System Integration for Real-time Mobile Manipulation

OpenAIRE

Oftadeh, Reza; Aref, Mohammad M.; Ghabcheloo, Reza; Mattila, Jouni

2014-01-01

Mobile manipulators are one of the most complicated types of mechatronics systems. The performance of these robots in performing complex manipulation tasks is highly correlated with the synchronization and integration of their low-level components. This paper discusses in detail the mechatronics design of a four wheel steered mobile manipulator. It presents the manipulator ’s mechanical structure and electrical interfaces, designs low-level software architecture based on embedded PC-based con...

CLIMAN - a mobile manipulator concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noltingk, B.E.; Owen, C.K.V.

With increasing age the integrity of more remote parts of reactors, such as the core restraints, is questioned so there is a need for a means of access to these places to carry out inspection, minor repairs and alterations. Conventional standpipe manipulators are about 20 m long so that extending them further presents difficulties of load capacity, rigidity, dexterity and control which must increase steeply with range. The proposal outlined here is for a mobile manipulator which can climb at the end of a cable (CLImbing MANipulator - CLIMAN) into a reactor and reach well beyond the range of a fixed base machine. In addition to virtually unlimited range such a mobile manipulator has twice as many degrees of freedom as a fixed base machine. Its body or base can be manoeuvred with six degrees of freedom so as to obtain the maximum coverage and obstacle avoidance for its manipulator. It is proposed that it should be manually controlled. (author)

Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvilshøj, Mads; Bøgh, Simon; Nielsen, Oluf Skov

2012-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the interdisciplinary research field Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM), with an emphasis on physical implementations and applications. Design/methodology/approach - Following an introduction to AIMM, this paper investiga......Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the interdisciplinary research field Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM), with an emphasis on physical implementations and applications. Design/methodology/approach - Following an introduction to AIMM, this paper......; sustainability, configuration, adaptation, autonomy, positioning, manipulation and grasping, robot-robot interaction, human-robot interaction, process quality, dependability, and physical properties. Findings - The concise yet comprehensive review provides both researchers (academia) and practitioners (industry......) with a quick and gentle overview of AIMM. Furthermore, the paper identifies key open issues and promising research directions to realize real-world integration and maturation of the AIMM technology. Originality/value - This paper reviews the interdisciplinary research field Autonomous Industrial Mobile...

Roles and Self-Reconfigurable Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dvinge, Nicolai; Schultz, Ulrik Pagh; Christensen, David Johan

2007-01-01

A self-reconfigurable robot is a robotic device that can change its own shape. Self-reconfigurable robots are commonly built from multiple identical modules that can manipulate each other to change the shape of the robot. The robot can also perform tasks such as locomotion without changing shape......., significantly simplifying the task of programming self-reconfigurable robots. Our language fully supports programming the ATRON self-reconfigurable robot, and has been used to implement several controllers running both on the physical modules and in simulation.......A self-reconfigurable robot is a robotic device that can change its own shape. Self-reconfigurable robots are commonly built from multiple identical modules that can manipulate each other to change the shape of the robot. The robot can also perform tasks such as locomotion without changing shape....... Programming a modular, self-reconfigurable robot is however a complicated task: the robot is essentially a real-time, distributed embedded system, where control and communication paths often are tightly coupled to the current physical configuration of the robot. To facilitate the task of programming modular...

A Mobile Self-Reconfigurable Microrobot with Power and Communication Relays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawei Zhang

2010-12-01

Full Text Available A modular mobile self-reconfigurable microrobot is developed to enlarge the whole surveillance range of mobile microrobot. The microrobot is designed as differential driven vehicle equipped with a passive universal connector with autonomic engagement/disengagement function, and actuated by MEMS-based electromagnetic micromotors. To realize that the microrobot is autonomous, its electrical system is designed in modularity and integrated. A simple autonomous docking approach based on infrared sensors is presented. Experimental results verify high efficiency and reliability of the proposed docking method, and demonstrate the improved ability of performing large-range vision-based surveillance by power and communication relays.

A Mobile Self-reconfigurable Microrobot with Power and Communication Relays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawei Zhang

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A modular mobile self-reconfigurable microrobot is developed to enlarge the whole surveillance range of mobile microrobot. The microrobot is designed as differential driven vehicle equipped with a passive universal connector with autonomic engagement/disengagement function, and actuated by MEMS-based electromagnetic micromotors. To realize that the microrobot is autonomous, its electrical system is designed in modularity and integrated. A simple autonomous docking approach based on infrared sensors is presented. Experimental results verify high efficiency and reliability of the proposed docking method, and demonstrate the improved ability of performing large-range vision-based surveillance by power and communication relays.

System Integration for Real-Time Mobile Manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Oftadeh

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Mobile manipulators are one of the most complicated types of mechatronics systems. The performance of these robots in performing complex manipulation tasks is highly correlated with the synchronization and integration of their low-level components. This paper discusses in detail the mechatronics design of a four wheel steered mobile manipulator. It presents the manipulator's mechanical structure and electrical interfaces, designs low-level software architecture based on embedded PC-based controls, and proposes a systematic solution based on code generation products of MATLAB and Simulink. The remote development environment described here is used to develop real-time controller software and modules for the mobile manipulator under a POSIX-compliant, real-time Linux operating system. Our approach enables developers to reliably design controller modules that meet the hard real-time constraints of the entire low-level system architecture. Moreover, it provides a systematic framework for the development and integration of hardware devices with various communication mediums and protocols, which facilitates the development and integration process of the software controller.

Modeling the manipulator and flipper pose effects on tip over stability of a tracked mobile manipulator

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dube, C

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Mobile manipulators are used in a number of different applications such as bomb disposal, mining robotics, and search and rescue operations. These mobile manipulators are highly susceptible to tip over due to the motion of the manipulator...

Houdini trademark: Reconfigurable in-tank mobile robot. Final report, June 1995 - January 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, B.; Slifko, A.

1998-01-01

This report details the development of a reconfigurable in-tank robotic cleanup system called Houdini trademark. Driven by the general need to develop equipment for the removal of radioactive waste from hundreds of DOE waste storage tanks and the specific needs of DOE sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Fernald, Houdini trademark represents one of the possible tools that can be used to mobilize and retrieve this waste material for complete remediation. Houdini trademark is a hydraulically powered, track driven, mobile work vehicle with a collapsible frame designed to enter underground or above ground waste tanks through existing 24 inch riser openings. After the vehicle has entered the waste tank, it unfolds and lands on the waste surface or tank floor to become a remotely operated mini-bulldozer. Houdini trademark utilizes a vehicle mounted plow blade and 6-DOF manipulator to mobilize waste and carry other tooling such as sluicing pumps, excavation buckets, and hydraulic shears. The complete Houdini trademark system consists of the tracked vehicle and other support equipment (e.g., control console, deployment system, hydraulic power supply, and controller) necessary to deploy and remotely operate this system at any DOE site. Inside the storage tanks, the system is capable of performing heel removal, waste mobilization, waste size reduction, and other tank waste retrieval and decommissioning tasks. The first Houdini trademark system was delivered on September 24, 1996 to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system acceptance test was successfully performed at a cold test facility at ORNL. After completion of the cold test program and the training of site personnel, ORNL will deploy the system for clean-up and remediation of the Gunite storage tanks

Houdini{trademark}: Reconfigurable in-tank mobile robot. Final report, June 1995--January 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, B.; Slifko, A.

1998-12-31

This report details the development of a reconfigurable in-tank robotic cleanup system called Houdini{trademark}. Driven by the general need to develop equipment for the removal of radioactive waste from hundreds of DOE waste storage tanks and the specific needs of DOE sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Fernald, Houdini{trademark} represents one of the possible tools that can be used to mobilize and retrieve this waste material for complete remediation. Houdini{trademark} is a hydraulically powered, track driven, mobile work vehicle with a collapsible frame designed to enter underground or above ground waste tanks through existing 24 inch riser openings. After the vehicle has entered the waste tank, it unfolds and lands on the waste surface or tank floor to become a remotely operated mini-bulldozer. Houdini{trademark} utilizes a vehicle mounted plow blade and 6-DOF manipulator to mobilize waste and carry other tooling such as sluicing pumps, excavation buckets, and hydraulic shears. The complete Houdini{trademark} system consists of the tracked vehicle and other support equipment (e.g., control console, deployment system, hydraulic power supply, and controller) necessary to deploy and remotely operate this system at any DOE site. Inside the storage tanks, the system is capable of performing heel removal, waste mobilization, waste size reduction, and other tank waste retrieval and decommissioning tasks. The first Houdini{trademark} system was delivered on September 24, 1996 to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system acceptance test was successfully performed at a cold test facility at ORNL. After completion of the cold test program and the training of site personnel, ORNL will deploy the system for clean-up and remediation of the Gunite storage tanks.

An overview of the Accident Response Mobile Manipulation System (ARMMS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morse, W.D.; Hayward, D.R.; Jones, D.P.; Sanchez, A.; Shirey, D.L.

1993-01-01

The development of a high mobility platform integrated with high strength manipulation is under development at Sandia National Laboratories. The mobility platform used is a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). Manipulation is provided by two Titan 7F Schilling manipulators integrated onboard the HMMWV. The current state of development is described and future plans are discussed

CHAMP: A bespoke integrated system for mobile manipulation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Eden, B

2014-11-01

Full Text Available for Mobile Manipulation Beatrice van Eden, Benjamin Rosman, Daniel Withey, Terence Ratshidaho, Mogomotsi Keaikitse, Ditebogo Masha, Ashley Kleinhans, and Ahmed Shaik Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems Modelling and Digital Science Council for Scientific... as a rear caster. Each arm has 7 DoF, with an attached Barrett hand. UMAN [19], the UMass Mobile MANipulator also uses a 7 DoF Barrett WAM, with a three-fingered Barrett hand. The arm is mounted on modified Nomadic XR4000 mobile base having four caster...

Review: An Overview of Spinal Manipulation and Mobilization Effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behnam Akhbari

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Manipulation and mobilization are two different forms of manual therapy commonly employed in the management of musculoskeletal disorders. Spinal manipulation and mobilization are often distinguished from one another by reference to certain biomechanical parameters such as peak force, duration and magnitude of translation. However, as of yet, there is relatively little research which distinguishes between them in terms of neurological mechanisms or clinical effectiveness. Manipulation may particularly stimulate receptors within deep inter-vertebral muscles, while mobilization techniques most likely affect more superficial axial muscles.

Optical Components for Reconfigurable Photonic Networks and Mobile Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vegas Olmos, Juan José; Rodríguez Páez, Juan Sebastián; Rommel, Simon

communication needs to move to the millimeter-wavelength or sub-terahertz range. Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) technologies have evolved from a blue sky academic topic in the 90s to a main driver within the current quest for the 5th generation mobile systems (5G). A twist in RoF technologies is that it has found along...... processing, high speed modulators and photodiodes and optical switching technologies. A deep overview on the state-of-the-art and current efforts towards optical components enabling photonic reconfigurability will be given during the presentation....

Integration of Mobile Manipulators in an Industrial Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole; Bøgh, Simon; Schou, Casper

2015-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this study has been to evaluate the technology of autonomous mobile manipulation in a real world industrial manufacturing environment. The objective has been to obtain experience in the integration with existing equipment and determine key challenges in maturing...... reports from such a real-world industrial experiment with two mobile manipulators. Design/methodology/approach – In the experiment, autonomous industrial mobile manipulators are integrated into the actual manufacturing environment of the pump manufacturer Grundfos. The two robots together solve the task...... of producing rotors; a task constituted by several sub-tasks ranging from logistics to complex assembly. With a total duration of 10 days, the experiment includes workspace adaptation, safety regulations, rapid robot instruction and running production. Findings – With a setup time of less than one day...

An Ionic-Polymer-Metallic Composite Actuator for Reconfigurable Antennas in Mobile Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Chen Lin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new application of an electro-active-polymer for a radio frequency (RF switch is presented. We used an ionic polymer metallic composite (IPMC switch to change the operating frequency of an inverted-F antenna. This switch is light in weight, small in volume, and low in cost. In addition, the IPMC is suitable for mobile devices because of its driving voltage of 3 volts and thickness of 200 μm. The IPMC acts as a normally-on switch to control the operating frequency of a reconfigurable antenna in mobile phones. We experimentally demonstrated by network analysis that the IPMC switch could shift its operating frequency from 1.1 to 2.1 GHz, with return losses of than −10 dB at both frequencies. To minimize electrolysis and maximize the operation time in air, propylene carbonate electrolyte with lithium perchlorate (LiClO4 was applied inside the IPMC. The results showed that when the IPMC was actuated over three months at 3.5 V, the tip displacement fell by less than 10%. Therefore, an IPMC actuator is a promising choice for application to a reconfigurable antenna.

SDN-controlled topology-reconfigurable optical mobile fronthaul architecture for bidirectional CoMP and low latency inter-cell D2D in the 5G mobile era.

Science.gov (United States)

Cvijetic, Neda; Tanaka, Akihiro; Kanonakis, Konstantinos; Wang, Ting

2014-08-25

We demonstrate the first SDN-controlled optical topology-reconfigurable mobile fronthaul (MFH) architecture for bidirectional coordinated multipoint (CoMP) and low latency inter-cell device-to-device (D2D) connectivity in the 5G mobile networking era. SDN-based OpenFlow control is used to dynamically instantiate the CoMP and inter-cell D2D features as match/action combinations in control plane flow tables of software-defined optical and electrical switching elements. Dynamic re-configurability is thereby introduced into the optical MFH topology, while maintaining back-compatibility with legacy fiber deployments. 10 Gb/s peak rates with <7 μs back-to-back transmission latency and 29.6 dB total power budget are experimentally demonstrated, confirming the attractiveness of the new approach for optical MFH of future 5G mobile systems.

Approaches to probabilistic model learning for mobile manipulation robots

CERN Document Server

Sturm, Jürgen

2013-01-01

Mobile manipulation robots are envisioned to provide many useful services both in domestic environments as well as in the industrial context. Examples include domestic service robots that implement large parts of the housework, and versatile industrial assistants that provide automation, transportation, inspection, and monitoring services. The challenge in these applications is that the robots have to function under changing, real-world conditions, be able to deal with considerable amounts of noise and uncertainty, and operate without the supervision of an expert. This book presents novel learning techniques that enable mobile manipulation robots, i.e., mobile platforms with one or more robotic manipulators, to autonomously adapt to new or changing situations. The approaches presented in this book cover the following topics: (1) learning the robot's kinematic structure and properties using actuation and visual feedback, (2) learning about articulated objects in the environment in which the robot is operating,...

Mobile Autonomous Reconfigurable System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavliuk N.A.

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The object of this study is a multifunctional modular robot able to assemble independently in a given configuration and responsively change it in the process of operation depending on the current task. In this work we aim at developing and examining unified modules for a modular robot, which can both perform autonomous movement and form a complex structure by connecting to other modules. The existing solutions in the field of modular robotics were reviewed and classified by power supply, the ways of interconnection, the ways of movement and the possibility of independent movement of separate modules. Basing on the analysis of the shortcomings of existing analogues, we have developed a module of mobile autonomous reconfigurable system, including a base unit, a set of magneto-mechanical connectors and two motor wheels. The basic kinematic scheme of the modular robot, the features of a single module, as well as the modular structure formed by an array of similar modules were described. Two schemes for placing sets of magneto-mechanical connectors in the basic module have been proposed. We described the principle of operation of a magneto-mechanical connector based on redirection of the magnetic flux of a permanent magnet. This solution simplifies the system for controlling a mechanism of connection with other modules, increases energy efficiency and a battery life of the module. Since the energy is required only at the moment of switching the operating modes of the connector, there is no need to power constantly the connector mechanism to maintain the coupling mode.

Supervised Autonomy for Exploration and Mobile Manipulation in Rough Terrain with a Centaur-like Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Schwarz

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Planetary exploration scenarios illustrate the need for autonomous robots that are capable to operate in unknown environments without direct human interaction. At the DARPA Robotics Challenge, we demonstrated that our Centaur-like mobile manipulation robot Momaro can solve complex tasks when teleoperated. Motivated by the DLR SpaceBot Cup 2015, where robots should explore a Mars-like environment, find and transport objects, take a soil sample, and perform assembly tasks, we developed autonomous capabilities for Momaro. Our robot perceives and maps previously unknown, uneven terrain using a 3D laser scanner. Based on the generated height map, we assess drivability, plan navigation paths, and execute them using the omnidirectional drive. Using its four legs, the robot adapts to the slope of the terrain. Momaro perceives objects with cameras, estimates their pose, and manipulates them with its two arms autonomously. For specifying missions, monitoring mission progress, on-the-fly reconfiguration, and teleoperation, we developed a ground station with suitable operator interfaces. To handle network communication interruptions and latencies between robot and ground station, we implemented a robust network layer for the ROS middleware. With the developed system, our team NimbRo Explorer solved all tasks of the DLR SpaceBot Camp 2015. We also discuss the lessons learned from this demonstration.

"Little Helper" - An Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulator Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mads Hvilshoj

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the concept "autonomous industrial mobile manipulation" (AIMM based on the mobile manipulator "Little Helper" - an ongoing research project at Aalborg University, Denmark, concerning the development of an autonomous and flexible manufacturing assistant. The paper focuses on the contextual aspects and the working principles of AIMM. Furthermore, the paper deals with the design principles and overall hardware and software architectures of "Little Helper" from a functional and modular mechatronics point of view, in order to create a generic AIMM platform. The design challenges faced in the project is to integrate commercial off‐the‐shelf (COTS and dedicated highly integrated systems into an autonomous mobile manipulator system with the ability to perform diverse tasks in industrial environments. We propose an action based domain specific communication language for AIMM for routine and task definition, in order to lower the entry barriers for the users of the technology. To demonstrate the "Little Helper" concept a full‐scale prototype has been built and different application examples carried out. Experiences and knowledge gained from this show promising results regarding industrial integration, exploitation and maturation of the AIMM technology.

Kinematic Analysis of Mobile Manipulator for Measurement and Maintenance in Dangerous Environment

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

CUI Genqun; LI Chunshu; ZHANG Minglu

2006-01-01

This paper studies the kinematic modeling of a mobile manipulator that consists of 5-DOF manipulator and an autonomous wheeled mobile platform. Then an artificial neural network to realize the coordination motion between manipulator and mobile platform is developed. On the basis of the task specifications, the algorithm determines the appropriate control variables to respond to the well tracking trajectory. The control strategy employed for either subsystem is achieved by using a robust supervised controller. A learning paradigm is used to produce the required reference variables for an overall cooperative behavior of the system. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of this approach.

Reconfiguring Urban Sustainability Transitions, Analysing Multiplicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mike Hodson

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Cities, and the networked infrastructures that sustain urban life, are seen as crucial sites for creating more sustainable futures. Yet, although there are many plans, the realisation of sustainable urban infrastructures on the ground is uneven. To develop better ways of understanding why this is the case, the paper makes a conceptual contribution by engaging with current understanding of urban sustainability transitions, using urban sustainable mobility as a reference point. It extends these insights to argue that urban transitions are not about technological or social innovation per se, but about how multiple innovations are experimented with, combined and reconfigured in existing urban contexts and how such processes are governed. There are potentially many ways in which urban sustainable mobility can be reconfigured contextually. Innovation is in the particular form of reconfiguration rather than individual technologies. To make analytical sense of this multiplicity, a preliminary framework is developed that offers the potential to think about urban transitions as contextual and reconfigurational. We argue that there is a need to embrace multiplicity and to understand its relationships to forms of reconfiguration, through empirical exploration and further theoretical and conceptual development. The preliminary framework is a contribution to doing so and we set out future directions for research.

A Null Space Control of Two Wheels Driven Mobile Manipulator Using Passivity Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Shibata, Tsuyoshi; Murakami, Toshiyuki

This paper describes a control strategy of null space motion of a two wheels driven mobile manipulator. Recently, robot is utilized in various industrial fields and it is preferable for the robot manipulator to have multiple degrees of freedom motion. Several studies of kinematics for null space motion have been proposed. However stability analysis of null space motion is not enough. Furthermore, these approaches apply to stable systems, but they do not apply unstable systems. Then, in this research, base of manipulator equips with two wheels driven mobile robot. This robot is called two wheels driven mobile manipulator, which becomes unstable system. In the proposed approach, a control design of null space uses passivity based stabilizing. A proposed controller is decided so that closed-loop system of robot dynamics satisfies passivity. This is passivity based control. Then, control strategy is that stabilizing of the robot system applies to work space observer based approach and null space control while keeping end-effector position. The validity of the proposed approach is verified by simulations and experiments of two wheels driven mobile manipulator.

Mobile Robot and Mobile Manipulator Research Towards ASTM Standards Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Bostelman, Roger; Hong, Tsai; Legowik, Steven

2016-01-01

Performance standards for industrial mobile robots and mobile manipulators (robot arms onboard mobile robots) have only recently begun development. Low cost and standardized measurement techniques are needed to characterize system performance, compare different systems, and to determine if recalibration is required. This paper discusses work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and within the ASTM Committee F45 on Driverless Automatic Guided Industrial Vehicles. This includes standards for both terminology, F45.91, and for navigation performance test methods, F45.02. The paper defines terms that are being considered. Additionally, the paper describes navigation test methods that are near ballot and docking test methods being designed for consideration within F45.02. This includes the use of low cost artifacts that can provide alternatives to using relatively expensive measurement systems.

Control of an automated mobile manipulator using artificial immune system

Science.gov (United States)

Deepak, B. B. V. L.; Parhi, Dayal R.

2016-03-01

This paper addresses the coordination and control of a wheeled mobile manipulator (WMM) using artificial immune system. The aim of the developed methodology is to navigate the system autonomously and transport jobs and tools in manufacturing environments. This study integrates the kinematic structures of a four-axis manipulator and a differential wheeled mobile platform. The motion of the developed WMM is controlled by the complete system of parametric equation in terms of joint velocities and makes the robot to follow desired trajectories by the manipulator and platform within its workspace. The developed robot system performs its action intelligently according to the sensed environmental criteria within its search space. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed immune-based motion planner for WMM, simulations as well as experimental results are presented in various unknown environments.

Nested Reconfigurable Robots: Theory, Design, and Realization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ning Tan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Rather than the conventional classification method, we propose to divide modular and reconfigurable robots into intra-, inter-, and nested reconfigurations. We suggest designing the robot with nested reconfigurability, which utilizes individual robots with intra-reconfigurability capable of combining with other homogeneous/heterogeneous robots (inter-reconfigurability. The objective of this approach is to generate more complex morphologies for performing specific tasks that are far from the capabilities of a single module or to respond to programmable assembly requirements. In this paper, we discuss the theory, concept, and initial mechanical design of Hinged-Tetro, a self-reconfigurable module conceived for the study of nested reconfiguration. Hinged-Tetro is a mobile robot that uses the principle of hinged dissection of polyominoes to transform itself into any of the seven one-sided tetrominoes in a straightforward way. The robot can also combine with other modules for shaping complex structures or giving rise to a robot with new capabilities. Finally, the validation experiments verify the nested reconfigurability of Hinged-Tetro. Extensive tests and analyses of intra-reconfiguration are provided in terms of energy and time consumptions. Experiments using two robots validate the inter-reconfigur ability of the proposed module.

Integration and Assessment of Multiple Mobile Manipulators in a Real-World Industrial Production Facility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøgh, Simon; Schou, Casper; Rühr, Thomas

2014-01-01

This paper presents a large-scale research experiment carried out within the TAPAS project, where multiple mobile manipulators were integrated and assessed in an industrial context. We consider an industrial scenario in which mobile manipulators naturally extend automation of logistic tasks towar...

Preliminary evaluation of the Accident Response Mobile Manipulation System for accident site salvage operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trujillo, J.M.; Morse, W.D.; Jones, D.P.

1994-01-01

This paper describes and evaluates operational experiences with the Accident Response Mobile Manipulation System (ARMMS) during simulated accident site salvage operations which might involve nuclear weapons. The ARMMS is based upon a teleoperated mobility platform with two Schilling Titan 7F Manipulators

Thermooptic two-mode interference device for reconfigurable quantum optic circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Sahu, Partha Pratim

2018-06-01

Reconfigurable large-scale integrated quantum optic circuits require compact component having capability of accurate manipulation of quantum entanglement for quantum communication and information processing applications. Here, a thermooptic two-mode interference coupler has been introduced as a compact component for generation of reconfigurable complex multi-photons quantum interference. Both theoretical and experimental approaches are used for the demonstration of two-photon and four-photon quantum entanglement manipulated with thermooptic phase change in TMI region. Our results demonstrate complex multi-photon quantum interference with high fabrication tolerance and quantum fidelity in smaller dimension than previous thermooptic Mach-Zehnder implementations.

DSP-enabled reconfigurable and transparent spectral converters for converging optical and mobile fronthaul/backhaul networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, M Z; Giddings, R P; Cao, B Y; Xu, Y T; Wang, M; Tang, J M

2017-06-12

Dynamically reconfigurable and transparent signal spectral conversion is expected to play a vital role in seamlessly integrating traditional metropolitan optical networks and mobile fronthaul/backhaul networks. In this paper, a simple digital signal processing (DSP)-enabled spectral converter is proposed and extensively investigated, for the first time, which just utilizes a single standard dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM) driven by SDN-controllable RF signals and DC bias currents. As an important thrust of the paper, optimum operating conditions of the proposed converter are analytically identified, statistically examined and experimentally verified. Optimum operating condition-supported spectral converter performances in IMDD-based network nodes are explored both theoretically and experimentally in terms of frequency detuning range-dependent conversion efficiency, spectral conversion-induced OSNR/power penalty and transparency to input signal characteristics. The proposed spectral converter has unique advantages including low configuration complexity, strict transparency, SDN-controllable performance reconfigurability and flexibility, as well as negligible spectral conversion-induced latency.

Screw-System-Based Mobility Analysis of a Family of Fully Translational Parallel Manipulators

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Ernesto Rodriguez-Leal

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the mobility of a family of fully translational parallel manipulators based on screw system analysis by identifying the common constraint and redundant constraints, providing a case study of this approach. The paper presents the branch motion-screws for the 3-RP̲C-Y parallel manipulator, the 3-RCC-Y (or 3-RP̲RC-Y parallel manipulator, and a newly proposed 3-RP̲C-T parallel manipulator. Then the paper determines the sets of platform constraint-screws for each of these three manipulators. The constraints exerted on the platforms of the 3-RP̲C architectures and the 3-RCC-Y manipulators are analyzed using the screw system approach and have been identified as couples. A similarity has been identified with the axes of couples: they are perpendicular to the R joint axes, but in the former the axes are coplanar with the base and in the latter the axes are perpendicular to the limb. The remaining couples act about the axis that is normal to the base. The motion-screw system and constraint-screw system analysis leads to the insightful understanding of the mobility of the platform that is then obtained by determining the reciprocal screws to the platform constraint screw sets, resulting in three independent instantaneous translational degrees-of-freedom. To validate the mobility analysis of the three parallel manipulators, the paper includes motion simulations which use a commercially available kinematics software.

Design and Analysis of Cooperative Cable Parallel Manipulators for Multiple Mobile Cranes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bin Zi

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The design, dynamic modelling, and workspace are presented in this paper concerning cooperative cable parallel manipulators for multiple mobile cranes (CPMMCs. The CPMMCs can handle complex tasks that are more difficult or even impossible for a single mobile crane. Kinematics and dynamics of the CPMMCs are studied on the basis of geometric methodology and d'Alembert's principle, and a mathematical model of the CPMMCs is developed and presented with dynamic simulation. The constant orientation workspace analysis of the CPMMCs is carried out additionally. As an example, a cooperative cable parallel manipulator for triple mobile cranes with 6 Degrees of Freedom is investigated on the basis of the above design objectives.

Smooth Jerk-Bounded Optimal Path Planning of Tricycle Wheeled Mobile Manipulators in the Presence of Environmental Obstacles

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Moharam Habibnejad Korayem

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In this work, a computational algorithm is developed for the smooth-jerk optimal path planning of tricycle wheeled mobile manipulators in an obstructed environment. Due to a centred orientable wheel, the tricycle mobile manipulator exhibits more steerability and manoeuvrability over traditional mobile manipulators, especially in the presence of environmental obstacles. This paper presents a general formulation based on the combination of the potential field method and optimal control theory in order to plan the smooth point-to-point path of the tricycle mobile manipulators. The nonholonomic constraints of the tricycle mobile base are taken into account in the dynamic formulation of the system and then the optimality conditions are derived considering jerk restrictions and obstacle avoidance. Furthermore, by means of the potential field method, a new formulation of a repulsive potential function is proposed for collision avoidance between any obstacle and each part of the mobile manipulator. In addition, to ensure the accurate placement of the end effector on the target point an attractive potential function is applied to the optimal control formulation. Next, a mixed analytical-numerical algorithm is proposed to generate the point-to-point optimal path. Finally, the proposed method is verified by a number of simulations on a two-link tricycle manipulator.

Research on Visual Servo Grasping of Household Objects for Nonholonomic Mobile Manipulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huangsheng Xie

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the problem of visual servo grasping of household objects for nonholonomic mobile manipulator. Firstly, a new kind of artificial object mark based on QR (Quick Response Code is designed, which can be affixed to the surface of household objects. Secondly, after summarizing the vision-based autonomous mobile manipulation system as a generalized manipulator, the generalized manipulator’s kinematic model is established, the analytical inverse kinematic solutions of the generalized manipulator are acquired, and a novel active vision based camera calibration method is proposed to determine the hand-eye relationship. Finally, a visual servo switching control law is designed to control the service robot to finish object grasping operation. Experimental results show that QR Code-based artificial object mark can overcome the difficulties brought by household objects’ variety and operation complexity, and the proposed visual servo scheme makes it possible for service robot to grasp and deliver objects efficiently.

Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna for Deca-Band 5 G/LTE/WWAN Mobile Terminal Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lingsheng; Cheng, Biyu; Jia, Hongting

2018-04-01

In this paper, a frequency reconfigurable antenna for 5 G/LTE/WWAN mobile terminal applications is presented. The proposed antenna consists of a radiation element which is folded on a dielectric cuboid. Four PIN diodes located on the antenna element are used for frequency reconfigration. By controlling the states of four PIN diodes with an 8-bit microcontroller, a broad band which can cover deca-band as LTE700/2300/2500, GSM850/900/1800/1900, UMTS 2100, WLAN2400 and the future 5 G or LTE3600 is obtained with a compacted size of 40×8×5mm3. The antenna gain, efficiency and radiation characteristics are also shown.

Engineering Gecko-Inspired Adhesives for Robotic Mobility and Manipulation in Microgravity

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The goal of the proposed research is to customize gecko-inspired adhesive technologies for space applications in manipulation and mobility, primarily addressing...

Nanopatterning spin-textures: A route to reconfigurable magnonics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Albisetti

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Magnonics is envisioned to enable highly efficient data transport and processing, by exploiting propagating perturbations in the spin-texture of magnetic materials. Despite the demonstrations of a plethora of proof-of-principle devices, the efficient excitation, transport and manipulation of spin-waves at the nanoscale is still an open challenge. Recently, we demonstrated that the spin-wave excitation and propagation can be controlled by nanopatterning reconfigurable spin-textures in a continuous exchange biased ferromagnetic film. Here, we show that by patterning 90° stripe-shaped magnetic domains, we spatially modulate the spin-wave excitation in a continuous film, and that by applying an external magnetic field we can reversibly “switch-off” the spin-wave excitation. This opens the way to the use of nanopatterned spin-textures, such as domains and domain walls, for exciting and manipulating magnons in reconfigurable nanocircuits.

