observe the basic hydraulic phenomenon of nanofluids. The local two-phase flow parameters were measured with a conductivity double-sensor two-phase void meter. The void fraction, interfacial velocity, interfacial area concentration, and mean bubble diameter were evaluated, and all of those results using the nanofluid were compared with the corresponding results for pure water. The void fraction distribution was flattened in the nanofluid case more than it was in the pure water case. The higher interfacial area concentration resulted in a smaller mean bubble diameter in the case of the nanofluid. This was the first attempt to measure the local two-phase flow parameters of nanofluids using a conductivity double-sensor two-phase void meter. Throughout this experimental study, the differences in the internal two-phase flow structure of the nanofluid were identified. In addition, the heat transfer enhancement of the nanofluid can be resulted from the increase of the interfacial area concentration which means the available area of the heat and mass transfer.

The research of autonomous obstacle avoidance of mobile robot based on multi-sensor integration

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Ming; Han, Baoling

2016-11-01

The object of this study is the bionic quadruped mobile robot. The study has proposed a system design plan for mobile robot obstacle avoidance with the binocular stereo visual sensor and the self-control 3D Lidar integrated with modified ant colony optimization path planning to realize the reconstruction of the environmental map. Because the working condition of a mobile robot is complex, the result of the 3D reconstruction with a single binocular sensor is undesirable when feature points are few and the light condition is poor. Therefore, this system integrates the stereo vision sensor blumblebee2 and the Lidar sensor together to detect the cloud information of 3D points of environmental obstacles. This paper proposes the sensor information fusion technology to rebuild the environment map. Firstly, according to the Lidar data and visual data on obstacle detection respectively, and then consider two methods respectively to detect the distribution of obstacles. Finally fusing the data to get the more complete, more accurate distribution of obstacles in the scene. Then the thesis introduces ant colony algorithm. It has analyzed advantages and disadvantages of the ant colony optimization and its formation cause deeply, and then improved the system with the help of the ant colony optimization to increase the rate of convergence and precision of the algorithm in robot path planning. Such improvements and integrations overcome the shortcomings of the ant colony optimization like involving into the local optimal solution easily, slow search speed and poor search results. This experiment deals with images and programs the motor drive under the compiling environment of Matlab and Visual Studio and establishes the visual 2.5D grid map. Finally it plans a global path for the mobile robot according to the ant colony algorithm. The feasibility and effectiveness of the system are confirmed by ROS and simulation platform of Linux.

Integrating wireless sensor networks with CE devices for health care activity tracking in the home environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosman, R.P.; Lukkien, J.J.; Verhoeven, R.

2009-01-01

Wireless sensing devices containing limited processing and communication capabilities are becoming available for all sorts of purposes. An important problem is to integrate networks of these sensors with the existing CE en IT infrastructure such that a) data coming out of the sensor network can be

GITEWS, an extensible and open integration platform for manifold sensor systems and processing components based on Sensor Web Enablement and the principles of Service Oriented Architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Haener, Rainer; Waechter, Joachim; Fleischer, Jens; Herrnkind, Stefan; Schwarting, Herrmann

2010-05-01

The German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) is a multifaceted system consisting of various sensor types like seismometers, sea level sensors or GPS stations, and processing components, all with their own system behavior and proprietary data structure. To operate a warning chain, beginning from measurements scaling up to warning products, all components have to interact in a correct way, both syntactically and semantically. Designing the system great emphasis was laid on conformity to the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) specification by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). The technical infrastructure, the so called Tsunami Service Bus (TSB) follows the blueprint of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). The TSB is an integration concept (SWE) where functionality (observe, task, notify, alert, and process) is grouped around business processes (Monitoring, Decision Support, Sensor Management) and packaged as interoperable services (SAS, SOS, SPS, WNS). The benefits of using a flexible architecture together with SWE lead to an open integration platform: • accessing and controlling heterogeneous sensors in a uniform way (Functional Integration) • assigns functionality to distinct services (Separation of Concerns) • allows resilient relationship between systems (Loose Coupling) • integrates services so that they can be accessed from everywhere (Location Transparency) • enables infrastructures which integrate heterogeneous applications (Encapsulation) • allows combination of services (Orchestration) and data exchange within business processes Warning systems will evolve over time: New sensor types might be added, old sensors will be replaced and processing components will be improved. From a collection of few basic services it shall be possible to compose more complex functionality essential for specific warning systems. Given these requirements a flexible infrastructure is a prerequisite for sustainable systems and their architecture must be

Sensor Fusion of Position- and Micro-Sensors (MEMS) integrated in a Wireless Sensor Network for movement detection in landslide areas

Science.gov (United States)

Arnhardt, Christian; Fernández-Steeger, Tomas; Azzam, Rafig

2010-05-01

Monitoring systems in landslide areas are important elements of effective Early Warning structures. Data acquisition and retrieval allows the detection of movement processes and thus is essential to generate warnings in time. Apart from the precise measurement, the reliability of data is fundamental, because outliers can trigger false alarms and leads to the loss of acceptance of such systems. For the monitoring of mass movements and their risk it is important to know, if there is movement, how fast it is and how trustworthy is the information. The joint project "Sensorbased landslide early warning system" (SLEWS) deals with these questions, and tries to improve data quality and to reduce false alarm rates, due to the combination of sensor date (sensor fusion). The project concentrates on the development of a prototypic Alarm- and Early Warning system (EWS) for different types of landslides by using various low-cost sensors, integrated in a wireless sensor network (WSN). The network consists of numerous connection points (nodes) that transfer data directly or over other nodes (Multi-Hop) in real-time to a data collection point (gateway). From there all the data packages are transmitted to a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for further processing, analyzing and visualizing with respect to end-user specifications. The ad-hoc characteristic of the network allows the autonomous crosslinking of the nodes according to existing connections and communication strength. Due to the independent finding of new or more stable connections (self healing) a breakdown of the whole system is avoided. The bidirectional data stream enables the receiving of data from the network but also allows the transfer of commands and pointed requests into the WSN. For the detection of surface deformations in landslide areas small low-cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) and positionsensors from the automobile industries, different industrial applications and from other measurement

Integrated oxygen sensors based on Mg-doped SrTiO3 fabricated by screen-printing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zheng, H.; Sørensen, Ole Toft

2000-01-01

This paper describes the fabrication and testing of Mg-doped SrTiO3 thick-film oxygen sensors with an integrated Pt heater. The results show that the sensor exhibits a P-o2 dependence according to R proportional to p(o2)(-1/4) in the considered P-o2 range(2.5 x 10(-5) bar

Integrated CMOS dew point sensors for relative humidity measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Savalli, Nicolo; Baglio, Salvatore; Castorina, Salvatore; Sacco, Vincenzo; Tringali, Cristina

2004-07-01

This work deals with the development of integrated relative humidity dew point sensors realized by adopting standard CMOS technology for applications in various fields. The proposed system is composed by a suspended plate that is cooled by exploiting integrated Peltier cells. The cold junctions of the cells have been spread over the plate surface to improve the homogeneity of the temperature distribution over its surface, where cooling will cause the water condensation. The temperature at which water drops occur, named dew point temperature, is a function of the air humidity. Measurement of such dew point temperature and the ambient temperature allows to know the relative humidity. The detection of water drops is achieved by adopting a capacitive sensing strategy realized by interdigited fixed combs, composed by the upper layer of the adopted process. Such a capacitive sensor, together with its conditioning circuit, drives a trigger that stops the cooling of the plate and enables the reading of the dew point temperature. Temperature measurements are achieved by means of suitably integrated thermocouples. The analytical model of the proposed system has been developed and has been used to design a prototype device and to estimate its performances. In such a prototype, the thermoelectric cooler is composed by 56 Peltier cells, made by metal 1/poly 1 junctions. The plate has a square shape with 200 μm side, and it is realized by exploiting the oxide layers. Starting from the ambient temperature a temperature variation of ΔT = 15 K can be reached in 10 ms thus allowing to measure a relative humidity greater than 40%.

3-Axis Fully-Integrated Capacitive Tactile Sensor with Flip-Bonded CMOS on LTCC Interposer †

Science.gov (United States)

Asano, Sho; Nakayama, Takahiro; Hata, Yoshiyuki; Tanaka, Shuji

2017-01-01

This paper reports a 3-axis fully integrated differential capacitive tactile sensor surface-mountable on a bus line. The sensor integrates a flip-bonded complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) with capacitive sensing circuits on a low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) interposer with Au through vias by Au-Au thermo-compression bonding. The CMOS circuit and bonding pads on the sensor backside were electrically connected through Au bumps and the LTCC interposer, and the differential capacitive gap was formed by an Au sealing frame. A diaphragm for sensing 3-axis force was formed in the CMOS substrate. The dimensions of the completed sensor are 2.5 mm in width, 2.5 mm in length, and 0.66 mm in thickness. The fabricated sensor output coded 3-axis capacitive sensing data according to applied 3-axis force by three-dimensional (3D)-printed pins. The measured sensitivity was as high as over 34 Count/mN for normal force and 14 to 15 Count/mN for shear force with small noise, which corresponds to less than 1 mN. The hysteresis and the average cross-sensitivity were also found to be less than 2% full scale and 11%, respectively. PMID:29068429

Integrated Si-based nanoplasmonic sensor with phase-sensitive angular interrogation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patskovsky, Sergiy; Meunier, Michel [Laser Processing and Plasmonics Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, C. P. 6079, succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7 (Canada)

2013-06-15

This work is related to the development of an integrated Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor on silicon platform. The optical properties of metallic nanogratings fabricated on the semiconductor structure allow direct plasmonic detection in transmission mode. Specially designed angular interrogation method provides a periodic signal with phase dependent on the conditions of surface plasmon excitation. Proposed technique leads to sensitivity better than 10{sup -6} RIU for conventional SPR Kretschmann configuration and was tested on the integrated Si-based nanoplasmonic chip. Developed concept is promising for low-cost mono and multi -sensing applications by portable or stationary platforms. (copyright 2013 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Unvoiced Speech Recognition Using Tissue-Conductive Acoustic Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroshi Saruwatari

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We present the use of stethoscope and silicon NAM (nonaudible murmur microphones in automatic speech recognition. NAM microphones are special acoustic sensors, which are attached behind the talker's ear and can capture not only normal (audible speech, but also very quietly uttered speech (nonaudible murmur. As a result, NAM microphones can be applied in automatic speech recognition systems when privacy is desired in human-machine communication. Moreover, NAM microphones show robustness against noise and they might be used in special systems (speech recognition, speech transform, etc. for sound-impaired people. Using adaptation techniques and a small amount of training data, we achieved for a 20 k dictation task a 93.9% word accuracy for nonaudible murmur recognition in a clean environment. In this paper, we also investigate nonaudible murmur recognition in noisy environments and the effect of the Lombard reflex on nonaudible murmur recognition. We also propose three methods to integrate audible speech and nonaudible murmur recognition using a stethoscope NAM microphone with very promising results.