Grasp planning for a reconfigurable parallel robot with an underactuated arm structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Riedel

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a novel approach of grasp planning is applied to find out the appropriate grasp points for a reconfigurable parallel robot called PARAGRIP (Parallel Gripping. This new handling system is able to manipulate objects in the six-dimensional Cartesian space by several robotic arms using only six actuated joints. After grasping, the contact elements at the end of the underactuated arm mechanisms are connected to the object which forms a closed loop mechanism similar to the architecture of parallel manipulators. As the mounting and grasp points of the arms can easily be changed, the manipulator can be reconfigured to match the user's preferences and needs. This paper raises the question, how and where these grasp points are to be placed on the object to perform well for a certain manipulation task.

This paper was presented at the IFToMM/ASME International Workshop on Underactuated Grasping (UG2010, 19 August 2010, Montréal, Canada.

Mobility Divides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Ole B.

Contemporary mobilities are cultural and social manifestations, and the mobile practices in the everyday life of billions of humans are re-configuring senses of place, self, other and relationships to the built environment. The way ‘mobile situations’ are staged in designed and built environments......’ in the everyday life and cast light on how design and ‘materialities of mobilites’ are creating differential mobilities across societies, social networks, and communities of practices.......Contemporary mobilities are cultural and social manifestations, and the mobile practices in the everyday life of billions of humans are re-configuring senses of place, self, other and relationships to the built environment. The way ‘mobile situations’ are staged in designed and built environments...

“Little Helper” — An Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulator Concept

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Mads Hvilshøj

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the concept “autonomous industrial mobile manipulation” (AIMM based on the mobile manipulator “Little Helper” – an ongoing research project at Aalborg University, Denmark, concerning the development of an autonomous and flexible manufacturing assistant. The paper focuses on the contextual aspects and the working principles of AIMM. Furthermore, the paper deals with the design principles and overall hardware and software architectures of “Little Helper” from a functional and modular mechatronics point of view, in order to create a generic AIMM platform. The design challenges faced in the project is to integrate commercial off-the-shelf (COTS and dedicated highly integrated systems into an autonomous mobile manipulator system with the ability to perform diverse tasks in industrial environments. We propose an action based domain specific communication language for AIMM for routine and task definition, in order to lower the entry barriers for the users of the technology. To demonstrate the “Little Helper” concept a full-scale prototype has been built and different application examples carried out. Experiences and knowledge gained from this show promising results regarding industrial integration, exploitation and maturation of the AIMM technology.

Simulation of cooperating robot manipulators on a mobile platform

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Steve H.; Wen, John T.; Saridis, George N.

1990-01-01

The dynamic equations of motion for two manipulators holding a common object on a freely moving mobile platform are developed. The full dynamic interactions from arms to platform and arm-tip to arm-tip are included in the formulation. The development of the closed chain dynamics allows for the use of any solution for the open topological tree of base and manipulator links. In particular, because the system has 18 degrees of freedom, recursive solutions for the dynamic simulation become more promising for efficient calculations of the motion. Simulation of the system is accomplished through a MATLAB program, and the response is visualized graphically using the SILMA Cimstation.

Portable reconfigurable detection and assessment system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blattman, D.A.

1991-01-01

Rapidly changing geopolitical issues throughout the world have made the ability to effectively respond to political, military, terrorist and peace-keeping requirements increasingly important. Recent Middle East events indicate a continuing escalation in these activities. These activities are defining the requirements for a rapidly deployable, portable, real-time detection and assessment operational security system that is reconfigurable to site specific threats. This paper describes such a system Mobile Operational Detection and Assessment system (MODAS); a commercially-off-the shelf (COTS) integrated and reconfigurable hardware/software system solution for the ever-changing geopolitical security issues of the Nineties

Modelling, Simulation and Testing of a Reconfigurable Cable-Based Parallel Manipulator as Motion Aiding System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gianni Castelli

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents results on the modelling, simulation and experimental tests of a cable-based parallel manipulator to be used as an aiding or guiding system for people with motion disabilities. There is a high level of motivation for people with a motion disability or the elderly to perform basic daily-living activities independently. Therefore, it is of great interest to design and implement safe and reliable motion assisting and guiding devices that are able to help end-users. In general, a robot for a medical application should be able to interact with a patient in safety conditions, i.e. it must not damage people or surroundings; it must be designed to guarantee high accuracy and low acceleration during the operation. Furthermore, it should not be too bulky and it should exert limited wrenches after close interaction with people. It can be advisable to have a portable system which can be easily brought into and assembled in a hospital or a domestic environment. Cable-based robotic structures can fulfil those requirements because of their main characteristics that make them light and intrinsically safe. In this paper, a reconfigurable four-cable-based parallel manipulator has been proposed as a motion assisting and guiding device to help people to accomplish a number of tasks, such as an aiding or guiding system to move the upper and lower limbs or the whole body. Modelling and simulation are presented in the ADAMS environment. Moreover, experimental tests are reported as based on an available laboratory prototype.

Performance evaluation of the Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA).

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongwu; Xu, Jijie; Grindle, Garrett; Vazquez, Juan; Salatin, Ben; Kelleher, Annmarie; Ding, Dan; Collins, Diane M; Cooper, Rory A

2013-11-01

The Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA) is a recently developed personal assistance robot created to provide people with severe physical disabilities enhanced assistance in both mobility and manipulation. PerMMA aims to improve functional independence when a personal care attendant is not available on site. PerMMA integrates both a smart powered wheelchair and two dexterous robotic arms to assist its users in completing essential mobility and manipulation tasks during basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL). Two user interfaces were developed: a local control interface and a remote operator controller. This paper reports on the evaluation of PerMMA with end users completing basic ADL tasks. Participants with both lower and upper extremity impairments (N=15) were recruited to operate PerMMA and complete up to five ADL tasks in a single session of no more than two hours (to avoid fatigue or frustration of the participants). The performance of PerMMA was evaluated by participants completing ADL tasks with two different control modes: local mode and cooperative control. The users' task completion performance and answers on pre/post-evaluation questionnaires demonstrated not only the ease in learning and usefulness of PerMMA, but also their attitudes toward assistance from advanced technology like PerMMA. As a part of the iterative development process, results of this work will serve as supporting evidence to identify design criteria and other areas for improvement of PerMMA. Copyright © 2013 IPEM. All rights reserved.

Análisis Cinemático de un Novedoso Robot Paralelo Reconfigurable

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Róger E. Sánchez-Alonso

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Resumen: Este trabajo presenta el análisis cinemático de un manipulador reconfigurable integrado por dos sub-manipuladores paralelos que comparten una plataforma móvil. Una solución en forma semi-cerrada para el análisis directo de posición del robot es obtenida tomando ventaja de la geometría no plana de la plataforma móvil, mientras que los análisis de velocidad, aceleración y singularidades son desarrollados por medio de teoría de tornillos. Finalmente se propone una aproximación basada en el índice de manipulabilidad de la matriz jacobiana para determinar la configuración geométrica que optimiza el desempeño del manipulador dada una determinada postura de la plataforma móvil. Abstract: This work presents the kinematic analysis of a reconfigurable manipulator composed of two parallel sub-manipulators that share a common moving platform. A semi-closed form solution is easily obtained to solve the forward displacement analysis of the robot taking advantage of the non-planar geometry of the moving platform, while the velocity, acceleration and singularity analyses are developed by resorting to screw theory. Finally a very practical approach based on the manipulability index of the jacobian matrix of the robot is proposed in order to determine the geometric configuration that optimizes the performance of the manipulator given a pose of the moving platform. Palabras clave: Robot paralelo, Reconfiguración, Cinemática, Teoría de tornillos, Matriz jacobiana, Índice de manipulabilidad., Keywords: Parallel robot, Reconfiguration, Kinematics, Screw theory, Jacobian matrix, Manipulability index.

A Multi-Technique Reconfigurable Electrochemical Biosensor: Enabling Personal Health Monitoring in Mobile Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Alexander; Venkatesh, A G; Hall, Drew A

2016-10-01

This paper describes the design and characterization of a reconfigurable, multi-technique electrochemical biosensor designed for direct integration into smartphone and wearable technologies to enable remote and accurate personal health monitoring. By repurposing components from one mode to the next, the biosensor's potentiostat is able reconfigure itself into three different measurements modes to perform amperometric, potentiometric, and impedance spectroscopic tests all with minimal redundant devices. A [Formula: see text] PCB prototype of the module was developed with discrete components and tested using Google's Project Ara modular smartphone. The amperometric mode has a ±1 nA to [Formula: see text] measurement range. When used to detect pH, the potentiometric mode achieves a resolution of < 0.08 pH units. In impedance measurement mode, the device can measure 50 Ω-10 [Formula: see text] and has been shown to have of phase error. This prototype was used to perform several point-of-care health tracking assays suitable for use with mobile devices: 1) Blood glucose tests were conducted and shown to cover the diagnostic range for Diabetic patients (  ∼  200 mg/dL). 2) Lactoferrin, a biomarker for urinary tract infections, was detected with a limit of detection of approximately 1 ng/mL. 3) pH tests of sweat were conducted to track dehydration during exercise. 4) EIS was used to determine the concentration of NeutrAvidin via a label-free assay.

Augmented reality user interface for mobile ground robots with manipulator arms

Science.gov (United States)

Vozar, Steven; Tilbury, Dawn M.

2011-01-01

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology in which real-world visual data is combined with an overlay of computer graphics, enhancing the original feed. AR is an attractive tool for teleoperated UGV UIs as it can improve communication between robots and users via an intuitive spatial and visual dialogue, thereby increasing operator situational awareness. The successful operation of UGVs often relies upon both chassis navigation and manipulator arm control, and since existing literature usually focuses on one task or the other, there is a gap in mobile robot UIs that take advantage of AR for both applications. This work describes the development and analysis of an AR UI system for a UGV with an attached manipulator arm. The system supplements a video feed shown to an operator with information about geometric relationships within the robot task space to improve the operator's situational awareness. Previous studies on AR systems and preliminary analyses indicate that such an implementation of AR for a mobile robot with a manipulator arm is anticipated to improve operator performance. A full user-study can determine if this hypothesis is supported by performing an analysis of variance on common test metrics associated with UGV teleoperation.

A Web-Based Integration Procedure for the Development of Reconfigurable Robotic Work-Cells

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Paulo Ferreira

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Concepts related to the development of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS and methodologies to provide the best practices in the processing industry and factory automation, such as system integration and web-based technology, are major issues in designing next-generation manufacturing systems (NGMS. Adaptable and integrable devices are crucial for the success of NGMS. In robotic cells the integration of manufacturing components is essential to accelerate system adaptability. Sensors, control architectures and communication technologies have contributed to achieving further agility in reconfigurable factories. In this work a web-based robotic cell integration procedure is proposed to aid the identification of reconfigurable issues and requirements. This methodology is applied to an industrial robot manipulator to enhance system flexibility towards the development of a reconfigurable robotic platform.

A study on dynamically reconfigurable robotic systems, 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Toshio; Kawauchi, Yoshio; Buss, M.; Asama, Hajime.

1990-01-01

The dynamically reconfigurable robotic system (DRRS) is a new kind of robotic system which is able to reconfigurate itself to an optimal structure depending on the purpose and exvironment. To realize this concept, we proposed the CEBOT (cell-structured robot). Communication is needed in the CEBOT system as follows. When cells are separated, a communication master cell needs to know the other cell's function and position and determine the target cell for docking. Mobile cells should be able to coordinate with other mobile cell. When cells are docked, forming a cell structure/module, a master cell should control the bending joint cell and know which cells the construction is composed of. In this paper, we propose a communication protocol for both cases with optical sensor applicable to CEBOT. Some experimental results are shown by realizing the proposed communication method between cells. (author)

Trajectory Generation and Stability Analysis for Reconfigurable Klann Mechanism Based Walking Robot

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Jaichandar Kulandaidaasan Sheba

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Reconfigurable legged robots based on one degree of freedom are highly desired because they are effective on rough and irregular terrains and they provide mobility in such terrain with simple control schemes. It is necessary that reconfigurable legged robots should maintain stability during rest and motion, with a minimum number of legs while maintaining their full range of walking patterns resulting from different gait configuration. In this paper we present a method to generate input trajectory for reconfigurable quadruped robots based on Klann mechanism to properly synchronize movement. Six useful gait cycles based on this reconfigurable Klann mechanism for quadruped robots has been clearly shown here. The platform stability for these six useful gait cycles are validated through simulated results which clearly shows the capabilities of reconfigurable design.

Chameleon-reconfigurability in hand-held multimedia computers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Bos, M.; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Smit, Jaap; Mullender, Sape J.; Gellersen, H.W.

In this paper a reconfigurable systems-architecture in combination with a QoS driven operating system is introduced that can deal with the inherent dynamics of future mobile systems. We claim that a radical new approach has to be taken in order to fulfill the requirements - in terms of processing

Rational design of reconfigurable prismatic architected materials

Science.gov (United States)

Overvelde, Johannes T. B.; Weaver, James C.; Hoberman, Chuck; Bertoldi, Katia

2017-01-01

Advances in fabrication technologies are enabling the production of architected materials with unprecedented properties. Most such materials are characterized by a fixed geometry, but in the design of some materials it is possible to incorporate internal mechanisms capable of reconfiguring their spatial architecture, and in this way to enable tunable functionality. Inspired by the structural diversity and foldability of the prismatic geometries that can be constructed using the snapology origami technique, here we introduce a robust design strategy based on space-filling tessellations of polyhedra to create three-dimensional reconfigurable materials comprising a periodic assembly of rigid plates and elastic hinges. Guided by numerical analysis and physical prototypes, we systematically explore the mobility of the designed structures and identify a wide range of qualitatively different deformations and internal rearrangements. Given that the underlying principles are scale-independent, our strategy can be applied to the design of the next generation of reconfigurable structures and materials, ranging from metre-scale transformable architectures to nanometre-scale tunable photonic systems.

A Domain-Specific Language for Programming Self-Reconfigurable Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultz, Ulrik Pagh; Christensen, David Johan; Støy, Kasper

2007-01-01

. Programming a modular, self-reconfigurable robot is however a complicated task: the robot is essentially a real-time, distributed embedded system, where control and communication paths often are tightly coupled to the current physical configuration of the robot. To facilitate the task of programming modular......, self-reconfigurable robots, we have developed a declarative, role-based language that allows the programmer to define roles and behavior independently of the concrete physical structure of the robot. Roles are compiled to mobile code fragments that distribute themselves over the physical structure...

Nanopatterned reconfigurable spin-textures for magnonics

Science.gov (United States)

Albisetti, E.; Petti, D.; Pancaldi, M.; Madami, M.; Tacchi, S.; Curtis, J.; King, W. P.; Papp, A.; Csaba, G.; Porod, W.; Vavassori, P.; Riedo, E.; Bertacco, R.

The control of spin-waves holds the promise to enable energy-efficient information transport and wave-based computing. Conventionally, the engineering of spin-waves is achieved via physically patterning magnetic structures such as magnonic crystals and micro-nanowires. We demonstrate a new concept for creating reconfigurable magnonic nanostructures, by crafting at the nanoscale the magnetic anisotropy landscape of a ferromagnet exchange-coupled to an antiferromagnet. By performing a highly localized field cooling with the hot tip of a scanning probe microscope, magnetic structures, with arbitrarily oriented magnetization and tunable unidirectional anisotropy, are patterned without modifying the film chemistry and topography. We demonstrate that, in such structures, the spin-wave excitation and propagation can be spatially controlled at remanence, and can be tuned by external magnetic fields. This opens the way to the use of nanopatterned spin-textures, such as domains and domain walls, for exciting and manipulating magnons in reconfigurable nanocircuits. Partially funded by the EC through project SWING (no. 705326).

Upper cervical and upper thoracic thrust manipulation versus nonthrust mobilization in patients with mechanical neck pain: a multicenter randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunning, James R; Cleland, Joshua A; Waldrop, Mark A; Arnot, Cathy F; Young, Ian A; Turner, Michael; Sigurdsson, Gisli

2012-01-01

Randomized clinical trial. To compare the short-term effects of upper cervical and upper thoracic high-velocity low-amplitude (HVLA) thrust manipulation to nonthrust mobilization in patients with neck pain. Although upper cervical and upper thoracic HVLA thrust manipulation and nonthrust mobilization are common interventions for the management of neck pain, no studies have directly compared the effects of both upper cervical and upper thoracic HVLA thrust manipulation to nonthrust mobilization in patients with neck pain. Patients completed the Neck Disability Index, the numeric pain rating scale, the flexion-rotation test for measurement of C1-2 passive rotation range of motion, and the craniocervical flexion test for measurement of deep cervical flexor motor performance. Following the baseline evaluation, patients were randomized to receive either HVLA thrust manipulation or nonthrust mobilization to the upper cervical (C1-2) and upper thoracic (T1-2) spines. Patients were reexamined 48-hours after the initial examination and again completed the outcome measures. The effects of treatment on disability, pain, C1-2 passive rotation range of motion, and motor performance of the deep cervical flexors were examined with a 2-by-2 mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA). One hundred seven patients satisfied the eligibility criteria, agreed to participate, and were randomized into the HVLA thrust manipulation (n = 56) and nonthrust mobilization (n = 51) groups. The 2-by-2 ANOVA demonstrated that patients with mechanical neck pain who received the combination of upper cervical and upper thoracic HVLA thrust manipulation experienced significantly (Ppain (58.5%) than those of the nonthrust mobilization group (12.8% and 12.6%, respectively) following treatment. In addition, the HVLA thrust manipulation group had significantly (Pcervical flexor muscles as compared to the group that received nonthrust mobilization. The number needed to treat to avoid an unsuccessful outcome

A Domain-Specific Language for Programming Self-Reconfigurable Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultz, Ulrik Pagh; Christensen, David Johan; Støy, Kasper

2007-01-01

, self-reconfigurable robots, we have developed a declarative, role-based language that allows the programmer to define roles and behavior independently of the concrete physical structure of the robot. Roles are compiled to mobile code fragments that distribute themselves over the physical structure...

Development of an advanced mobile base for personal mobility and manipulation appliance generation II robotic wheelchair.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongwu; Candiotti, Jorge; Shino, Motoki; Chung, Cheng-Shiu; Grindle, Garrett G; Ding, Dan; Cooper, Rory A

2013-07-01

This paper describes the development of a mobile base for the Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance Generation II (PerMMA Gen II robotic wheelchair), an obstacle-climbing wheelchair able to move in structured and unstructured environments, and to climb over curbs as high as 8 inches. The mechanical, electrical, and software systems of the mobile base are presented in detail, and similar devices such as the iBOT mobility system, TopChair, and 6X6 Explorer are described. The mobile base of PerMMA Gen II has two operating modes: "advanced driving mode" on flat and uneven terrain, and "automatic climbing mode" during stair climbing. The different operating modes are triggered either by local and dynamic conditions or by external commands from users. A step-climbing sequence, up to 0.2 m, is under development and to be evaluated via simulation. The mathematical model of the mobile base is introduced. A feedback and a feed-forward controller have been developed to maintain the posture of the passenger when driving over uneven surfaces or slopes. The effectiveness of the controller has been evaluated by simulation using the open dynamics engine tool. Future work for PerMMA Gen II mobile base is implementation of the simulation and control on a real system and evaluation of the system via further experimental tests.

Unified Singularity Modeling and Reconfiguration of 3rTPS Metamorphic Parallel Mechanisms with Parallel Constraint Screws

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yufeng Zhuang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a unified singularity modeling and reconfiguration analysis of variable topologies of a class of metamorphic parallel mechanisms with parallel constraint screws. The new parallel mechanisms consist of three reconfigurable rTPS limbs that have two working phases stemming from the reconfigurable Hooke (rT joint. While one phase has full mobility, the other supplies a constraint force to the platform. Based on these, the platform constraint screw systems show that the new metamorphic parallel mechanisms have four topologies by altering the limb phases with mobility change among 1R2T (one rotation with two translations, 2R2T, and 3R2T and mobility 6. Geometric conditions of the mechanism design are investigated with some special topologies illustrated considering the limb arrangement. Following this and the actuation scheme analysis, a unified Jacobian matrix is formed using screw theory to include the change between geometric constraints and actuation constraints in the topology reconfiguration. Various singular configurations are identified by analyzing screw dependency in the Jacobian matrix. The work in this paper provides basis for singularity-free workspace analysis and optimal design of the class of metamorphic parallel mechanisms with parallel constraint screws which shows simple geometric constraints with potential simple kinematics and dynamics properties.

Adverse events associated with the use of cervical manipulation or mobilization and patient characteristics : a systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kranenburg, Rik; Schmitt, M.A.; Luijckx, Gert Jan; Puentedura, E.J.; van der Schans, Cees

2016-01-01

Cervical spinal manipulation (CSM) and cervical mobilization are frequently used in patients with neck pain and headache. Pre-manipulative cervical instability and arterial integrity tests appear to be unreliable in identifying patients at risk at risk for adverse events. It would be valuable if

Development of reconfigurable analog and digital circuits for plasma diagnostics measurement systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srivastava, Amit Kumar; Sharma, Atish; Raval, Tushar

2009-01-01

In long pulse discharge tokamak, a large number of diagnostic channels are being used to understand the complex behavior of plasma. Different diagnostics demand different types of analog and digital processing for plasma parameters measurement. This leads to variable requirements of signal processing for diagnostic measurement. For such types of requirements, we have developed hardware with reconfigurable electronic devices, which provide flexible solution for rapid development of measurement system. Here the analog processing is achieved by Field Programmable Analog Array (FPAA) integrated circuit while reconfigurable digital devices (CPLD/FPGA) achieve digital processing. FPAA's provide an ideal integrated platform for implementing low to medium complexity analog signal processing. With dynamic reconfigurability, the functionality of the FPAA can be reconfigured in-system by the designer or on the fly by a microprocessor. This feature is quite useful to manipulate the tuning or the construction of any part of the analog circuit without interrupting operation of the FPAA, thus maintaining system integrity. The hardware operation control logic circuits are configured in the reconfigurable digital devices (CPLD/FPGA) to control proper hardware functioning. These reconfigurable devices provide the design flexibility and save the component space on the board. It also provides the flexibility for various setting through software. The circuit controlling commands are either issued by computer/processor or generated by circuit itself. (author)

A Developmental Learning Approach of Mobile Manipulator via Playing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruiqi Wu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Inspired by infant development theories, a robotic developmental model combined with game elements is proposed in this paper. This model does not require the definition of specific developmental goals for the robot, but the developmental goals are implied in the goals of a series of game tasks. The games are characterized into a sequence of game modes based on the complexity of the game tasks from simple to complex, and the task complexity is determined by the applications of developmental constraints. Given a current mode, the robot switches to play in a more complicated game mode when it cannot find any new salient stimuli in the current mode. By doing so, the robot gradually achieves it developmental goals by playing different modes of games. In the experiment, the game was instantiated into a mobile robot with the playing task of picking up toys, and the game is designed with a simple game mode and a complex game mode. A developmental algorithm, “Lift-Constraint, Act and Saturate,” is employed to drive the mobile robot move from the simple mode to the complex one. The experimental results show that the mobile manipulator is able to successfully learn the mobile grasping ability after playing simple and complex games, which is promising in developing robotic abilities to solve complex tasks using games.

Articular dysfunction patterns in patients with mechanical neck pain: a clinical algorithm to guide specific mobilization and manipulation techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Dewitte, Vincent; Beernaert, Axel; Vanthillo, Bart; Barbe, Tom; Danneels, Lieven; Cagnie, Barbara

2014-02-01

In view of a didactical approach for teaching cervical mobilization and manipulation techniques to students as well as their use in daily practice, it is mandatory to acquire sound clinical reasoning to optimally apply advanced technical skills. The aim of this Masterclass is to present a clinical algorithm to guide (novice) therapists in their clinical reasoning to identify patients who are likely to respond to mobilization and/or manipulation. The presented clinical reasoning process is situated within the context of pain mechanisms and is narrowed to and applicable in patients with a dominant input pain mechanism. Based on key features in subjective and clinical examination, patients with mechanical nociceptive pain probably arising from articular structures can be categorized into specific articular dysfunction patterns. Pending on these patterns, specific mobilization and manipulation techniques are warranted. The proposed patterns are illustrated in 3 case studies. This clinical algorithm is the corollary of empirical expertise and is complemented by in-depth discussions and knowledge exchange with international colleagues. Consequently, it is intended that a carefully targeted approach contributes to an increase in specificity and safety in the use of cervical mobilizations and manipulation techniques as valuable adjuncts to other manual therapy modalities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rough terrain motion planning for actively reconfigurable mobile robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunner, Michael

2015-01-01

In the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and the nuclear meltdown at the power plant of Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, reconfigurable robots like the iRobot Packbot were deployed. Instead of humans, the robots were used to investigate contaminated areas. Other incidents are the two major earthquakes in Northern Italy in May 2012. Besides many casualties, a large number of historical buildings was severely damaged. Due to the imminent danger of collapse, it was too dangerous for rescue personnel to enter many of the buildings. Therefore, the sites were inspected by reconfigurable robots, which are able to traverse the rubble and debris of the partially destroyed buildings. This thesis develops a navigation system enabling wheeled and tracked robots to safely traverse rough terrain and challenging structures. It consists of a planning mechanism and a controller. The focus of this thesis, however, is on the contribution to motion planning. The planning scheme employs a hierarchical approach to motion planning for actively reconfigurable robots in rough environments. Using a map of the environment the algorithm estimates the traversability under the consideration of uncertainties. Based on this analysis, an initial path search determines an approximate solution with respect to the robot's operating limits.Subsequently, a detailed planning step refines the initial path where it is required. The refinement step considers the robot's actuators and stability in addition to the quantities of the first search. Determining the robot-terrain interaction is very important in rough terrain. This thesis presents two path refinement approaches: a deterministic and a randomized approach. The experimental evaluation investigates the separate components of the planning scheme, the robot-terrain interaction for instance.In simulation as well as in real world experiments the evaluation demonstrates the necessity of such a planning algorithm in rough terrain and it provides

Rough terrain motion planning for actively reconfigurable mobile robots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brunner, Michael

2015-02-05

In the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and the nuclear meltdown at the power plant of Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, reconfigurable robots like the iRobot Packbot were deployed. Instead of humans, the robots were used to investigate contaminated areas. Other incidents are the two major earthquakes in Northern Italy in May 2012. Besides many casualties, a large number of historical buildings was severely damaged. Due to the imminent danger of collapse, it was too dangerous for rescue personnel to enter many of the buildings. Therefore, the sites were inspected by reconfigurable robots, which are able to traverse the rubble and debris of the partially destroyed buildings. This thesis develops a navigation system enabling wheeled and tracked robots to safely traverse rough terrain and challenging structures. It consists of a planning mechanism and a controller. The focus of this thesis, however, is on the contribution to motion planning. The planning scheme employs a hierarchical approach to motion planning for actively reconfigurable robots in rough environments. Using a map of the environment the algorithm estimates the traversability under the consideration of uncertainties. Based on this analysis, an initial path search determines an approximate solution with respect to the robot's operating limits.Subsequently, a detailed planning step refines the initial path where it is required. The refinement step considers the robot's actuators and stability in addition to the quantities of the first search. Determining the robot-terrain interaction is very important in rough terrain. This thesis presents two path refinement approaches: a deterministic and a randomized approach. The experimental evaluation investigates the separate components of the planning scheme, the robot-terrain interaction for instance.In simulation as well as in real world experiments the evaluation demonstrates the necessity of such a planning algorithm in rough terrain and it provides

Self-matched high-Q reconfigurable antenna concept for mobile terminals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bahramzy, Pevand; Jagielski, Ole; Svendsen, Simon

2014-01-01

This study presents reconfigurable antenna design for a front end (FE) that has separate transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) path. In such an FE, the Tx and Rx antennas can be content with covering only the transmit and receive channels in a frequency band. Therefore they can be quite narrow-band. Nar...

Adverse events associated with the use of cervical spine manipulation or mobilization and patient characteristics : A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kranenburg, H. A.; Schmitt, M. A.; Puentedura, E. J.; Luijckx, G. J.; van der Schans, C. P.

Cervical spinal manipulation (CSM) and cervical mobilization are frequently used in patients with neck pain and headache. Pre-manipulative cervical instability and arterial integrity tests appear to be unreliable in identifying patients at risk for adverse events. It would be valuable if patients at

A Hybrid Constant and Oscillatory Field Ion Mobility Analyzer Using Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations

Science.gov (United States)

Prabhakaran, Aneesh; Hamid, Ahmed M.; Garimella, Sandilya V. B.; Valenzuela, Blandina R.; Ewing, Robert G.; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; Smith, Richard D.

2018-02-01

Here we explore the combination of constant and oscillatory fields applied in a single device to affect the continuous separation and filtering of ions based on their mobilities. The device explored allows confining and manipulating ions utilizing a combination of radio frequency (rf), direct current (DC) fields, and traveling waves (TW) in a structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM) module. We have investigated theoretically and experimentally a concept for continuous filtering of ions based on their mobilities where ions are mobility separated and selected by passage through two regions, both of which incorporated combined TW and constant fields providing opposing forces on the ions. The SLIM module was composed of two surfaces with mirror-image arrays of electrodes and had two regions where the different TW and opposing DC fields could be applied. The filtering capabilities are determined by the applied DC gradient and the TW parameters, such as speed, amplitude, and the TW sequence (i.e., the duty cycle of the traveling wave). The effects of different parameters on the sensitivity and the ion mobility (IM) resolution of the device have been investigated. By appropriately choosing the DC gradient and TW parameters for the two sections, it is possible to transmit ions of a selected mobility while filtering out others of both higher and lower mobility. The novel device described here provides a basis for the targeted analysis of compounds based upon the continuous selection of ions according to their mobility and without the need for high electric fields or pulsed injection.

An OFDM receiver implemented on the coarse-grain reconfigurable Montium processor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rauwerda, G.K.; Heysters, P.M.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria

Future mobile terminals become multimode communication systems. In order to handle different standards, we propose to perform baseband processing in heterogeneous reconfigurable hardware. OFDM is one of the techniques that exists in multimode communication systems. As an example, we present the

DART: A Functional-Level Reconfigurable Architecture for High Energy Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Raphaël

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Flexibility becomes a major concern for the development of multimedia and mobile communication systems, as well as classical high-performance and low-energy consumption constraints. The use of general-purpose processors solves flexibility problems but fails to cope with the increasing demand for energy efficiency. This paper presents the DART architecture based on the functional-level reconfiguration paradigm which allows a significant improvement in energy efficiency. DART is built around a hierarchical interconnection network allowing high flexibility while keeping the power overhead low. To enable specific optimizations, DART supports two modes of reconfiguration. The compilation framework is built using compilation and high-level synthesis techniques. A 3G mobile communication application has been implemented as a proof of concept. The energy distribution within the architecture and the physical implementation are also discussed. Finally, the VLSI design of a 0.13  m CMOS SoC implementing a specialized DART cluster is presented.

DART: A Functional-Level Reconfigurable Architecture for High Energy Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien Pillement

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Flexibility becomes a major concern for the development of multimedia and mobile communication systems, as well as classical high-performance and low-energy consumption constraints. The use of general-purpose processors solves flexibility problems but fails to cope with the increasing demand for energy efficiency. This paper presents the DART architecture based on the functional-level reconfiguration paradigm which allows a significant improvement in energy efficiency. DART is built around a hierarchical interconnection network allowing high flexibility while keeping the power overhead low. To enable specific optimizations, DART supports two modes of reconfiguration. The compilation framework is built using compilation and high-level synthesis techniques. A 3G mobile communication application has been implemented as a proof of concept. The energy distribution within the architecture and the physical implementation are also discussed. Finally, the VLSI design of a 0.13 μm CMOS SoC implementing a specialized DART cluster is presented.