Integrated Fault Diagnosis Algorithm for Motor Sensors of In-Wheel Independent Drive Electric Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Namju; Lee, Hyeongcheol

2016-01-01

An integrated fault-diagnosis algorithm for a motor sensor of in-wheel independent drive electric vehicles is presented. This paper proposes a method that integrates the high- and low-level fault diagnoses to improve the robustness and performance of the system. For the high-level fault diagnosis of vehicle dynamics, a planar two-track non-linear model is first selected, and the longitudinal and lateral forces are calculated. To ensure redundancy of the system, correlation between the sensor and residual in the vehicle dynamics is analyzed to detect and separate the fault of the drive motor system of each wheel. To diagnose the motor system for low-level faults, the state equation of an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor is developed, and a parity equation is used to diagnose the fault of the electric current and position sensors. The validity of the high-level fault-diagnosis algorithm is verified using Carsim and Matlab/Simulink co-simulation. The low-level fault diagnosis is verified through Matlab/Simulink simulation and experiments. Finally, according to the residuals of the high- and low-level fault diagnoses, fault-detection flags are defined. On the basis of this information, an integrated fault-diagnosis strategy is proposed. PMID:27973431

Integrated Fault Diagnosis Algorithm for Motor Sensors of In-Wheel Independent Drive Electric Vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Namju; Lee, Hyeongcheol

2016-12-12

An integrated fault-diagnosis algorithm for a motor sensor of in-wheel independent drive electric vehicles is presented. This paper proposes a method that integrates the high- and low-level fault diagnoses to improve the robustness and performance of the system. For the high-level fault diagnosis of vehicle dynamics, a planar two-track non-linear model is first selected, and the longitudinal and lateral forces are calculated. To ensure redundancy of the system, correlation between the sensor and residual in the vehicle dynamics is analyzed to detect and separate the fault of the drive motor system of each wheel. To diagnose the motor system for low-level faults, the state equation of an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor is developed, and a parity equation is used to diagnose the fault of the electric current and position sensors. The validity of the high-level fault-diagnosis algorithm is verified using Carsim and Matlab/Simulink co-simulation. The low-level fault diagnosis is verified through Matlab/Simulink simulation and experiments. Finally, according to the residuals of the high- and low-level fault diagnoses, fault-detection flags are defined. On the basis of this information, an integrated fault-diagnosis strategy is proposed.

Integrated Instrumentation and Sensor Systems Enabling Condition-Based Maintenance of Aerospace Equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard C. Millar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of the work reported herein was to use a systems engineering approach to guide development of integrated instrumentation/sensor systems (IISS incorporating communications, interconnections, and signal acquisition. These require enhanced suitability and effectiveness for diagnostics and health management of aerospace equipment governed by the principles of Condition-based maintenance (CBM. It is concluded that the systems engineering approach to IISS definition provided clear benefits in identifying overall system requirements and an architectural framework for categorizing and evaluating alternative architectures, relative to a bottom up focus on sensor technology blind to system level user needs. CBM IISS imperatives identified include factors such as tolerance of the bulk of aerospace equipment operational environments, low intrusiveness, rapid reconfiguration, and affordable life cycle costs. The functional features identified include interrogation of the variety of sensor types and interfaces common in aerospace equipment applications over multiplexed communication media with flexibility to allow rapid system reconfiguration to adapt to evolving sensor needs. This implies standardized interfaces at the sensor location (preferably to open standards, reduced wire/connector pin count in harnesses (or their elimination through use of wireless communications.

Real-Time Power-Efficient Integration of Multi-Sensor Occupancy Grid on Many-Core

OpenAIRE

Rakotovao , Tiana; Mottin , Julien; Puschini , Diego; Laugier , Christian

2015-01-01

International audience; Safe Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) will emerge when comprehensive perception systems will be successfully integrated into vehicles. Advanced perception algorithms, estimating the position and speed of every obstacle in the environment by using data fusion from multiple sensors, were developed for AV prototypes. Computational requirements of such application prevent their integration into AVs on current low-power embedded hardware. However, recent emerging many-core archite...

Novel High Temperature Capacitive Pressure Sensor Utilizing SiC Integrated Circuit Twin Ring Oscillators

Science.gov (United States)

Scardelletti, M.; Neudeck, P.; Spry, D.; Meredith, R.; Jordan, J.; Prokop, N.; Krasowski, M.; Beheim, G.; Hunter, G.

2017-01-01

This paper describes initial development and testing of a novel high temperature capacitive pressure sensor system. The pressure sensor system consists of two 4H-SiC 11-stage ring oscillators and a SiCN capacitive pressure sensor. One oscillator has the capacitive pressure sensor fixed at one node in its feedback loop and varies as a function of pressure and temperature while the other provides a pressure-independent reference frequency which can be used to temperature compensate the output of the first oscillator. A two-day repeatability test was performed up to 500C on the oscillators and the oscillator fundamental frequency changed by only 1. The SiCN capacitive pressure sensor was characterized at room temperature from 0 to 300 psi. The sensor had an initial capacitance of 3.76 pF at 0 psi and 1.75 pF at 300 psi corresponding to a 54 change in capacitance. The integrated pressure sensor system was characterized from 0 to 300 psi in steps of 50 psi over a temperature range of 25 to 500C. The pressure sensor system sensitivity was 0.113 kHzpsi at 25C and 0.026 kHzpsi at 500C.

Wearable Sensors Integrated with Internet of Things for Advancing eHealth Care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose-Luis Bayo-Monton

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Health and sociological indicators alert that life expectancy is increasing, hence so are the years that patients have to live with chronic diseases and co-morbidities. With the advancement in ICT, new tools and paradigms are been explored to provide effective and efficient health care. Telemedicine and health sensors stand as indispensable tools for promoting patient engagement, self-management of diseases and assist doctors to remotely follow up patients. In this paper, we evaluate a rapid prototyping solution for information merging based on five health sensors and two low-cost ubiquitous computing components: Arduino and Raspberry Pi. Our study, which is entirely described with the purpose of reproducibility, aimed to evaluate the extent to which portable technologies are capable of integrating wearable sensors by comparing two deployment scenarios: Raspberry Pi 3 and Personal Computer. The integration is implemented using a choreography engine to transmit data from sensors to a display unit using web services and a simple communication protocol with two modes of data retrieval. Performance of the two set-ups is compared by means of the latency in the wearable data transmission and data loss. PC has a delay of 0.051 ± 0.0035 s (max = 0.2504 s, whereas the Raspberry Pi yields a delay of 0.0175 ± 0.149 s (max = 0.294 s for N = 300. Our analysis confirms that portable devices ( p < < 0 . 01 are suitable to support the transmission and analysis of biometric signals into scalable telemedicine systems.

Flexible and Compressible PEDOT:PSS@Melamine Conductive Sponge Prepared via One-Step Dip Coating as Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor for Human Motion Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Yichun; Yang, Jack; Tolle, Charles R; Zhu, Zhengtao

2018-05-09

Flexible and wearable pressure sensor may offer convenient, timely, and portable solutions to human motion detection, yet it is a challenge to develop cost-effective materials for pressure sensor with high compressibility and sensitivity. Herein, a cost-efficient and scalable approach is reported to prepare a highly flexible and compressible conductive sponge for piezoresistive pressure sensor. The conductive sponge, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)@melamine sponge (MS), is prepared by one-step dip coating the commercial melamine sponge (MS) in an aqueous dispersion of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Due to the interconnected porous structure of MS, the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS has a high compressibility and a stable piezoresistive response at the compressive strain up to 80%, as well as good reproducibility over 1000 cycles. Thereafter, versatile pressure sensors fabricated using the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS sponges are attached to the different parts of human body; the capabilities of these devices to detect a variety of human motions including speaking, finger bending, elbow bending, and walking are evaluated. Furthermore, prototype tactile sensory array based on these pressure sensors is demonstrated.

Transparent conducting films of hierarchically nanostructured polyaniline networks on flexible substrates for high-performance gas sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Shouli; Sun, Chaozheng; Wan, Pengbo; Wang, Cheng; Luo, Ruixian; Li, Yaping; Liu, Junfeng; Sun, Xiaoming

2015-01-21

Transparent chemical gas sensors are assembled from a transparent conducting film of hierarchically nanostructured polyaniline (PANI) networks fabricated on a flexible PET substrate, by coating silver nanowires (Ag NWs) followed by the in situ polymerization of aniline near the sacrificial Ag NW template. The sensor exhibits enhanced gas sensing performance at room temperature in both sensitivity and selectivity to NH3 compared to pure PANI film. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A Novel Optical Sensor Platform Designed for Wireless Sensor Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Shuo; Zhou, Bochao; Sun, Tong; Grattan, Kenneth T V

2013-01-01

This paper presents a novel design of an optical sensor platform, enabling effective integration of a number of optical fibre ('wired') sensors with wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this work, a fibre Bragg grating-based temperature sensor with low power consumption is specially designed as a sensing module and integrated successfully into a WSN, making full use of the advantages arising from both the advanced optical sensor designs and the powerful network functionalities resident in WSNs. The platform is expected to make an important impact on many applications, where either the conventional optical sensor designs or WSNs alone cannot meet the requirements.

Conductivity and touch-sensor application for atomic layer deposition ZnO and Al:ZnO on nylon nonwoven fiber mats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweet, William J.; Oldham, Christopher J.; Parsons, Gregory N.

2015-01-01

Flexible electronics and wearable technology represent a novel and growing market for next generation devices. In this work, the authors deposit conductive zinc oxide films by atomic layer deposition onto nylon-6 nonwoven fiber mats and spun-cast films, and quantify the impact that deposition temperature, coating thickness, and aluminum doping have on the conductivity of the coated substrates. The authors produce aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) coated fibers with conductivity of 230 S/cm, which is ∼6× more conductive than ZnO coated fibers. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate AZO coated fibers maintain 62% of their conductivity after being bent around a 3 mm radius cylinder. As an example application, the authors fabricate an “all-fiber” pressure sensor using AZO coated nylon-6 electrodes. The sensor signal scales exponentially under small applied force (<50 g/cm 2 ), yielding a ∼10 6 × current change under 200 g/cm 2 . This lightweight, flexible, and breathable touch/force sensor could function, for example, as an electronically active nonwoven for personal or engineered system analysis and diagnostics

A Fast, Sensitive and Label Free Electrochemical DNA Sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yu; Elling; Lee Yokeling; Chong Serchoong

2006-01-01

A label free and sensitive DNA/RNA silicon based electrochemical microsensor array was developed by using thin film of the conducting polymer polypyrrole doped with an oligonucleotide probe. The electrochemical potential pulse amperometry technique was used for a biowarfare pathogen target DNA detection. The electrical potential assistanted DNA hybridisation method was applied. The sensor signal was increased by increasing the electrical potential assistanted DNA hybridisation time. It was possible to detect 0.34pmol and 0.072fmol of complementary oligonucleotide target in 0.1ml in seconds by using unpolished and polished gold electrode respectively. The probe preparation was also in seconds time, comparing indirect electrochemical DNA sensor, it has a fast sensor preparation as well as sensor response and label free advantages. The silicon microfabrication technique was used for this sensor array fabrication, which holds the potential to integrate with sensor electrical circuits. The conducting polymer polypyrrole was electrochemically deposited on each electrode respectively which has a possibility to dope the different DNA probe into the individual electrode to form a sensor array

REAL-TIME MONITORING SYSTEM USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE INTEGRATED WITH SENSOR OBSERVATION SERVICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Witayangkurn

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV is an emerging technology being adapted for a wide range of applications. Real-time monitoring is essential to enhance the effectiveness of UAV applications. Sensor networks are networks constructed from various sensor nodes. International standard such as OGC's SOS (Sensor Observation Service makes it possible to share sensor data with other systems as well as to provide accessibility to globally distributed users. In this paper, we propose a system combining UAV technology and sensor network technology to use an UAV as a mobile node of sensor network so that the sensor data from UAV is published and shared real-time. A UAV can extend the observation range of a sensor network to remote areas where it is usually difficult to access such as disaster area. We constructed a UAV system using remote-controlled helicopter and various sensors such as GPS, gyrocompass, laser range finder, Digital camera and Thermometer. Furthermore, we extended the Sensor Observation Service (SOS and Sensor Service Grid (SSG to support mobile sensor nodes. Then, we conducted experiments of flying the helicopter over an area of the interest. During the flight, the system measured environmental data using its sensors and captured images of the ground. The data was sent to a SOS node as the ground station via Wi-Fi which was published using SSG to give real- time access to globally distributed users.

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.

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.

A Wireless Pressure Sensor Integrated with a Biodegradable Polymer Stent for Biomedical Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jongsung; Kim, Ji-Kwan; Patil, Swati J; Park, Jun-Kyu; Park, SuA; Lee, Dong-Weon

2016-06-02

This paper describes the fabrication and characterization of a wireless pressure sensor for smart stent applications. The micromachined pressure sensor has an area of 3.13 × 3.16 mm² and is fabricated with a photosensitive SU-8 polymer. The wireless pressure sensor comprises a resonant circuit and can be used without the use of an internal power source. The capacitance variations caused by changes in the intravascular pressure shift the resonance frequency of the sensor. This change can be detected using an external antenna, thus enabling the measurement of the pressure changes inside a tube with a simple external circuit. The wireless pressure sensor is capable of measuring pressure from 0 mmHg to 230 mmHg, with a sensitivity of 0.043 MHz/mmHg. The biocompatibility of the pressure sensor was evaluated using cardiac cells isolated from neonatal rat ventricular myocytes. After inserting a metal stent integrated with the pressure sensor into a cardiovascular vessel of an animal, medical systems such as X-ray were employed to consistently monitor the condition of the blood vessel. No abnormality was found in the animal blood vessel for approximately one month. Furthermore, a biodegradable polymer (polycaprolactone) stent was fabricated with a 3D printer. The polymer stent exhibits better sensitivity degradation of the pressure sensor compared to the metal stent.

A Wireless Pressure Sensor Integrated with a Biodegradable Polymer Stent for Biomedical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jongsung Park

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the fabrication and characterization of a wireless pressure sensor for smart stent applications. The micromachined pressure sensor has an area of 3.13 × 3.16 mm2 and is fabricated with a photosensitive SU-8 polymer. The wireless pressure sensor comprises a resonant circuit and can be used without the use of an internal power source. The capacitance variations caused by changes in the intravascular pressure shift the resonance frequency of the sensor. This change can be detected using an external antenna, thus enabling the measurement of the pressure changes inside a tube with a simple external circuit. The wireless pressure sensor is capable of measuring pressure from 0 mmHg to 230 mmHg, with a sensitivity of 0.043 MHz/mmHg. The biocompatibility of the pressure sensor was evaluated using cardiac cells isolated from neonatal rat ventricular myocytes. After inserting a metal stent integrated with the pressure sensor into a cardiovascular vessel of an animal, medical systems such as X-ray were employed to consistently monitor the condition of the blood vessel. No abnormality was found in the animal blood vessel for approximately one month. Furthermore, a biodegradable polymer (polycaprolactone stent was fabricated with a 3D printer. The polymer stent exhibits better sensitivity degradation of the pressure sensor compared to the metal stent.

Integrating Statistical Machine Learning in a Semantic Sensor Web for Proactive Monitoring and Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jude Adekunle Adeleke

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Proactive monitoring and control of our natural and built environments is important in various application scenarios. Semantic Sensor Web technologies have been well researched and used for environmental monitoring applications to expose sensor data for analysis in order to provide responsive actions in situations of interest. While these applications provide quick response to situations, to minimize their unwanted effects, research efforts are still necessary to provide techniques that can anticipate the future to support proactive control, such that unwanted situations can be averted altogether. This study integrates a statistical machine learning based predictive model in a Semantic Sensor Web using stream reasoning. The approach is evaluated in an indoor air quality monitoring case study. A sliding window approach that employs the Multilayer Perceptron model to predict short term PM 2 . 5 pollution situations is integrated into the proactive monitoring and control framework. Results show that the proposed approach can effectively predict short term PM 2 . 5 pollution situations: precision of up to 0.86 and sensitivity of up to 0.85 is achieved over half hour prediction horizons, making it possible for the system to warn occupants or even to autonomously avert the predicted pollution situations within the context of Semantic Sensor Web.

Integrating Statistical Machine Learning in a Semantic Sensor Web for Proactive Monitoring and Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Adeleke, Jude Adekunle; Moodley, Deshendran; Rens, Gavin; Adewumi, Aderemi Oluyinka

2017-04-09

Proactive monitoring and control of our natural and built environments is important in various application scenarios. Semantic Sensor Web technologies have been well researched and used for environmental monitoring applications to expose sensor data for analysis in order to provide responsive actions in situations of interest. While these applications provide quick response to situations, to minimize their unwanted effects, research efforts are still necessary to provide techniques that can anticipate the future to support proactive control, such that unwanted situations can be averted altogether. This study integrates a statistical machine learning based predictive model in a Semantic Sensor Web using stream reasoning. The approach is evaluated in an indoor air quality monitoring case study. A sliding window approach that employs the Multilayer Perceptron model to predict short term PM 2 . 5 pollution situations is integrated into the proactive monitoring and control framework. Results show that the proposed approach can effectively predict short term PM 2 . 5 pollution situations: precision of up to 0.86 and sensitivity of up to 0.85 is achieved over half hour prediction horizons, making it possible for the system to warn occupants or even to autonomously avert the predicted pollution situations within the context of Semantic Sensor Web.

Realization of an integrated VDF/TrFE copolymer-on-silicon pyroelectric sensor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Setiadi, D.; Setiadi, D.; Regtien, Paulus P.L.; Sarro, P.M.

1995-01-01

An integrated pyroelectric sensor based on a vinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene (VDF/TrFE) copolymer is presented. A silicon substrate that contains FET readout electronics is coated with the VDF/TrFE copolymer film using a spin-coating technique. On-chip poling of the copolymer has been applied

Distributed optical fiber sensors for integrated monitoring of railway infrastructures

Science.gov (United States)

Minardo, Aldo; Coscetta, Agnese; Porcaro, Giuseppe; Giannetta, Daniele; Bernini, Romeo; Zeni, Luigi

2014-05-01

We propose the application of a distributed optical fiber sensor based on stimulated Brillouin scattering, as an integrated system for safety monitoring of railway infrastructures. The strain distribution was measured dynamically along a 60 meters length of rail track, as well as along a 3-m stone arch bridge. The results indicate that distributed sensing technology is able to provide useful information in railway traffic and safety monitoring.

Low Thermal Conductance Transition Edge Sensor (TES) for SPICA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khosropanah, P.; Dirks, B.; Kuur, J. van der; Ridder, M.; Bruijn, M.; Popescu, M.; Hoevers, H.; Gao, J. R.; Morozov, D.; Mauskopf, P.

2009-01-01

We fabricated and characterized low thermal conductance transition edge sensors (TES) for SAFARI instrument on SPICA. The device is based on a superconducting Ti/Au bilayer deposited on suspended SiN membrane. The critical temperature of the device is 113 mK. The low thermal conductance is realized by using long and narrow SiN supporting legs. All measurements were performed having the device in a light-tight box, which to a great extent eliminates the loading of the background radiation. We measured the current-voltage (IV) characteristics of the device in different bath temperatures and determine the thermal conductance (G) to be equal to 320 fW/K. This value corresponds to a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 3x10 -19 W/√(Hz). The current noise and complex impedance is also measured at different bias points at 55 mK bath temperature. The measured electrical (dark) NEP is 1x10 -18 W/√(Hz), which is about a factor of 3 higher than what we expect from the thermal conductance that comes out of the IV curves. Despite using a light-tight box, the photon noise might still be the source of this excess noise. We also measured the complex impedance of the same device at several bias points. Fitting a simple first order thermal-electrical model to the measured data, we find an effective time constant of about 2.7 ms and a thermal capacity of 13 fJ/K in the middle of the transition.

Powering Autonomous Sensors An Integral Approach with Focus on Solar and RF Energy Harvesting

CERN Document Server

Penella-López, María Teresa

2011-01-01

Autonomous sensors transmit data and power their electronics without using cables. They can be found in e.g. wireless sensor networks (WSNs) or remote acquisition systems. Although primary batteries provide a simple design for powering autonomous sensors, they present several limitations such as limited capacity and power density, and difficulty in predicting their condition and state of charge. An alternative is to extract energy from the ambient (energy harvesting). However, the reduced dimensions of most autonomous sensors lead to a low level of available power from the energy transducer. Thus, efficient methods and circuits to manage and gather the energy are a must. An integral approach for powering autonomous sensors by considering both primary batteries and energy harvesters is presented. Two rather different forms of energy harvesting are also dealt with: optical (or solar) and radiofrequency (RF). Optical energy provides high energy density, especially outdoors, whereas RF remote powering is possibly...

Disposable photonic integrated circuits for evanescent wave sensors by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll method.

Science.gov (United States)

Aikio, Sanna; Hiltunen, Jussi; Hiitola-Keinänen, Johanna; Hiltunen, Marianne; Kontturi, Ville; Siitonen, Samuli; Puustinen, Jarkko; Karioja, Pentti

2016-02-08

Flexible photonic integrated circuit technology is an emerging field expanding the usage possibilities of photonics, particularly in sensor applications, by enabling the realization of conformable devices and introduction of new alternative production methods. Here, we demonstrate that disposable polymeric photonic integrated circuit devices can be produced in lengths of hundreds of meters by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll methods on a flexible carrier. Attenuation properties of hundreds of individual devices were measured confirming that waveguides with good and repeatable performance were fabricated. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices for the evanescent wave sensing of ambient refractive index. The production of integrated photonic devices using ultra-high volume fabrication, in a similar manner as paper is produced, may inherently expand methods of manufacturing low-cost disposable photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of sensor applications.

FPGA-based multimodal embedded sensor system integrating low- and mid-level vision.

Science.gov (United States)

Botella, Guillermo; Martín H, José Antonio; Santos, Matilde; Meyer-Baese, Uwe

2011-01-01

Motion estimation is a low-level vision task that is especially relevant due to its wide range of applications in the real world. Many of the best motion estimation algorithms include some of the features that are found in mammalians, which would demand huge computational resources and therefore are not usually available in real-time. In this paper we present a novel bioinspired sensor based on the synergy between optical flow and orthogonal variant moments. The bioinspired sensor has been designed for Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) using properties of the mammalian cortical motion pathway. This sensor combines low-level primitives (optical flow and image moments) in order to produce a mid-level vision abstraction layer. The results are described trough experiments showing the validity of the proposed system and an analysis of the computational resources and performance of the applied algorithms.

An efficient architecture for the integration of sensor and actuator networks into the future internet

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, J.; Klein, A.; Mannweiler, C.; Schotten, H. D.

2011-08-01

In the future, sensors will enable a large variety of new services in different domains. Important application areas are service adaptations in fixed and mobile environments, ambient assisted living, home automation, traffic management, as well as management of smart grids. All these applications will share a common property, the usage of networked sensors and actuators. To ensure an efficient deployment of such sensor-actuator networks, concepts and frameworks for managing and distributing sensor data as well as for triggering actuators need to be developed. In this paper, we present an architecture for integrating sensors and actuators into the future Internet. In our concept, all sensors and actuators are connected via gateways to the Internet, that will be used as comprehensive transport medium. Additionally, an entity is needed for registering all sensors and actuators, and managing sensor data requests. We decided to use a hierarchical structure, comparable to the Domain Name Service. This approach realizes a cost-efficient architecture disposing of "plug and play" capabilities and accounting for privacy issues.

Cobalt Oxide Nanosheet and CNT Micro Carbon Monoxide Sensor Integrated with Readout Circuit on Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ching-Liang Dai

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The study presents a micro carbon monoxide (CO sensor integrated with a readout circuit-on-a-chip manufactured by the commercial 0.35 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS process and a post-process. The sensing film of the sensor is a composite cobalt oxide nanosheet and carbon nanotube (CoOOH/CNT film that is prepared by a precipitation-oxidation method. The structure of the CO sensor is composed of a polysilicon resistor and a sensing film. The sensor, which is of a resistive type, changes its resistance when the sensing film adsorbs or desorbs CO gas. The readout circuit is used to convert the sensor resistance into the voltage output. The post-processing of the sensor includes etching the sacrificial layers and coating the sensing film. The advantages of the sensor include room temperature operation, short response/recovery times and easy post-processing. Experimental results show that the sensitivity of the CO sensor is about 0.19 mV/ppm, and the response and recovery times are 23 s and 34 s for 200 ppm CO, respectively.