Articular dysfunction patterns in patients with mechanical low back pain: A clinical algorithm to guide specific mobilization and manipulation techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Dewitte, V; Cagnie, B; Barbe, T; Beernaert, A; Vanthillo, B; Danneels, L

2015-06-01

Recent systematic reviews have demonstrated reasonable evidence that lumbar mobilization and manipulation techniques are beneficial. However, knowledge on optimal techniques and doses, and its clinical reasoning is currently lacking. To address this, a clinical algorithm is presented so as to guide therapists in their clinical reasoning to identify patients who are likely to respond to lumbar mobilization and/or manipulation and to direct appropriate technique selection. Key features in subjective and clinical examination suggestive of mechanical nociceptive pain probably arising from articular structures, can categorize patients into distinct articular dysfunction patterns. Based on these patterns, specific mobilization and manipulation techniques are suggested. This clinical algorithm is merely based on empirical clinical expertise and complemented through knowledge exchange between international colleagues. The added value of the proposed articular dysfunction patterns should be considered within a broader perspective. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reconfigurable Signal Processing and Hardware Architecture for Broadband Wireless Communications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Ying-Chang

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a broadband wireless transceiver which can be reconfigured to any type of cyclic-prefix (CP -based communication systems, including orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM, single-carrier cyclic-prefix (SCCP system, multicarrier (MC code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA, MC direct-sequence CDMA (MC-DS-CDMA, CP-based CDMA (CP-CDMA, and CP-based direct-sequence CDMA (CP-DS-CDMA. A hardware platform is proposed and the reusable common blocks in such a transceiver are identified. The emphasis is on the equalizer design for mobile receivers. It is found that after block despreading operation, MC-DS-CDMA and CP-DS-CDMA have the same equalization blocks as OFDM and SCCP systems, respectively, therefore hardware and software sharing is possible for these systems. An attempt has also been made to map the functional reconfigurable transceiver onto the proposed hardware platform. The different functional entities which will be required to perform the reconfiguration and realize the transceiver are explained.

A Modular Re-configurable Rover System

Science.gov (United States)

Bouloubasis, A.; McKee, G.; Active Robotics Lab

In this paper we present the novel concepts incorporated in a planetary surface exploration rover design that is currently under development. The Multitasking Rover (MTR) aims to demonstrate functionality that will cover many of the current and future needs such as rough-terrain mobility, modularity and upgradeability [1]. The rover system has enhanced mobility characteristics. It operates in conjunction with Science Packs (SPs) and Tool Packs (TPs) - modules attached to the main frame of the rover, which are either special tools or science instruments and alter the operation capabilities of the system. To date, each rover system design is very much task driven for example, the scenario of cooperative transportation of extended payloads [2], comprises two rovers each equipped with a manipulator dedicated to the task [3]. The MTR approach focuses mostly on modularity and upgradeability presenting at the same time a fair amount of internal re-configurability for the sake of rough terrain stability. The rover itself does not carry any scientific instruments or tools. To carry out the scenario mentioned above, the MTR would have to locate and pick-up a TP with the associated manipulator. After the completion of the task the TP could be put away to a storage location enabling the rover to utilize a different Pack. The rover will not only offer mobility to these modules, but also use them as tools, transforming its role and functionality. The advantage of this approach is that instead of sending a large number of rovers to perform a variety of tasks, a smaller number of MTRs could be deployed with a large number of SPs/TPs, offering multiples of the functionality at a reduced payload. Two SPs or TPs (or a combination of) can be carried and deployed. One of the key elements in the design of the four wheeled rover, lies within its suspension system. It comprises a linear actuator located within each leg and also an active differential linking the two shoulders. This novel

Reconfigurable and writable magnetic charge crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yong-Lei; Xiao, Zhi-Li; Kwok, Wai-Kwong

2017-07-18

Artificial ices enable the study of geometrical frustration by design and through direct observation. It has, however, proven difficult to achieve tailored long-range ordering of their diverse configurations, limiting both fundamental and applied research directions. An artificial spin structure design is described that produces a magnetic charge ice with tunable long-range ordering of eight different configurations. A technique is also developed to precisely manipulate the local magnetic charge states and demonstrate write-read-erase multi-functionality at room temperature. This globally reconfigurable and locally writable magnetic charge ice provides a setting for designing magnetic monopole defects, tailoring magnetics and controlling the properties of other two-dimensional materials.

Fault Tolerant Control Architecture Design for Mobile Manipulation in Scientific Facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad M. Aref

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes one of the challenging issues implied by scientific infrastructures on a mobile robot cognition architecture. For a generally applicable cognition architecture, we study the dependencies and logical relations between several tasks and subsystems. The overall view of the software modules is described, including their relationship with a fault management module that monitors the consistency of the data flow among the modules. The fault management module is the solution of the deliberative architecture for the single point failures, and the safety anchor is the reactive solution for the faults by redundant equipment. In addition, a hardware architecture is proposed to ensure safe robot movement as a redundancy for the cognition of the robot. The method is designed for a four-wheel steerable (4WS mobile manipulator (iMoro as a case study.

Transformational electronics are now reconfiguring

KAUST Repository

Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto

2015-05-22

Current developments on enhancing our smart living experience are leveraging the increased interest for novel systems that can be compatible with foldable, wrinkled, wavy and complex geometries and surfaces, and thus become truly ubiquitous and easy to deploy. Therefore, relying on innovative structural designs we have been able to reconfigure the physical form of various materials, to achieve remarkable mechanical flexibility and stretchability, which provides us with the perfect platform to develop enhanced electronic systems for application in entertainment, healthcare, fitness and wellness, military and manufacturing industry. Based on these novel structural designs we have developed a siliconbased network of hexagonal islands connected through double-spiral springs, forming an ultra-stretchable (~1000%) array for full compliance to highly asymmetric shapes and surfaces, as well as a serpentine design used to show an ultrastretchable (~800%) and flexible, spatially reconfigurable, mobile, metallic thin film copper (Cu)-based, body-integrated and non-invasive thermal heater with wireless controlling capability, reusability, heating-adaptability and affordability due to low-cost complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible integration. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

A preliminary study comparing the use of cervical/upper thoracic mobilization and manipulation for individuals with mechanical neck pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Griswold, David; Learman, Ken; O'Halloran, Bryan; Cleland, Josh

2015-05-01

Neck pain is routinely managed using manual therapy (MT) to the cervical and thoracic spines. While both mobilizations and manipulations to these areas have been shown to reduce neck pain, increase cervical range of motion, and reduce disability, the most effective option remains elusive. The purpose of this preliminary trial was to compare the pragmatic use of cervical and thoracic mobilizations vs. manipulation for mechanical neck pain. This trial included 20 patients with mechanical neck pain. Each patient was randomized to receive either mobilization or manipulation to both the cervical and thoracic spines during their plan of care. Within-group analyses were made with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and between-group analyses were made with Mann-Whitney U. There were no between-group differences for any of the dependent variables including cervical active range of motion (CAROM) (P = 0.18), deep cervical flexion (DCF) endurance (P = 0.06), numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) (P = 0.26), the neck disability index (NDI, P = 0.33), patient-specific functional scale (PSFS, P = 0.20), or the global rating of change (GROC) scale (P = 0.94). Within-group results were significant for all outcome variables (Ppain.

A Compact Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna for LTE Mobile Handset Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Munyong Choi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A compact (8 × 62 × 5 mm3; 2.48 cc frequency reconfigurable antenna that uses electrical switching with PIN diodes is proposed for the low frequency LTE band (699 MHz–862 MHz, high frequency LTE band (2496 MHz–2690 MHz, GSM850/900 bands (824 MHz–960 MHz, and DCS/PCS/WCDMA bands (1710 MHz–2170 MHz. The penta-band PIFA is first designed for GSM850/900/DCS/PCS/WCDMA bands by using two slits and ground pins within a limited antenna volume (8 × 54.6 × 5 mm3; 2.18 cc. The frequency reconfigurable antenna based on this penta-band PIFA is thus proposed to additionally cover all LTE bands. The proposed antenna has two PIN diodes with an optimal location. For State 1 (PIN diode 1: ON state, PIN diode 2: OFF state, the proposed antenna covers the low frequency LTE band, DCS/PCS/WCDMA bands, and high frequency LTE band. For State 2 (PIN diode 1: OFF state, PIN diode 2: ON state, the antenna covers the GSM850/900 bands. Simulated and measured results show that the total efficiency of the proposed antenna was greater than 40% for all operating frequency bands.

A compliant underactuated hand with suction flow for underwater mobile manipulation

KAUST Repository

Stuart, Hannah S.

2014-05-01

© 2014 IEEE. Fingertip suction is investigated using a compliant, underactuated, tendon-driven hand designed for underwater mobile manipulation. Tendon routing and joint stiffnesses are designed to provide ease of closure while maintaining finger rigidity, allowing the hand to pinch small objects, as well as secure large objects, without diminishing strength. While the hand is designed to grasp a range of objects, the addition of light suction flow to the fingertips is especially effective for small, low-friction (slippery) objects. Numerical simulations confirm that changing suction parameters can increase the object acquisition region, providing guidelines for future versions of the hand.

A compliant underactuated hand with suction flow for underwater mobile manipulation

KAUST Repository

Stuart, Hannah S.; Wang, Shiquan; Gardineer, Bayard; Christensen, David L.; Aukes, Daniel M.; Cutkosky, Mark

2014-01-01

© 2014 IEEE. Fingertip suction is investigated using a compliant, underactuated, tendon-driven hand designed for underwater mobile manipulation. Tendon routing and joint stiffnesses are designed to provide ease of closure while maintaining finger rigidity, allowing the hand to pinch small objects, as well as secure large objects, without diminishing strength. While the hand is designed to grasp a range of objects, the addition of light suction flow to the fingertips is especially effective for small, low-friction (slippery) objects. Numerical simulations confirm that changing suction parameters can increase the object acquisition region, providing guidelines for future versions of the hand.

Impact of reconfiguration period and photovoltaic penetration on distribution grid reconfiguration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chittur Ramaswamy, Parvathy; Deconinck, Geert; Pillai, Jayakrishnan Radhakrishna

2014-01-01

of reconfiguration and its impact on network losses in the context of time-varying load. Though reconfiguring a network reduces the losses, this paper calls for a comparison of number of switching vs. the loss reduction in order to decide the period of reconfiguration. This paper considers also the impact of varying...... photovoltaic (PV) penetration on the resulting optimal configuration. It validates the method of using a parameter namely minimum loss reduction parameter to avoid tedious computational efforts in finding the optimal configuration when an infinitesimal change in PV penetration occurs....

Characterization of robotics parallel algorithms and mapping onto a reconfigurable SIMD machine

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, C. S. G.; Lin, C. T.

1989-01-01

The kinematics, dynamics, Jacobian, and their corresponding inverse computations are six essential problems in the control of robot manipulators. Efficient parallel algorithms for these computations are discussed and analyzed. Their characteristics are identified and a scheme on the mapping of these algorithms to a reconfigurable parallel architecture is presented. Based on the characteristics including type of parallelism, degree of parallelism, uniformity of the operations, fundamental operations, data dependencies, and communication requirement, it is shown that most of the algorithms for robotic computations possess highly regular properties and some common structures, especially the linear recursive structure. Moreover, they are well-suited to be implemented on a single-instruction-stream multiple-data-stream (SIMD) computer with reconfigurable interconnection network. The model of a reconfigurable dual network SIMD machine with internal direct feedback is introduced. A systematic procedure internal direct feedback is introduced. A systematic procedure to map these computations to the proposed machine is presented. A new scheduling problem for SIMD machines is investigated and a heuristic algorithm, called neighborhood scheduling, that reorders the processing sequence of subtasks to reduce the communication time is described. Mapping results of a benchmark algorithm are illustrated and discussed.

Classification of Reconfiguration Resources and Lead Time for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ing. Erik Puik; Daniël Telgen; Leo van Moergestel; Darek Ceglarek

2014-01-01

From the article: Manufacturing technology can improve the turnover of a company if it enables fast market introduction for volume production. Reconfigurable equipment is developed to meet the growing demand for more agile production. Modular reconfiguration, defined as changing the structure of

Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM) - Maturation, Exploitation and Implementation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøgh, Simon

) "Little Helper" is introduced, a manufacturing assistant inspired by the Walt Disney character. The main rationale of the AIMM concept is a compromise between traditional automation (efficiency) and manual labor (flexibility), which contributes to realizing transformable manufacturing systems. From...... a state-of-the-art review, it is observed that implementations of mobile manipulators in industry have been limited although the needs for flexible automation are present. The second topic is “Identifying skills for AIMM robots” and is dedicated to defining a unifying terminology for task......-level programming by means of skills with focus on the identification of skills for AIMM robots. The terminology is built as a hierarchy similar to that of human action modeling (e.g. actions and activities) or human language (e.g. words and sentences). Two approaches are applied for identifying relevant skills...

RECONFIGURABLE PRODUCT ROUTING AND CONTROL FOR MASS CUSTOMISATION MANUFACTURING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. J. Walker

2012-01-01

Full Text Available

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Reconfigurable control of flexible manufacturing systems can allow for the efficient and responsive production of customised product instances. This can aid in providing make-to-order business models for various small- to medium-sized enterprises in South Africa, and provide competitive advantage in a dynamic global marketplace. Reconfigurable control application requires an understanding of the modes of production variability in mass customisation manufacturing. Temporally uncorrelated workflow routings are considered as one of these production variability modes. In this light, this paper addresses the flexible material payload routing problem, and presents a mobile robot platform that has been developed to research and design reconfigurable routing systems.

AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:Verstelbare beheer van aanpasbare vervaardigingstelsels kan die doeltreffende en reaktiewe produksie van doelgemaakte produkeksemplare toelaat. Hierdie beheer kan assisteer in die voorsiening van vervaardig-na-bestellingbesigheidsmodelle aan ’n aantal klein- tot medium-grootte ondernemings in Suid-Afrika, en aan hulle ’n kompeterende voorsprong bied in ’n dinamiese globale mark. Die instelling van verstelbare beheer vereis dat die modi van produkveranderlikheid in massa verbruikersaanpassingsvervaardiging verstaan word. Hierdie artikel spreek die probleem van aanpasbare roetebepaling van materiaalvragte in massa verbruikersaanpassingsvervaardiging aan. ’n Mobiele robot-platform, ontwikkel vir navorsing in verstelbare roetebepalingstelsels, word ook voorgelê.

Ion Mobility Separations of Isomers based upon Long Path Length Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations Combined with Mass Spectrometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng, Liulin [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Ibrahim, Yehia M. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Baker, Erin S. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Aly, Noor A. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Hamid, Ahmed M. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Zhang, Xing [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Zheng, Xueyun [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Garimella, Sandilya V. B. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Webb, Ian K. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Prost, Spencer A. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Sandoval, Jeremy A. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Norheim, Randolph V. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Anderson, Gordon A. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Tolmachev, Aleksey V. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA; Smith, Richard D. [Biological Sciences Division and Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland, WA 99352 USA

2016-07-01

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based multi-omic measurements, including proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and glycomics, are increasingly transforming our ability to characterize and understand biological systems, but, presently have limitations due to the chemical diversity and range of abundances of biomolecules in complex samples. Advances addressing these challenges increasingly are based upon the ability to quickly separate, react and otherwise manipulate sample components for analysis by MS. Here we report on a new approach using Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) to enable long serpentine path ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) separations followed by MS analyses. This approach provides previously unachieved mobility biomolecule isomer separations for biomolecular species, in conjunction with more effective ion utilization, and producing a basis for the improved characterization of very small samples.

Dexterous Manipulation: Making Remote Manipulators Easy to Use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

HARRIGAN, RAYMOND W.; BENNETT, PHIL C.

2001-01-01

Perhaps the most basic barrier to the widespread deployment of remote manipulators is that they are very difficult to use. Remote manual operations are fatiguing and tedious, while fully autonomous systems are seldom able to function in changing and unstructured environments. An alternative approach to these extremes is to exploit computer control while leaving the operator in the loop to take advantage of the operator's perceptual and decision-making capabilities. This report describes research that is enabling gradual introduction of computer control and decision making into operator-supervised robotic manipulation systems, and its integration on a commercially available, manually controlled mobile manipulator

Advances in Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots I

CERN Document Server

Zoppi, Matteo; Kong, Xianwen

2012-01-01

Advances in Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots I provides a selection of key papers presented in The Second ASME/IFToMM International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR 2012) held on 9th -11th  July 2012 in Tianjin, China. This ongoing series of conferences will be covered in this ongoing collection of books.   A total of seventy-eight papers are divided into seven parts to cover the topology, kinematics and design of reconfigurable mechanisms with the reconfiguration theory, analysis and synthesis, and present the current research and development in the field of reconfigurable mechanisms including reconfigurable parallel mechanisms. In this aspect, the recent study and development of reconfigurable robots are further presented with the analysis and design and with their control and development. The bio-inspired mechanisms and subsequent reconfiguration are explored in the challenging fields of rehabilitation and minimally invasive surgery. Advances in Reconfigurable Mechanisms and ...

Low back pain and kidney mobility: local osteopathic fascial manipulation decreases pain perception and improves renal mobility.

Science.gov (United States)

Tozzi, P; Bongiorno, D; Vitturini, C

2012-07-01

a) To calculate and compare a Kidney Mobility Score (KMS) in asymptomatic and Low Back Pain (LBP) individuals through real-time Ultrasound (US) investigation. b) To assess the effect of Osteopathic Fascial Manipulation (OFM), consisting of Still Technique (ST) and Fascial Unwinding (FU), on renal mobility in people with non-specific LBP. c) To evaluate 'if' and 'to what degree' pain perception may vary in patients with LBP, after OFM is applied. 101 asymptomatic people (F 30; M 71; mean age 38.9 ± 8) were evaluated by abdominal US screening. The distance between the superior renal pole of the right kidney and the ipsilateral diaphragmatic pillar was calculated in both maximal expiration (RdE) and maximal inspiration (RdI). The mean of the RdE-RdI ratios provided a Kidney Mobility Score (KMS) in the cohort of asymptomatic people. The same procedure was applied to 140 participants (F 66; M 74; mean age 39.3 ± 8) complaining of non-specific LBP: 109 of whom were randomly assigned to the Experimental group and 31 to the Control group. For both groups, a difference of RdE and RdI values was calculated (RD = RdE-RdI), before (RD-T0) and after (RD-T1) treatment was delivered, to assess the effective range of right kidney mobility. A blind assessment of each patient was carried using US screening. Both groups completed a Short-Form McGill Pain Assessment Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) on the day of recruitment (SF-MPQ T0) as well as on the third day following treatment (SF-MPQ T1). An Osteopathic assessment of the thoraco-lumbo-pelvic region to all the Experimental participants was performed, in order to identify specific areas of major myofascial tension. Each individual of the Experimental group received OFM by the same Osteopath who had previously assessed them. A sham-treatment was applied to the Control group for the equivalent amount of time. a) The factorial ANOVA test showed a significant difference (p-value < 0.05) between KMS in asymptomatic individuals (1.92�

Reconfigurable radio-frequency arbitrary waveforms synthesized in a silicon photonic chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jian; Shen, Hao; Fan, Li; Wu, Rui; Niu, Ben; Varghese, Leo T; Xuan, Yi; Leaird, Daniel E; Wang, Xi; Gan, Fuwan; Weiner, Andrew M; Qi, Minghao

2015-01-12

Photonic methods of radio-frequency waveform generation and processing can provide performance advantages and flexibility over electronic methods due to the ultrawide bandwidth offered by the optical carriers. However, bulk optics implementations suffer from the lack of integration and slow reconfiguration speed. Here we propose an architecture of integrated photonic radio-frequency generation and processing and implement it on a silicon chip fabricated in a semiconductor manufacturing foundry. Our device can generate programmable radio-frequency bursts or continuous waveforms with only the light source, electrical drives/controls and detectors being off-chip. It modulates an individual pulse in a radio-frequency burst within 4 ns, achieving a reconfiguration speed three orders of magnitude faster than thermal tuning. The on-chip optical delay elements offer an integrated approach to accurately manipulating individual radio-frequency waveform features without constraints set by the speed and timing jitter of electronics, and should find applications ranging from high-speed wireless to defence electronics.

The VIPER project (Visualization Integration Platform for Exploration Research): a biologically inspired autonomous reconfigurable robotic platform for diverse unstructured environments

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, Oliver J.; Tolle, Charles R.

2004-09-01

Over the last decade the world has seen numerous autonomous vehicle programs. Wheels and track designs are the basis for many of these vehicles. This is primarily due to four main reasons: a vast preexisting knowledge base for these designs, energy efficiency of power sources, scalability of actuators, and the lack of control systems technologies for handling alternate highly complex distributed systems. Though large efforts seek to improve the mobility of these vehicles, many limitations still exist for these systems within unstructured environments, e.g. limited mobility within industrial and nuclear accident sites where existing plant configurations have been extensively changed. These unstructured operational environments include missions for exploration, reconnaissance, and emergency recovery of objects within reconfigured or collapsed structures, e.g. bombed buildings. More importantly, these environments present a clear and present danger for direct human interactions during the initial phases of recovery operations. Clearly, the current classes of autonomous vehicles are incapable of performing in these environments. Thus the next generation of designs must include highly reconfigurable and flexible autonomous robotic platforms. This new breed of autonomous vehicles will be both highly flexible and environmentally adaptable. Presented in this paper is one of the most successful designs from nature, the snake-eel-worm (SEW). This design implements shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators which allow for scaling of the robotic SEW designs from sub-micron scale to heavy industrial implementations without major conceptual redesigns as required in traditional hydraulic, pneumatic, or motor driven systems. Autonomous vehicles based on the SEW design posses the ability to easily move between air based environments and fluid based environments with limited or no reconfiguration. Under a SEW designed vehicle, one not only achieves vastly improved maneuverability within a

Introduction to Reconfigurable Supercomputing

CERN Document Server

Lanzagorta, Marco; Rosenberg, Robert

2010-01-01

This book covers technologies, applications, tools, languages, procedures, advantages, and disadvantages of reconfigurable supercomputing using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The target audience is the community of users of High Performance Computers (HPe who may benefit from porting their applications into a reconfigurable environment. As such, this book is intended to guide the HPC user through the many algorithmic considerations, hardware alternatives, usability issues, programming languages, and design tools that need to be understood before embarking on the creation of reconfigur

Manipulators inspired by the tongue of the chameleon.

Science.gov (United States)

Debray, Alexis

2011-06-01

Chameleons have developed a specialized ballistic tongue which elongates more than six times its rest length at speeds higher than 3.5 m s(-1) and accelerations 350 m s(-2), with a highly flexible mobile part, and which applies no continuous force during forward motion. These characteristics are possible because this tongue consists of two highly specialized systems, an ejection system for the forward motion and an accordion-like system for the retraction. Four manipulators inspired by the tongue of the chameleon and based on this design have been developed, resulting in three characteristics similar to the tongue of the chameleon: extensibility of the manipulator, flexibility of the mobile part, and absence of continuous force during the forward motion. The first manipulator mimics the basic mechanism of the tongue of the chameleon and reproduced its basic performances. A second manipulator performs a catching function at a speed of 3.5 m s(-1) with an acceleration of 573 m s(-2) while elongating seven times its rest length. The design of this manipulator is such that the dc motor used for retraction applies a torque 25 times its rated torque. Moreover, during the retraction, the mobile part of the manipulator moves due to its own inertia, allowing the dc motor to rotate at full velocity. In another manipulator, the addition of an elastomer in the mobile part allows for control of the retraction velocity. A model for these two manipulators compares well with the experimental data. Finally, the addition of wings on the mobile part allows us to take the advantage of aerodynamic effects, which is unusual for manipulators.

Manipulators inspired by the tongue of the chameleon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debray, Alexis

2011-01-01

Chameleons have developed a specialized ballistic tongue which elongates more than six times its rest length at speeds higher than 3.5 m s -1 and accelerations 350 m s -2 , with a highly flexible mobile part, and which applies no continuous force during forward motion. These characteristics are possible because this tongue consists of two highly specialized systems, an ejection system for the forward motion and an accordion-like system for the retraction. Four manipulators inspired by the tongue of the chameleon and based on this design have been developed, resulting in three characteristics similar to the tongue of the chameleon: extensibility of the manipulator, flexibility of the mobile part, and absence of continuous force during the forward motion. The first manipulator mimics the basic mechanism of the tongue of the chameleon and reproduced its basic performances. A second manipulator performs a catching function at a speed of 3.5 m s -1 with an acceleration of 573 m s -2 while elongating seven times its rest length. The design of this manipulator is such that the dc motor used for retraction applies a torque 25 times its rated torque. Moreover, during the retraction, the mobile part of the manipulator moves due to its own inertia, allowing the dc motor to rotate at full velocity. In another manipulator, the addition of an elastomer in the mobile part allows for control of the retraction velocity. A model for these two manipulators compares well with the experimental data. Finally, the addition of wings on the mobile part allows us to take the advantage of aerodynamic effects, which is unusual for manipulators.

Manipulators inspired by the tongue of the chameleon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Debray, Alexis, E-mail: debray.alexis@canon.co.jp [Canon Incorporation, 3-30-2, Shimomaruko, Ohta-ku, Tokyo 146-8501 (Japan)

2011-06-15

Chameleons have developed a specialized ballistic tongue which elongates more than six times its rest length at speeds higher than 3.5 m s{sup -1} and accelerations 350 m s{sup -2}, with a highly flexible mobile part, and which applies no continuous force during forward motion. These characteristics are possible because this tongue consists of two highly specialized systems, an ejection system for the forward motion and an accordion-like system for the retraction. Four manipulators inspired by the tongue of the chameleon and based on this design have been developed, resulting in three characteristics similar to the tongue of the chameleon: extensibility of the manipulator, flexibility of the mobile part, and absence of continuous force during the forward motion. The first manipulator mimics the basic mechanism of the tongue of the chameleon and reproduced its basic performances. A second manipulator performs a catching function at a speed of 3.5 m s{sup -1} with an acceleration of 573 m s{sup -2} while elongating seven times its rest length. The design of this manipulator is such that the dc motor used for retraction applies a torque 25 times its rated torque. Moreover, during the retraction, the mobile part of the manipulator moves due to its own inertia, allowing the dc motor to rotate at full velocity. In another manipulator, the addition of an elastomer in the mobile part allows for control of the retraction velocity. A model for these two manipulators compares well with the experimental data. Finally, the addition of wings on the mobile part allows us to take the advantage of aerodynamic effects, which is unusual for manipulators.

Houdini: Site and locomotion analysis-driven design of an in-tank mobile cleanup robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schempf, H.

1995-10-01

This paper describes design and locomotion analysis efforts to develop a new reconfigurable and collapsible working machine, dubbed Houdini, to remotely clean up hazardous-waste and petroleum storage tanks. The tethered robot system is designed to allow remote entry through man-way openings as small as 0.61 m in diameter, after which it expands its locomotors and opens up its collapsible backhoe/manipulator and plow to subsequently perform waste or material handling operations. The design is optimized to meet stringent site and safety requirements, and represents a viable alternative to (1) the long-reach manipulation systems proposed for hazardous storage tank cleanup, and (2) confined-entry manual cleanup approaches. The system development has been funded to provide waste mobilization and removal solutions for the hazardous waste storage tanks in the Department of Energy (DoE) Fernald and Oak Ridge complexes. Other potential applications areas are the cleanup of heavy-crude petroleum storage tanks. The author has developed a fully operational prototype which is currently undergoing testing

Reconfigurable network processing platforms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kachris, C.

2007-01-01

This dissertation presents our investigation on how to efficiently exploit reconfigurable hardware to design flexible, high performance, and power efficient network devices capable to adapt to varying processing requirements of network applications and traffic. The proposed reconfigurable network

Reconfigurable Computing

CERN Document Server

Cardoso, Joao MP

2011-01-01

As the complexity of modern embedded systems increases, it becomes less practical to design monolithic processing platforms. As a result, reconfigurable computing is being adopted widely for more flexible design. Reconfigurable Computers offer the spatial parallelism and fine-grained customizability of application-specific circuits with the postfabrication programmability of software. To make the most of this unique combination of performance and flexibility, designers need to be aware of both hardware and software issues. FPGA users must think not only about the gates needed to perform a comp

Reconfiguration of distribution nets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Latorre Bayona, Gerardo; Angarita Marquez, Jorge Luis

2000-01-01

Starting of the location of the reconfiguration problem inside the context of the operation of distribution nets, of the quality indicators definition and of the presentation of the alternatives more used for reduction of technical losses, they are related diverse reconfiguration methodologies proposed in the technical literature, pointing out their three principals limitations; also are presents the results of lost obtained starting from simulation works carried out in distribution circuits of the ESSA ESP, which permitting to postulate the reconfiguration of nets like an excellent alternative to reduce technical losses

Mobile Manipulation, Tool Use, and Intuitive Interaction for Cognitive Service Robot Cosero

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jörg Stückler

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Cognitive service robots that shall assist persons in need in performing their activities of daily living have recently received much attention in robotics research.Such robots require a vast set of control and perception capabilities to provide useful assistance through mobile manipulation and human-robot interaction.In this article, we present hardware design, perception, and control methods for our cognitive service robot Cosero.We complement autonomous capabilities with handheld teleoperation interfaces on three levels of autonomy.The robot demonstrated various advanced skills, including the use of tools.With our robot we participated in the annual international RoboCup@Home competitions, winning them three times in a row.

MEMS-Reconfigurable Metamaterials and Antenna Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomislav Debogovic

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews some of our contributions to reconfigurable metamaterials, where dynamic control is enabled by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS technology. First, we show reconfigurable composite right-/left-handed transmission lines (CRLH-TLs having state of the art phase velocity variation and loss, thereby enabling efficient reconfigurable phase shifters and leaky-wave antennas (LWA. Second, we present very low loss metasurface designs with reconfigurable reflection properties, applicable in reflectarrays and partially reflective surface (PRS antennas. All the presented devices have been fabricated and experimentally validated. They operate in X- and Ku-bands.

Dynamic Reconfiguration in Planetary Exploration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cohn, Marisa

2014-01-01

In taking into account the ways in which material and social realms are constitutively entangled within organizations, it is rhetorically tempting to say that technologies and social structures reconfigure each other. But what does it mean to reconfigure? How does one "figure" the other and how do...... we fully embrace a mutually constitutive relationship when examining fluid relations? This paper delves into these questions by exploring how physical, social, material, technological, and organizational arrangements dynamically reconfigure each other in the duration of organizational practice. Using...... be gained by focusing attention on the dynamic reconfigurations between social and material realms. In so doing, we call attention to the ways in which current sociomaterial perspectives have difficulty articulating the shifting, figural, asymmetric and dynamic negotiations between people, social structures...

Program Execution on Reconfigurable Multicore Architectures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjiva Prasad

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Based on the two observations that diverse applications perform better on different multicore architectures, and that different phases of an application may have vastly different resource requirements, Pal et al. proposed a novel reconfigurable hardware approach for executing multithreaded programs. Instead of mapping a concurrent program to a fixed architecture, the architecture adaptively reconfigures itself to meet the application's concurrency and communication requirements, yielding significant improvements in performance. Based on our earlier abstract operational framework for multicore execution with hierarchical memory structures, we describe execution of multithreaded programs on reconfigurable architectures that support a variety of clustered configurations. Such reconfiguration may not preserve the semantics of programs due to the possible introduction of race conditions arising from concurrent accesses to shared memory by threads running on the different cores. We present an intuitive partial ordering notion on the cluster configurations, and show that the semantics of multithreaded programs is always preserved for reconfigurations "upward" in that ordering, whereas semantics preservation for arbitrary reconfigurations can be guaranteed for well-synchronised programs. We further show that a simple approximate notion of efficiency of execution on the different configurations can be obtained using the notion of amortised bisimulations, and extend it to dynamic reconfiguration.