Integrative Multi-Spectral Sensor Device for Far-Infrared and Visible Light Fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Tiezhu; Chen, Lulu; Pang, Yusong; Yan, Gaowei

2018-06-01

Infrared and visible light image fusion technology is a hot spot in the research of multi-sensor fusion technology in recent years. Existing infrared and visible light fusion technologies need to register before fusion because of using two cameras. However, the application effect of the registration technology has yet to be improved. Hence, a novel integrative multi-spectral sensor device is proposed for infrared and visible light fusion, and by using the beam splitter prism, the coaxial light incident from the same lens is projected to the infrared charge coupled device (CCD) and visible light CCD, respectively. In this paper, the imaging mechanism of the proposed sensor device is studied with the process of the signals acquisition and fusion. The simulation experiment, which involves the entire process of the optic system, signal acquisition, and signal fusion, is constructed based on imaging effect model. Additionally, the quality evaluation index is adopted to analyze the simulation result. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed sensor device is effective and feasible.

Study on a Haptic Sensor Using MCF (Magnetic Compound Fluid) Electric Conductive Rubber

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yaoyang; Shimada, Kunio

To provide a new composite material having a high degree of sensitivity regarding both electrical conduction and temperature for the field of robotics or sensing, we have developed magnetic rubber that contains a network-like magnetic cluster. We compared the temperature response of MCF rubber with others rubbers made under various experimental conditions, allowing us to find an optimum condition for making MCF rubber. The temperature response was obtained by an experimental equation. We also compared the electric conductivity of MCF rubber with that of ordinary electric conductive rubber and found that its electric sensitivity was lower at a small deformation, but increased at larger deformations. Therefore, MCF rubber has proven itself effective as a switching sensor when a small deformation is applied.

Distributed Database Semantic Integration of Wireless Sensor Network to Access the Environmental Monitoring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ubaidillah Umar

2018-06-01

Full Text Available A wireless sensor network (WSN works continuously to gather information from sensors that generate large volumes of data to be handled and processed by applications. Current efforts in sensor networks focus more on networking and development services for a variety of applications and less on processing and integrating data from heterogeneous sensors. There is an increased need for information to become shareable across different sensors, database platforms, and applications that are not easily implemented in traditional database systems. To solve the issue of these large amounts of data from different servers and database platforms (including sensor data, a semantic sensor web service platform is needed to enable a machine to extract meaningful information from the sensor’s raw data. This additionally helps to minimize and simplify data processing and to deduce new information from existing data. This paper implements a semantic web data platform (SWDP to manage the distribution of data sensors based on the semantic database system. SWDP uses sensors for temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, luminosity, and noise. The system uses the Sesame semantic web database for data processing and a WSN to distribute, minimize, and simplify information processing. The sensor nodes are distributed in different places to collect sensor data. The SWDP generates context information in the form of a resource description framework. The experiment results demonstrate that the SWDP is more efficient than the traditional database system in terms of memory usage and processing time.

Fully Integrated Solar Energy Harvester and Sensor Interface Circuits for Energy-Efficient Wireless Sensing Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maher Kayal

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an energy-efficient solar energy harvesting and sensing microsystem that harvests solar energy from a micro-power photovoltaic module for autonomous operation of a gas sensor. A fully integrated solar energy harvester stores the harvested energy in a rechargeable NiMH microbattery. Hydrogen concentration and temperature are measured and converted to a digital value with 12-bit resolution using a fully integrated sensor interface circuit, and a wireless transceiver is used to transmit the measurement results to a base station. As the harvested solar energy varies considerably in different lighting conditions, in order to guarantee autonomous operation of the sensor, the proposed area- and energy-efficient circuit scales the power consumption and performance of the sensor. The power management circuit dynamically decreases the operating frequency of digital circuits and bias currents of analog circuits in the sensor interface circuit and increases the idle time of the transceiver under reduced light intensity. The proposed microsystem has been implemented in a 0.18 µm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS process and occupies a core area of only 0.25 mm2. This circuit features a low power consumption of 2.1 µW when operating at its highest performance. It operates with low power supply voltage in the 0.8V to 1.6 V range.

A low hydraulic capacitance pressure sensor for integration with a micro viscosity detector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Heyden, F.H.J.; Blom, M.T.; Gardeniers, Johannes G.E.; Chmela, E.; Elwenspoek, Michael Curt; Tijssen, R.P; van den Berg, Albert

2003-01-01

A design is presented for a micromachined differential viscometer, that is suitable for integration into a planar hydrodynamic chromatography system (HDC) for polymer analysis. The viscometer consists of four equal flow restrictions and two pressure sensors, connected in a Wheatstone bridge

Formation of conductive spontaneous via holes in AlN buffer layer on n+Si substrate by filling the vias with n-AlGaN by metal organic chemical vapor deposition and application to vertical deep ultraviolet photo-sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Kurose

2014-12-01

Full Text Available We have grown conductive aluminum nitride (AlN layers using the spontaneous via holes formation technique on an n+-Si substrate for vertical-type device fabrication. The size and density of the via holes are controlled through the crystal growth conditions used for the layer, and this enables the conductance of the layer to be controlled. Using this technique, we demonstrate the fabrication of a vertical-type deep ultraviolet (DUV photo-sensor. This technique opens up the possibility of fabrication of monolithically integrated on-chip DUV sensors and DUV light-emitting devices (LEDs, including amplifiers, controllers and other necessary functional circuits, on a Si substrate.

A Dual Conductance Sensor for Simultaneous Measurement of Void Fraction and Structure Velocity of Downward Two-Phase Flow in a Slightly Inclined Pipe.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yeon-Gun; Won, Woo-Youn; Lee, Bo-An; Kim, Sin

2017-05-08

In this study, a new and improved electrical conductance sensor is proposed for application not only to a horizontal pipe, but also an inclined one. The conductance sensor was designed to have a dual layer, each consisting of a three-electrode set to obtain two instantaneous conductance signals in turns, so that the area-averaged void fraction and structure velocity could be measured simultaneously. The optimum configuration of the electrodes was determined through numerical analysis, and the calibration curves for stratified and annular flow were obtained through a series of static experiments. The fabricated conductance sensor was applied to a 45 mm inner diameter U-shaped downward inclined pipe with an inclination angle of 3° under adiabatic air-water flow conditions. In the tests, the superficial velocities ranged from 0.1 to 3.0 m/s for water and from 0.1 to 18 m/s for air. The obtained mean void fraction and the structure velocity from the conductance sensor were validated against the measurement by the wire-mesh sensor and the cross-correlation technique for the visualized images, respectively. The results of the flow regime classification and the corresponding time series of the void fraction at a variety of flow velocities were also discussed.

Integrated optics ring-resonator chemical sensor with polymer transduction layer

Science.gov (United States)

Ksendzov, A.; Homer, M. L.; Manfreda, A. M.

2004-01-01

An integrated optics chemical sensor based on a ring resonator with an ethyl cellulose polymer coating has been demonstrated. The measured sensitivity to isopropanol in air is 50 ppm-the level immediately useful for health-related air quality monitoring. The resonator was fabricated using SiO2 and SixNy materials. The signal readout is based on tracking the wavelength of a resonance peak. The resonator layout optimisation for sensing applications is discussed.

Modelling Machine Tools using Structure Integrated Sensors for Fast Calibration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Montavon

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Monitoring of the relative deviation between commanded and actual tool tip position, which limits the volumetric performance of the machine tool, enables the use of contemporary methods of compensation to reduce tolerance mismatch and the uncertainties of on-machine measurements. The development of a primarily optical sensor setup capable of being integrated into the machine structure without limiting its operating range is presented. The use of a frequency-modulating interferometer and photosensitive arrays in combination with a Gaussian laser beam allows for fast and automated online measurements of the axes’ motion errors and thermal conditions with comparable accuracy, lower cost, and smaller dimensions as compared to state-of-the-art optical measuring instruments for offline machine tool calibration. The development is tested through simulation of the sensor setup based on raytracing and Monte-Carlo techniques.

Boundary integral method to calculate the sensitivity temperature error of microstructured fibre plasmonic sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esmaeilzadeh, Hamid; Arzi, Ezatollah; Légaré, François; Hassani, Alireza

2013-01-01

In this paper, using the boundary integral method (BIM), we simulate the effect of temperature fluctuation on the sensitivity of microstructured optical fibre (MOF) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors. The final results indicate that, as the temperature increases, the refractometry sensitivity of our sensor decreases from 1300 nm/RIU at 0 °C to 1200 nm/RIU at 50 °C, leading to ∼7.7% sensitivity reduction and the sensitivity temperature error of 0.15% °C −1 for this case. These results can be used for biosensing temperature-error adjustment in MOF SPR sensors, since biomaterials detection usually happens in this temperature range. Moreover, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of our sensor decreases from 0.265 at 0 °C to 0.154 at 100 °C with the average reduction rate of ∼0.42% °C −1 . The results suggest that at lower temperatures the sensor has a higher SNR. (paper)

Preparation of a Highly Conductive Seed Layer for Calcium Sensor Fabrication with Enhanced Sensing Performance

KAUST Repository

Ahmad, Rafiq; Tripathy, Nirmalya; Ahn, Min-Sang; Yoo, Jin-Young; Hahn, Yoon-Bong

2018-01-01

and prevent possible ZnO NRs surface damage from low pH enzyme immobilization, respectively. The highly conductive solution-gated FET sensor employed the calmodulin (CaM) immobilization on the surface of α-FeO-ZnO NRs for selective detection of calcium ions

Capacity Model and Constraints Analysis for Integrated Remote Wireless Sensor and Satellite Network in Emergency Scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Gengxin; Dong, Feihong; Xie, Zhidong; Bian, Dongming

2015-01-01

This article investigates the capacity problem of an integrated remote wireless sensor and satellite network (IWSSN) in emergency scenarios. We formulate a general model to evaluate the remote sensor and satellite network capacity. Compared to most existing works for ground networks, the proposed model is time varying and space oriented. To capture the characteristics of a practical network, we sift through major capacity-impacting constraints and analyze the influence of these constraints. Specifically, we combine the geometric satellite orbit model and satellite tool kit (STK) engineering software to quantify the trends of the capacity constraints. Our objective in analyzing these trends is to provide insights and design guidelines for optimizing the integrated remote wireless sensor and satellite network schedules. Simulation results validate the theoretical analysis of capacity trends and show the optimization opportunities of the IWSSN. PMID:26593919

Capacity Model and Constraints Analysis for Integrated Remote Wireless Sensor and Satellite Network in Emergency Scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Gengxin; Dong, Feihong; Xie, Zhidong; Bian, Dongming

2015-11-17

This article investigates the capacity problem of an integrated remote wireless sensor and satellite network (IWSSN) in emergency scenarios. We formulate a general model to evaluate the remote sensor and satellite network capacity. Compared to most existing works for ground networks, the proposed model is time varying and space oriented. To capture the characteristics of a practical network, we sift through major capacity-impacting constraints and analyze the influence of these constraints. Specifically, we combine the geometric satellite orbit model and satellite tool kit (STK) engineering software to quantify the trends of the capacity constraints. Our objective in analyzing these trends is to provide insights and design guidelines for optimizing the integrated remote wireless sensor and satellite network schedules. Simulation results validate the theoretical analysis of capacity trends and show the optimization opportunities of the IWSSN.

POSITIONING BASED ON INTEGRATION OF MUTI-SENSOR SYSTEMS USING KALMAN FILTER AND LEAST SQUARE ADJUSTMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Omidalizarandi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Sensor fusion is to combine different sensor data from different sources in order to make a more accurate model. In this research, different sensors (Optical Speed Sensor, Bosch Sensor, Odometer, XSENS, Silicon and GPS receiver have been utilized to obtain different kinds of datasets to implement the multi-sensor system and comparing the accuracy of the each sensor with other sensors. The scope of this research is to estimate the current position and orientation of the Van. The Van's position can also be estimated by integrating its velocity and direction over time. To make these components work, it needs an interface that can bridge each other in a data acquisition module. The interface of this research has been developed based on using Labview software environment. Data have been transferred to PC via A/D convertor (LabJack and make a connection to PC. In order to synchronize all the sensors, calibration parameters of each sensor is determined in preparatory step. Each sensor delivers result in a sensor specific coordinate system that contains different location on the object, different definition of coordinate axes and different dimensions and units. Different test scenarios (Straight line approach and Circle approach with different algorithms (Kalman Filter, Least square Adjustment have been examined and the results of the different approaches are compared together.