Switchable Phased Antenna Array with Passive Elements for 5G Mobile Terminals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Syrytsin, Igor A.; Zhang, Shuai; Pedersen, Gert F.

2017-01-01

In this paper, a reconfigurable phased antenna array system is constructed for the mobile terminals in the context of 5G communication system. The proposed antenna system operates at the resonance frequency of 28 GHz. The reconfigurability of the antenna element is achieved by using a passive slot...

Topological Structure of Manipulators Used in Amusement Parks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liviu Marian Ungureanu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the mobility analysis of spatial and planar manipulators used in amusement parks. In this paper is presented a topological structure analysis for many types of serial and parallel manipulators, referring to the calculation of mobility (degree of freedom of these types of complex mechanisms. It is used a new formula to calculate the mobility according to the number of drivelines, which are considered having identical operations.

Controlled manipulation of oxygen vacancies using nanoscale flexoelectricity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Das, Saikat [Inst. for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Center for Correlated Electron Systems; Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Wang, Bo [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States).Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; Cao, Ye [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Inst. for; Rae Cho, Myung [Inst. for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Center for Correlated Electron Systems; Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Jae Shin, Yeong [Inst. for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Center for Correlated Electron Systems; Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Mo Yang, Sang [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); Sookmyung Women' s Univ., Seoul (Republic of Korea). Dept. of Physics; Wang, Lingfei [Inst. for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Center for Correlated Electron Systems; Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Kim, Minu [Inst. for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Center for Correlated Electron Systems; Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Kalinin, Sergei V. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Inst. for Functional Imaging of Materials; Chen, Long-Qing [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States).Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; Noh, Tae Won [Inst. for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Center for Correlated Electron Systems; Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul (Republic of Korea). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

2017-09-20

Oxygen vacancies, especially their distribution, are directly coupled to the electromagnetic properties of oxides and related emergent functionalities that have implications for device applications. Here using a homoepitaxial strontium titanate thin film, we demonstrate a controlled manipulation of the oxygen vacancy distribution using the mechanical force from a scanning probe microscope tip. By combining Kelvin probe force microscopy imaging and phase-field simulations, we show that oxygen vacancies can move under a stress-gradient-induced depolarisation field. When tailored, this nanoscale flexoelectric effect enables a controlled spatial modulation. In motion, the scanning probe tip thereby deterministically reconfigures the spatial distribution of vacancies. Finally, the ability to locally manipulate oxygen vacancies on-demand provides a tool for the exploration of mesoscale quantum phenomena and engineering multifunctional oxide devices.

Rapid prototyping of an adaptive light-source for mobile manipulators with EasyKit and EasyLab

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtczyk, Martin; Barner, Simon; Geisinger, Michael; Knoll, Alois

2008-08-01

While still not common in day-to-day business, mobile robot platforms form a growing market in robotics. Mobile platforms equipped with a manipulator for increased flexibility have been used successfully in biotech laboratories for sample management as shown on the well-known ESACT meetings. Navigation and object recognition is carried out by the utilization of a mounted machine vision camera. To cope with the different illumination conditions in a large laboratory, development of an adaptive light source was indispensable. We present our approach of rapid developing a computer controlled, adaptive LED light within one single business day, by utilizing the hardware toolbox EasyKit and our appropriate software counterpart EasyLab.

Accelerating artificial intelligence with reconfigurable computing

Science.gov (United States)

Cieszewski, Radoslaw

Reconfigurable computing is emerging as an important area of research in computer architectures and software systems. Many algorithms can be greatly accelerated by placing the computationally intense portions of an algorithm into reconfigurable hardware. Reconfigurable computing combines many benefits of both software and ASIC implementations. Like software, the mapped circuit is flexible, and can be changed over the lifetime of the system. Similar to an ASIC, reconfigurable systems provide a method to map circuits into hardware. Reconfigurable systems therefore have the potential to achieve far greater performance than software as a result of bypassing the fetch-decode-execute operations of traditional processors, and possibly exploiting a greater level of parallelism. Such a field, where there is many different algorithms which can be accelerated, is an artificial intelligence. This paper presents example hardware implementations of Artificial Neural Networks, Genetic Algorithms and Expert Systems.

Implementing Workflow Reconfiguration in WS-BPEL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mazzara, Manuel; Dragoni, Nicola; Zhou, Mu

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the problem of dynamic reconfiguration by means of a workflow-based case study used for discussion. We state the requirements on a system implementing the workflow and its reconfiguration, and we describe the system’s design in BPMN. WS-BPEL, a language that would not natu......This paper investigates the problem of dynamic reconfiguration by means of a workflow-based case study used for discussion. We state the requirements on a system implementing the workflow and its reconfiguration, and we describe the system’s design in BPMN. WS-BPEL, a language that would...... not naturally support dynamic change, is used as a target for implementation. The WS-BPEL recovery framework is here exploited to implement the reconfiguration using principles derived from previous research in process algebra and two mappings from BPMN to WS-BPEL are presented, one automatic and only mostly...

Dual-arm manipulation module for use in decontamination and decommissioning operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.; Haley, D.C.; Dixon, W.E.

1994-01-01

A dual-arm manipulation module is under development for application in decontamination and decommissioning (D ampersand D) tasks. The development is led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory with support from Sandia National Laboratories, and with university and industry participation. The project is part of the Robotics Technology Development Program funded by the US Department of Energy, Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Office of Technology Development. The dual-arm module is designed to provide dexterous manipulation capability for remote characterization, decontamination, and dismantlement operations, and the module is reconfigurable to meet various deployment requirements. Remote manipulation capability can benefit D ampersand D activities through reduced worker exposure to both contaminant and industrial hazards. When tasks conditions permit, increased use of robotic features reduce costs by increased efficiency of operation

Squeezing of Ion Populations and Peaks in Traveling Wave Ion Mobility Separations and Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations using Compression Ratio Ion Mobility Programming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garimella, Venkata BS; Hamid, Ahmed M.; Deng, Liulin; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; Webb, Ian K.; Baker, Erin M.; Prost, Spencer A.; Norheim, Randolph V.; Anderson, Gordon A.; Smith, Richard D.

2016-11-02

In this work, we report an approach for spatial and temporal gas phase ion population manipulation, and demonstrate its application for the collapse of the ion distributions in ion mobility (IM) separations into tighter packets providing higher sensitivity measurements in conjunction with mass spectrometry (MS). We do this for ions moving from a conventionally traveling wave (TW)-driven region to a region where the TW is intermittently halted or ‘stuttered’. This approach causes the ion packets spanning a number of TW-created traveling traps (TT) to be redistributed into fewer TT, resulting in spatial compression. The degree of spatial compression is controllable and determined by the ratio of stationary time of the TW in the second region to its moving time. This compression ratio ion mobility programming (CRIMP) approach has been implemented using Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) in conjunction with MS. CRIMP with the SLIM-MS platform is shown to provide increased peak intensities, reduced peak widths, and improved S/N ratios with MS detection. CRIMP also provides a foundation for extremely long path length and multi-pass IM separations in SLIM providing greatly enhanced IM resolution by reducing the detrimental effects of diffusional peak broadening due to increasing peak widths.

Trustworthy reconfigurable systems enhancing the security capabilities of reconfigurable hardware architectures

CERN Document Server

Feller, Thomas

2014-01-01

?Thomas Feller sheds some light on trust anchor architectures fortrustworthy reconfigurable systems. He is presenting novel concepts enhancing the security capabilities of reconfigurable hardware.Almost invisible to the user, many computer systems are embedded into everyday artifacts, such as cars, ATMs, and pacemakers. The significant growth of this market segment within the recent years enforced a rethinking with respect to the security properties and the trustworthiness of these systems. The trustworthiness of a system in general equates to the integrity of its system components. Hardware-b

Reconfigurable Autonomy for Future Planetary Rovers

Science.gov (United States)

Burroughes, Guy

Extra-terrestrial Planetary rover systems are uniquely remote, placing constraints in regard to communication, environmental uncertainty, and limited physical resources, and requiring a high level of fault tolerance and resistance to hardware degradation. This thesis presents a novel self-reconfiguring autonomous software architecture designed to meet the needs of extraterrestrial planetary environments. At runtime it can safely reconfigure low-level control systems, high-level decisional autonomy systems, and managed software architecture. The architecture can perform automatic Verification and Validation of self-reconfiguration at run-time, and enables a system to be self-optimising, self-protecting, and self-healing. A novel self-monitoring system, which is non-invasive, efficient, tunable, and autonomously deploying, is also presented. The architecture was validated through the use-case of a highly autonomous extra-terrestrial planetary exploration rover. Three major forms of reconfiguration were demonstrated and tested: first, high level adjustment of system internal architecture and goal; second, software module modification; and third, low level alteration of hardware control in response to degradation of hardware and environmental change. The architecture was demonstrated to be robust and effective in a Mars sample return mission use-case testing the operational aspects of a novel, reconfigurable guidance, navigation, and control system for a planetary rover, all operating in concert through a scenario that required reconfiguration of all elements of the system.

Facilitating preemptive hardware system design using partial reconfiguration techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Dondo Gazzano, Julio; Rincon, Fernando; Vaderrama, Carlos; Villanueva, Felix; Caba, Julian; Lopez, Juan Carlos

2014-01-01

In FPGA-based control system design, partial reconfiguration is especially well suited to implement preemptive systems. In real-time systems, the deadline for critical task can compel the preemption of noncritical one. Besides, an asynchronous event can demand immediate attention and, then, force launching a reconfiguration process for high-priority task implementation. If the asynchronous event is previously scheduled, an explicit activation of the reconfiguration process is performed. If the event cannot be previously programmed, such as in dynamically scheduled systems, an implicit activation to the reconfiguration process is demanded. This paper provides a hardware-based approach to explicit and implicit activation of the partial reconfiguration process in dynamically reconfigurable SoCs and includes all the necessary tasks to cope with this issue. Furthermore, the reconfiguration service introduced in this work allows remote invocation of the reconfiguration process and then the remote integration of off-chip components. A model that offers component location transparency is also presented to enhance and facilitate system integration.

Broad Application of a Reconfigurable Motor Controller, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — An ultra-miniature (<50 grams) high-performance brushless-motor controller, code named 'Puck', has been developed by Barrett for Earth-based mobile-manipulation...

Elements of Autonomous Self-Reconfigurable Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, David Johan

In this thesis, we study several central elements of autonomous self-reconfigurable modular robots. Unlike conventional robots such robots are: i) Modular, since robots are assembled from numerous robotic modules. ii) Reconfigurable, since the modules can be combined in a variety of ways. iii) Self......-reconfigurable, since the modules themselves are able to change how they are combined. iv) Autonomous, since robots control themselves without human guidance. Such robots are attractive to study since they in theory have several desirable characteristics, such as versatility, reliability and cheapness. In practice...... however, it is challenging to realize such characteristics since state-of-the-art systems and solutions suffer from several inherent technical and theoretical problems and limitations. In this thesis, we address these challenges by exploring four central elements of autonomous self-reconfigurable modular...

Run-time adaptation of a reconfigurable mobile UMTS receiver

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, L.T.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Hurink, Johann L.

UMTS receivers are mobile devices, which should have a low energy consumption and operates in a frequently changing environment. The idea of this paper is to adapt the amount of signal processing for the reception within an UMTS mobile to this changing environment. In this way the amount of signal

Wave Manipulation in Metamaterials: A LEGO® Bricks Enabled Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Celli, Paolo; Gonella, Stefano

In this work, we show how simple, reconfigurable arrangements of LEGO® bricks can be turned into the building blocks of an experimental platform for the investigation of wave phenomena in metamaterial architectures. The approach involves the assembly of reconfigurable specimens consisting of patterns of bricks on a baseplate and the use of a 3D laser vibrometer to reconstruct global and local wave features. The ability to seamlessly transition between different topologies makes this an effective approach for rapid experimental verification and proof of concept in the arena of mechanical metamaterials engineering. The intuitive nature of the brick-and-baseplate assembly paradigm can also be leveraged to implement families of intuitive lab demonstrations with significant didactic and scientific outreach potential. The versatility of the platform is tested through a series of experiments that illustrate a variety of wave manipulation effects, such as waveguiding and seismic isolation, both in periodic and disordered topologies. We acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation (Grant CMMI-1266089).

Lazy motion planning for robotic manipulators

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andrien, A.R.P.; van de Molengraft, M.J.G.; Bruyninckx, H.P.J.

2017-01-01

Robotic manipulators are making a shift towards mobile bases in both industry and domestic environments, which puts high demands on efficient use of the robot’s limited energy resources. In this work, the problem of reducing energy usage of a robot manipulator during a task is investigated. We

Manipulating waves with LEGO® bricks: A versatile experimental platform for metamaterial architectures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Celli, Paolo; Gonella, Stefano

2015-01-01

In this letter, we discuss a versatile, fully reconfigurable experimental platform for the investigation of phononic phenomena in metamaterial architectures. The approach revolves around the use of 3D laser vibrometry to reconstruct global and local wavefield features in specimens obtained through simple arrangements of LEGO ® bricks on a thin baseplate. The agility by which it is possible to reconfigure the brick patterns into a nearly endless spectrum of topologies makes this an effective approach for rapid experimental proof of concept, as well as a powerful didactic tool, in the arena of phononic crystals and metamaterials engineering. We use our platform to provide a compelling visual illustration of important spatial wave manipulation effects (waveguiding and seismic isolation), and to elucidate fundamental dichotomies between Bragg-based and locally resonant bandgap mechanisms

Manipulating waves with LEGO bricks: A versatile experimental platform for metamaterial architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Celli, Paolo; Gonella, Stefano

2015-08-01

In this letter, we discuss a versatile, fully reconfigurable experimental platform for the investigation of phononic phenomena in metamaterial architectures. The approach revolves around the use of 3D laser vibrometry to reconstruct global and local wavefield features in specimens obtained through simple arrangements of LEGO® bricks on a thin baseplate. The agility by which it is possible to reconfigure the brick patterns into a nearly endless spectrum of topologies makes this an effective approach for rapid experimental proof of concept, as well as a powerful didactic tool, in the arena of phononic crystals and metamaterials engineering. We use our platform to provide a compelling visual illustration of important spatial wave manipulation effects (waveguiding and seismic isolation), and to elucidate fundamental dichotomies between Bragg-based and locally resonant bandgap mechanisms.

Silicon Processors Using Organically Reconfigurable Techniques (SPORT)

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-19

AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2014-0132 SILICON PROCESSORS USING ORGANICALLY RECONFIGURABLE TECHNIQUES ( SPORT ) Dennis Prather UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE Final Report 05...5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Silicon Processes for Organically Reconfigurable Techniques ( SPORT ) 5b. GRANT NUMBER FA9550-10-1-0363 5c...Contract: Silicon Processes for Organically Reconfigurable Techniques ( SPORT ) Contract #: FA9550-10-1-0363 Reporting Period: 1 July 2010 – 31 December

Millimeter-wave and Terahertz Reconfigurable Radio-over-Fiber Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vegas Olmos, Juan José

when deploying fiber is not an option. Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) technologies have evolved from a blue sky academic topic in the 90s to a main driver within the current quest for the 5th generation mobile systems (5G). A twist in RoF technologies is that it has found along the way niches in areas non......, the complexity of fabrication and to integrate this solutions have to compete with the off-the-shelf solutions provided by RoF technologies. Technologically though, reconfigurable Radio-over-Fiber networks require a co-design effort involving tunable lasers, digital signal processing, high speed modulators...

A reconfigurable hybrid supervisory system for process control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, H.E.; Ray, A.; Edwards, R.M.

1994-01-01

This paper presents a reconfigurable approach to decision and control systems for complex dynamic processes. The proposed supervisory control system is a reconfigurable hybrid architecture structured into three functional levels of hierarchy, namely, execution, supervision, and coordination. While the bottom execution level is constituted by either reconfigurable continuously varying or discrete event systems, the top two levels are necessarily governed by reconfigurable sets of discrete event decision and control systems. Based on the process status, the set of active control and supervisory algorithm is chosen. The reconfigurable hybrid system is briefly described along with a discussion on its implementation at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II of Argonne National Laboratory. A process control application of this hybrid system is presented and evaluated in an in-plant experiment

A reconfigurable hybrid supervisory system for process control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, H.E.; Ray, A.; Edwards, R.M.

1994-01-01

This paper presents a reconfigurable approach to decision and control systems for complex dynamic processes. The proposed supervisory control system is a reconfigurable hybrid architecture structured into three functional levels of hierarchy, namely, execution, supervision, and coordination. While, the bottom execution level is constituted by either reconfigurable continuously varying or discrete event systems, the top two levels are necessarily governed by reconfigurable sets of discrete event decision and control systems. Based on the process status, the set of active control and supervisory algorithm is chosen. The reconfigurable hybrid system is briefly described along with a discussion on its implementation at the Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 of Argonne National Laboratory. A process control application of this hybrid system is presented and evaluated in an in-plant experiment

Reconfigurable architecture based on fiber bragg gratings for indoor networks (Arquitectura reconfigurable basada en redes de difracción de Bragg para redes convergentes indoor ópticas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gustavo Adolfo Puerto-Leguizamón

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an approach for dynamic reconfiguration of wavelength channels for future indoor network architectures. The approach exploits the tunability and the rejection profile of Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG to implement service distribution strategies that includes Unicast, Broadcast and Multicast scenarios for fixed and mobile users. Experimental demonstrations based on two implementations show results with 1% average degradation for Error Vector Magnitude (EVM values and up to 2,2 dB for 1x10-12 Bit Error Rate (BER. In particular, the proposed architectures fit for large in-building networks

Reconfigurable magnonic crystal consisting of periodically distributed domain walls in a nanostrip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Zhi-xiong; Wang, Xi-guang; Wang, Dao-wei; Nie, Yao-zhuang; Tang, Wei; Guo, Guang-hua

2015-01-01

We study spin wave propagation in a new type of magnonic crystal consisting of a series of periodically distributed magnetic domain walls in a nanostrip by micromagnetic simulation. Spin wave bands and bandgaps are observed in frequency spectra and dispersion curves. Some bandgaps are caused by the Bragg reflection of the spin wave modes at the Brillouin zone boundaries, while others originate from the coupling between different incident and reflected spin wave modes. The control of the spin wave band structure by changing the magnetocrystalline anisotropy or applying an external magnetic field is studied. Increasing the magnetocrystalline anisotropy leads to an increase of the bandgaps. The external field applied perpendicular to the nanostrip gives rise to a doubling of the domain-wall magnonic crystal period. As a result, more bandgaps appear on the frequency spectra of propagating spin waves. The results presented here may find their use in the design of reconfigurable magnonic devices. - Highlights: • A reconfigurable magnonic crystal consisting of domain walls in a uniform nanostrip is proposed. • Propagating characteristics of spin waves in such magnonic crystal are studied. • Spin-wave band structures can be effectively manipulated by magnetic anisotropy or magnetic field

3D Laser Scanner for Underwater Manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Palomer, Albert; Ridao, Pere; Youakim, Dina; Ribas, David; Forest, Josep; Petillot, Yvan

2018-04-04

Nowadays, research in autonomous underwater manipulation has demonstrated simple applications like picking an object from the sea floor, turning a valve or plugging and unplugging a connector. These are fairly simple tasks compared with those already demonstrated by the mobile robotics community, which include, among others, safe arm motion within areas populated with a priori unknown obstacles or the recognition and location of objects based on their 3D model to grasp them. Kinect-like 3D sensors have contributed significantly to the advance of mobile manipulation providing 3D sensing capabilities in real-time at low cost. Unfortunately, the underwater robotics community is lacking a 3D sensor with similar capabilities to provide rich 3D information of the work space. In this paper, we present a new underwater 3D laser scanner and demonstrate its capabilities for underwater manipulation. In order to use this sensor in conjunction with manipulators, a calibration method to find the relative position between the manipulator and the 3D laser scanner is presented. Then, two different advanced underwater manipulation tasks beyond the state of the art are demonstrated using two different manipulation systems. First, an eight Degrees of Freedom (DoF) fixed-base manipulator system is used to demonstrate arm motion within a work space populated with a priori unknown fixed obstacles. Next, an eight DoF free floating Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System (UVMS) is used to autonomously grasp an object from the bottom of a water tank.

Automatic camera tracking for remote manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoughton, R.S.; Martin, H.L.; Bentz, R.R.

1984-07-01

The problem of automatic camera tracking of mobile objects is addressed with specific reference to remote manipulators and using either fixed or mobile cameras. The technique uses a kinematic approach employing 4 x 4 coordinate transformation matrices to solve for the needed camera PAN and TILT angles. No vision feedback systems are used, as the required input data are obtained entirely from position sensors from the manipulator and the camera-positioning system. All hardware requirements are generally satisfied by currently available remote manipulator systems with a supervisory computer. The system discussed here implements linear plus on/off (bang-bang) closed-loop control with a +-2-deg deadband. The deadband area is desirable to avoid operator seasickness caused by continuous camera movement. Programming considerations for camera control, including operator interface options, are discussed. The example problem presented is based on an actual implementation using a PDP 11/34 computer, a TeleOperator Systems SM-229 manipulator, and an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) camera-positioning system. 3 references, 6 figures, 2 tables

Automatic camera tracking for remote manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoughton, R.S.; Martin, H.L.; Bentz, R.R.

1984-04-01

The problem of automatic camera tracking of mobile objects is addressed with specific reference to remote manipulators and using either fixed or mobile cameras. The technique uses a kinematic approach employing 4 x 4 coordinate transformation matrices to solve for the needed camera PAN and TILT angles. No vision feedback systems are used, as the required input data are obtained entirely from position sensors from the manipulator and the camera-positioning system. All hardware requirements are generally satisfied by currently available remote manipulator systems with a supervisory computer. The system discussed here implements linear plus on/off (bang-bang) closed-loop control with a +-2 0 deadband. The deadband area is desirable to avoid operator seasickness caused by continuous camera movement. Programming considerations for camera control, including operator interface options, are discussed. The example problem presented is based on an actual implementation using a PDP 11/34 computer, a TeleOperator Systems SM-229 manipulator, and an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) camera-positioning system. 3 references, 6 figures, 2 tables

Distribution grid reconfiguration reduces power losses and helps integrate renewables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lueken, Colleen; Carvalho, Pedro M.S.; Apt, Jay

2012-01-01

A reconfigurable network can change its topology by opening and closing switches on power lines. We use real wind, solar, load, and cost data and a model of a reconfigurable distribution grid to show that reconfiguration allows a grid operator to reduce operational losses as well as to accept more intermittent renewable generation than a static configuration can. Net present value analysis of automated switch technology shows that the return on investment is negative for this test network when considering only loss reduction, but that the investment is attractive under certain conditions when reconfiguration is used to minimize curtailment. - Highlights: ► Reconfiguration may reduce losses in grids with solar or wind distributed generation. ► Reconfigurable networks can accept more solar or wind DG than static ones. ► Using reconfiguration for loss reduction would not create a positive ROI. ► Using reconfiguration to reduce curtailment usually would create a positive ROI.

From stretchable to reconfigurable inorganic electronics

KAUST Repository

Nassar, Joanna M.

2016-05-06

Today’s state-of-the-art electronics are high performing, energy efficient, multi-functional and cost effective. However, they are also typically rigid and brittle. With the emergence of the Internet of Everything, electronic applications are expanding into previously unexplored areas, like healthcare, smart wearable artifacts, and robotics. One major challenge is the physical asymmetry of target application surfaces, which often cause mechanical stretching, contracting, twisting and other deformations to the application. In this review paper, we explore materials, processes, mechanics and devices that enable physically stretchable and reconfigurable electronics. While the concept of stretchable electronics is commonly used in practice, the notion of physically reconfigurable electronics is still in its infancy. Because organic materials are commonly naturally stretchable and physically deformable, we predominantly focus on electronics made from inorganic materials that have the capacity for physical stretching and reconfiguration while retaining their intended attributes. We emphasize how applications of electronics dictate theory to integration strategy for stretchable and reconfigurable inorganic electronics.

Multimode Communication Protocols Enabling Reconfigurable Radios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berlemann Lars

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the realization and application of a generic protocol stack for reconfigurable wireless communication systems. This focus extends the field of software-defined radios which usually concentrates on the physical layer. The generic protocol stack comprises common protocol functionality and behavior which are extended through specific parts of the targeted radio access technology. This paper considers parameterizable modules of basic protocol functions residing in the data link layer of the ISO/OSI model. System-specific functionality of the protocol software is realized through adequate parameterization and composition of the generic modules. The generic protocol stack allows an efficient realization of reconfigurable protocol software and enables a completely reconfigurable wireless communication system. It is a first step from side-by-side realized, preinstalled modes in a terminal towards a dynamic reconfigurable anymode terminal. The presented modules of the generic protocol stack can also be regarded as a toolbox for the accelerated and cost-efficient development of future communication protocols.

Design, Modelling and Analysis of a Workflow Reconfiguration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mazzara, Manuel; Abouzaid, Faisal; Dragoni, Nicola

2011-01-01

This paper describes a case study involving the reconfiguration of an office workflow. We state the requirements on a system implementing the workflow and its reconfiguration, and describe the system’s design in BPMN. We then use an asynchronous pi-calculus and Web.1 to model the design and to ve......This paper describes a case study involving the reconfiguration of an office workflow. We state the requirements on a system implementing the workflow and its reconfiguration, and describe the system’s design in BPMN. We then use an asynchronous pi-calculus and Web.1 to model the design...

Reconfiguring trade mark law

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elsmore, Matthew James

2013-01-01

-border setting, with a particular focus on small business and consumers. The article's overall message is to call for a rethink of received wisdom suggesting that trade marks are effective trade-enabling devices. The case is made for reassessing how we think about European trade mark law.......First, this article argues that trade mark law should be approached in a supplementary way, called reconfiguration. Second, the article investigates such a reconfiguration of trade mark law by exploring the interplay of trade marks and service transactions in the Single Market, in the cross...

Hierarchical Trust Management of COI in Heterogeneous Mobile Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

Report: Hierarchical Trust Management of COI in Heterogeneous Mobile Networks The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of...Institute & State University Title: Hierarchical Trust Management of COI in Heterogeneous Mobile Networks Report Term: 0-Other Email: irchen@vt.edu...Reconfigurability, Survivability and Intrusion Tolerance for Community of Interest (COI) Applications – Our proposed COI trust management protocol will

Realization of the manipulation of ultracold atoms with a reconfigurable nanomagnetic system of domain walls.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Adam D; Weatherill, Kevin J; Hayward, Thomas J; Fry, Paul W; Schrefl, Thomas; Gibbs, Mike R J; Adams, Charles S; Allwood, Dan A; Hughes, Ifan G

2012-08-08

Planar magnetic nanowires have been vital to the development of spintronic technology. They provide an unparalleled combination of magnetic reconfigurability, controllability, and scalability, which has helped to realize such applications as racetrack memory and novel logic gates. Microfabricated atom optics benefit from all of these properties, and we present the first demonstration of the amalgamation of spintronic technology with ultracold atoms. A magnetic interaction is exhibited through the reflection of a cloud of (87)Rb atoms at a temperature of 10 μK, from a 2 mm × 2 mm array of nanomagnetic domain walls. In turn, the incident atoms approach the array at heights of the order of 100 nm and are thus used to probe magnetic fields at this distance.

DESIGN AND STUDY OF DRIVE SWIVEL JOINTS FOR HYDRAULIC MANIPULATION SYSTEMS OF MOBILE TRANSPORT-TECHNOLOGICAL MACHINES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lagerev A.V.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the design and principle of operation of a new type of articulated connection of adjacent links of manipulation systems of mobile transport and technological machines – the drive swivel joints to provide a rotary rela-tive movement of the links. Their design allows to combine the function of ensuring the continuity of the kinematic chain and the function of providing rotary movement adjacent units and without the use of additional external devices. The design of the device is protected by a patent of the Russian Federation. Drive swivel joints are an alternative to tra-ditional designs of articulated joints with external power hydraulic drives. Developed a mathematical optimization model. The model is based on the minimization of the mass of the drive swivel joints when you complete the necessary design, installation, operating and strength constraints. Based on this mathematical model the proposed method of com-puter-aided design of the drive swivel joints, which is implemented in a computer program. A study was conducted of the influence of the main technical characteristics and magnitude of the operational load at the optimal weight and the optimal constructive dimensions of the drive swivel joints. It is shown that at equal freight-altitude characteristics of mobile crane-manipulator the drive swivel joint allows you to exclude a number of operational shortcomings of the tra-ditional swivel: 1 development over time of the additional dynamic load of metal due to the increased clearances in connection; 2 lowering the volume of the working area of the crane due to the presence of external power of hydraulic drives; 3 the appearance of cracks due to fatigue failure of the elements of the attachment point of the hydraulic drives to the links of manipulation system. It is possible that the transfer of the hydraulic system for lower operating pressure, which increases the efficiency of the crane and the efficiency of the

Structure Assembly by a Heterogeneous Team of Robots Using State Estimation, Generalized Joints, and Mobile Parallel Manipulators

Science.gov (United States)

Komendera, Erik E.; Adhikari, Shaurav; Glassner, Samantha; Kishen, Ashwin; Quartaro, Amy

2017-01-01

Autonomous robotic assembly by mobile field robots has seen significant advances in recent decades, yet practicality remains elusive. Identified challenges include better use of state estimation to and reasoning with uncertainty, spreading out tasks to specialized robots, and implementing representative joining methods. This paper proposes replacing 1) self-correcting mechanical linkages with generalized joints for improved applicability, 2) assembly serial manipulators with parallel manipulators for higher precision and stability, and 3) all-in-one robots with a heterogeneous team of specialized robots for agent simplicity. This paper then describes a general assembly algorithm utilizing state estimation. Finally, these concepts are tested in the context of solar array assembly, requiring a team of robots to assemble, bond, and deploy a set of solar panel mockups to a backbone truss to an accuracy not built into the parts. This paper presents the results of these tests.

Prey and mound disassembly, manipulation and transport by fire ant collectives

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Bahnisikha; Monaenkova, Daria; Goodisman, Michael A.; Goldman, Daniel

Fire ants inhabit subterranean nests covered by a hemispherical mound of soil permeated by narrow ( 1 body length diameter) tunnels. Fire ants can use their mound for long-term food storage [Gayahan &Tschinkel, J. Insect Sci.,2008]. Since mound tunnels are narrow, we expect that in addition to prey manipulation, mound reconfiguration could also be an important aspect of the food storage strategy. Ant colonies collected from wild were allowed to build nests in containers filled with clay soil in the laboratory. These colonies were offered diverse prey embedded with lead markers, including mealworms, crickets and shrimp. Ant-prey-soil interactions on the nest surface were recorded using overhead video and subsurface using x-ray imaging. Individual ants involved in prey storage exhibited three distinct behaviors: prey maneuvering, prey dissection and mound reconfiguration. Small prey (e.g. mealworms) were collectively carried intact into the mound through a tunnel, and then disassembled within the mound. Larger prey (e.g. shrimp) were dismantled into small pieces above the surface and carried to mound tunnels. The bodies of hard medium-sized prey (e.g. crickets) were buried after limb removal and then disassembled and moved into tunnels. Soil reconfiguration occurred in all cases.

Optimization of metallic microheaters for high-speed reconfigurable silicon photonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Atabaki, A H; Shah Hosseini, E; Eftekhar, A A; Yegnanarayanan, S; Adibi, A

2010-08-16

The strong thermooptic effect in silicon enables low-power and low-loss reconfiguration of large-scale silicon photonics. Thermal reconfiguration through the integration of metallic microheaters has been one of the more widely used reconfiguration techniques in silicon photonics. In this paper, structural and material optimizations are carried out through heat transport modeling to improve the reconfiguration speed of such devices, and the results are experimentally verified. Around 4 micros reconfiguration time are shown for the optimized structures. Moreover, sub-microsecond reconfiguration time is experimentally demonstrated through the pulsed excitation of the microheaters. The limitation of this pulsed excitation scheme is also discussed through an accurate system-level model developed for the microheater response.