Contextual Sensing: Integrating Contextual Information with Human and Technical Geo-Sensor Information for Smart Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Sagl, Günther; Resch, Bernd; Blaschke, Thomas

2015-07-14

In this article we critically discuss the challenge of integrating contextual information, in particular spatiotemporal contextual information, with human and technical sensor information, which we approach from a geospatial perspective. We start by highlighting the significance of context in general and spatiotemporal context in particular and introduce a smart city model of interactions between humans, the environment, and technology, with context at the common interface. We then focus on both the intentional and the unintentional sensing capabilities of today's technologies and discuss current technological trends that we consider have the ability to enrich human and technical geo-sensor information with contextual detail. The different types of sensors used to collect contextual information are analyzed and sorted into three groups on the basis of names considering frequently used related terms, and characteristic contextual parameters. These three groups, namely technical in situ sensors, technical remote sensors, and human sensors are analyzed and linked to three dimensions involved in sensing (data generation, geographic phenomena, and type of sensing). In contrast to other scientific publications, we found a large number of technologies and applications using in situ and mobile technical sensors within the context of smart cities, and surprisingly limited use of remote sensing approaches. In this article we further provide a critical discussion of possible impacts and influences of both technical and human sensing approaches on society, pointing out that a larger number of sensors, increased fusion of information, and the use of standardized data formats and interfaces will not necessarily result in any improvement in the quality of life of the citizens of a smart city. This article seeks to improve our understanding of technical and human geo-sensing capabilities, and to demonstrate that the use of such sensors can facilitate the integration of different

Contextual Sensing: Integrating Contextual Information with Human and Technical Geo-Sensor Information for Smart Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Sagl, Günther; Resch, Bernd; Blaschke, Thomas

2015-01-01

In this article we critically discuss the challenge of integrating contextual information, in particular spatiotemporal contextual information, with human and technical sensor information, which we approach from a geospatial perspective. We start by highlighting the significance of context in general and spatiotemporal context in particular and introduce a smart city model of interactions between humans, the environment, and technology, with context at the common interface. We then focus on both the intentional and the unintentional sensing capabilities of today’s technologies and discuss current technological trends that we consider have the ability to enrich human and technical geo-sensor information with contextual detail. The different types of sensors used to collect contextual information are analyzed and sorted into three groups on the basis of names considering frequently used related terms, and characteristic contextual parameters. These three groups, namely technical in situ sensors, technical remote sensors, and human sensors are analyzed and linked to three dimensions involved in sensing (data generation, geographic phenomena, and type of sensing). In contrast to other scientific publications, we found a large number of technologies and applications using in situ and mobile technical sensors within the context of smart cities, and surprisingly limited use of remote sensing approaches. In this article we further provide a critical discussion of possible impacts and influences of both technical and human sensing approaches on society, pointing out that a larger number of sensors, increased fusion of information, and the use of standardized data formats and interfaces will not necessarily result in any improvement in the quality of life of the citizens of a smart city. This article seeks to improve our understanding of technical and human geo-sensing capabilities, and to demonstrate that the use of such sensors can facilitate the integration of different

Fabrication and characterization of bending and pressure sensors for a soft prosthetic hand

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha, Rui Pedro; Alhais Lopes, Pedro; de Almeida, Anibal T.; Tavakoli, Mahmoud; Majidi, Carmel

2018-03-01

We demonstrate fabrication, characterization, and implementation of ‘soft-matter’ pressure and bending sensors for a soft robotic hand. The elastomer-based sensors are embedded in a robot finger composed of a 3D printed endoskeleton and covered by an elastomeric skin. Two types of sensors are evaluated, resistive pressure sensors and capacitive pressure sensors. The sensor is fabricated entirely out of insulating and conductive rubber, the latter composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer embedded with a percolating network of structured carbon black (CB). The sensor-integrated fingers have a simple materials architecture, can be fabricated with standard rapid prototyping methods, and are inexpensive to produce. When incorporated into a robotic hand, the CB-PDMS sensors and PDMS carrier medium function as an ‘artificial skin’ for touch and bend detection. Results show improved response with a capacitive sensor architecture, which, unlike a resistive sensor, is robust to electromechanical hysteresis, creep, and drift in the CB-PDMS composite. The sensorized fingers are integrated in an anthropomorphic hand and results for a variety of grasping tasks are presented.

Design of a GaAs X-ray imaging sensor with integrated HEMT readout circuitry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boardman, D

2002-01-01

A new monolithic semi-insulating (SI) GaAs sensor design for X-ray imaging applications between 10-100keV has been proposed. Monolithic pixel detectors offer a number of advantages over hybrid bump-bonded detectors, such as high device yield, low costs and are easier to produce large scale arrays. In this thesis, an investigation is made of the use of a SI GaAs wafer as both a detector element and substrate for the epitaxially grown High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs). The design of the HEMT transistors, optimised for this application, were produced with the aid of the Silvaco 'Virtual Wafer Fab' simulation package. It was determined that the device characteristics would consist of a small positive threshold voltage, a low off-state drain current and high transconductance. The final HEMT transistor design, that would be integrated to a pixel detector, had a threshold voltage of 0.17V, an off-state leakage current of {approx}1nA and a transconductance of 7.4mS. A number of test detectors were characterised using an ion beam induced charge technique. Charge collection efficiency maps of the test detectors were produced to determine their quality as a X-ray detection material. From the results, the inhomogeneity of SI GaAs, homogeneity of epitaxial GaAs and granular nature of polycrystalline GaAs, were observed. The best of these detectors was used in conjunction with a commercial field effect transistor to produce a hybrid device. The charge switching nature of the hybrid device was shown and a sensitivity of 0.44pC/{mu}Gy mm{sup 2}, for a detector bias of 60V, was found. The functionality of the hybrid sensor was the same to that proposed for the monolithic sensor. The fabrication of the monolithic sensor, with an integrated HEMT transistor and external capacitor, was achieved. To reach the next stage of producing a monolithic sensor that integrates charge, requires further work in the design and the fabrication process. (author)

Design of a GaAs X-ray imaging sensor with integrated HEMT readout circuitry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boardman, D.

2002-01-01

A new monolithic semi-insulating (SI) GaAs sensor design for X-ray imaging applications between 10-100keV has been proposed. Monolithic pixel detectors offer a number of advantages over hybrid bump-bonded detectors, such as high device yield, low costs and are easier to produce large scale arrays. In this thesis, an investigation is made of the use of a SI GaAs wafer as both a detector element and substrate for the epitaxially grown High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs). The design of the HEMT transistors, optimised for this application, were produced with the aid of the Silvaco 'Virtual Wafer Fab' simulation package. It was determined that the device characteristics would consist of a small positive threshold voltage, a low off-state drain current and high transconductance. The final HEMT transistor design, that would be integrated to a pixel detector, had a threshold voltage of 0.17V, an off-state leakage current of ∼1nA and a transconductance of 7.4mS. A number of test detectors were characterised using an ion beam induced charge technique. Charge collection efficiency maps of the test detectors were produced to determine their quality as a X-ray detection material. From the results, the inhomogeneity of SI GaAs, homogeneity of epitaxial GaAs and granular nature of polycrystalline GaAs, were observed. The best of these detectors was used in conjunction with a commercial field effect transistor to produce a hybrid device. The charge switching nature of the hybrid device was shown and a sensitivity of 0.44pC/μGy mm 2 , for a detector bias of 60V, was found. The functionality of the hybrid sensor was the same to that proposed for the monolithic sensor. The fabrication of the monolithic sensor, with an integrated HEMT transistor and external capacitor, was achieved. To reach the next stage of producing a monolithic sensor that integrates charge, requires further work in the design and the fabrication process. (author)

Integrated optical electric field sensor based on a Bragg grating in lithium niobate

Science.gov (United States)

Runde, D.; Brunken, S.; Rüter, C. E.; Kip, D.

2007-01-01

We demonstrate a new sensor concept for the measurement of oscillating electric fields that is based on Bragg gratings in LiNbO3:Ti channel waveguides. This miniaturized sensor that works in a retroreflective scheme does not require metallic electrodes and can be directly immersed in an oscillating electric field. The electric field induces a shift of the Bragg wavelength of the reflection grating that is due to the electro-optic effect. The operating point of the sensor is chosen by adjusting the laser wavelength to the slope of the spectral reflectivity function of the grating. In this way the magnitude of an external electric field is measured precisely as the amplitude of modulated reflected light intensity by using a lock-in amplifier. The sensor principle is demonstrated by detecting low-frequency electric fields ranging from 50 V/cm to 5 kV/cm without any conducting parts of the sensor head. Furthermore, the ability of the sensor to determine the three-dimensional orientation of an external electric field by a single rotation along the waveguide direction is demonstrated.

Study and characterization of an integrated circuit-deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon sensor for the detection of particles and radiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Despeisse, M.

2006-03-01

Next generation experiments at the European laboratory of particle physics (CERN) require particle detector alternatives to actual silicon detectors. This thesis presents a novel detector technology, which is based on the deposition of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon sensor on top of an integrated circuit. Performance and limitations of this technology have been assessed for the first time in this thesis in the context of particle detectors. Specific integrated circuits have been designed and the detector segmentation, the interface sensor-chip and the sensor leakage current have been studied in details. The signal induced by the track of an ionizing particle in the sensor has been characterized and results on the signal speed, amplitude and on the sensor resistance to radiation are presented. The results are promising regarding the use of this novel technology for radiation detection, though limitations have been shown for particle physics application. (author)

On-line chemical sensors for applications in fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayaraman, V.

2015-01-01

Hydrogen sensors are essential components of fast reactor sodium circuits. These sensors are needed in fast reactors for the immediate detection of any steam leak into sodium during reactor operation which can lead to failure of steam generator. Depending on the operating power of the reactor, sodium-water reaction results in either an increase in dissolved hydrogen level in sodium or an increase in hydrogen content of argon cover gas used above sodium coolant. Hence, on-line monitoring of hydrogen continuously in sodium and cover circuits helps in detection of any steam leak. In the event of accidental leak of high temperature sodium, it reacts with oxygen and moisture in air leading to sodium fires. These fires produce sodium aerosol containing oxides of sodium (Na 2 O and Na 2 O 2 ) and NaOH. For early detection of sodium fires, sensor systems based on sodium ionization detector, pH measurement and modulation of conductivity of graphite films are known in the literature. This presentation deals with the development of on-line sensors for these two applications. A diffusion based sensor using a thin walled nickel coil at 773 K and a sensitive thermal conductivity detector (TCD) has been developed for monitoring hydrogen levels in argon cover gas. This sensor has a lower detection limit of 30 ppm of hydrogen in argon. To extend the detection limit of the sensor, a surface conductivity based sensor has been developed which makes use of a thin film of semi-conducting tin oxide. Integration of this sensor with the TCD, can extend the lower detection limit to 2 ppm of hydrogen in cover gas. Electrochemical sensor based on sodium-beta-alumina has been designed, fabricated and its performance in laboratory and industrial environment was evaluated. This paper presents the logical development of these sensors highlighting their merits and limitations

A 10.6mm3 Fully-Integrated, Wireless Sensor Node with 8GHz UWB Transmitter.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyeongseok; Kim, Gyouho; Lee, Yoonmyung; Foo, Zhiyoong; Sylvester, Dennis; Blaauw, David; Wentzloff, David

2015-06-01

This paper presents a complete, autonomous, wireless temperature sensor, fully encapsulated in a 10.6mm 3 volume. The sensor includes solar energy harvesting with an integrated 2 μAh battery, optical receiver for programming, microcontroller and memory, 8GHz UWB transmitter, and miniaturized custom antennas with a wireless range of 7 meters. Full, stand-alone operation was demonstrated for the first time for a system of this size and functionality.