Hydraulic manipulator research at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Love, L.J.

1997-01-01

Recently, task requirements have dictated that manipulator payload capacity increase to accommodate greater payloads, greater manipulator length, and larger environmental interaction forces. General tasks such as waste storage tank cleanup and facility dismantlement and decommissioning require manipulator life capacities in the range of hundreds of pounds rather than tens of pounds. To meet the increased payload capacities demanded by present-day tasks, manipulator designers have turned once again to hydraulics as a means of actuation. In order to successfully design, build, and deploy a new hydraulic manipulator (or subsystem), sophisticated modeling, analysis, and control experiments are usually needed. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a history of projects that incorporate hydraulics technology, including mobile robots, teleoperated manipulators, and full-scale construction equipment. In addition, to support the development and deployment of new hydraulic manipulators, ORNL has outfitted a significant experimental laboratory and has developed the software capability for research into hydraulic manipulators, hydraulic actuators, hydraulic systems, modeling of hydraulic systems, and hydraulic controls. The purpose of this article is to describe the past hydraulic manipulator developments and current hydraulic manipulator research capabilities at ORNL. Included are example experimental results from ORNL's flexible/prismatic test stand

Hydraulic manipulator research at ORNL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Love, L.J. [Oak Ridge Inst. for Science and Education, TN (United States)

1997-03-01

Recently, task requirements have dictated that manipulator payload capacity increase to accommodate greater payloads, greater manipulator length, and larger environmental interaction forces. General tasks such as waste storage tank cleanup and facility dismantlement and decommissioning require manipulator life capacities in the range of hundreds of pounds rather than tens of pounds. To meet the increased payload capacities demanded by present-day tasks, manipulator designers have turned once again to hydraulics as a means of actuation. In order to successfully design, build, and deploy a new hydraulic manipulator (or subsystem), sophisticated modeling, analysis, and control experiments are usually needed. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a history of projects that incorporate hydraulics technology, including mobile robots, teleoperated manipulators, and full-scale construction equipment. In addition, to support the development and deployment of new hydraulic manipulators, ORNL has outfitted a significant experimental laboratory and has developed the software capability for research into hydraulic manipulators, hydraulic actuators, hydraulic systems, modeling of hydraulic systems, and hydraulic controls. The purpose of this article is to describe the past hydraulic manipulator developments and current hydraulic manipulator research capabilities at ORNL. Included are example experimental results from ORNL`s flexible/prismatic test stand.

A Novel Reconfigurable Robot for Urban Search and Rescue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Houxiang Zhang

2006-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel mobile robot for urban search and rescue based on reconfiguration. The system consists of three identical modules; actually each module is an entire robotic system that can perform distributed activities. To achieve highly adaptive locomotion capabilities, the robot's serial and parallel mechanisms form an active joint, enabling it to change its shape in three dimensions. A docking mechanism enables adjacent modules to connect or disconnect flexibly and automatically. This mechanical structure and the control system are introduced in detail, followed by a description of the locomotion capabilities. In the end, the successful on-site tests confirm the principles described above and the robot's ability.

A Novel Reconfigurable Robot for Urban Search and Rescue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhicheng Deng

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel mobile robot for urban search and rescue based on reconfiguration. The system consists of three identical modules; actually each module is an entire robotic system that can perform distributed activities. To achieve highly adaptive locomotion capabilities, the robot's serial and parallel mechanisms form an active joint, enabling it to change its shape in three dimensions. A docking mechanism enables adjacent modules to connect or disconnect flexibly and automatically. This mechanical structure and the control system are introduced in detail, followed by a description of the locomotion capabilities. In the end, the successful on-site tests confirm the principles described above and the robot's ability.

Secure computing on reconfigurable systems

OpenAIRE

Fernandes Chaves, R.J.

2007-01-01

This thesis proposes a Secure Computing Module (SCM) for reconfigurable computing systems. SC provides a protected and reliable computational environment, where data security and protection against malicious attacks to the system is assured. SC is strongly based on encryption algorithms and on the attestation of the executed functions. The use of SC on reconfigurable devices has the advantage of being highly adaptable to the application and the user requirements, while providing high performa...

Reconfiguring Maternity Care?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johannsen, Nis

This dissertation constitutes a reflection on two initiatives seeking to reconfigure maternity care. One initiative sought to digitalise maternity records and included a pilot run of an electronic maternity record in a Danish county. The other consisted of a collaboration between a maternity ward...... at a hospital and a group of researchers which included me. Both initiatives involved numerous seemingly different interests that were held together and related to reconfiguring maternity care. None of the initiatives can unequivocally be labelled a success, as neither managed to change maternity care, at least...... experimental designs are constructed. The consequences and the politics of the proposed changes are engaged with in laboratory manner through collaborative development of the designs and through exposing them to members of field of maternity care...

3D Laser Scanner for Underwater Manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albert Palomer

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, research in autonomous underwater manipulation has demonstrated simple applications like picking an object from the sea floor, turning a valve or plugging and unplugging a connector. These are fairly simple tasks compared with those already demonstrated by the mobile robotics community, which include, among others, safe arm motion within areas populated with a priori unknown obstacles or the recognition and location of objects based on their 3D model to grasp them. Kinect-like 3D sensors have contributed significantly to the advance of mobile manipulation providing 3D sensing capabilities in real-time at low cost. Unfortunately, the underwater robotics community is lacking a 3D sensor with similar capabilities to provide rich 3D information of the work space. In this paper, we present a new underwater 3D laser scanner and demonstrate its capabilities for underwater manipulation. In order to use this sensor in conjunction with manipulators, a calibration method to find the relative position between the manipulator and the 3D laser scanner is presented. Then, two different advanced underwater manipulation tasks beyond the state of the art are demonstrated using two different manipulation systems. First, an eight Degrees of Freedom (DoF fixed-base manipulator system is used to demonstrate arm motion within a work space populated with a priori unknown fixed obstacles. Next, an eight DoF free floating Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System (UVMS is used to autonomously grasp an object from the bottom of a water tank.

Manipulating waves with LEGO{sup ®} bricks: A versatile experimental platform for metamaterial architectures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Celli, Paolo, E-mail: pcelli@umn.edu; Gonella, Stefano, E-mail: sgonella@umn.edu [Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)

2015-08-24

In this letter, we discuss a versatile, fully reconfigurable experimental platform for the investigation of phononic phenomena in metamaterial architectures. The approach revolves around the use of 3D laser vibrometry to reconstruct global and local wavefield features in specimens obtained through simple arrangements of LEGO{sup ®} bricks on a thin baseplate. The agility by which it is possible to reconfigure the brick patterns into a nearly endless spectrum of topologies makes this an effective approach for rapid experimental proof of concept, as well as a powerful didactic tool, in the arena of phononic crystals and metamaterials engineering. We use our platform to provide a compelling visual illustration of important spatial wave manipulation effects (waveguiding and seismic isolation), and to elucidate fundamental dichotomies between Bragg-based and locally resonant bandgap mechanisms.

Design of reconfigurable antennas using graph models

CERN Document Server

Costantine, Joseph; Christodoulou, Christos G; Christodoulou, Christos G

2013-01-01

This lecture discusses the use of graph models to represent reconfigurable antennas. The rise of antennas that adapt to their environment and change their operation based on the user's request hasn't been met with clear design guidelines. There is a need to propose some rules for the optimization of any reconfigurable antenna design and performance. Since reconfigurable antennas are seen as a collection of self-organizing parts, graph models can be introduced to relate each possible topology to a corresponding electromagnetic performance in terms of achieving a characteristic frequency of oper

Reconfigurable radio systems network architectures and standards

CERN Document Server

Iacobucci, Maria Stella

2013-01-01

This timely book provides a standards-based view of the development, evolution, techniques and potential future scenarios for the deployment of reconfigurable radio systems.  After an introduction to radiomobile and radio systems deployed in the access network, the book describes cognitive radio concepts and capabilities, which are the basis for reconfigurable radio systems.  The self-organizing network features introduced in 3GPP standards are discussed and IEEE 802.22, the first standard based on cognitive radio, is described. Then the ETSI reconfigurable radio systems functional ar

Dynamic whole-body robotic manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Abe, Yeuhi; Stephens, Benjamin; Murphy, Michael P.; Rizzi, Alfred A.

2013-05-01

The creation of dynamic manipulation behaviors for high degree of freedom, mobile robots will allow them to accomplish increasingly difficult tasks in the field. We are investigating how the coordinated use of the body, legs, and integrated manipulator, on a mobile robot, can improve the strength, velocity, and workspace when handling heavy objects. We envision that such a capability would aid in a search and rescue scenario when clearing obstacles from a path or searching a rubble pile quickly. Manipulating heavy objects is especially challenging because the dynamic forces are high and a legged system must coordinate all its degrees of freedom to accomplish tasks while maintaining balance. To accomplish these types of manipulation tasks, we use trajectory optimization techniques to generate feasible open-loop behaviors for our 28 dof quadruped robot (BigDog) by planning trajectories in a 13 dimensional space. We apply the Covariance Matrix Adaptation (CMA) algorithm to solve for trajectories that optimize task performance while also obeying important constraints such as torque and velocity limits, kinematic limits, and center of pressure location. These open-loop behaviors are then used to generate desired feed-forward body forces and foot step locations, which enable tracking on the robot. Some hardware results for cinderblock throwing are demonstrated on the BigDog quadruped platform augmented with a human-arm-like manipulator. The results are analogous to how a human athlete maximizes distance in the discus event by performing a precise sequence of choreographed steps.

Graphene-based Yagi-Uda antenna with reconfigurable radiation patterns

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Yongle, E-mail: wuyongle138@gmail.com; Qu, Meijun; Jiao, Lingxiao; Liu, Yuanan [School of Electronic Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Work Safety Intelligent Monitoring, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, P. O. Box. 282, Beijing, 100876 (China); Ghassemlooy, Zabih [Optical Communications Research Group, NCRLab, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST (United Kingdom)

2016-06-15

This paper presents a radiation pattern reconfigurable Yagi-Uda antenna based on graphene operating at terahertz frequencies. The antenna can be reconfigured to change the main beam pattern into two or four different radiation directions. The proposed antenna consists of a driven dipole radiation conductor, parasitic strips and embedded graphene. The hybrid graphene-metal implementation enables the antenna to have dynamic surface conductivity, which can be tuned by changing the chemical potentials. Therefore, the main beam direction, the resonance frequency, and the front-to-back ratio of the proposed antenna can be controlled by tuning the chemical potentials of the graphene embedded in different positions. The proposed two-beam reconfigurable Yagi-Uda antenna can achieve excellent unidirectional symmetrical radiation pattern with the front-to-back ratio of 11.9 dB and the10-dB impedance bandwidth of 15%. The different radiation directivity of the two-beam reconfigurable antenna can be achieved by controlling the chemical potentials of the graphene embedded in the parasitic stubs. The achievable peak gain of the proposed two-beam reconfigurable antenna is about 7.8 dB. Furthermore, we propose a four-beam reconfigurable Yagi-Uda antenna, which has stable reflection-coefficient performance although four main beams in reconfigurable cases point to four totally different directions. The corresponding peak gain, front-to-back ratio, and 10-dB impedance bandwidth of the four-beam reconfigurable antenna are about 6.4 dB, 12 dB, and 10%, respectively. Therefore, this novel design method of reconfigurable antennas is extremely promising for beam-scanning in terahertz and mid-infrared plasmonic devices and systems.

Performance and Cost Trade-off in Tracking Area Reconfiguration: A Pareto-optimization Approach

OpenAIRE

Modarres Razavi, Sara; Yuan, Di; Gunnarsson, Fredrik; Moe, Johan

2012-01-01

Tracking Area (TA) design is one of the key tasks in location management of Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. TA enables to trace and page User Equipments (UEs). As UEs distribution and mobility patterns change over time, TA design may have to undergo revisions. For revising the TA design, the cells to be reconfigured typically have to be temporary torn down. Consequently, this will result in service interruption and “cost”. There is always a trade-off between the performance in terms of th...

Reconfigurable fault tolerant avionics system

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, M. M.; Asami, K.; Cho, Mengu

This paper presents the design of a reconfigurable avionics system based on modern Static Random Access Memory (SRAM)-based Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to be used in future generations of nano satellites. A major concern in satellite systems and especially nano satellites is to build robust systems with low-power consumption profiles. The system is designed to be flexible by providing the capability of reconfiguring itself based on its orbital position. As Single Event Upsets (SEU) do not have the same severity and intensity in all orbital locations, having the maximum at the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and the polar cusps, the system does not have to be fully protected all the time in its orbit. An acceptable level of protection against high-energy cosmic rays and charged particles roaming in space is provided within the majority of the orbit through software fault tolerance. Check pointing and roll back, besides control flow assertions, is used for that level of protection. In the minority part of the orbit where severe SEUs are expected to exist, a reconfiguration for the system FPGA is initiated where the processor systems are triplicated and protection through Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) with feedback is provided. This technique of reconfiguring the system as per the level of the threat expected from SEU-induced faults helps in reducing the average dynamic power consumption of the system to one-third of its maximum. This technique can be viewed as a smart protection through system reconfiguration. The system is built on the commercial version of the (XC5VLX50) Xilinx Virtex5 FPGA on bulk silicon with 324 IO. Simulations of orbit SEU rates were carried out using the SPENVIS web-based software package.

Go reconfigure: how fish change shape as they swim and evolve.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, John H; Porter, Marianne E; Root, Robert G; Liew, Chun Wai

2010-12-01

The bodies of fish change shape over propulsive, behavioral, developmental, and evolutionary time scales, a general phenomenon that we call "reconfiguration". Undulatory, postural, and form-reconfiguration can be distinguished, studied independently, and examined in terms of mechanical interactions and evolutionary importance. Using a combination of live, swimming fishes and digital robotic fish that are autonomous and self-propelled, we examined the functional relation between undulatory and postural reconfiguration in forward swimming, backward swimming, and yaw turning. To probe how postural and form reconfiguration interact, the yaw turning of leopard sharks was examined using morphometric and kinematic analyses. To test how undulatory reconfiguration might evolve, the digital robotic fish were subjected to selection for enhanced performance in a simulated ecology in which each individual had to detect and move towards a food source. In addition to the general issue of reconfiguration, these investigations are united by the fact that the dynamics of undulatory and postural reconfigurations are predicted to be determined, in part, by the structural stiffness of the fish's body. Our method defines undulatory reconfiguration as the combined, point-by-point periodic motion of the body, leaving postural reconfiguration as the combined deviations from undulatory reconfiguration. While undulatory reconfiguration appears to be the sole or primary propulsive driver, postural reconfiguration may contribute to propulsion in hagfish and it is correlated with differences in forward, and backward, swimming in lamprey. Form reconfigures over developmental time in leopard sharks in a manner that is consistent with an allometric scaling theory in which structural stiffness of the body is held constant. However, correlation of a form proxy for structural stiffness of the body suggests that body stiffness may scale in order to limit maximum postural reconfiguration during routine

Resource Allocation for A Mobile Application Oriented Architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Guo, Y.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Lu, W.W.; Xie, X.

2005-01-01

A Montium is a coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture designed by the CADTES group of the University of Twente for mobile applications. This paper presents a resource allocation method to allocate variables to storage places and to schedule data movements for the Montium. The resource allocation

MT-ADRES: Multithreading on Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architecture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Kehuai; Kanstein, Andreas; Madsen, Jan

2007-01-01

The coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture ADRES (Architecture for Dynamically Reconfigurable Embedded Systems) and its compiler offer high instruction-level parallelism (ILP) to applications by means of a sparsely interconnected array of functional units and register files. As high-ILP archi......The coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture ADRES (Architecture for Dynamically Reconfigurable Embedded Systems) and its compiler offer high instruction-level parallelism (ILP) to applications by means of a sparsely interconnected array of functional units and register files. As high......-ILP architectures achieve only low parallelism when executing partially sequential code segments, which is also known as Amdahl’s law, this paper proposes to extend ADRES to MT-ADRES (Multi-Threaded ADRES) to also exploit thread-level parallelism. On MT-ADRES architectures, the array can be partitioned in multiple...

Lattice Automata for Control of Self-Reconfigurable Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Støy, Kasper

2015-01-01

are extreme versatility and robustness. The organisation of self-reconfigurable robots in a lattice structure and the emphasis on local communication between modules mean that lattice automata are a useful basis for control of self-reconfigurable robots. However, there are significant differences which arise...... mainly from the physical nature of self-reconfigurable robots as opposed to the virtual nature of lattice automata. The problems resulting from these differences are mutual exclusion, handling motion constraints of modules, and unrealistic assumption about global, spatial orientation. Despite...... these problems the self-reconfigurable robot community has successfully applied lattice automata to simple control problems. However, for more complex problems hybrid solutions based on lattice automata and distributed algorithms are used. Hence, lattice automata have shown to have potential for the control...

Reconfigurable Diodes Based on Vertical WSe2 Transistors with van der Waals Bonded Contacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Avsar, Ahmet; Marinov, Kolyo; Marin, Enrique Gonzalez; Iannaccone, Giuseppe; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Fiori, Gianluca; Kis, Andras

2018-05-01

New device concepts can increase the functionality of scaled electronic devices, with reconfigurable diodes allowing the design of more compact logic gates being one of the examples. In recent years, there has been significant interest in creating reconfigurable diodes based on ultrathin transition metal dichalcogenide crystals due to their unique combination of gate-tunable charge carriers, high mobility, and sizeable band gap. Thanks to their large surface areas, these devices are constructed under planar geometry and the device characteristics are controlled by electrostatic gating through rather complex two independent local gates or ionic-liquid gating. In this work, similar reconfigurable diode action is demonstrated in a WSe 2 transistor by only utilizing van der Waals bonded graphene and Co/h-BN contacts. Toward this, first the charge injection efficiencies into WSe 2 by graphene and Co/h-BN contacts are characterized. While Co/h-BN contact results in nearly Schottky-barrier-free charge injection, graphene/WSe 2 interface has an average barrier height of ≈80 meV. By taking the advantage of the electrostatic transparency of graphene and the different work-function values of graphene and Co/h-BN, vertical devices are constructed where different gate-tunable diode actions are demonstrated. This architecture reveals the opportunities for exploring new device concepts. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Task-oriented structural design of manipulators based on operability evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotosaka, Shin-ya; Asama, Hajime; Takata, Shozo; Hiraoka, Hiroyuki; Kohda, Takehisa; Matsumoto, Akihiro; Endo, Isao.

1995-01-01

In this paper, a new method for designing the structure of manipulators based on evaluation of their adaptability to tasks is proposed. In the method, task directions are classified into three kinds of direction; operational direction, constrained direction and free direction. On each direction, condition of constraints by task environment is represented. The tasks are represented by a set of direction and condition of constraints. A new criterion, operability, is defined to quantify adaptability of manipulator to tasks, taking account of mobility in operational directions and immobility in constrained directions. The mobility and immobility is calculated based on the Jacobian matrix of manipulator. The operability evaluation method is implemented, and applied to structural design of manipulators, in which link parameters are optimized by the genetic algorithm. This system can derive suitable structure of manipulator to various tasks. The effectiveness of the system is shown concerning examples of welding tasks. (author)

Reconfigurable OR and XOR logic gates based on dual responsive on-off-on micromotors

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Yonggang; Liu, Mei; Zhang, Hui; Dong, Bin

2016-04-01

In this study, we report a hemisphere-like micromotor. Intriguingly, the micromotor exhibits controllable on-off-on motion, which can be actuated by two different external stimuli (UV and NH3). Moreover, the moving direction of the micromotor can be manipulated by the direction in which UV and NH3 are applied. As a result, the motion accelerates when both stimuli are applied in the same direction and decelerates when the application directions are opposite to each other. More interestingly, the dual stimuli responsive micromotor can be utilized as a reconfigurable logic gate with UV and NH3 as the inputs and the motion of the micromotor as the output. By controlling the direction of the external stimuli, OR and XOR dual logic functions can be realized.In this study, we report a hemisphere-like micromotor. Intriguingly, the micromotor exhibits controllable on-off-on motion, which can be actuated by two different external stimuli (UV and NH3). Moreover, the moving direction of the micromotor can be manipulated by the direction in which UV and NH3 are applied. As a result, the motion accelerates when both stimuli are applied in the same direction and decelerates when the application directions are opposite to each other. More interestingly, the dual stimuli responsive micromotor can be utilized as a reconfigurable logic gate with UV and NH3 as the inputs and the motion of the micromotor as the output. By controlling the direction of the external stimuli, OR and XOR dual logic functions can be realized. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Fig. S1-S6 and Videos S1-S5. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr00752j

Modular reconfigurable machine tools: design, control and evaluation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Padayachee, J

2009-11-01

Full Text Available The reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) paradigm encapsulates methodologies that enable manufacturing systems to cope effectively with market and product changes. This research presents the design and evaluation of modular reconfigurable...

Modular manual control device for manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dzholdasbekov, U.A.; Lukyanov, A.T.; Slutsky, L.I.; Safontsev, E.A.; Dzhamalov, N.K.

1991-01-01

The device described in this patent comprises a base, a series of connected modules, each with a position pickup and a handle. One module is provided for each degree of mobility of the manipulator being controlled; the modular construction enables the control of manipulators with differing degrees of mobility. One rotary movement module and three orthogonal linear movement modules are provided. Each linear module has two parallel guides between which a carriage is supported for movement by balls. The position pickup is provided on the carriage. The rotary module comprises inner and outer casings, relative movement of which is detected by pickup. Further rotary pickups may be provided for rotation about axes. A close/open switch and a speed control pickup may also be provided. (author)

3rd IEEE/IFToMM International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots

CERN Document Server

Kong, Xianwen; Dai, Jian; ReMAR 2015; Advances in Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots II

2016-01-01

This book presents the most recent advances in the research and applications of reconfigurable mechanisms and robots. It collects 93 independently reviewed papers presented at the Third ASME/IFToMM International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR 2015) held in Beijing, China, 20-22 July 2015. The conference papers are organized into seven parts to cover the reconfiguration theory, topology, kinematics and design of reconfigurable mechanisms including reconfigurable parallel mechanisms. The most recent results on reconfigurable robots are presented including their analysis, design, simulation and control. Bio-inspired mechanisms are also explored in the challenging fields of rehabilitation and minimally invasive surgery. This book further addresses deployable mechanisms and origami-inspired mechanisms and showcases a wide range of successful applications of reconfigurable mechanisms and robots. Advances in Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots II should be of interest for researchers, eng...

Improving Reliability, Security, and Efficiency of Reconfigurable Hardware Systems (Habilitation)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ziener, Daniel

2017-01-01

In this treatise,  my research on methods to improve efficiency, reliability, and security of reconfigurable hardware systems, i.e., FPGAs, through partial dynamic reconfiguration is outlined. The efficiency of reconfigurable systems can be improved by loading optimized data paths on-the-fly on an

Distinguishing Reconfiguration and Compound-cue Retrieval in Task Switching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gordon D Logan

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Many researchers claim that task switching requires reconfiguration of the cognitive system. Others claim that task switching involves cue-based memory retrieval processes and not reconfiguration. We evaluate these competing claims by developing both reconfiguration and cue-based memory models in a common theoretical framework and by fitting the models to' target functions', which show how performance on individual target stimuli varies depending on the task subjects perform on the targets. Our analyses show that the process of compound-cue retrieval – using the task cue and the target as joint retrieval cues to select a response from memory – is sufficient to explain target functions for parity and magnitude judgments of digits and that reconfiguration does not seem to add anything to the explanation. We address the generality of this conclusion and speculate about the conditions under which reconfiguration may be necessary for task switching.

Design Tools for Reconfigurable Hardware in Orbit (RHinO)

Science.gov (United States)

French, Mathew; Graham, Paul; Wirthlin, Michael; Larchev, Gregory; Bellows, Peter; Schott, Brian

2004-01-01

The Reconfigurable Hardware in Orbit (RHinO) project is focused on creating a set of design tools that facilitate and automate design techniques for reconfigurable computing in space, using SRAM-based field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) technology. These tools leverage an established FPGA design environment and focus primarily on space effects mitigation and power optimization. The project is creating software to automatically test and evaluate the single-event-upsets (SEUs) sensitivities of an FPGA design and insert mitigation techniques. Extensions into the tool suite will also allow evolvable algorithm techniques to reconfigure around single-event-latchup (SEL) events. In the power domain, tools are being created for dynamic power visualiization and optimization. Thus, this technology seeks to enable the use of Reconfigurable Hardware in Orbit, via an integrated design tool-suite aiming to reduce risk, cost, and design time of multimission reconfigurable space processors using SRAM-based FPGAs.

Reconfigurable layout problem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meng, G.; Heragu, S.S.; Heragu, S.S.; Zijm, Willem H.M.

2004-01-01

This paper addresses the reconfigurable layout problem, which differs from traditional, robust and dynamic layout problems mainly in two aspects: first, it assumes that production data are available only for the current and upcoming production period. Second, it considers queuing performance

HERMIES-3: A step toward autonomous mobility, manipulation, and perception

Science.gov (United States)

Weisbin, C. R.; Burks, B. L.; Einstein, J. R.; Feezell, R. R.; Manges, W. W.; Thompson, D. H.

1989-01-01

HERMIES-III is an autonomous robot comprised of a seven degree-of-freedom (DOF) manipulator designed for human scale tasks, a laser range finder, a sonar array, an omni-directional wheel-driven chassis, multiple cameras, and a dual computer system containing a 16-node hypercube expandable to 128 nodes. The current experimental program involves performance of human-scale tasks (e.g., valve manipulation, use of tools), integration of a dexterous manipulator and platform motion in geometrically complex environments, and effective use of multiple cooperating robots (HERMIES-IIB and HERMIES-III). The environment in which the robots operate has been designed to include multiple valves, pipes, meters, obstacles on the floor, valves occluded from view, and multiple paths of differing navigation complexity. The ongoing research program supports the development of autonomous capability for HERMIES-IIB and III to perform complex navigation and manipulation under time constraints, while dealing with imprecise sensory information.

An FPGA-based reconfigurable DDC algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Juszczyk, B.; Kasprowicz, G.

2016-09-01

This paper describes implementation of reconfigurable digital down converter in an FPGA structure. System is designed to work with quadrature signals. One of the main criteria of the project was to provied wide range of reconfiguration in order to fulfill various application rage. Potential applications include: software defined radio receiver, passive noise radars and measurement data compression. This document contains general system overview, short description of hardware used in the project and gateware implementation.

Optimization of elastic elements of a damping devices for cylindrical hinges in crane-manipulating installations of mobile machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lagerev I.A.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article considers the problems of designing an original damping devices worn for cylindrical hinges in crane-manipulating installations of mobile machines. These devices can significantly reduce the additional impact load on a steel structure manipulators due to the presence of increased gaps in the hinges. Formulated the general formulation of nonlinear constrained optimization of the sizes of the elastic elements of the damping devices. Considered a promising design variants of elastic elements. For circular and arc elastic elements with circular and rectangular cross-section for-mulated the problems of optimal design including criterion functions and systems of geometric, technological, stiffness and strength penalty constraints. Analysis of the impact of various operating and design parameters on the results of optimal design of elastic elements was performed. Were set to the recommended the use of the constructive types of elastic elements to generate the required stiffness of the damper devices.

Value Assessment of Distribution Network Reconfiguration: A Danish Case Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaskantiras, Georgios; You, Shi

2016-01-01

. This paper presents a case study-based analysis to explore the potential value of reconfiguration in detail. The study is performed using a 10kV distribution grid of Denmark, while reconfiguration is applied to minimize the energy losses under both normal and post-fault conditions. The results show......Distribution network reconfiguration is a mechanism that can improve the distribution system performance from multiple perspectives. In the context of smart grid wherein the degrees of automation and intelligence are high, the potential value of network reconfiguration can be significant...

Frequency Reconfigurable Circular Patch Antenna with an Arc-Shaped Slot Ground Controlled by PIN Diodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yao Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a compact frequency reconfigurable circular patch antenna with an arc-shaped slot loaded in the ground layer is proposed for multiband wireless communication applications. By controlling the ON/OFF states of the five PIN diodes mounted on the arc-shaped slot, the effective length of the arc-shaped slot and the effective length of antennas current are changed, and accordingly six-frequency band reconfiguration can be achieved. The simulated and measured results show that the antenna can operate from 1.82 GHz to 2.46 GHz, which is located in DCS1800 (1.71–1.88 GHz, UMTS (2.11–2.20 GHz, WiBro (2.3–2.4 GHz, and Bluetooth (2.4–2.48 GHz frequency bands and so forth. Compared to the common rectangular slot circular patch antenna, the proposed arc-shaped slot circular patch antenna not only has a better rotational symmetry with the circular patch and substrate but also has more compact size. For the given operating frequency at 1.82 GHz, over 55% area reduction is achieved in this design with respect to the common design with rectangular slot. Since the promising frequency reconfiguration, this antenna may have potential applications in modern multiband and multifunctional mobile communication systems.

Characterization of applied fields for ion mobility in traveling wave based structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamid, Ahmed M.; Prabhakaran Nair Syamala Amma, Aneesh; Garimella, Venkata BS; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; Smith, Richard D.

2018-03-21

Ion mobility (IM) is rapidly gaining attention for the analysis of biomolecules due to the ability to distinguish the shapes of ions. However, conventional constant electric field drift tube IM has limited resolving power, constrained by practical limitations on the path length and maximum applied voltage. The implementation of traveling waves (TW) in IM removes the latter limitation, allowing higher resolution to be achieved using extended path lengths. These can be readily obtainable in structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM), which are fabricated from electric fields that are generated by appropriate potentials applied to arrays of electrodes patterned on two parallel surfaces. In this work we have investigated the relationship between the various SLIM variables, such as electrode dimensions, inter-surface gap, and the TW applied voltages, that directly impact the fields experienced by ions. Ion simulation and theoretical calculations have been utilized to understand the dependence of SLIM geometry and effective electric field. The variables explored impact both ion confinement and the observed IM resolution in Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) modules.

Remote manipulation techniques in the maintenance and repair of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rininsland, H.; Boehme, G.

1986-01-01

Remote manipulation means the application of multi-purpose devices featuring high mobility and universal applicability. The paper describes such a remote manipulation system (manipulation vehicle MF1 and MF2, master-slave manipulator, TFTR maintenance manipulator) which can be used flexibly in the NNP during maintenance and repair and in incident and accident situations. Connecting elements and tools can be redesigned for remote manipulation to meet the specific application environments. (DG) [de

Flexible Frequency Discrimination Subsystems for Reconfigurable Radio Front Ends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carey-Smith Bruce E

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The required flexibility of the software-defined radio front end may currently be met with better overall performance by employing tunable narrowband circuits rather than pursuing a truly wideband approach. A key component of narrowband transceivers is appropriate filtering to reduce spurious spectral content in the transmitter and limit out-of-band interference in the receiver. In this paper, recent advances in flexible, frequency-selective, circuit components applicable to reconfigurable SDR front ends are reviewed. The paper contains discussion regarding the filtering requirements in the SDR context and the use of intelligent, adaptive control to provide environment-aware frequency discrimination. Wide tuning-range frequency-selective circuit elements are surveyed including bandpass and bandstop filters and narrowband tunable antennas. The suitability of these elements to the mobile wireless SDR environment is discussed.

Reconfiguring The Supply Chain For Complex Engineered Products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum; Asmussen, Jesper Normann

2016-01-01

of the SC, the product and market requirements. This paper seeks to investigate the factors which create a need for supply chain reconfiguration in the context of the Complex Product Systems, together with the enablers and barriers for successfully realizing supply chain improvements through reconfiguration....

MT-ADRES: multi-threading on coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Kehuai; Kanstein, Andreas; Madsen, Jan

2008-01-01

The coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture ADRES (architecture for dynamically reconfigurable embedded systems) and its compiler offer high instruction-level parallelism (ILP) to applications by means of a sparsely interconnected array of functional units and register files. As high-ILP archi......The coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture ADRES (architecture for dynamically reconfigurable embedded systems) and its compiler offer high instruction-level parallelism (ILP) to applications by means of a sparsely interconnected array of functional units and register files. As high......-ILP architectures achieve only low parallelism when executing partially sequential code segments, which is also known as Amdahl's law, this article proposes to extend ADRES to MT-ADRES (multi-threaded ADRES) to also exploit thread-level parallelism. On MT-ADRES architectures, the array can be partitioned...

Operating System Concepts for Reconfigurable Computing: Review and Survey

OpenAIRE

Marcel Eckert; Dominik Meyer; Jan Haase; Bernd Klauer

2016-01-01

One of the key future challenges for reconfigurable computing is to enable higher design productivity and a more easy way to use reconfigurable computing systems for users that are unfamiliar with the underlying concepts. One way of doing this is to provide standardization and abstraction, usually supported and enforced by an operating system. This article gives historical review and a summary on ideas and key concepts to include reconfigurable computing aspects in operating systems. The arti...

PyMOL mControl: Manipulating Molecular Visualization with Mobile Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Wendy W. T.; Siu, Shirley W. I.

2017-01-01

Viewing and manipulating three-dimensional (3D) structures in molecular graphics software are essential tasks for researchers and students to understand the functions of molecules. Currently, the way to manipulate a 3D molecular object is mainly based on mouse-and-keyboard control that is usually difficult and tedious to learn. While gesture-based…

Reconfigurability of behavioural specifications for manufacturing systems

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Klaus Werner

2017-12-01

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) support flexibility in the product variety and the configuration of the manufacturing system itself in order to enable quick adjustments to new products and production requirements. As a consequence, an essential feature of RMS is their ability to rapidly modify the control strategy during run-time. In this paper, the particular problem of changing the specified operation of a RMS, whose logical behaviour is modelled as a finite state automaton, is addressed. The notion of reconfigurability of specifications (RoS) is introduced and it is shown that the stated reconfiguration problem can be formulated as a controlled language convergence problem. In addition, algorithms for the verification of RoS and the construction of a reconfiguration supervisor are proposed. The supervisor is realised in a modular way which facilitates the extension by new configurations. Finally, it is shown that a supremal nonblocking and controllable strict subautomaton of the plant automaton that fulfils RoS exists in case RoS is violated for the plant automaton itself and an algorithm for the computation of this strict subautomaton is presented. The developed concepts and results are illustrated by a manufacturing cell example.

Design Flow Instantiation for Run-Time Reconfigurable Systems: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Qu

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Reconfigurable system is a promising alternative to deliver both flexibility and performance at the same time. New reconfigurable technologies and technology-dependent tools have been developed, but a complete overview of the whole design flow for run-time reconfigurable systems is missing. In this work, we present a design flow instantiation for such systems using a real-life application. The design flow is roughly divided into two parts: system level and implementation. At system level, our supports for hardware resource estimation and performance evaluation are applied. At implementation level, technology-dependent tools are used to realize the run-time reconfiguration. The design case is part of a WCDMA decoder on a commercially available reconfigurable platform. The results show that using run-time reconfiguration can save over 40% area when compared to a functionally equivalent fixed system and achieve 30 times speedup in processing time when compared to a functionally equivalent pure software design.

Operating System Concepts for Reconfigurable Computing: Review and Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcel Eckert

2016-01-01

Full Text Available One of the key future challenges for reconfigurable computing is to enable higher design productivity and a more easy way to use reconfigurable computing systems for users that are unfamiliar with the underlying concepts. One way of doing this is to provide standardization and abstraction, usually supported and enforced by an operating system. This article gives historical review and a summary on ideas and key concepts to include reconfigurable computing aspects in operating systems. The article also presents an overview on published and available operating systems targeting the area of reconfigurable computing. The purpose of this article is to identify and summarize common patterns among those systems that can be seen as de facto standard. Furthermore, open problems, not covered by these already available systems, are identified.

Adaptive Behavior for Mobile Robots

Science.gov (United States)

Huntsberger, Terrance

2009-01-01

The term "System for Mobility and Access to Rough Terrain" (SMART) denotes a theoretical framework, a control architecture, and an algorithm that implements the framework and architecture, for enabling a land-mobile robot to adapt to changing conditions. SMART is intended to enable the robot to recognize adverse terrain conditions beyond its optimal operational envelope, and, in response, to intelligently reconfigure itself (e.g., adjust suspension heights or baseline distances between suspension points) or adapt its driving techniques (e.g., engage in a crabbing motion as a switchback technique for ascending steep terrain). Conceived for original application aboard Mars rovers and similar autonomous or semi-autonomous mobile robots used in exploration of remote planets, SMART could also be applied to autonomous terrestrial vehicles to be used for search, rescue, and/or exploration on rough terrain.

Development of the heavy manipulator vehicle system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herbst, C.; Paustian, P.; Kruger, W.

1993-01-01

After the severe reactor accident of Tschernobyl in 1986 MaK System started to develop a Heavy Manipulator Vehicle System under contract from German nuclear technology assistance company ''KHG'' (Kerntechnische Hilfsdienst GmbH). The system comprises a remote controlled manipulator vehicle, a mobile mission control stand as well as a transport/service unit. In order to fulfill the high demands of this complex system a couple of new developments had to be started. The paper describes some of these developments and gives an overview about the main features of the Heavy Manipulator Vehicle System (HMV). (author)

Hierarchically assembled DNA origami tubules with reconfigurable chirality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Haorong; Cha, Tae-Gon; Pan, Jing; Choi, Jong Hyun

2013-01-01

The dynamic reconfiguration of a hierarchically assembled tubular structure is demonstrated using the DNA origami technique. Short cylindrical DNA origami monomers are synthesized and linked into elongated tubules, which can then be disassembled via toehold-mediated strand displacement. The disassembled subunits are subsequently linked into tubules of a different chirality. The reconfiguration is performed with the subunits carrying dumbbell hairpin DNA oligonucleotides or gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The reconfiguration of higher order origami structures presented here is useful for constructing dynamic nanostructures that exceed the size limit of single DNA origami and may facilitate the study of molecular or particle interactions by tuning their relative distance and organization. (paper)

Pass-band reconfigurable spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hao Chi; He, Pei Hang; Gao, Xinxin; Tang, Wen Xuan; Cui, Tie Jun

2018-04-01

In this paper, we introduce a new scheme to construct the band-pass tunable filter based on the band-pass reconfigurable spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), whose cut-off frequencies at both sides of the passband can be tuned through changing the direct current (DC) bias of varactors. Compared to traditional technology (e.g. microstrip filters), the spoof SPP structure can provide more tight field confinement and more significant field enhancement, which is extremely valuable for many system applications. In order to achieve this scheme, we proposed a specially designed SPP filter integrated with varactors and DC bias feeding structure to support the spoof SPP passband reconfiguration. Furthermore, the full-wave simulated result verifies the outstanding performance on both efficiency and reconfiguration, which has the potential to be widely used in advanced intelligent systems.

IMPLEMENTATION OF TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER ARCHITECTURE FOR PHYSICAL HYBRID INDICATOR CHANNEL OF LTE-ADVANCED USING PARTIAL RECONFIGURATION IN ML605 VIRTEX-6 DEVICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Syed Ameer Abbas

2014-09-01

Full Text Available LTE-A (Long Term Evolution-Advanced is the fourth generation technology to increase the speed of wireless data network. The LTE-A Physical layer provides both data and control information between an enhanced base station and mobile user equipment which is quite complex and consists of a mixture of technologies. Since there is requirement for more resources to accommodate all the channels in a single FPGA, Partial Reconfiguration (PR technique is introduced to configure the total hardware into sub modules that configure and operate in different instants of time. PR enables a part of FPGA to be reconfigured, while the rest continues to function without any interruptions and reduces the hardware resource power and fabric area. This work proposes the realization of transmitter and receiver architecture of Physical Hybrid Indicator Channel (PHICH channel for LTE-A using partial reconfiguration on xc6vlx240tff1156-1 FPGA. The receiver architecture for PHICH is to report the correct reception of uplink user data to the User Equipment (UE in the form of Acknowledgment (ACK, or Negative ACK (NACK in a 1 millisecond duration sub-frame of Long Term Evolution (LTE System. The modules for the different diversities are reconfigured based on the control signals from the transmitter.

Short-Term Load Forecasting-Based Automatic Distribution Network Reconfiguration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Huaiguang [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ding, Fei [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhang, Yingchen [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-08-23

In a traditional dynamic network reconfiguration study, the optimal topology is determined at every scheduled time point by using the real load data measured at that time. The development of the load forecasting technique can provide an accurate prediction of the load power that will happen in a future time and provide more information about load changes. With the inclusion of load forecasting, the optimal topology can be determined based on the predicted load conditions during a longer time period instead of using a snapshot of the load at the time when the reconfiguration happens; thus, the distribution system operator can use this information to better operate the system reconfiguration and achieve optimal solutions. This paper proposes a short-term load forecasting approach to automatically reconfigure distribution systems in a dynamic and pre-event manner. Specifically, a short-term and high-resolution distribution system load forecasting approach is proposed with a forecaster based on support vector regression and parallel parameters optimization. The network reconfiguration problem is solved by using the forecasted load continuously to determine the optimal network topology with the minimum amount of loss at the future time. The simulation results validate and evaluate the proposed approach.

Reconfigurable Sensor Monitoring System

Science.gov (United States)

Alhorn, Dean C. (Inventor); Dutton, Kenneth R. (Inventor); Howard, David E. (Inventor); Smith, Dennis A. (Inventor)

2017-01-01

A reconfigurable sensor monitoring system includes software tunable filters, each of which is programmable to condition one type of analog signal. A processor coupled to the software tunable filters receives each type of analog signal so-conditioned.

A dynamic plasmonic manipulation technique assisted by phase modulation of an incident optical vortex beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, G H; Wang, Q; Tan, P S; Lin, J; Yuan, X-C

2012-01-01

A novel phase modulation method for dynamic manipulation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) with a phase engineered optical vortex (OV) beam illuminating on nanoslits is experimentally demonstrated. Because of the unique helical phase carried by an OV beam, dynamic control of SPP multiple focusing and standing wave generation is realized by changing the OV beam’s topological charge constituent with the help of a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator. Measurement of SPP distributions with near-field scanning optical microscopy showed an excellent agreement with numerical predictions. The proposed phase modulation technique for manipulating SPPs features has seemingly dynamic and reconfigurable advantages, with profound potential for development of SPP coupling, routing, multiplexing and high-resolution imaging devices on plasmonic chips. (paper)

Dynamic Reconfiguration in Real-Time Systems Energy, Performance, and Thermal Perspectives

CERN Document Server

Wang, Weixun; Ranka, Sanjay

2013-01-01

Given the widespread use of real-time multitasking systems, there are tremendous optimization opportunities if reconfigurable computing can be effectively incorporated while maintaining performance and other design constraints of typical applications. The focus of this book is to describe the dynamic reconfiguration techniques that can be safely used in real-time systems. This book provides comprehensive approaches by considering synergistic effects of computation, communication as well as storage together to significantly improve overall performance, power, energy and temperature.  Provides a comprehensive introduction to optimization and dynamic reconfiguration techniques in real-time embedded systems; Covers state-of-the-art techniques and ongoing research in reconfigurable architectures; Focuses on algorithms tuned for dynamic reconfiguration techniques in real-time systems;  Provides reference for anyone designing low-power systems, energy-/temperature-constrained devices, and power-performance efficie...

Glenn Reconfigurable User-interface and Virtual reality Exploration (GURVE) Laboratory

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The GRUVE (Glenn Reconfigurable User-interface and Virtual reality Exploration) Lab is a reconfigurable, large screen display facility at Nasa Glenn Research Center....

Reconfigurable Model Execution in the OpenMDAO Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, John T.

2017-01-01

NASA's OpenMDAO framework facilitates constructing complex models and computing their derivatives for multidisciplinary design optimization. Decomposing a model into components that follow a prescribed interface enables OpenMDAO to assemble multidisciplinary derivatives from the component derivatives using what amounts to the adjoint method, direct method, chain rule, global sensitivity equations, or any combination thereof, using the MAUD architecture. OpenMDAO also handles the distribution of processors among the disciplines by hierarchically grouping the components, and it automates the data transfer between components that are on different processors. These features have made OpenMDAO useful for applications in aircraft design, satellite design, wind turbine design, and aircraft engine design, among others. This paper presents new algorithms for OpenMDAO that enable reconfigurable model execution. This concept refers to dynamically changing, during execution, one or more of: the variable sizes, solution algorithm, parallel load balancing, or set of variables-i.e., adding and removing components, perhaps to switch to a higher-fidelity sub-model. Any component can reconfigure at any point, even when running in parallel with other components, and the reconfiguration algorithm presented here performs the synchronized updates to all other components that are affected. A reconfigurable software framework for multidisciplinary design optimization enables new adaptive solvers, adaptive parallelization, and new applications such as gradient-based optimization with overset flow solvers and adaptive mesh refinement. Benchmarking results demonstrate the time savings for reconfiguration compared to setting up the model again from scratch, which can be significant in large-scale problems. Additionally, the new reconfigurability feature is applied to a mission profile optimization problem for commercial aircraft where both the parametrization of the mission profile and the

Loop overhead reduction techniques for coarse grained reconfigurable architectures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vadivel, K.; Wijtvliet, M.; Jordans, R.; Corporaal, H.

2017-01-01

Due to their flexibility and high performance, Coarse Grained Reconfigurable Array (CGRA) are a topic of increasing research interest. However, CGRAs also have the potential to achieve very high energy efficiency in comparison to other reconfigurable architectures when hardware optimizations are

Comparative analysis of hydraulic crane-manipulating installations transport and technological machines and industrial robots hydraulic manipulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lagerev I.A.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article presents results of comparative analysis of hydraulic crane-manipulator installations of mobile transport and technological machines and hydraulic manipulators of industrial robots. The comparative analysis is based on consid-eration of a wide range of types and sizes indicated technical devices of both domestic and foreign production: 1580 structures of cranes and more than 450 structures of industrial robots. It was performed in the following areas: func-tional purpose and basic technical characteristics; a design; the loading conditions of the model and failures in operation process; approaches to the design, calculation methods and mathematical modeling. The conclusions about the degree of similarity and the degree of difference hydraulic crane-manipulator installations of transport and technological ma-chines and hydraulic industrial robot manipulators from the standpoint of their design and modeling occurring in them during operation of dynamic and structural processes.

Thin-film-transistor array: an exploratory attempt for high throughput cell manipulation using electrowetting principle

Science.gov (United States)

Shaik, F. Azam; Cathcart, G.; Ihida, S.; Lereau-Bernier, M.; Leclerc, E.; Sakai, Y.; Toshiyoshi, H.; Tixier-Mita, A.

2017-05-01

In lab-on-a-chip (LoC) devices, microfluidic displacement of liquids is a key component. electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) is a technique to move fluids, with the advantage of not requiring channels, pumps or valves. Fluids are discretized into droplets on microelectrodes and moved by applying an electric field via the electrodes to manipulate the contact angle. Micro-objects, such as biological cells, can be transported inside of these droplets. However, the design of conventional microelectrodes, made by standard micro-fabrication techniques, fixes the path of the droplets, and limits the reconfigurability of paths and thus limits the parallel processing of droplets. In that respect, thin film transistor (TFT) technology presents a great opportunity as it allows infinitely reconfigurable paths, with high parallelizability. We propose here to investigate the possibility of using TFT array devices for high throughput cell manipulation using EWOD. A COMSOL based 2D simulation coupled with a MATLAB algorithm was used to simulate the contact angle modulation, displacement and mixing of droplets. These simulations were confirmed by experimental results. The EWOD technique was applied to a droplet of culture medium containing HepG2 carcinoma cells and demonstrated no negative effects on the viability of the cells. This confirms the possibility of applying EWOD techniques to cellular applications, such as parallel cell analysis.

Thin-film-transistor array: an exploratory attempt for high throughput cell manipulation using electrowetting principle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaik, F Azam; Cathcart, G; Toshiyoshi, H; Tixier-Mita, A; Ihida, S; Sakai, Y; Lereau-Bernier, M; Leclerc, E

2017-01-01

In lab-on-a-chip (LoC) devices, microfluidic displacement of liquids is a key component. electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) is a technique to move fluids, with the advantage of not requiring channels, pumps or valves. Fluids are discretized into droplets on microelectrodes and moved by applying an electric field via the electrodes to manipulate the contact angle. Micro-objects, such as biological cells, can be transported inside of these droplets. However, the design of conventional microelectrodes, made by standard micro-fabrication techniques, fixes the path of the droplets, and limits the reconfigurability of paths and thus limits the parallel processing of droplets. In that respect, thin film transistor (TFT) technology presents a great opportunity as it allows infinitely reconfigurable paths, with high parallelizability. We propose here to investigate the possibility of using TFT array devices for high throughput cell manipulation using EWOD. A COMSOL based 2D simulation coupled with a MATLAB algorithm was used to simulate the contact angle modulation, displacement and mixing of droplets. These simulations were confirmed by experimental results. The EWOD technique was applied to a droplet of culture medium containing HepG2 carcinoma cells and demonstrated no negative effects on the viability of the cells. This confirms the possibility of applying EWOD techniques to cellular applications, such as parallel cell analysis. (paper)

HoneyComb: An Application-Driven Online Adaptive Reconfigurable Hardware Architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Thomas

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Since the introduction of the first reconfigurable devices in 1985 the field of reconfigurable computing developed a broad variety of architectures from fine-grained to coarse-grained types. However, the main disadvantages of the reconfigurable approaches, the costs in area, and power consumption, are still present. This contribution presents a solution for application-driven adaptation of our reconfigurable architecture at register transfer level (RTL to reduce the resource requirements and power consumption while keeping the flexibility and performance for a predefined set of applications. Furthermore, implemented runtime adaptive features like online routing and configuration sequencing will be presented and discussed. A presentation of the prototype chip of this architecture designed in 90 nm standard cell technology manufactured by TSMC will conclude this contribution.

Optically controlled reconfigurable antenna for 5G future broadband cellular communication networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Costa, I.F. da; Spadoti, D. H.; Cerqueira Sodre Jr., Arismar

2017-01-01

This paper presents an optically controlled reconfigurable antenna for millimetre-wave frequency range. Silicon switches are used to control the optical reconfiguration, modifying the frequency response and radiation pattern of the antenna design. Therefore, the system can switch between the ligh......This paper presents an optically controlled reconfigurable antenna for millimetre-wave frequency range. Silicon switches are used to control the optical reconfiguration, modifying the frequency response and radiation pattern of the antenna design. Therefore, the system can switch between...

Reconfigurable antennas radiations using plasma Faraday cage

OpenAIRE

Barro , Oumar Alassane; Himdi , Mohamed; Lafond , Olivier

2015-01-01

International audience; This letter presents a new reconfigurable plasma antenna associated with a Faraday cage. The Faraday cage is realized using a fluorescent lamp. A patch antenna with a broadside radiation pattern or a monopole antenna with an end-fire radiation pattern , operating at 2.45 GHz, is placed inside Faraday cage. The performance of the reconfigurable system is observed in terms of input reflection coefficient, gain and radiation pattern via simulation and measurement. It is s...

Reconfiguration of spectral absorption features using a frequency-chirped laser pulse.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Mingzhen; Chang, Tiejun; Merkel, Kristian D; Babbitt, W Randall

2011-12-20

A technique is proposed to manipulate atomic population in an inhomogeneously broadened medium, which can set an arbitrary absorption spectrum to a uniform transparency (erasure) or to a nearly complete inversion. These reconfigurations of atomic spectral distribution are achieved through excitation of electronic transitions using a laser pulse with chirped frequency, which precisely affects selected spectral regions while leaving the rest of the spectrum unperturbed. An erasure operation sets the final atomic population inversion to zero and the inversion operation flips the population between the ground and the excited states, regardless of the previously existing population distribution. This technique finds important applications both in optical signal processing, where fast, recursive processing and high dynamic range are desirable and in quantum memory and quantum computing, which both require high efficiency and high fidelity in quantum state preparation of atomic ensembles. Proof-of-concept demonstrations were performed in a rare-earth doped crystal.

Optimization of potential field method parameters through networks for swarm cooperative manipulation tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rocco Furferi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available An interesting current research field related to autonomous robots is mobile manipulation performed by cooperating robots (in terrestrial, aerial and underwater environments. Focusing on the underwater scenario, cooperative manipulation of Intervention-Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (I-AUVs is a complex and difficult application compared with the terrestrial or aerial ones because of many technical issues, such as underwater localization and limited communication. A decentralized approach for cooperative mobile manipulation of I-AUVs based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs is proposed in this article. This strategy exploits the potential field method; a multi-layer control structure is developed to manage the coordination of the swarm, the guidance and navigation of I-AUVs and the manipulation task. In the article, this new strategy has been implemented in the simulation environment, simulating the transportation of an object. This object is moved along a desired trajectory in an unknown environment and it is transported by four underwater mobile robots, each one provided with a seven-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. The simulation results are optimized thanks to the ANNs used for the potentials tuning.

TARDEC Overview: Ground Vehicle Power and Mobility

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-04

Fuel & Water Distribution • Force Sustainment • Construction Equipment • Bridging • Assured Mobility Systems Robotics • TALON • PackBot • MARCbot...Equipment • Mechanical Countermine Equipment • Tactical Bridging Intelligent Ground Systems • Autonomous Robotics Systems • Safe Operations...Test Cell • Hybrid Electric Reconfigurable Moveable Integration Testbed (HERMIT) • Electro-chemical Analysis and Research Lab (EARL) • Battery Lab • Air

Desenvolvimento de hardware reconfigurável de criptografia assimétrica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otávio Souza Martins Gomes

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Este artigo apresenta o resultado parcial do desenvolvimento de uma interface de hardware reconfigurável para criptografia assimétrica que permite a troca segura de dados. Hardwares reconfiguráveis permitem o desenvolvimento deste tipo de dispositivo com segurança e flexibilidade e possibilitam a mudança de características no projeto com baixo custo e de forma rápida.Palavras-chave: Criptografia. Hardware. ElGamal. FPGA. Segurança. Development of an asymmetric cryptography reconfigurable harwadre ABSTRACTThis paper presents some conclusions and choices about the development of an asymmetric cryptography reconfigurable hardware interface to allow a safe data communication. Reconfigurable hardwares allows the development of this kind of device with safety and flexibility, and offer the possibility to change some features with low cost and in a fast way.Keywords: Cryptography. Hardware. ElGamal. FPGAs. Security.

Mining Users Mobility at Public Transportation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

joao ferreira

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In this research work we propose a new approach to estimate the number of passengers in a public transportation and determinate the users’ route path based on a passive approach without user intervention. The method is based on the probe requests of users mobile device through the collected data in wireless access point. This data is manipulated to extract the information about the numbers of users with mobile devices and track their route path and time. This data can be manipulated to extract useful knowledge related with users’ habits at public transportation and extract user mobility patterns.

A random-access microarray for programmable droplet storage, retrieval and manipulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tseng, Yi-Ming; Wang, Jhih-Jhe; Su, Yu-Chuan

2012-01-01

This article presents an integrated microfluidic system that is capable of programmably metering, entrapping, coalescing, addressably storing, retrieving and manipulating emulsion droplets. A multilayer, flexible PDMS chip with specially designed fluidic channels dynamically reconfigured by pneumatically actuated diaphragms is utilized to integrate a variety of droplet manipulation schemes. Once droplets are formed, their motions are coordinated by a 2D multiplexing scheme, which exploits the bidirectional movement of diaphragms to implement a random-access microarray. In the prototype demonstration, a PDMS molding and bonding process is used to fabricate the proposed microfluidic system. Emulsion droplets with desired volumes and compositions are produced, addressably stored, manipulated and retrieved from a 4 × 4 array, which employs just 4 (= 2 × log 2 4) control inputs for the operation. It has been demonstrated that (1) the integration of droplet manipulation and 2D multiplexing schemes can be achieved readily using bidirectional diaphragm valves, (2) multiplexing of an N × N array could be realized utilizing only 2 × log 2 N control inputs and (3) a multifunctional, random-access microarray can be accomplished employing a multilayer PDMS chip. As such, the demonstrated random-access microarray could potentially serve as a platform for continuous tracking and multistep processing of emulsion droplets, which is desired for various biological and chemical applications. (paper)

PV Reconfiguration Systems: a Technical and Economic Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caruso M.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Dynamical electrical array reconfiguration strategies for grid-connected PV systems have been proposed as solution to improve energy production due to the mismatch effect of PV plants during partial shading conditions. Strategies are based on the use of dynamic connections between PV panels given by the employment of switches that allow for each panel the series, parallel or exclusion connections, physically changing the electrical connections between the related PV modules, consequentially modifying the layout of the plant. Usually the cost of the dynamic matrix is not taken into account. This novel work evaluates the economic advantages obtained by the use of reconfiguration strategies in PV systems, by taking into consideration the price of energy due to incentives in different European and non-European countries and correlates it with the employment of two types of reconfigurators, with different internal structures. For each of the incentives proposed by the different Countries, the main strength and weakness points of the possible investment are highlighted and critically analyzed. From this analysis, it can be stated that the adoption of reconfiguration systems, in certain cases, can be a very convenient solution.

Remote hardware-reconfigurable robotic camera

Science.gov (United States)

Arias-Estrada, Miguel; Torres-Huitzil, Cesar; Maya-Rueda, Selene E.

2001-10-01

In this work, a camera with integrated image processing capabilities is discussed. The camera is based on an imager coupled to an FPGA device (Field Programmable Gate Array) which contains an architecture for real-time computer vision low-level processing. The architecture can be reprogrammed remotely for application specific purposes. The system is intended for rapid modification and adaptation for inspection and recognition applications, with the flexibility of hardware and software reprogrammability. FPGA reconfiguration allows the same ease of upgrade in hardware as a software upgrade process. The camera is composed of a digital imager coupled to an FPGA device, two memory banks, and a microcontroller. The microcontroller is used for communication tasks and FPGA programming. The system implements a software architecture to handle multiple FPGA architectures in the device, and the possibility to download a software/hardware object from the host computer into its internal context memory. System advantages are: small size, low power consumption, and a library of hardware/software functionalities that can be exchanged during run time. The system has been validated with an edge detection and a motion processing architecture, which will be presented in the paper. Applications targeted are in robotics, mobile robotics, and vision based quality control.

Development of a mobile manipulator for nuclear plant disaster, HELIOS X. Mechanical design and basic experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noda, Satsuya; Hirose, Shigeo; Ueda, Koji; Nakano, Hisami; Horigome, Atsushi; Endo, Gen

2016-01-01

In places such as nuclear power plant disaster area, which it is difficult for human workers to enter, robots are required to scout those places instead of human workers. In this paper, we present a mobile manipulator HELIOS X for a nuclear plant decommissioning task. Firstly, we address demands and specifications for the robot, considering the mission of reconnaissance. Then we outline the system of the robot, mainly focusing on the following mechanism: 'Crank Wheel', 'Main Arm', 'Sphere Link Wrist', 'Camera Arm', 'Control System' and 'System architecture'. Especially, we installed 3 degree of freedom 'Camera Arm' on the 'Main Arm', in order to improve functionality of remote control system. This enables the operator to monitor both the gripper and its overall view of the robot. 'Camera Arm' helps the operator to recognize the distance from an object to the gripper, because the operator can interactively move the viewpoint of the camera, and monitor from another camera angle without changing the gripper's position. We confirmed the basic functionality of mobile base, 'Main Arm' and 'Camera Arm' through hardware experiments. We also demonstrated that HELIOS X could pass through the pull-to-open door with a substantial closing force when the operator watched camera view only. (author)

An adaptive cryptographic accelerator for network storage security on dynamically reconfigurable platform

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Li; Liu, Jing-Ning; Feng, Dan; Tong, Wei

2008-12-01

Existing security solutions in network storage environment perform poorly because cryptographic operations (encryption and decryption) implemented in software can dramatically reduce system performance. In this paper we propose a cryptographic hardware accelerator on dynamically reconfigurable platform for the security of high performance network storage system. We employ a dynamic reconfigurable platform based on a FPGA to implement a PowerPCbased embedded system, which executes cryptographic algorithms. To reduce the reconfiguration latency, we apply prefetch scheduling. Moreover, the processing elements could be dynamically configured to support different cryptographic algorithms according to the request received by the accelerator. In the experiment, we have implemented AES (Rijndael) and 3DES cryptographic algorithms in the reconfigurable accelerator. Our proposed reconfigurable cryptographic accelerator could dramatically increase the performance comparing with the traditional software-based network storage systems.

Efficient integration of plug-in electric vehicles via reconfigurable microgrids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kavousi-Fard, Abdollah; Khodaei, Amin

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the viability of the reconfigurable microgrids (RMGs) in facilitating the integration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The reconfiguration ability of microgrids, which is enabled by the use of remotely controlled switches (RCSs), will support the high penetration of PEVs and renewable distributed generators (DGs) while reducing the total operation cost and potentially enhance microgrid reliability. The objective of the proposed optimal scheduling problem is to minimize the total cost of power supply by distributed energy resources (DERs) and upstream network energy exchange, battery degradation cost in PEVs, cost of switching during the reconfiguration, and expected customer interruption costs as a reliability index. To address the high level of the uncertainties in the problem, a scenario-based stochastic framework is devised to capture the uncertainties associated with the charging and discharging values of PEVs, number of PEVs in each fleet, time of the daily trips for PEVs, hourly load consumption, hourly output power of renewable DGs, and hourly market price. The satisfying performance and merits of the proposed model are examined on a test microgrid. - Highlights: • Introduction of reconfigurable microgrids for providing flexible structure to manage electric loads. • Assessing the effects of the reconfiguration on the integration of PEVs. • Introduction of a stochastic framework for reducing operation and reliability costs in microgrids. • Introduction of a smart charge/discharge scheme for PEVs based on V2G during the reconfiguration.

Reconfiguring Cooperative Work by Visualizing EPR on Large Projected Screens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Jesper

Simonsen, J. (2006): Reconfiguring Cooperative Work by Visualizing EPR on Large Projected Screens, Paper presented at the PDC 2006 workshop on: Reconfiguring Healthcare: Issues in Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Healthcare Environments. Participatory Design Conference, Trento, Italy, August...

Short-Term Load Forecasting Based Automatic Distribution Network Reconfiguration: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Huaiguang [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ding, Fei [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhang, Yingchen [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jiang, Huaiguang [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ding, Fei [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhang, Yingchen [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-07-26

In the traditional dynamic network reconfiguration study, the optimal topology is determined at every scheduled time point by using the real load data measured at that time. The development of load forecasting technique can provide accurate prediction of load power that will happen in future time and provide more information about load changes. With the inclusion of load forecasting, the optimal topology can be determined based on the predicted load conditions during the longer time period instead of using the snapshot of load at the time when the reconfiguration happens, and thus it can provide information to the distribution system operator (DSO) to better operate the system reconfiguration to achieve optimal solutions. Thus, this paper proposes a short-term load forecasting based approach for automatically reconfiguring distribution systems in a dynamic and pre-event manner. Specifically, a short-term and high-resolution distribution system load forecasting approach is proposed with support vector regression (SVR) based forecaster and parallel parameters optimization. And the network reconfiguration problem is solved by using the forecasted load continuously to determine the optimal network topology with the minimum loss at the future time. The simulation results validate and evaluate the proposed approach.