Integration of IEEE 1451 and HL7 exchanging information for patients' sensor data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Wooshik; Lim, Suyoung; Ahn, Jinsoo; Nah, Jiyoung; Kim, Namhyun

2010-12-01

HL7 (Health Level 7) is a standard developed for exchanging incompatible healthcare information generated from programs or devices among heterogenous medical information systems. At present, HL7 is growing as a global standard. However, the HL7 standard does not support effective methods for treating data from various medical sensors, especially from mobile sensors. As ubiquitous systems are growing, HL7 must communicate with various medical transducers. In the area of sensor fields, IEEE 1451 is a group of standards for controlling transducers and for communicating data from/to various transducers. In this paper, we present the possibility of interoperability between the two standards, i.e., HL7 and IEEE 1451. After we present a method to integrate them and show the preliminary results of this approach.

Indium phosphide-based monolithically integrated PIN waveguide photodiode readout for resonant cantilever sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Siwak, N. P. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States); Laboratory for the Physical Sciences, 8050 Greenmead Drive, College Park, Maryland 20740 (United States); Fan, X. Z.; Ghodssi, R. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States); Kanakaraju, S.; Richardson, C. J. K. [Laboratory for the Physical Sciences, 8050 Greenmead Drive, College Park, Maryland 20740 (United States)

2014-10-06

An integrated photodiode displacement readout scheme for a microelectromechanical cantilever waveguide resonator sensing platform is presented. III-V semiconductors are used to enable the monolithic integration of passive waveguides with active optical components. This work builds upon previously demonstrated results by measuring the displacement of cantilever waveguide resonators with on-chip waveguide PIN photodiodes. The on-chip integration of the readout provides an additional 70% improvement in mass sensitivity compared to off-chip photodetector designs due to measurement stability and minimized coupling loss. In addition to increased measurement stability, reduced packaging complexity is achieved due to the simplicity of the readout design. We have fabricated cantilever waveguides with integrated photodetectors and experimentally characterized these cantilever sensors with monolithically integrated PIN photodiodes.

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.

Sensor Selection and Data Validation for Reliable Integrated System Health Management

Science.gov (United States)

Garg, Sanjay; Melcher, Kevin J.

2008-01-01

For new access to space systems with challenging mission requirements, effective implementation of integrated system health management (ISHM) must be available early in the program to support the design of systems that are safe, reliable, highly autonomous. Early ISHM availability is also needed to promote design for affordable operations; increased knowledge of functional health provided by ISHM supports construction of more efficient operations infrastructure. Lack of early ISHM inclusion in the system design process could result in retrofitting health management systems to augment and expand operational and safety requirements; thereby increasing program cost and risk due to increased instrumentation and computational complexity. Having the right sensors generating the required data to perform condition assessment, such as fault detection and isolation, with a high degree of confidence is critical to reliable operation of ISHM. Also, the data being generated by the sensors needs to be qualified to ensure that the assessments made by the ISHM is not based on faulty data. NASA Glenn Research Center has been developing technologies for sensor selection and data validation as part of the FDDR (Fault Detection, Diagnosis, and Response) element of the Upper Stage project of the Ares 1 launch vehicle development. This presentation will provide an overview of the GRC approach to sensor selection and data quality validation and will present recent results from applications that are representative of the complexity of propulsion systems for access to space vehicles. A brief overview of the sensor selection and data quality validation approaches is provided below. The NASA GRC developed Systematic Sensor Selection Strategy (S4) is a model-based procedure for systematically and quantitatively selecting an optimal sensor suite to provide overall health assessment of a host system. S4 can be logically partitioned into three major subdivisions: the knowledge base, the down

The Development of an IMU Integrated Clothes for Postural Monitoring Using Conductive Yarn and Interconnecting Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Sung-Won; Choi, Hyeob; Park, Hyung-Il; Choi, Byoung-Gun; Im, Hyobin; Shin, Dongjun; Jung, Young-Giu; Lee, Jun-Young; Park, Hong-Won; Park, Sukyung; Roh, Jung-Sim

2017-11-07

Spinal disease is a common yet important condition that occurs because of inappropriate posture. Prevention could be achieved by continuous posture monitoring, but most measurement systems cannot be used in daily life due to factors such as burdensome wires and large sensing modules. To improve upon these weaknesses, we developed comfortable "smart wear" for posture measurement using conductive yarn for circuit patterning and a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) for interconnections. The conductive yarn was made by twisting polyester yarn and metal filaments, and the resistance per unit length was about 0.05 Ω/cm. An embroidered circuit was made using the conductive yarn, which showed increased yield strength and uniform electrical resistance per unit length. Circuit networks of sensors and FPCBs for interconnection were integrated into clothes using a computer numerical control (CNC) embroidery process. The system was calibrated and verified by comparing the values measured by the smart wear with those measured by a motion capture camera system. Six subjects performed fixed movements and free computer work, and, with this system, we were able to measure the anterior/posterior direction tilt angle with an error of less than 4°. The smart wear does not have excessive wires, and its structure will be optimized for better posture estimation in a later study.

Sensor Integration Using State Estimators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jens G. Balchen

1991-04-01

Full Text Available Means for including very different types of sensors using one single unit are described. Accumulated data are represented using an updatable dynamic model, a Kalman filter. The scheme handles common phenomena such as skewed sampling, finite resolution measurements and information delays. Included is an example where 3D motion information is collected by one or more vision sensors.

Rapid immuno-analytical system physically integrated with lens-free CMOS image sensor for food-borne pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Jin-Woo; Kim, Jee-Hyun; Lee, Jong-Mook; Lee, Won-Ho; Lee, Do-Young; Paek, Se-Hwan

2014-02-15

To realize an inexpensive, pocket-sized immunosensor system, a rapid test devise based on cross-flow immuno-chromatography was physically combined with a lens-free CMOS image sensor (CIS), which was then applied to the detection of the food-borne pathogen, Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium). Two CISs, each retaining 1.3 mega pixel array, were mounted on a printed circuit board to fabricate a disposable sensing module, being connectable with a signal detection system. For the bacterial analysis, a cellulose membrane-based immunosensing platform, ELISA-on-a-chip (EOC), was employed, being integrated with the CIS module, and the antigen-antibody reaction sites were aligned with the respective sensor. In such sensor construction, the chemiluminescent signals produced from the EOC are transferred directly into the sensors and are converted to electric signals on the detector. The EOC-CIS integrated sensor was capable of detecting a traceable amount of the bacterium (4.22 × 10(3)CFU/mL), nearly comparable to that adopting a sophisticated detector such as cooled-charge-coupled device, while having greatly reduced dimensions and cost. Upon coupling with immuno-magnetic separation, the sensor showed an additional 67-fold enhancement in the detection limit. Furthermore, a real sample test was carried out for fish muscles inoculated with a sample of 3.3CFU S. typhimurium per 10 g, which was able to be detected earlier than 6h after the onset of pre-enrichment by culture. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel dual-functional MEMS sensor integrating both pressure and temperature units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Tao; Zhang Zhaohua; Ren Tianling; Miao Gujin; Zhou Changjian; Lin Huiwang; Liu Litian, E-mail: RenTL@tsinghua.edu.c [National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology, Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2010-07-15

This paper proposes a novel miniature dual-functional sensor integrating both pressure and temperature sensitive units on a single chip. The device wafer of SOI is used as a pizeoresistive diaphragm which features excellent consistency in thickness. The conventional anisotropic wet etching has been abandoned, while ICP etching has been employed to etch out the reference cave to minimize the area of individual device in the way that the 57.4{sup 0} slope has been eliminated. As a result, the average cost of the single chip is reduced. Two PN junctions with constant ratio of the areas of depletion regions have also been integrated on the same chip to serve as a temperature sensor, and each PN junction shows high linearity over -40 to 100 {sup 0}C and low power consumption. The iron implanting process for PN junction is exactly compatible with the piezoresistor, with no additional expenditure. The pressure sensitivity is 86 mV/MPa, while temperature sensitivity is 1.43 mV/{sup 0}C, both complying with the design objective.

A novel dual-functional MEMS sensor integrating both pressure and temperature units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Tao; Zhang Zhaohua; Ren Tianling; Miao Gujin; Zhou Changjian; Lin Huiwang; Liu Litian

2010-01-01

This paper proposes a novel miniature dual-functional sensor integrating both pressure and temperature sensitive units on a single chip. The device wafer of SOI is used as a pizeoresistive diaphragm which features excellent consistency in thickness. The conventional anisotropic wet etching has been abandoned, while ICP etching has been employed to etch out the reference cave to minimize the area of individual device in the way that the 57.4 0 slope has been eliminated. As a result, the average cost of the single chip is reduced. Two PN junctions with constant ratio of the areas of depletion regions have also been integrated on the same chip to serve as a temperature sensor, and each PN junction shows high linearity over -40 to 100 0 C and low power consumption. The iron implanting process for PN junction is exactly compatible with the piezoresistor, with no additional expenditure. The pressure sensitivity is 86 mV/MPa, while temperature sensitivity is 1.43 mV/ 0 C, both complying with the design objective.

FTR: Performance-Aware and Energy-Efficient Communication Protocol for Integrating Sensor Networks into the Internet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sinung Suakanto

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Integrating sensor networks into the Internet brings many advantages. For example, users can monitor or control the state of the sensors remotely without visiting the field. Some researchers have proposed methods using a REST-based web service or HTTP to establish communication between sensors and server via the Internet. Unfortunately, as we know, HTTP is a best-effort service. In some cases this means that if the number of sensors increases the end-to-end Quality of Service will decrease. The end-to-end network delay increases, as well as the failure rate of data sending caused by HTTP timeouts. In this paper, we propose Finite Time Response (FTR HTTP as a communication protocol suitable for integrating sensor networks into the Internet. We have defined a cross-layer approach that coordinates between the application layer and the physical layer to control not only performance but also energy efficiency. The HTTP request-response delay measured at the application layer is used as the decision factor at the physical layer to control the active and sleep periods. We also propose a forced-sleep period as a control mechanism to guarantee average performance for all nodes. The experimental results have shown that FTR has the ability to maintain better performance, indicated by a lower average response time and a lower average timeout experience. Optimization is still needed to gain better performance and better energy efficiency while also considering the average value of the update time.

Balanced PIN-TIA photoreceiver with integrated 3 dB fiber coupler for distributed fiber optic sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Shubhashish; Rajagopalan, Sruti; Lemke, Shaun; Joshi, Abhay

2014-06-01

We report a balanced PIN-TIA photoreceiver integrated with a 3 dB fiber coupler for distributed fiber optic sensors. This detector demonstrates -3 dB bandwidth >15 GHz and coupled conversion gain >65 V/W per photodiode through either input port of the 3 dB coupler, and can be operated at local oscillator power of +17 dBm. The combined common mode rejection of the balanced photoreceiver and the integrated 3 dB coupler is >20 dB. We also present measurement results with various optical stimuli, namely impulses, sinusoids, and pseudo-random sequences, which are relevant for time domain reflectometry, frequency domain reflectometry, and code correlation sensors, respectively.

3D-Printed Disposable Wireless Sensors with Integrated Microelectronics for Large Area Environmental Monitoring

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Karimi, Muhammad Akram; Salama, Khaled N.; Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

disposable, compact, dispersible 3D-printed wireless sensor nodes with integrated microelectronics which can be dispersed in the environment and work in conjunction with few fixed nodes for large area monitoring applications. As a proof of concept

A 3x1 integrated pyroelectric sensor based on VDF/TrFE copolymer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Setiadi, D.; Setiadi, D.; Sarro, P.M.; Regtien, Paulus P.L.

1996-01-01

This paper presents an integrated pyroelectric sensor based on a vinylidene fluoride¿trifluoroethylene (VDF/TrFE) copolymer. A silicon substrate that contains field-effect transistor (FET) readout electronics is coated with the VDF/TrFE copolymer film using a spin-coating technique. On-chip poling

Multidimensional inverse heat conduction problem: optimization of sensor locations and utilization of thermal-strain measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanc, Gilles

1996-01-01

This work is devoted to the solution of the inverse multidimensional heat conduction problem. The first part is the determination of a methodology for determining the minimum number of sensors and the best sensor locations. The method is applied to a 20 problem but the extension to 30 problems is quite obvious. This methodology is based on the study of the rate of representation. This new concept allows to determine the quantity and the quality of the information obtain from the various sensors. The rate of representation is a useful tool for experimental design. lt can be determined very quickly by the transposed matrix method. This approach was validated with an experimental set-up. The second part is the development of a method that uses thermal strain measurement instead of temperature measurements to estimate the unknown thermal boundary conditions. We showed that this new sensor has two advantages in comparison with the classical temperature measurements: higher frequency can be estimated and smaller number of sensors can be used for 20 problems. The main weakness is, presently, the fact that the method can only be applied to beams. The results obtained from the numerical simulations were validated by the analysis of experimental data obtained on an experimental set-up especially designed and built for this study. (author) [fr

Wireless Integrated Network Sensors Next Generation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Merrill, William

2004-01-01

..., autonomous networking, and distributed operations for wireless networked sensor systems. Multiple types of sensor systems were developed and provided including capabilities for acoustic, seismic, passive infrared detection, and visual imaging...

Electrochemical sensor for catechol and dopamine based on a catalytic molecularly imprinted polymer-conducting polymer hybrid recognition element.

Science.gov (United States)

Lakshmi, Dhana; Bossi, Alessandra; Whitcombe, Michael J; Chianella, Iva; Fowler, Steven A; Subrahmanyam, Sreenath; Piletska, Elena V; Piletsky, Sergey A

2009-05-01

One of the difficulties with using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and other electrically insulating materials as the recognition element in electrochemical sensors is the lack of a direct path for the conduction of electrons from the active sites to the electrode. We have sought to address this problem through the preparation and characterization of novel hybrid materials combining a catalytic MIP, capable of oxidizing the template, catechol, with an electrically conducting polymer. In this way a network of "molecular wires" assists in the conduction of electrons from the active sites within the MIP to the electrode surface. This was made possible by the design of a new monomer that combines orthogonal polymerizable functionality; comprising an aniline group and a methacrylamide. Conducting films were prepared on the surface of electrodes (Au on glass) by electropolymerization of the aniline moiety. A layer of MIP was photochemically grafted over the polyaniline, via N,N'-diethyldithiocarbamic acid benzyl ester (iniferter) activation of the methacrylamide groups. Detection of catechol by the hybrid-MIP sensor was found to be specific, and catechol oxidation was detected by cyclic voltammetry at the optimized operating conditions: potential range -0.6 V to +0.8 V (vs Ag/AgCl), scan rate 50 mV/s, PBS pH 7.4. The calibration curve for catechol was found to be linear to 144 microM, with a limit of detection of 228 nM. Catechol and dopamine were detected by the sensor, whereas analogues and potentially interfering compounds, including phenol, resorcinol, hydroquinone, serotonin, and ascorbic acid, had minimal effect (< or = 3%) on the detection of either analyte. Non-imprinted hybrid electrodes and bare gold electrodes failed to give any response to catechol at concentrations below 0.5 mM. Finally, the catalytic properties of the sensor were characterized by chronoamperometry and were found to be consistent with Michaelis-Menten kinetics.

Integrated wireless sensor network for monitoring pregnant women.

Science.gov (United States)

Niţulescu, Adina; Crişan-Vida, Mihaela; Stoicu-Tivadar, Lăcrămioara; Bernad, Elena

2015-01-01

The paper presents an integrated monitoring system for pregnant women in the third trimester using a mobile cardiotocograph and body sensors. The medical staff has a useful tool to detect abnormalities and prevent unfortunate events in time. The mobile cardiotocograph sends data in real time to a Smartphone that communicates the information in a cloud. The physician accesses the data using the hospital ObgGyn application. The advantage of using this system is that the pregnant woman can follow her pregnancy status evolution from home, and the physician receives alarms from the system if the data is not in normal range and has available information about the health status at any time and location.

Integration of High-Resolution Laser Displacement Sensors and 3D Printing for Structural Health Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu-Wei Chang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel experimental design for complex structural health monitoring (SHM studies achieved by integrating 3D printing technologies, high-resolution laser displacement sensors, and multiscale entropy SHM theory. A seven-story structure with a variety of composite bracing systems was constructed using a dual-material 3D printer. A wireless Bluetooth vibration speaker was used to excite the ground floor of the structure, and high-resolution laser displacement sensors (1-μm resolution were used to monitor the displacement history on different floors. Our results showed that the multiscale entropy SHM method could detect damage on the 3D-printed structures. The results of this study demonstrate that integrating 3D printing technologies and high-resolution laser displacement sensors enables the design of cheap, fast processing, complex, small-scale civil structures for future SHM studies. The novel experimental design proposed in this study provides a suitable platform for investigating the validity and sensitivity of SHM in different composite structures and damage conditions for real life applications in the future.

Integration of High-Resolution Laser Displacement Sensors and 3D Printing for Structural Health Monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Shu-Wei; Lin, Tzu-Kang; Kuo, Shih-Yu; Huang, Ting-Hsuan

2017-12-22

This paper presents a novel experimental design for complex structural health monitoring (SHM) studies achieved by integrating 3D printing technologies, high-resolution laser displacement sensors, and multiscale entropy SHM theory. A seven-story structure with a variety of composite bracing systems was constructed using a dual-material 3D printer. A wireless Bluetooth vibration speaker was used to excite the ground floor of the structure, and high-resolution laser displacement sensors (1-μm resolution) were used to monitor the displacement history on different floors. Our results showed that the multiscale entropy SHM method could detect damage on the 3D-printed structures. The results of this study demonstrate that integrating 3D printing technologies and high-resolution laser displacement sensors enables the design of cheap, fast processing, complex, small-scale civil structures for future SHM studies. The novel experimental design proposed in this study provides a suitable platform for investigating the validity and sensitivity of SHM in different composite structures and damage conditions for real life applications in the future.

Lightweight, compressible and electrically conductive polyurethane sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphene for piezoresistive sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhonglei; Wei, Ajing; Ma, Jianzhong; Shao, Liang; Jiang, Huie; Dong, Diandian; Ji, Zhanyou; Wang, Qian; Kang, Songlei

2018-04-19

Lightweight, compressible and highly sensitive pressure/strain sensing materials are highly desirable for the development of health monitoring, wearable devices and artificial intelligence. Herein, a very simple, low-cost and solution-based approach is presented to fabricate versatile piezoresistive sensors based on conductive polyurethane (PU) sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene. These sensor materials are fabricated by convenient dip-coating layer-by-layer (LBL) electrostatic assembly followed by in situ reduction without using any complicated microfabrication processes. The resultant conductive MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges exhibit very low densities (0.027-0.064 g cm-3), outstanding compressibility (up to 75%) and high electrical conductivity benefiting from the porous PU sponges and synergistic conductive MWCNT/RGO structures. In addition, the MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges present larger relative resistance changes and superior sensing performances under external applied pressures (0-5.6 kPa) and a wide range of strains (0-75%) compared with the RGO@PU and MWCNT@PU sponges, due to the synergistic effect of multiple mechanisms: "disconnect-connect" transition of nanogaps, microcracks and fractured skeletons at low compression strain and compressive contact of the conductive skeletons at high compression strain. The electrical and piezoresistive properties of MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges are strongly associated with the dip-coating cycle, suspension concentration, and the applied pressure and strain. Fully functional applications of MWCNT/RGO@PU sponge-based piezoresistive sensors in lighting LED lamps and detecting human body movements are demonstrated, indicating their excellent potential for emerging applications such as health monitoring, wearable devices and artificial intelligence.

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.

A Fiber-Optic Sensor for Acoustic Emission Detection in a High Voltage Cable System

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Tongzhi; Pang, Fufei; Liu, Huanhuan; Cheng, Jiajing; Lv, Longbao; Zhang, Xiaobei; Chen, Na; Wang, Tingyun

2016-01-01

We have proposed and demonstrated a Michelson interferometer-based fiber sensor for detecting acoustic emission generated from the partial discharge (PD) of the accessories of a high-voltage cable system. The developed sensor head is integrated with a compact and relatively high sensitivity cylindrical elastomer. Such a sensor has a broadband frequency response and a relatively high sensitivity in a harsh environment under a high-voltage electric field. The design and fabrication of the sensor head integrated with the cylindrical elastomer is described, and a series of experiments was conducted to evaluate the sensing performance. The experimental results demonstrate that the sensitivity of our developed sensor for acoustic detection of partial discharges is 1.7 rad/(m⋅Pa). A high frequency response up to 150 kHz is achieved. Moreover, the relatively high sensitivity for the detection of PD is verified in both the laboratory environment and gas insulated switchgear. The obtained results show the great potential application of a Michelson interferometer-based fiber sensor integrated with a cylindrical elastomer for in-situ monitoring high-voltage cable accessories for safety work. PMID:27916900

Revealing the properties of oils from their dissolved hydrocarbon compounds in water with an integrated sensor array system.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Xiubin; Crooke, Emma; Ross, Andrew; Bastow, Trevor P; Stalvies, Charlotte

2011-09-21

This paper presents a system and method developed to identify a source oil's characteristic properties by testing the oil's dissolved components in water. Through close examination of the oil dissolution process in water, we hypothesise that when oil is in contact with water, the resulting oil-water extract, a complex hydrocarbon mixture, carries the signature property information of the parent oil. If the dominating differences in compositions between such extracts of different oils can be identified, this information could guide the selection of various sensors, capable of capturing such chemical variations. When used as an array, such a sensor system can be used to determine parent oil information from the oil-water extract. To test this hypothesis, 22 oils' water extracts were prepared and selected dominant hydrocarbons analyzed with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS); the subsequent Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicates that the major difference between the extract solutions is the relative concentration between the volatile mono-aromatics and fluorescent polyaromatics. An integrated sensor array system that is composed of 3 volatile hydrocarbon sensors and 2 polyaromatic hydrocarbon sensors was built accordingly to capture the major and subtle differences of these extracts. It was tested by exposure to a total of 110 water extract solutions diluted from the 22 extracts. The sensor response data collected from the testing were processed with two multivariate analysis tools to reveal information retained in the response patterns of the arrayed sensors: by conducting PCA, we were able to demonstrate the ability to qualitatively identify and distinguish different oil samples from their sensor array response patterns. When a supervised PCA, Linear Discriminate Analysis (LDA), was applied, even quantitative classification can be achieved: the multivariate model generated from the LDA achieved 89.7% of successful classification of the type of the

Integrated Cantilever-Based Flow Sensors with Tunable Sensitivity for In-Line Monitoring of Flow Fluctuations in Microfluidic Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadine Noeth

2013-12-01

Full Text Available For devices such as bio-/chemical sensors in microfluidic systems, flow fluctuations result in noise in the sensor output. Here, we demonstrate in-line monitoring of flow fluctuations with a cantilever-like sensor integrated in a microfluidic channel. The cantilevers are fabricated in different materials (SU-8 and SiN and with different thicknesses. The integration of arrays of holes with different hole size and number of holes allows the modification of device sensitivity, theoretical detection limit and measurement range. For an average flow in the microliter range, the cantilever deflection is directly proportional to the flow rate fluctuations in the microfluidic channel. The SiN cantilevers show a detection limit below 1 nL/min and the thinnest SU-8 cantilevers a detection limit below 5 nL/min. Finally, the sensor is applied for in-line monitoring of flow fluctuations generated by external pumps connected to the microfluidic system.