Reconfigurable Integrated Optoelectronics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Soref

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Integrated optics today is based upon chips of Si and InP. The future of this chip industry is probably contained in the thrust towards optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs and photonic integrated circuits (PICs manufactured in a high-volume foundry. We believe that reconfigurable OEICs and PICs, known as ROEICs and RPICs, constitute the ultimate embodiment of integrated photonics. This paper shows that any ROEIC-on-a-chip can be decomposed into photonic modules, some of them fixed and some of them changeable in function. Reconfiguration is provided by electrical control signals to the electro-optical building blocks. We illustrate these modules in detail and discuss 3D ROEIC chips for the highest-performance signal processing. We present examples of our module theory for RPIC optical lattice filters already constructed, and we propose new ROEICs for directed optical logic, large-scale matrix switching, and 2D beamsteering of a phased-array microwave antenna. In general, large-scale-integrated ROEICs will enable significant applications in computing, quantum computing, communications, learning, imaging, telepresence, sensing, RF/microwave photonics, information storage, cryptography, and data mining.

The Complete Reconfiguration of Dendritic Gold

Science.gov (United States)

Paneru, Govind; Flanders, Bret

2014-03-01

Reconfigurability-by-design is an important strategy in modern materials science, as materials with this capability could potentially be used to confer hydrophobic, lipophobic, or anti-corrosive character to substrates in a regenerative manner. The present work extends the directed electrochemical nanowire assembly (DENA) methodology, which is a technique that employs alternating voltages to grow single crystalline metallic nanowires and nano-dendrites from simple salt solutions, to enable the complete dissolution of macroscopic arrays of metallic dendrites following their growth. Our main finding is that structural reconfiguration of dendritic gold is induced by changes in the MHz-level frequencies of voltages that are applied to the dendrites. Cyclic voltammetry and micro-Raman spectroscopy have been used to show that dendritic gold grows and dissolves by the same chemical mechanisms as bulk gold. Hence, the redox chemistry that occurs at the crystal-solution interface is no different than the established electrochemistry of gold. What differs in this process and allows for reconfiguration to occur is the diffusive behavior of the gold chloride molecules in the solution adjacent to the interface. We will present a simple model that captures the physics of this behavior.

Enabling Self-Organization in Embedded Systems with Reconfigurable Hardware

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christophe Bobda

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We present a methodology based on self-organization to manage resources in networked embedded systems based on reconfigurable hardware. Two points are detailed in this paper, the monitoring system used to analyse the system and the Local Marketplaces Global Symbiosis (LMGS concept defined for self-organization of dynamically reconfigurable nodes.

Reconfigurable computing the theory and practice of FPGA-based computation

CERN Document Server

Hauck, Scott

2010-01-01

Reconfigurable Computing marks a revolutionary and hot topic that bridges the gap between the separate worlds of hardware and software design- the key feature of reconfigurable computing is its groundbreaking ability to perform computations in hardware to increase performance while retaining the flexibility of a software solution. Reconfigurable computers serve as affordable, fast, and accurate tools for developing designs ranging from single chip architectures to multi-chip and embedded systems. Scott Hauck and Andre DeHon have assembled a group of the key experts in the fields of both hardwa

Multilevel Simulation of Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damien Picard

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a general system-level simulation and testing methodology for reconfigurable System-on-Chips, starting from behavioral specifications of system activities to multilevel simulations of accelerated tasks running on the reconfigurable circuit. The system is based on a common objectoriented environment that offers valuable debugging and probing facilities as well as integrated testing features. Our system brings these benefits to the hardware simulation, while enforcing validation through characterization tests and interoperability through on-demand mainstream tools connections. This framework has been partially developed in the scope of the EU Morpheus project and is used to validate our contribution to the spatial design task.

Reconfigurable, Cognitive Software-Defined Radio

Science.gov (United States)

Bhat, Arvind

2015-01-01

Software-defined radio (SDR) technology allows radios to be reconfigured to perform different communication functions without using multiple radios to accomplish each task. Intelligent Automation, Inc., has developed SDR platforms that switch adaptively between different operation modes. The innovation works by modifying both transmit waveforms and receiver signal processing tasks. In Phase I of the project, the company developed SDR cognitive capabilities, including adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), automatic modulation recognition (AMR), and spectrum sensing. In Phase II, these capabilities were integrated into SDR platforms. The reconfigurable transceiver design employs high-speed field-programmable gate arrays, enabling multimode operation and scalable architecture. Designs are based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and are modular in nature, making it easier to upgrade individual components rather than redesigning the entire SDR platform as technology advances.

El Diseño Modular en el contexto del desarrollo de Máquinas Herramienta Reconfigurables. // Modular Design in the development of reconfigurable Machine Tools´ context.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Pérez Rodríguez

2005-05-01

Full Text Available Las tendencias actuales en los procesos de manufactura reflejan los cambios en las demandas de los clientes. En nuestrosdías, el mercado requiere inexorablemente de productos cada vez más personalizados, por lo que se tiende de unaproducción masiva hacia un tipo específico de producción, en menos tiempo y con menos costos de producción. Enrespuesta a esta necesidad, la nueva generación de máquinas herramienta debe de ser reconfigurable e inteligente. Lascaracterísticas principales de las Máquinas Reconfigurables e Inteligentes son la modularidad, convertibilidad, flexibilidady efectividad en los costos. Este artículo presenta un enfoque para el diseño modular de máquinas herramienta, basado en elportafolio de productos del constructor de máquinas. La metodología parte de un conjunto de requerimientos funcionalesdefinidos por el constructor de máquinas y ofrece una descripción de los posibles módulos que pueden ser desarrolladospara una determinada máquina herramienta reconfigurable.Palabras claves: Diseño modular, máquinas herramienta, reconfigurable, inteligente.___________________________________________________________________________Abstract.The manufacturing tendencies reflect the changes on the customer demands. Nowadays, the market is constantly requiringmore customized products, moving from mass production to “one-of-a-kind production” in less time with lower productioncosts. In response to this need, the next generation of machine tools should be reconfigurable and intelligent.Reconfigurability allows for the reduction of machine design lead time, machine set-up and ramp-up time. The principalcharacteristics of the Reconfigurable and Intelligent Machines are modularity, convertibility, flexibility and costeffectiveness.This paper presents an approach for the design of machine tools modules, based on the product portfolio ofthe machine tool builder. The methodology takes as input a set of functional requirements

Architecture for dynamically reconfigurable real-time lossless compression

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Alison J.; Audsley, Neil C.

2004-05-01

Image compression is a computationally intensive task, which can be undertaken most efficiently by dedicated hardware. If a portable device is to carry out real-time compression on a variety of image types, then it may be useful to reconfigure the circuitry dynamically. Using commercial off-the shelf (COTS) chips, reconfiguration is usually implemented by a complete re-load from memory, but it is also possible to perform a partial reconfiguration. This work studies the use of programmable hardware devices to implement the lossless JPEG compression algorithm in real-time on a stream of independent image frames. The data rate is faster than can be compressed serially in hardware by a single processor, so the operation is split amongst several processors. These are implemented as programmable circuits, together with necessary buffering of input and output data. The timing of input and output, bearing in mind the different, and context-dependent amounts of data due to Huffman coding, is analyzed using storage-timing graphs. Because there may be differing parameters from one frame to the next, several different configurations are prepared and stored, ready to load as required. The scheduling of these reconfigurations, and the distribution/recombination of data streams is studied, giving an analysis of the real-time performance.

Configuration Method Design for Reconfigurable Manufacturing System with the aid of Plant Simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Yang; Zhang, Shuai; Bilberg, Arne

2014-01-01

A new Reconfigurable Manufacturing System structure has been recently designed by a large consumer goods manufacturer in Europe, aiming to balance the performance of productivity and flexibility. This article shows an exploratory research on the (re)configuration procedure of the new RMS structure....... Following the procedure which is designed in this paper, the (re)configuration of RMS can be managed as part of the daily operation with the help of computer simulation. Keywords: Plant Simulation, Tecnomatix, Reconfigurable Manufacturing System, modular manufacturing....

Centralised versus Decentralised Control Reconfiguration for Collaborating Underwater Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Furno, Lidia; Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Blanke, Mogens

2015-01-01

The present paper introduces an approach to fault-tolerant reconfiguration for collaborating underwater robots. Fault-tolerant reconfiguration is obtained using the virtual actuator approach, Steen (2005). The paper investigates properties of a centralised versus a decentralised implementation an...... an underwater drill needs to be transported and positioned by three collaborating robots as part of an underwater autonomous operation....

Design and Transmission Analysis of an Asymmetrical Spherical Parallel Manipulator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Guanglei; Caro, Stéphane; Wang, Jiawei

2015-01-01

analysis and optimal design of the proposed manipulator based on its kinematic analysis. The input and output transmission indices of the manipulator are defined for its optimum design based on the virtual coefficient between the transmission wrenches and twist screws. The sets of optimal parameters......This paper presents an asymmetrical spherical parallel manipulator and its transmissibility analysis. This manipulator contains a center shaft to both generate a decoupled unlimited-torsion motion and support the mobile platform for high positioning accuracy. This work addresses the transmission...... are identified and the distribution of the transmission index is visualized. Moreover, a comparative study regarding to the performances with the symmetrical spherical parallel manipulators is conducted and the comparison shows the advantages of the proposed manipulator with respect to its spherical parallel...

Milestones on the way to a reconfigurable automotive instrument cluster

Science.gov (United States)

Knoll, Peter M.; Kosmowski, Bogdan B.

2002-06-01

Nowadays, the car driver are faced with a rapidly increasing flood of information. In addition to established information systems (car radio, vehicle monitoring, mobile phones), high class vehicles feature navigation systems almost as standard. In the current decade, driver assistance and collision avoidance systems will appear in vehicles. Hence, there is an increasing demand for supplying the driver with more information that help him to drive safer and more economical. The price decline in the computer market and the availability of powerful graphic hard- and software concepts make it possible to enhance the classical functions of the instrument board to an interactive multifunctional information panel - an interface between information systems of the car and the driver. Therefore, the question of additional visual and cognitive stress, and a possible distraction of the driver by the large amount of information, and its complexity becomes predominant. Reconfigurable instruments, based on a microprocessor controlled active matrix color display, provide a powerful alternative to the usual mechanical/electromechanical instrument clusters in vehicles. They will help to strengthen passive safety, they adapt to user and situation requirements, and they are easy to install, to configure, and to maintain. Reconfigurable instruments in future cars will have a high impact on traffic since they can provide the driver with much more information, presenting it in a way that is flexibly matched to the importance of particular data and to the ergonomic properties of the driver. The functions are manifold and span from classical driver information like speed to navigation prompts and ultimately to video and multimedia access.

Rapidly Re-Configurable Flight Simulator Tools for Crew Vehicle Integration Research and Design

Science.gov (United States)

Pritchett, Amy R.

2002-01-01

While simulation is a valuable research and design tool, the time and difficulty required to create new simulations (or re-use existing simulations) often limits their application. This report describes the design of the software architecture for the Reconfigurable Flight Simulator (RFS), which provides a robust simulation framework that allows the simulator to fulfill multiple research and development goals. The core of the architecture provides the interface standards for simulation components, registers and initializes components, and handles the communication between simulation components. The simulation components are each a pre-compiled library 'plugin' module. This modularity allows independent development and sharing of individual simulation components. Additional interfaces can be provided through the use of Object Data/Method Extensions (OD/ME). RFS provides a programmable run-time environment for real-time access and manipulation, and has networking capabilities using the High Level Architecture (HLA).

Vehicle-manipulator systems modeling for simulation, analysis, and control

CERN Document Server

From, Pal Johan; Pettersen, Kristin Ytterstad

2014-01-01

Furthering the aim of reducing human exposure to hazardous environments, this monograph presents a detailed study of the modeling and control of vehicle-manipulator systems. The text shows how complex interactions can be performed at remote locations using systems that combine the manipulability of robotic manipulators with the ability of mobile robots to locomote over large areas.  The first part studies the kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies and standard robotic manipulators and can be used as an introduction to robotics focussing on robust mathematical modeling. The monograph then moves on to study vehicle-manipulator systems in great detail with emphasis on combining two different configuration spaces in a mathematically sound way. Robustness of these systems is extremely important and Modeling and Control of Vehicle-manipulator Systems effectively represents the dynamic equations using a mathematically robust framework. Several tools from Lie theory and differential geometry are used to obtain glob...

Compact, Frequency Reconfigurable, Printed Monopole Antenna

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Gonçalves

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a possible implementation of a compact printed monopole antenna, useful to operate in UMTS and WLAN bands. In order to accomplish that, a miniaturization technique based on the application of chip inductors is used in conjunction with frequency reconfiguration capability. The chip inductors change the impedance response of the monopole, allowing to reduce the resonant frequency. In order to be able to operate the antenna in these two different frequencies, an antenna reconfiguration technique based on PIN diodes is applied. This procedure allows the change of the active form of the antenna leading to a shift in the resonant frequency. The prototype measurements show good agreement with the simulation results.

Using instability to reconfigure smart structures in a spring-mass model

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jiaying; McInnes, Colin R.

2017-07-01

Multistable phenomenon have long been used in mechanism design. In this paper a subset of unstable configurations of a smart structure model will be used to develop energy-efficient schemes to reconfigure the structure. This new concept for reconfiguration uses heteroclinic connections to transition the structure between different unstable equal-energy states. In an ideal structure model zero net energy input is required for the reconfiguration, compared to transitions between stable equilibria across a potential barrier. A simple smart structure model is firstly used to identify sets of equal-energy unstable configurations using dynamical systems theory. Dissipation is then added to be more representative of a practical structure. A range of strategies are then used to reconfigure the smart structure using heteroclinic connections with different approaches to handle dissipation.

Estimating thumb–index finger precision grip and manipulation potential in extant and fossil primates

Science.gov (United States)

Feix, Thomas; Kivell, Tracy L.; Pouydebat, Emmanuelle; Dollar, Aaron M.

2015-01-01

Primates, and particularly humans, are characterized by superior manual dexterity compared with other mammals. However, drawing the biomechanical link between hand morphology/behaviour and functional capabilities in non-human primates and fossil taxa has been challenging. We present a kinematic model of thumb–index precision grip and manipulative movement based on bony hand morphology in a broad sample of extant primates and fossil hominins. The model reveals that both joint mobility and digit proportions (scaled to hand size) are critical for determining precision grip and manipulation potential, but that having either a long thumb or great joint mobility alone does not necessarily yield high precision manipulation. The results suggest even the oldest available fossil hominins may have shared comparable precision grip manipulation with modern humans. In particular, the predicted human-like precision manipulation of Australopithecus afarensis, approximately one million years before the first stone tools, supports controversial archaeological evidence of tool-use in this taxon. PMID:25878134

Autonomous Reconfiguration Procedures for EJB-based Enterprise Applications

OpenAIRE

Vogel, Thomas; Bruhn, Jens; Wirtz, Guido

2018-01-01

Enterprise Applications (EA) are complex software systems for supporting the business of companies. Evolution of an EA should not affect its availability, e.g., because of a temporal shutdown, business operations may be affected. One possibility to address this problem is the seamless reconfiguration of the affected EA, i.e., applying the relevant changes while the system is running. Our approach to seamless reconfiguration focuses on component-oriented EAs. It is based on the Autonomic Compu...

Attention-based navigation in mobile robots using a reconfigurable sensor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maris, M.

2001-01-01

In this paper, a method for visual attentional selection in mobile robots is proposed, based on amplification of the selected stimulus. Attention processing is performed on the vision sensor, which is integrated on a silicon chip and consists of a contrast sensitive retina with the ability to change

A Taxonomy of Reconfigurable Single-/Multiprocessor Systems-on-Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Göhringer

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Runtime adaptivity of hardware in processor architectures is a novel trend, which is under investigation in a variety of research labs all over the world. The runtime exchange of modules, implemented on a reconfigurable hardware, affects the instruction flow (e.g., in reconfigurable instruction set processors or the data flow, which has a strong impact on the performance of an application. Furthermore, the choice of a certain processor architecture related to the class of target applications is a crucial point in application development. A simple example is the domain of high-performance computing applications found in meteorology or high-energy physics, where vector processors are the optimal choice. A classification scheme for computer systems was provided in 1966 by Flynn where single/multiple data and instruction streams were combined to four types of architectures. This classification is now used as a foundation for an extended classification scheme including runtime adaptivity as further degree of freedom for processor architecture design. The developed scheme is validated by a multiprocessor system implemented on reconfigurable hardware as well as by a classification of existing static and reconfigurable processor systems.

Lightweight submersed 'Walking' NDE manipulators for PWR and BWR vessel weld inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saernmark, Ivan; Lenz, Herbert

2008-01-01

Three new manipulators developed by WesDyne TRC in Sweden have under the year 2007 performed three very successful inspections in the PWR reactor Ringhals 3 and the BWR reactors Ringhals 1 and Oskarshamn 1. The manipulator systems can be used to perform inspection of circumferential and vertical welds on the reactor pressure vessel, the core shroud, core shroud support in BWR reactors or vessel and core barrel welds in PWR reactors. Most other flat or curved surfaces can be inspected using the new concept through relatively simple mechanical reconfigurations of system modules. The first inspection was performed on the R3 PWR core barrel in June 2007 with a very good result. This Manipulator is designed for access in very narrow gaps and for the type of core barrels with a shield covering the whole area of the perimeter. The manipulator is attached to the inspection area by means of a new unique suction cup system. The current manipulators consist of a curved horizontal beam, with radius similar to the reactor vessel, and a straight vertical beam, forming a T-shaped structure. By alternating the application of suction cup pairs on the horizontal beam and the vertical beam and by driving the scanning motors, the manipulator performs an incremental translational movement upwards/downwards or from side to side. The principles of this system give a well defined and stable platform for global and local positioning accuracy. A combination of advanced sensor solutions provides accurate position information in the absence of other physical reference objects. The system is controlled by the new WesDyne TRC Motor Control Panel and software, the MCP is specifically designed for remote control of submersed manipulators using techniques for cable reduction

Reconfigurable manufacturing execution system for pipe cutting

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Y. H.; Xie, J. Y.

2011-08-01

This article presents a reconfigurable manufacturing execution system (RMES) filling the gap between enterprise resource planning and resource layer for pipe-cutting production with mass customisation and rapid adaptation to dynamic market, which consists of planning and scheduling layer and executive control layer. Starting from customer's task and process requirements, the cutting trajectories are planned under generalised mathematical model able to reconfigure in accordance with various intersecting types' joint, and all tasks are scheduled by nesting algorithm to maximise the utilisation rate of rough material. This RMES for pipe cutting has been effectively implemented in more than 100 companies.

A Novel Design of Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna for UWB Application

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaolin; Yu, Ziliang; Wu, Zheng; Shen, Huajiao

2016-09-01

In this paper, we present a novel frequency reconfigurable antenna which could be easily operate in a single notched-band (WiMAX (3.3-3.6 GHz)) UWB frequency band, another single notched-band (WLAN (5-6 GHz)) UWB frequency band and the dual band-notched UWB frequency band (the stopband covers the WiMAX (3.3-3.6 GHz) and WLAN (5-6 GHz)). The reconfigurability is achieved by changing the states of PIN diodes. The simulated results are in agreement well with the measured results. And the measured patterns are slightly changed with antenna reconfiguration. The proposed antenna is a good candidate for various UWB applications.

Modular, Reconfigurable, High-Energy Technology Development

Science.gov (United States)

Carrington, Connie; Howell, Joe

2006-01-01

The Modular, Reconfigurable High-Energy (MRHE) Technology Demonstrator project was to have been a series of ground-based demonstrations to mature critical technologies needed for in-space assembly of a highpower high-voltage modular spacecraft in low Earth orbit, enabling the development of future modular solar-powered exploration cargo-transport vehicles and infrastructure. MRHE was a project in the High Energy Space Systems (HESS) Program, within NASA's Exploration Systems Research and Technology (ESR&T) Program. NASA participants included Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Glenn Research Center (GRC). Contractor participants were the Boeing Phantom Works in Huntsville, AL, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, CA, ENTECH, Inc. in Keller, TX, and the University of AL Huntsville (UAH). MRHE's technical objectives were to mature: (a) lightweight, efficient, high-voltage, radiation-resistant solar power generation (SPG) technologies; (b) innovative, lightweight, efficient thermal management systems; (c) efficient, 100kW-class, high-voltage power delivery systems from an SPG to an electric thruster system; (d) autonomous rendezvous and docking technology for in-space assembly of modular, reconfigurable spacecraft; (e) robotic assembly of modular space systems; and (f) modular, reconfigurable distributed avionics technologies. Maturation of these technologies was to be implemented through a series of increasingly-inclusive laboratory demonstrations that would have integrated and demonstrated two systems-of-systems: (a) the autonomous rendezvous and docking of modular spacecraft with deployable structures, robotic assembly, reconfiguration both during assembly and (b) the development and integration of an advanced thermal heat pipe and a high-voltage power delivery system with a representative lightweight high-voltage SPG array. In addition, an integrated simulation testbed would have been developed

Machine Learning Control For Highly Reconfigurable High-Order Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-02

calibration and applications,” Mechatronics and Embedded Systems and Applications (MESA), 2010 IEEE/ASME International Conference on, IEEE, 2010, pp. 38–43...AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2015-0012 MACHINE LEARNING CONTROL FOR HIGHLY RECONFIGURABLE HIGH-ORDER SYSTEMS John Valasek TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION...DIMENSIONAL RECONFIGURABLE SYSTEMS FA9550-11-1-0302 Period of Performance 1 July 2011 – 29 September 2014 John Valasek Aerospace Engineering

Block RAM-based architecture for real-time reconfiguration using Xilinx® FPGAs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rikus le Roux

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Despite the advantages dynamic reconfiguration adds to a system, it only improves system performance if the execution time exceeds the configuration time. As a result, dynamic reconfiguration is only capable of improving the performance of quasi-static applications. In order to improve the performance of dynamic applications, researchers focus on improving the reconfiguration throughput. These approaches are mostly limited by the bus commonly used to connect the configuration controller to the memory, which contributes to the configuration time. A method proposed to ameliorate this overhead is an architecture utilizing localised block RAM (BRAM connected to the configuration controller to store the configuration bitstream. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the advantages of the proposed architecture, especially for reconfiguring real-time applications. This is done by validating the throughput of the architecture and comparing this to the maximum theoretical throughput of the internal configuration access port (ICAP. It was found that the proposed architecture is capable of reconfiguring an application within a time-frame suitable for real-time reconfiguration. The drawback of this method is that the BRAM is extremely limited and only a discrete set of configurations can be stored. This paper also proposes a method on how this can be mitigated without affecting the throughput.

Design and Evaluation of a Reconfigurable Manufacturing System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Shuai; Li, Yang; Bilberg, Arne

2014-01-01

In modern manufacturing industry, reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is a promising concept in the research arena. A new RMS system structure has been recently designed by a large consumer goods manufacturer in Europe, aiming to improve its production efficiency. This article shows...... implemented in this consumer goods manufacturer can be effectively (re)configured as part of the daily operations, and the configuration is analyzed by computer simulation before release. Flexibility can be increased considerably meanwhile the system can maintain an acceptable productivity....

A Framework for Hardware-Accelerated Services Using Partially Reconfigurable SoCs

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MACHIDON, O. M.

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The current trend towards ?Everything as a Service? fosters a new approach on reconfigurable hardware resources. This innovative, service-oriented approach has the potential of bringing a series of benefits for both reconfigurable and distributed computing fields by favoring a hardware-based acceleration of web services and increasing service performance. This paper proposes a framework for accelerating web services by offloading the compute-intensive tasks to reconfigurable System-on-Chip (SoC devices, as integrated IP (Intellectual Property cores. The framework provides a scalable, dynamic management of the tasks and hardware processing cores, based on dynamic partial reconfiguration of the SoC. We have enhanced security of the entire system by making use of the built-in detection features of the hardware device and also by implementing active counter-measures that protect the sensitive data.

Design of reconfigurable logic controllers

CERN Document Server

Bukowiec, Arkadiusz; Doligalski, Michał; Tkacz, Jacek

2016-01-01

This book presents the original concepts and modern techniques for specification, synthesis, optimisation and implementation of parallel logical control devices. It deals with essential problems of reconfigurable control systems like dependability, modularity and portability. Reconfigurable systems require a wider variety of design and verification options than the application-specific integrated circuits. The book presents a comprehensive selection of possible design techniques. The diversity of the modelling approaches covers Petri nets, state machines and activity diagrams. The preferences of the presented optimization and synthesis methods are not limited to increasing of the efficiency of resource use. One of the biggest advantages of the presented methods is the platform independence, the FPGA devices and single board computers are some of the examples of possible platforms. These issues and problems are illustrated with practical cases of complete control systems. If you expect a new look at the recon...

Reconfigurable engineered motile semiconductor microparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohiri, Ugonna; Shields, C Wyatt; Han, Koohee; Tyler, Talmage; Velev, Orlin D; Jokerst, Nan

2018-05-03

Locally energized particles form the basis for emerging classes of active matter. The design of active particles has led to their controlled locomotion and assembly. The next generation of particles should demonstrate robust control over their active assembly, disassembly, and reconfiguration. Here we introduce a class of semiconductor microparticles that can be comprehensively designed (in size, shape, electric polarizability, and patterned coatings) using standard microfabrication tools. These custom silicon particles draw energy from external electric fields to actively propel, while interacting hydrodynamically, and sequentially assemble and disassemble on demand. We show that a number of electrokinetic effects, such as dielectrophoresis, induced charge electrophoresis, and diode propulsion, can selectively power the microparticle motions and interactions. The ability to achieve on-demand locomotion, tractable fluid flows, synchronized motility, and reversible assembly using engineered silicon microparticles may enable advanced applications that include remotely powered microsensors, artificial muscles, reconfigurable neural networks and computational systems.

Functional verification of dynamically reconfigurable FPGA-based systems

CERN Document Server

Gong, Lingkan

2015-01-01

This book analyzes the challenges in verifying Dynamically Reconfigurable Systems (DRS) with respect to the user design and the physical implementation of such systems. The authors describe the use of a simulation-only layer to emulate the behavior of target FPGAs and accurately model the characteristic features of reconfiguration. Readers are enabled with this simulation-only layer to maintain verification productivity by abstracting away the physical details of the FPGA fabric.  Two implementations of the simulation-only layer are included: Extended ReChannel is a SystemC library that can be used to check DRS designs at a high level; ReSim is a library to support RTL simulation of a DRS reconfiguring both its logic and state. Through a number of case studies, the authors demonstrate how their approach integrates seamlessly with existing, mainstream DRS design flows and with well-established verification methodologies such as top-down modeling and coverage-driven verification. Provides researchers with an i...

STRUCTURAL AND GEOMETRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LIFTING MANIPULATORS FOR A GREEN ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana POPESCU

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The lifting and getting off the bins, to and from the body of special waste trucks, by some planar linkage – manipulators are studied. These lifting manipulators are equipped with gripper systems in order to load and unload the bins. Several kinematical schemas of type mono– and bi-mobile manipulators are analyzed, these being driven by one or two linear actuators. The kinematical geometry of these planar manipulators by means of scale drawing of the kinematical schema is displayed. Two solutions for a better efficiency and a green environment have been proposed. Finally, a modeling and simulation case of the lifting manipulator is presented.

Reconfigurable Wave Velocity Transmission Lines for Phased Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Host, Nick; Chen, Chi-Chih; Volakis, John L.; Miranda, Felix

2013-01-01

Phased array antennas showcase many advantages over mechanically steered systems. However, they are also more complex, heavy and most importantly costly. This presentation paper presents a concept which overcomes these detrimental attributes by eliminating all of the phase array backend (including phase shifters). Instead, a wave velocity reconfigurable transmission line is used in a series fed array arrangement to allow phase shifting with one small (100mil) mechanical motion. Different configurations of the reconfigurable wave velocity transmission line are discussed and simulated and experimental results are presented.

Design of low-power coarse-grained reconfigurable architectures

CERN Document Server

Kim, Yoonjin

2010-01-01

Coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture (CGRA) has emerged as a solution for flexible, application-specific optimization of embedded systems. Helping you understand the issues involved in designing and constructing embedded systems, Design of Low-Power Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architectures offers new frameworks for optimizing the architecture of components in embedded systems in order to decrease area and save power. Real application benchmarks and gate-level simulations substantiate these frameworks.The first half of the book explains how to reduce power in the configuration cache. T

Distributed sensor and actuator reconfiguration for fault-tolerant networked control systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Herdeiro Teixeira, A.M.; Araujo, Jose; Sandberg, Henrik; Johansson, Karl H.

2017-01-01

In this paper, we address the problem of distributed reconfiguration of networked control systems upon the removal of misbehaving sensors and actuators. In particular, we consider systems with redundant sensors and actuators cooperating to recover from faults. Reconfiguration is performed while

Electron spin and nuclear spin manipulation in semiconductor nanosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirayama, Yoshiro; Yusa, Go; Sasaki, Satoshi

2006-01-01

Manipulations of electron spin and nuclear spin have been studied in AlGaAs/GaAs semiconductor nanosystems. Non-local manipulation of electron spins has been realized by using the correlation effect between localized and mobile electron spins in a quantum dot- quantum wire coupled system. Interaction between electron and nuclear spins was exploited to achieve a coherent control of nuclear spins in a semiconductor point contact device. Using this device, we have demonstrated a fully coherent manipulation of any two states among the four spin levels of Ga and As nuclei. (copyright 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Acting on Media: Influencing, Shaping and (ReConfiguring the Fabric of Everyday Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sigrid Kannengießer

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Computerization, digitalization and datafication are by far no neutral or self-dependent occurrences. They are, to a large degree, co-determined by heterogeneous actors who reflect about, construct, configure, manipulate or even control media. The contributors to this issue put the spotlight on these actors and investigate how they influence, shape and (reconfigure broader social constellations. Instead of exploring what people do with media, the articles focus on the many ways individuals, civil society initiatives, corporations and social movements act on media. The notion of acting on media denotes the efforts of a wide range of actors to take an active part in the molding of media organizations, infrastructures and technologies that are part of the fabric of everyday life. Therefore, by conceptualizing acting on media as a form of political action, the issue aims to contribute to ongoing discussions on the media practice paradigm.

Reconfigurable vision system for real-time applications

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Huitzil, Cesar; Arias-Estrada, Miguel

2002-03-01

Recently, a growing community of researchers has used reconfigurable systems to solve computationally intensive problems. Reconfigurability provides optimized processors for systems on chip designs, and makes easy to import technology to a new system through reusable modules. The main objective of this work is the investigation of a reconfigurable computer system targeted for computer vision and real-time applications. The system is intended to circumvent the inherent computational load of most window-based computer vision algorithms. It aims to build a system for such tasks by providing an FPGA-based hardware architecture for task specific vision applications with enough processing power, using the minimum amount of hardware resources as possible, and a mechanism for building systems using this architecture. Regarding the software part of the system, a library of pre-designed and general-purpose modules that implement common window-based computer vision operations is being investigated. A common generic interface is established for these modules in order to define hardware/software components. These components can be interconnected to develop more complex applications, providing an efficient mechanism for transferring image and result data among modules. Some preliminary results are presented and discussed.

Optical Manipulation of Shape-Morphing Elastomeric Liquid Crystal Microparticles Doped with Gold Nanocrystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Y. R.; Evans, J. S.; Lee, T.; Senyuk, B.; Keller, P.; He, S. L.; Smalyukh, I. I.