A capacitive CMOS-MEMS sensor designed by multi-physics simulation for integrated CMOS-MEMS technology

Science.gov (United States)

Konishi, Toshifumi; Yamane, Daisuke; Matsushima, Takaaki; Masu, Kazuya; Machida, Katsuyuki; Toshiyoshi, Hiroshi

2014-01-01

This paper reports the design and evaluation results of a capacitive CMOS-MEMS sensor that consists of the proposed sensor circuit and a capacitive MEMS device implemented on the circuit. To design a capacitive CMOS-MEMS sensor, a multi-physics simulation of the electromechanical behavior of both the MEMS structure and the sensing LSI was carried out simultaneously. In order to verify the validity of the design, we applied the capacitive CMOS-MEMS sensor to a MEMS accelerometer implemented by the post-CMOS process onto a 0.35-µm CMOS circuit. The experimental results of the CMOS-MEMS accelerometer exhibited good agreement with the simulation results within the input acceleration range between 0.5 and 6 G (1 G = 9.8 m/s2), corresponding to the output voltages between 908.6 and 915.4 mV, respectively. Therefore, we have confirmed that our capacitive CMOS-MEMS sensor and the multi-physics simulation will be beneficial method to realize integrated CMOS-MEMS technology.

Integrated mechano-optical hydrogen gas sensor using cantilever bending readout with a Si3N4 grated waveguide.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pham Van So, P.V.S.; Dijkstra, Mindert; van Wolferen, Hendricus A.G.M.; Pollnau, Markus; Krijnen, Gijsbertus J.M.; Hoekstra, Hugo

We demonstrate a proof of concept of a novel and compact integrated mechano-optical sensor for H2 detection based on a microcantilever suspended above a Si3N4 grated waveguide. The fabricated devices are mechanically and optically modeled and characterized. Sensing operation of the sensor is

Adaptation of sensor morphology: an integrative view of perception from biologically inspired robotics perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Nurzaman, Surya G.

2016-01-01

Sensor morphology, the morphology of a sensing mechanism which plays a role of shaping the desired response from physical stimuli from surroundings to generate signals usable as sensory information, is one of the key common aspects of sensing processes. This paper presents a structured review of researches on bioinspired sensor morphology implemented in robotic systems, and discusses the fundamental design principles. Based on literature review, we propose two key arguments: first, owing to its synthetic nature, biologically inspired robotics approach is a unique and powerful methodology to understand the role of sensor morphology and how it can evolve and adapt to its task and environment. Second, a consideration of an integrative view of perception by looking into multidisciplinary and overarching mechanisms of sensor morphology adaptation across biology and engineering enables us to extract relevant design principles that are important to extend our understanding of the unfinished concepts in sensing and perception. PMID:27499843

Integrated multi sensors and camera video sequence application for performance monitoring in archery

Science.gov (United States)

Taha, Zahari; Arif Mat-Jizat, Jessnor; Amirul Abdullah, Muhammad; Muazu Musa, Rabiu; Razali Abdullah, Mohamad; Fauzi Ibrahim, Mohamad; Hanafiah Shaharudin, Mohd Ali

2018-03-01

This paper explains the development of a comprehensive archery performance monitoring software which consisted of three camera views and five body sensors. The five body sensors evaluate biomechanical related variables of flexor and extensor muscle activity, heart rate, postural sway and bow movement during archery performance. The three camera views with the five body sensors are integrated into a single computer application which enables the user to view all the data in a single user interface. The five body sensors’ data are displayed in a numerical and graphical form in real-time. The information transmitted by the body sensors are computed with an embedded algorithm that automatically transforms the summary of the athlete’s biomechanical performance and displays in the application interface. This performance will be later compared to the pre-computed psycho-fitness performance from the prefilled data into the application. All the data; camera views, body sensors; performance-computations; are recorded for further analysis by a sports scientist. Our developed application serves as a powerful tool for assisting the coach and athletes to observe and identify any wrong technique employ during training which gives room for correction and re-evaluation to improve overall performance in the sport of archery.

System-on-fluidics immunoassay device integrating wireless radio-frequency-identification sensor chips.

Science.gov (United States)

Yazawa, Yoshiaki; Oonishi, Tadashi; Watanabe, Kazuki; Shiratori, Akiko; Funaoka, Sohei; Fukushima, Masao

2014-09-01

A simple and sensitive point-of-care-test (POCT) device for chemiluminescence (CL) immunoassay was devised and tested. The device consists of a plastic flow-channel reactor and two wireless-communication sensor chips, namely, a photo-sensor chip and a temperature-sensor chip. In the flow-channel reactor, a target antigen is captured by an antibody immobilized on the inner wall of the flow-channel and detected with enzyme labeled antibody by using CL substrate. The CL signal corresponding to the amount of antigen is measured by a newly developed radio-frequency-identification (RFID) sensor, which enables batteryless operation and wireless data communication with an external reader. As for the POCT device, its usage environment, especially temperature, varies for each measurement. Hence, temperature compensation is a key issue in regard to eliminating dark-signal fluctuation, which is a major factor in deterioration of the precision of the POCT device. A two-stage temperature-compensation scheme was adopted. As for the first stage, the signals of two photodiodes, one with an open window and one with a sealed window, integrated on the photo-sensor chip are differentiated to delete the dark signal. As for the second stage, the differentiated signal fluctuation caused by a temperature variation is compensated by using the other sensor chip (equipped with a temperature sensor). The dark-level fluctuation caused by temperature was reduced from 0.24 to 0.02 pA/°C. The POCT device was evaluated as a CL immunoassay of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). The flow rate of the CL reagent in the flow channel was optimized. As a result, the detection limit of the POCT device was 0.08 ng/ml (i.e., 0.4 μIU/ml). Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Online analysis of oxygen inside silicon-glass microreactors with integrated optical sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ehgartner, Josef; Sulzer, Philipp; Burger, Tobias

2016-01-01

A powerful online analysis set-up for oxygen measurements within microfluidic devices is presented. It features integration of optical oxygen sensors into microreactors, which enables contactless, accurate and inexpensive readout using commercially available oxygen meters via luminescent lifetime...... monitoring of enzyme transformations, including d-alanine or d-phenylalanine oxidation by d-amino acid oxidase, and glucose oxidation by glucose oxidase....

Catchment Integration of Sensor Array Observations to Understand Hydrologic Connectivity

Science.gov (United States)

Redfern, S.; Livneh, B.; Molotch, N. P.; Suding, K.; Neff, J. C.; Hinckley, E. L. S.

2017-12-01

Hydrologic connectivity and the land surface water balance are likely to be impacted by climate change in the coming years. Although recent work has started to demonstrate that climate modulates connectivity, we still lack knowledge of how local ecology will respond to environmental and atmospheric changes and subsequently interact with connectivity. The overarching goal of this research is to address and forecast how climate change will affect hydrologic connectivity in an alpine environment, through the use of near-surface observations (temperature, humidity, soil moisture, snow depth) from a new 16-sensor array (plus 5 precipitation gauges), together with a distributed hydrologic model, over a small catchment on Colorado's Niwot Ridge (above 3000m). Model simulations will be constrained to distributed sensor measurements taken in the study area and calibrated with streamflow. Periods of wetting and dry-down will be analyzed to identify signatures of connectivity across the landscape, its seasonal signals and its sensitivity to land cover. Further work will aim to develop future hydrologic projections, compare model output with related observations, conduct multi-physics experiments, and continue to expand the existing sensor network.

MEMS capacitive pressure sensor monolithically integrated with CMOS readout circuit by using post CMOS processes

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Munseon; Yun, Kwang-Seok

2017-12-01

In this paper, we presents a MEMS pressure sensor integrated with a readout circuit on a chip for an on-chip signal processing. The capacitive pressure sensor is formed on a CMOS chip by using a post-CMOS MEMS processes. The proposed device consists of a sensing capacitor that is square in shape, a reference capacitor and a readout circuitry based on a switched-capacitor scheme to detect capacitance change at various environmental pressures. The readout circuit was implemented by using a commercial 0.35 μm CMOS process with 2 polysilicon and 4 metal layers. Then, the pressure sensor was formed by wet etching of metal 2 layer through via hole structures. Experimental results show that the MEMS pressure sensor has a sensitivity of 11 mV/100 kPa at the pressure range of 100-400 kPa.

Demonstration and Methodology of Structural Monitoring of Stringer Runs out Composite Areas by Embedded Optical Fiber Sensors and Connectors Integrated during Production in a Composite Plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Miguel Giraldo, Carlos; Zúñiga Sagredo, Juan; Sánchez Gómez, José; Corredera, Pedro

2017-07-21

Embedding optical fibers sensors into composite structures for Structural Health Monitoring purposes is not just one of the most attractive solutions contributing to smart structures, but also the optimum integration approach that insures maximum protection and integrity of the fibers. Nevertheless this intended integration level still remains an industrial challenge since today there is no mature integration process in composite plants matching all necessary requirements. This article describes the process developed to integrate optical fiber sensors in the Production cycle of a test specimen. The sensors, Bragg gratings, were integrated into the laminate during automatic tape lay-up and also by a secondary bonding process, both in the Airbus Composite Plant. The test specimen, completely representative of the root joint of the lower wing cover of a real aircraft, is comprised of a structural skin panel with the associated stringer run out. The ingress-egress was achieved through the precise design and integration of miniaturized optical connectors compatible with the manufacturing conditions and operational test requirements. After production, the specimen was trimmed, assembled and bolted to metallic plates to represent the real triform and buttstrap, and eventually installed into the structural test rig. The interrogation of the sensors proves the effectiveness of the integration process; the analysis of the strain results demonstrate the good correlation between fiber sensors and electrical gauges in those locations where they are installed nearby, and the curvature and load transfer analysis in the bolted stringer run out area enable demonstration of the consistency of the fiber sensors measurements. In conclusion, this work presents strong evidence of the performance of embedded optical sensors for structural health monitoring purposes, where in addition and most importantly, the fibers were integrated in a real production environment and the ingress

Integrated calibration of a 3D attitude sensor in large-scale metrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Yang; Lin, Jiarui; Yang, Linghui; Zhu, Jigui; Muelaner, Jody; Keogh, Patrick

2017-01-01

A novel calibration method is presented for a multi-sensor fusion system in large-scale metrology, which improves the calibration efficiency and reliability. The attitude sensor is composed of a pinhole prism, a converging lens, an area-array camera and a biaxial inclinometer. A mathematical model is established to determine its 3D attitude relative to a cooperative total station by using two vector observations from the imaging system and the inclinometer. There are two areas of unknown parameters in the measurement model that should be calibrated: the intrinsic parameters of the imaging model, and the transformation matrix between the camera and the inclinometer. An integrated calibration method using a three-axis rotary table and a total station is proposed. A single mounting position of the attitude sensor on the rotary table is sufficient to solve for all parameters of the measurement model. A correction technique for the reference laser beam of the total station is also presented to remove the need for accurate positioning of the sensor on the rotary table. Experimental verification has proved the practicality and accuracy of this calibration method. Results show that the mean deviations of attitude angles using the proposed method are less than 0.01°. (paper)

Vertically stacked nanocellulose tactile sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Minhyun; Kim, Kyungkwan; Kim, Bumjin; Lee, Kwang-Jae; Kang, Jae-Wook; Jeon, Sanghun

2017-11-16

Paper-based electronic devices are attracting considerable attention, because the paper platform has unique attributes such as flexibility and eco-friendliness. Here we report on what is claimed to be the firstly fully integrated vertically-stacked nanocellulose-based tactile sensor, which is capable of simultaneously sensing temperature and pressure. The pressure and temperature sensors are operated using different principles and are stacked vertically, thereby minimizing the interference effect. For the pressure sensor, which utilizes the piezoresistance principle under pressure, the conducting electrode was inkjet printed on the TEMPO-oxidized-nanocellulose patterned with micro-sized pyramids, and the counter electrode was placed on the nanocellulose film. The pressure sensor has a high sensitivity over a wide range (500 Pa-3 kPa) and a high durability of 10 4 loading/unloading cycles. The temperature sensor combines various materials such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to form a thermocouple on the upper nanocellulose layer. The thermoelectric-based temperature sensors generate a thermoelectric voltage output of 1.7 mV for a temperature difference of 125 K. Our 5 × 5 tactile sensor arrays show a fast response, negligible interference, and durable sensing performance.