2012-06-11

We demonstrate facile optical manipulation of shape of birefringent colloidal microparticles made from liquid crystal elastomers. Using soft lithography and polymerization, we fabricate elastomeric microcylinders with weakly undulating director oriented on average along their long axes. These particles are infiltrated with gold nanospheres acting as heat transducers that allow for an efficient localized transfer of heat from a focused infrared laser beam to a submicrometer region within a microparticle. Photothermal control of ordering in the liquid crystal elastomer using scanned beams allows for a robust control of colloidal particles, enabling both reversible and irreversible changes of shape. Possible applications include optomechanics, microfluidics, and reconfigurable colloidal composites with shape-dependent self-assembly.

A novel approach to gait synchronization and transition for reconfigurable walking platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shunsuke Nansai

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Legged robots based on one degree-of-freedom reconfigurable planar leg mechanisms, that are capable of generating multiple useful gaits, are highly desired due to the possibility of handling environments and tasks of high complexity while maintaining simple control schemes. An essential consideration in these reconfigurable legged robots is to attain stability in motion, at rest as well as while transforming from one configuration to another with the minimum number of legs as long as the full range of their walking patterns, resulting from the different gait cycles of their legs, is achieved. To this end, in this paper, we present a method for the generation of input joint trajectories to properly synchronize the movement of quadruped robots with reconfigurable legs. The approach is exemplified in a four-legged robot with reconfigurable Jansen legs capable of generating up to six useful different gait cycles. The proposed technique is validated through simulated results that show the platform׳s stability across its six feasible walking patterns and during gait transition phases, thus considerably extending the capabilities of the non-reconfigurable design.

Does inter-vertebral range of motion increase after spinal manipulation? A prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Branney, Jonathan; Breen, Alan C

2014-01-01

Spinal manipulation for nonspecific neck pain is thought to work in part by improving inter-vertebral range of motion (IV-RoM), but it is difficult to measure this or determine whether it is related to clinical outcomes. This study undertook to determine whether cervical spine flexion and extension IV-RoM increases after a course of spinal manipulation, to explore relationships between any IV-RoM increases and clinical outcomes and to compare palpation with objective measurement in the detection of hypo-mobile segments. Thirty patients with nonspecific neck pain and 30 healthy controls matched for age and gender received quantitative fluoroscopy (QF) screenings to measure flexion and extension IV-RoM (C1-C6) at baseline and 4-week follow-up between September 2012-13. Patients received up to 12 neck manipulations and completed NRS, NDI and Euroqol 5D-5L at baseline, plus PGIC and satisfaction questionnaires at follow-up. IV-RoM accuracy, repeatability and hypo-mobility cut-offs were determined. Minimal detectable changes (MDC) over 4 weeks were calculated from controls. Patients and control IV-RoMs were compared at baseline as well as changes in patients over 4 weeks. Correlations between outcomes and the number of manipulations received and the agreement (Kappa) between palpated and QF-detected of hypo-mobile segments were calculated. QF had high accuracy (worst RMS error 0.5o) and repeatability (highest SEM 1.1o, lowest ICC 0.90) for IV-RoM measurement. Hypo-mobility cut offs ranged from 0.8o to 3.5o. No outcome was significantly correlated with increased IV-RoM above MDC and there was no significant difference between the number of hypo-mobile segments in patients and controls at baseline or significant increases in IV-RoMs in patients. However, there was a modest and significant correlation between the number of manipulations received and the number of levels and directions whose IV-RoM increased beyond MDC (Rho=0.39, p=0.043). There was also no agreement

Reconfigurable dual-band metamaterial antenna based on liquid crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Che, Bang-Jun; Meng, Fan-Yi; Lyu, Yue-Long; Wu, Qun

2018-05-01

In this paper, a novel reconfigurable dual-band metamaterial antenna with a continuous beam that is electrically steered in backward to forward directions is first proposed by employing a liquid crystal (LC)-loaded tunable extended composite right-/left-handed (E-CRLH) transmission line (TL). The frequency-dependent property of the E-CRLH TL is analyzed and a compact unit cell based on the nematic LC is proposed to realize the tunable dual band characteristics. The phase constant of the proposed unit cell can be dynamically continuously tuned from negative to positive values in two operating bands by changing the bias voltage of the loaded LC material. A resulting dual band fixed-frequency beam steering property has been predicted by numerical simulations and experimentally verified. The measured results show that the fabricated reconfigurable antenna features an electrically controlled continuous beam steering from backward  ‑16° to forward  +13° at 7.2 GHz and backward  ‑9° to forward  +17° at 9.4 GHz, respectively. This electrically controlled beam steering range turns out to be competitive with the previously reported single band reconfigurable antennas. Besides, the measured and simulated results of the proposed reconfigurable dual-band metamaterial antenna are in good agreement.

Reconfigurable Radio Access Unit for DWDM to W-Band Wireless Conversion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chorchos, Łukasz; Rommel, Simon; Turkiewicz, Jarosław P.

2017-01-01

In this letter a reconfigurable Remote Access Unit (RAU) is proposed and demonstrated, interfacing dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) optical and W-band wireless links. The RAU is composed of a tunable local oscillator, a narrow optical filter and a control unit, making it reconfigurable...

A Novel Docking System for Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan Zhang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Existing self-reconfigurable robots achieve connections and disconnections by a separate drive of the docking system. In this paper, we present a new docking system with which the connections and disconnections are driven by locomotion actuators, without the need for a separate drive, which reduces the weight and the complexity of the modules. This self-reconfigurable robot consists of two types of fundamental modules, i.e., active and passive modules. By the docking system, two types of connections are formed with the fundamental modules, and the docking and undocking actions are achieved through simple control with less sensory feedback. This paper describes the design of the robotic modules, the docking system, the docking process, and the docking force analysis. An experiment is performed to demonstrate the self-reconfigurable robot with the docking system.

Experiencing a Problem-Based Learning Approach for Teaching Reconfigurable Architecture Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erwan Fabiani

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the “reconfigurable computing” teaching part of a computer science master course (first year on parallel architectures. The practical work sessions of this course rely on active pedagogy using problem-based learning, focused on designing a reconfigurable architecture for the implementation of an application class of image processing algorithms. We show how the successive steps of this project permit the student to experiment with several fundamental concepts of reconfigurable computing at different levels. Specific experiments include exploitation of architectural parallelism, dataflow and communicating component-based design, and configurability-specificity tradeoffs.

An Embedded Reconfigurable Logic Module

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Jerry H.; Klenke, Robert H.; Shams, Qamar A. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A Miniature Embedded Reconfigurable Computer and Logic (MERCAL) module has been developed and verified. MERCAL was designed to be a general-purpose, universal module that that can provide significant hardware and software resources to meet the requirements of many of today's complex embedded applications. This is accomplished in the MERCAL module by combining a sub credit card size PC in a DIMM form factor with a XILINX Spartan I1 FPGA. The PC has the ability to download program files to the FPGA to configure it for different hardware functions and to transfer data to and from the FPGA via the PC's ISA bus during run time. The MERCAL module combines, in a compact package, the computational power of a 133 MHz PC with up to 150,000 gate equivalents of digital logic that can be reconfigured by software. The general architecture and functionality of the MERCAL hardware and system software are described.

Estimating thumb-index finger precision grip and manipulation potential in extant and fossil primates.

Science.gov (United States)

Feix, Thomas; Kivell, Tracy L; Pouydebat, Emmanuelle; Dollar, Aaron M

2015-05-06

Primates, and particularly humans, are characterized by superior manual dexterity compared with other mammals. However, drawing the biomechanical link between hand morphology/behaviour and functional capabilities in non-human primates and fossil taxa has been challenging. We present a kinematic model of thumb-index precision grip and manipulative movement based on bony hand morphology in a broad sample of extant primates and fossil hominins. The model reveals that both joint mobility and digit proportions (scaled to hand size) are critical for determining precision grip and manipulation potential, but that having either a long thumb or great joint mobility alone does not necessarily yield high precision manipulation. The results suggest even the oldest available fossil hominins may have shared comparable precision grip manipulation with modern humans. In particular, the predicted human-like precision manipulation of Australopithecus afarensis, approximately one million years before the first stone tools, supports controversial archaeological evidence of tool-use in this taxon. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Visualization of virtual slave manipulator using the master input device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S. H.; Song, T. K.; Lee, J. Y.; Yoon, J. S.

2003-01-01

To handle the high level radioactive materials such a spent fuel, the Master-Slave Manipulators (MSM) are widely used as a remote handling device in nuclear facilities such as the hot cell with sealed and shielded space. In this paper, the Digital Mockup which simulates the remote operation of the Advanced Conditioning Process(ACP) is developed. Also, the workspace and the motion of the slave manipulator, as well as, the remote operation task should be analyzed. The process equipment of ACP and Maintenance/Handling Device are drawn in 3D CAD models using IGRIP. Modeling device of manipulator is assigned with various mobiles attributes such as a relative position, kinematics constraints, and a range of mobility. The 3D graphic simulator using the external input device of space ball displays the movement of manipulator. To connect the external input device to the graphic simulator, the interface program of external input device with 6 DOF is deigned using the Low Level Tele-operation Interface (LLTI). The experimental result shows that the developed simulation system gives much-improved human interface characteristics and shows satisfactory response characteristics in terms of synchronization speed. This should be useful for the development of work's education system in the virtual environment

Reconfigurable remote access unit for W-band Radio-over-Fiber transmission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chorchos, Łukasz; Rommel, Simon; Turkiewicz, Jarosław P.

2016-01-01

There is a growing demand for cost-effective radio over fibre transmission techniques. In this paper, we propose and realize the reconfigurable remote access unit for radio-over-fiber transmission. The reconfigurable unit is build from the tunable filter and laser as well as remote controller...

Materials challenges for repeatable RF wireless device reconfiguration with microfluidic channels

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, Anthony S.; Sottos, Nancy R.; White, Scott R.

2018-03-01

Recently, adaptive wireless devices have utilized displacement of EGaIn within microchannels as an electrical switching mechanism to enable reconfigurable electronics. Device reconfiguration using EGaIn in microchannels overcomes many challenges encountered by more traditional reconfiguration mechanisms such as diodes and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Reconfiguration using EGaIn is severely limited by undesired permanent shorting due to retention of the liquid in microchannels caused by wetting and rapid oxide skin formation. Here, we investigate the conditions which prevent repeatable electrical switching using EGaIn in microchannels. Initial contact angle tests of EGaIn on epoxy surfaces demonstrate the wettability of EGaIn on flat surfaces. SEM cross-sections of microchannels reveal adhesion of EGaIn residue to channel walls. Micro-computed tomography (microCT) scans of provide volumetric measurements of EGaIn remaining inside channels after flow cycling. Non-wetting coatings are proposed as materials based strategy to overcome these issues in future work.

Reconfigurable multiport EPON repeater

Science.gov (United States)

Oishi, Masayuki; Inohara, Ryo; Agata, Akira; Horiuchi, Yukio

2009-11-01

An extended reach EPON repeater is one of the solutions to effectively expand FTTH service areas. In this paper, we propose a reconfigurable multi-port EPON repeater for effective accommodation of multiple ODNs with a single OLT line card. The proposed repeater, which has multi-ports in both OLT and ODN sides, consists of TRs, BTRs with the CDR function and a reconfigurable electrical matrix switch, can accommodate multiple ODNs to a single OLT line card by controlling the connection of the matrix switch. Although conventional EPON repeaters require full OLT line cards to accommodate subscribers from the initial installation stage, the proposed repeater can dramatically reduce the number of required line cards especially when the number of subscribers is less than a half of the maximum registerable users per OLT. Numerical calculation results show that the extended reach EPON system with the proposed EPON repeater can save 17.5% of the initial installation cost compared with a conventional repeater, and can be less expensive than conventional systems up to the maximum subscribers especially when the percentage of ODNs in lightly-populated areas is higher.

A game-theoretic formulation of the homogeneous self-reconfiguration problem

KAUST Repository

Pickem, Daniel; Egerstedt, Magnus; Shamma, Jeff S.

2015-01-01

In this paper we formulate the homogeneous two- and three-dimensional self-reconfiguration problem over discrete grids as a constrained potential game. We develop a game-theoretic learning algorithm based on the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm that solves the self-reconfiguration problem in a globally optimal fashion. Both a centralized and a fully decentralized algorithm are presented and we show that the only stochastically stable state is the potential function maximizer, i.e. the desired target configuration. These algorithms compute transition probabilities in such a way that even though each agent acts in a self-interested way, the overall collective goal of self-reconfiguration is achieved. Simulation results confirm the feasibility of our approach and show convergence to desired target configurations.

A game-theoretic formulation of the homogeneous self-reconfiguration problem

KAUST Repository

Pickem, Daniel

2015-12-15

In this paper we formulate the homogeneous two- and three-dimensional self-reconfiguration problem over discrete grids as a constrained potential game. We develop a game-theoretic learning algorithm based on the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm that solves the self-reconfiguration problem in a globally optimal fashion. Both a centralized and a fully decentralized algorithm are presented and we show that the only stochastically stable state is the potential function maximizer, i.e. the desired target configuration. These algorithms compute transition probabilities in such a way that even though each agent acts in a self-interested way, the overall collective goal of self-reconfiguration is achieved. Simulation results confirm the feasibility of our approach and show convergence to desired target configurations.

Design and Fabrication of a Reconfigurable MEMS-Based Antenna

KAUST Repository

Martinez, Miguel Angel Galicia

2011-06-22

This thesis presents the design and fabrication of a customized in house Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) process based on-chip antenna that is both frequency and polarization reconfigurable. It is designed to work at both 60 GHz and 77 GHz through MEMS switches. This antenna can also work in both horizontal and vertical linear polarizations by utilizing a moveable plate. The design is intended for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN) and automotive radar applications. Typical on-chip antennas are inefficient and difficult to reconfigure. Therefore, the focus of this work is to develop an efficient on-chip antenna solution, which is reconfigurable in frequency and in polarization. A fractal bowtie antenna is employed for this thesis, which achieves frequency reconfigurability through MEMS switches. The design is simulated in industry standard Electromagnetic (EM) simulator Ansoft HFSS. A novel concept for horizontal to vertical linear polarization agility is introduced which incorporates a moveable polymer plate. For this work, a microprobe is used to move the plate from the horizontal to vertical position. For testing purposes, a novel mechanism has been designed in order to feed the antenna with RF-probes in both horizontal and vertical positions. A simulated gain of approximately 0 dB is achieved at both target frequencies (60 and 77 GHz), in both horizontal and vertical positions. In all the cases mentioned above (both frequencies and positions), the antenna is well matched (< -10 dB) to the 50 Ω system impedance. Similarly, the radiation nulls are successfully shifted by changing the position of the antenna from horizontal to vertical. The complete design and fabrication of the reconfigurable MEMS antenna has been done at KAUST facilities. Some challenges have been encountered during its realization due to the immaturity of the customized MEMS fabrication process. Nonetheless, a first fabrication attempt has highlighted such shortcomings. According

A reconfigurable strategy for distributed digital process control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, H.E.; Ray, A.; Edwards, R.M.

1990-01-01

A reconfigurable control scheme is proposed which, unlike a preprogrammed one, uses stochastic automata to learn the current operating status of the environment (i.e., the plant, controller, and communication network) by dynamically monitoring the system performance and then switching to the appropriate controller on the basis of these observations. The potential applicability of this reconfigurable control scheme to electric power plants is being investigated. The plant under consideration is the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II) at the Argonne National Laboratory site in Idaho. The distributed control system is emulated on a ring network where the individual subsystems are hosted as follows: (1) the reconfigurable control modules are located in one of the network modules called Multifunction Controller; (2) the learning modules are resident in a VAX 11/785 mainframe computer; and (3) a detailed model of the plant under control is executed in the same mainframe. This configuration is a true representation of the network-based control system in the sense that it operates in real time and is capable of interacting with the actual plant

Analysis of Reconfigured Control Loop with a Virtual Actuator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Filasova

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Control reconfiguration changes the control structure in response to a fault detected in the plant. This becomes necessary, because a major fault like loss of an actuator breaks the corresponding control loop and therefore renders the whole system inoperable.  An important aim of control reconfiguration is to change the control structure as little as possible, since every change bears the potential of practical problems. The proposed solution is to keep the original controller in the loop and to add an extension called virtual actuator that implements the necessary changes of the control structure. The virtual actuator translates between the signals of the nominal controller and the signal of the faulty plants. This paper is concerned with the analysis of reconfigured loop with a virtual actuator for the system with the faulty actuator. The proposed analysis is illustrated on numerical example.

A Method for Design of Modular Reconfigurable Machine Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengyi Xu

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Presented in this paper is a method for the design of modular reconfigurable machine tools (MRMTs. An MRMT is capable of using a minimal number of modules through reconfiguration to perform the required machining tasks for a family of parts. The proposed method consists of three steps: module identification, module determination, and layout synthesis. In the first step, the module components are collected from a family of general-purpose machines to establish a module library. In the second step, for a given family of parts to be machined, a set of needed modules are selected from the module library to construct a desired reconfigurable machine tool. In the third step, a final machine layout is decided though evaluation by considering a number of performance indices. Based on this method, a software package has been developed that can design an MRMT for a given part family.

ALI (Autonomous Lunar Investigator): Revolutionary Approach to Exploring the Moon with Addressable Reconfigurable Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, P. E.; Curtis, S. A.; Rilee, M. L.; Floyd, S. R.

2005-01-01

Addressable Reconfigurable Technology (ART) based structures: Mission Concepts based on Addressable Reconfigurable Technology (ART), originally studied for future ANTS (Autonomous Nanotechnology Swarm) Space Architectures, are now being developed as rovers for nearer term use in lunar and planetary surface exploration. The architecture is based on the reconfigurable tetrahedron as a building block. Tetrahedra are combined to form space-filling networks, shaped for the required function. Basic structural components are highly modular, addressable arrays of robust nodes (tetrahedral apices) from which highly reconfigurable struts (tetrahedral edges), acting as supports or tethers, are efficiently reversibly deployed/stowed, transforming and reshaping the structures as required.

Multi-mode sensor processing on a dynamically reconfigurable massively parallel processor array

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Paul; Butts, Mike; Budlong, Brad; Wasson, Paul

2008-04-01

This paper introduces a novel computing architecture that can be reconfigured in real time to adapt on demand to multi-mode sensor platforms' dynamic computational and functional requirements. This 1 teraOPS reconfigurable Massively Parallel Processor Array (MPPA) has 336 32-bit processors. The programmable 32-bit communication fabric provides streamlined inter-processor connections with deterministically high performance. Software programmability, scalability, ease of use, and fast reconfiguration time (ranging from microseconds to milliseconds) are the most significant advantages over FPGAs and DSPs. This paper introduces the MPPA architecture, its programming model, and methods of reconfigurability. An MPPA platform for reconfigurable computing is based on a structural object programming model. Objects are software programs running concurrently on hundreds of 32-bit RISC processors and memories. They exchange data and control through a network of self-synchronizing channels. A common application design pattern on this platform, called a work farm, is a parallel set of worker objects, with one input and one output stream. Statically configured work farms with homogeneous and heterogeneous sets of workers have been used in video compression and decompression, network processing, and graphics applications.

Femtosecond optical injection of intact plant cells using a reconfigurable platform

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Claire A.; Kalies, Stefan; Cizmar, Tomas; Bellini, Nicola; Kubasik-Thayil, Anisha; Heisterkamp, Alexander; Torrance, Lesley; Roberts, Alison G.; Gunn-Moore, Frank J.; Dholakia, Kishan

2014-03-01

The use of ultrashort-pulsed lasers for molecule delivery and transfection has proved to be a non-invasive and highly efficient technique for a wide range of mammalian cells. This present study investigates the effectiveness of femtosecond photoporation in plant cells, a hard-to-manipulate yet agriculturally relevant cell type, specifically suspension tobacco BY-2 cells. Both spatial and temporal shaping of the light field is employed to optimise the delivery of membrane impermeable molecules into plant cells using a reconfigurable optical system designed to be able to switch easily between different spatial modes and pulse durations. The use of a propagation invariant Bessel beam was found to increase the number of cells that could be viably optoinjected, when compared to the use of a Gaussian beam. Photoporation with a laser producing sub-12 fs pulses, coupled with a dispersion compensation system to retain the pulse duration at focus, reduced the power required for efficient optical injection by 1.5-1.8 times when compared to a photoporation with a 140 fs laser output.

Reconfiguration in FPGA-Based Multi-Core Platforms for Hard Real-Time Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pezzarossa, Luca; Schoeberl, Martin; Sparsø, Jens

2016-01-01

-case execution-time of tasks of an application that determines the systems ability to respond in time. To support this focus, the platform must provide service guarantees for both communication and computation resources. In addition, many hard real-time applications have multiple modes of operation, and each......In general-purpose computing multi-core platforms, hardware accelerators and reconfiguration are means to improve performance; i.e., the average-case execution time of a software application. In hard real-time systems, such average-case speed-up is not in itself relevant - it is the worst...... mode has specific requirements. An interesting perspective on reconfigurable computing is to exploit run-time reconfiguration to support mode changes. In this paper we explore approaches to reconfiguration of communication and computation resources in the T-CREST hard real-time multi-core platform...

A Controller for Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration in FPGA-Based Real-Time Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pezzarossa, Luca; Schoeberl, Martin; Sparsø, Jens

2017-01-01

-source DPR controller specially developed for hard real-time systems and prototyped in connection with the open-source multi-core platform for real-time applications T-CREST. The controller enables a processor to perform reconfiguration in a time-predictable manner and supports different operating modes......In real-time systems, the use of hardware accelerators can lead to a worst-case execution-time speed-up, to a simplification of its analysis, and to a reduction of its pessimism. When using FPGA technology, dynamic partial reconfiguration (DPR) can be used to minimize the area, by only loading....... The paper also presents a software tool for bitstream conversion, compression, and for reconfiguration time analysis. The DPR controller is evaluated in terms of hardware cost, operating frequency, speed, and bitstream compression ratio vs. reconfiguration time trade-off. A simple application example...

A mobile robot for remote inspection of radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, Y. C.; Kim, C. H.; Cho, J. W.; Choi, Y. S.; Kim, S. H.

2004-01-01

Tele-operation and remote monitoring techniques are essential and important technologies for the inspection and maintenance of the radioactive waste. A mobile robot has been developed for the application of remote monitoring and inspection of nuclear facilities, where human access is limited because of the high-level radioactive environments. The mobile robot was designed with reconfigurable crawler type of wheels attached on the front and rear side in order to pass through the ditch. The extendable mast, mounted on the mobile robot, car be extended up to 8 m vertically. The robust controller for radiation is designed in focus on electric components to prevent abnormal operation in a highly radioactivated area during reactor operation. This robot system will enhance the reliability of nuclear power facilities, and cope with the unexpected radiation accident

Origami tubes with reconfigurable polygonal cross-sections.

Science.gov (United States)

Filipov, E T; Paulino, G H; Tachi, T

2016-01-01

Thin sheets can be assembled into origami tubes to create a variety of deployable, reconfigurable and mechanistically unique three-dimensional structures. We introduce and explore origami tubes with polygonal, translational symmetric cross-sections that can reconfigure into numerous geometries. The tubular structures satisfy the mathematical definitions for flat and rigid foldability, meaning that they can fully unfold from a flattened state with deformations occurring only at the fold lines. The tubes do not need to be straight and can be constructed to follow a non-linear curved line when deployed. The cross-section and kinematics of the tubular structures can be reprogrammed by changing the direction of folding at some folds. We discuss the variety of tubular structures that can be conceived and we show limitations that govern the geometric design. We quantify the global stiffness of the origami tubes through eigenvalue and structural analyses and highlight the mechanical characteristics of these systems. The two-scale nature of this work indicates that, from a local viewpoint, the cross-sections of the polygonal tubes are reconfigurable while, from a global viewpoint, deployable tubes of desired shapes are achieved. This class of tubes has potential applications ranging from pipes and micro-robotics to deployable architecture in buildings.

Origami tubes with reconfigurable polygonal cross-sections

Science.gov (United States)

Filipov, E. T.; Paulino, G. H.; Tachi, T.

2016-01-01

Thin sheets can be assembled into origami tubes to create a variety of deployable, reconfigurable and mechanistically unique three-dimensional structures. We introduce and explore origami tubes with polygonal, translational symmetric cross-sections that can reconfigure into numerous geometries. The tubular structures satisfy the mathematical definitions for flat and rigid foldability, meaning that they can fully unfold from a flattened state with deformations occurring only at the fold lines. The tubes do not need to be straight and can be constructed to follow a non-linear curved line when deployed. The cross-section and kinematics of the tubular structures can be reprogrammed by changing the direction of folding at some folds. We discuss the variety of tubular structures that can be conceived and we show limitations that govern the geometric design. We quantify the global stiffness of the origami tubes through eigenvalue and structural analyses and highlight the mechanical characteristics of these systems. The two-scale nature of this work indicates that, from a local viewpoint, the cross-sections of the polygonal tubes are reconfigurable while, from a global viewpoint, deployable tubes of desired shapes are achieved. This class of tubes has potential applications ranging from pipes and micro-robotics to deployable architecture in buildings. PMID:26997894

Liquid metal-based reconfigurable and stretchable photolithography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Daeyoung; Yoo, Jun Hyeon; Lee, Jeong-Bong

2016-01-01

Conventional ultraviolet (UV) lithography typically uses a photomask made of a fused silica plate covered with a layer of UV opaque material such as chromium. The photomask has passive binary patterns of UV opaque and UV transparent regions and the pattern is unalterable. We report a novel real-time dynamically reconfigurable photomask technology using a liquid metal (as a UV opaque material) filled in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, as a UV transparent material) microfluidic channels. We found that the gallium-based liquid metal (e.g. Galinstan ® ) is opaque in broad spectrum of light in the wavelength from 325 nm to 850 nm while the PDMS is highly transparent in this wide range of spectrum. We made both bright field and dark field microfluidic photomasks and transferred various patterns onto a positive photoresist. A 7-segment display microfluidic channel photomask was also fabricated and decimal numerals (from ‘0’ to ‘9’) were patterned with one photomask by dynamically reconfiguring decimal numeral shapes with on-demand injection and withdrawal of the liquid metal in specific segment microfluidic channels in the photomask. In addition, utilizing mechanical flexibility of the PDMS and the liquid metal, reconfiguration of the patterns in a microfluidic photomask under stretching was successfully tested. (paper)

Repetition or Reconfiguration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Kristina Vaarst

, the cognitive quality of knowledge held by individual professionals is the key microfoundation for project level performance. This paper empirically tests effects of project participants with and without knowledge diversity for project level performance for projects aiming for varying degrees of repetition...... and reconfiguration. The results indicate that project performance benefits form contributions from individuals holding diverse knowledge only when projects aim for high differentiation levels. This positive association is not just moderated, it may even be reversed in the case of professionals participating in low...

Multi-criteria grey relational approach to evaluating reconfigurable manufacturing configurations

OpenAIRE

Rehman, A. U.

2017-01-01

In response to highly dynamic markets, manufacturing industries need alternative feasible manufacturing strategies. The strategy currently adopted is to reconfigure the existing manufacturing system. The conditions to reconfigure existing configurations change from time to time. An attempt is made to identify and apply an approach to evaluate these configurations. The paper proposes a grey relational decision-making approach. The approach takes into account multiple performance measures. The ...

Mobilization versus manipulations versus sustain apophyseal natural glide techniques and interaction with psychological factors for patients with chronic neck pain: randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez-Lopez, A; Alonso Perez, J L; González Gutierez, J L; La Touche, R; Lerma Lara, S; Izquierdo, H; Fernández-Carnero, J

2015-04-01

Three different types of manual therapy techniques for patients with neck pain and relationship with psychological factors has not been evaluated. To compare the effectiveness high velocity and low amplitude (HVLA) manipulation vs. posteroanterior mobilization (PA mob) vs. sustain appophyseal natural glide (SNAG) in the management of patients with neck pain and to evaluate the interaction with psychological factors. Randomized clinical trial. Primary Health Care Center. Patients with history of chronic neck pain over the last 3 months were recruited. Patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment with HVLA (N.=15), with PA mob (N.=16) or with SNAG (N.=17). One session was applied. Pain intensity of neck pain, pressure pain threshold over processus spinosus of C2 (PPT_C2) and cervical range of motion (CROM) were measured pre- and post-intervention. Pain catastrophizing, depression, anxiety and kinesiophobia were assessed in baseline. ANOVAs were performed, with main effects, two-way (treatment x time) and three-way interactions (treatment x psychological variable x time) were examined. Fourthy-eight patients (mean±SD age, 36.5±8.7 years; 87.5% female). A significant interaction treatment x time was observed for VAS-rest in HVLA and AP mob groups (Ptechniques have similar immediate effects over neck pain and while under high anxiety levels a better outcome is expected after mobilization intervention, under low anxiety levels a better prognosis is expected after manipulation and SNAG intervention.

Reconfigurable Manufacturing System Design and Implementation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hadar, Ronen; Bilberg, Arne

2013-01-01

is meant primarily to show the physical feasibility of the system and provide a first-look into a real production application of the RMS ideas. The purpose of this paper is to present the design of the manufacturer’s RMS proof of concept, its implementation, and evaluation results.......Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) have been an increasing area of interest in the research arena. However, it seems that current literature is lacking application and implementation cases where RMS are simulated, tested, and evaluated as a feasible manufacturing concept. A Manufacturer...... of Consumer Goods identified the potential of the RMS concept and decided to investigate the concept in a real production installation. The result of this development is a proof of concept of a changeable and reconfigurable assembly and decoration system based on the principles of RMS. This proof of concept...

Reconfigurable Patch Antenna Radiations Using Plasma Faraday Shield Effect

OpenAIRE

Barro , Oumar Alassane; Himdi , Mohamed; Lafond , Olivier

2016-01-01

International audience; This letter presents a new reconfigurable antenna associated with a plasma Faraday shield effect. The Faraday shield effect is realized by using a fluorescent lamp. A patch antenna operating at 2.45 GHz is placed inside the lamp. The performance of the reconfigurable system is observed in terms of S11, gain and radiation patterns by simulation and measurement. It is shown that by switching ON the fluorescent lamp, the gain of the antenna decreases and the antenna syste...

Radiation-hardened optically reconfigurable gate array exploiting holographic memory characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Seto, Daisaku; Watanabe, Minoru

2015-09-01

In this paper, we present a proposal for a radiation-hardened optically reconfigurable gate array (ORGA). The ORGA is a type of field programmable gate array (FPGA). The ORGA configuration can be executed by the exploitation of holographic memory characteristics even if 20% of the configuration data are damaged. Moreover, the optoelectronic technology enables the high-speed reconfiguration of the programmable gate array. Such a high-speed reconfiguration can increase the radiation tolerance of its programmable gate array to 9.3 × 104 times higher than that of current FPGAs. Through experimentation, this study clarified the configuration dependability using the impulse-noise emulation and high-speed configuration capabilities of the ORGA with corrupt configuration contexts. Moreover, the radiation tolerance of the programmable gate array was confirmed theoretically through probabilistic calculation.

SACFIR: SDN-Based Application-Aware Centralized Adaptive Flow Iterative Reconfiguring Routing Protocol for WSNs.

Science.gov (United States)

Aslam, Muhammad; Hu, Xiaopeng; Wang, Fan

2017-12-13

Smart reconfiguration of a dynamic networking environment is offered by the central control of Software-Defined Networking (SDN). Centralized SDN-based management architectures are capable of retrieving global topology intelligence and decoupling the forwarding plane from the control plane. Routing protocols developed for conventional Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) utilize limited iterative reconfiguration methods to optimize environmental reporting. However, the challenging networking scenarios of WSNs involve a performance overhead due to constant periodic iterative reconfigurations. In this paper, we propose the SDN-based Application-aware Centralized adaptive Flow Iterative Reconfiguring (SACFIR) routing protocol with the centralized SDN iterative solver controller to maintain the load-balancing between flow reconfigurations and flow allocation cost. The proposed SACFIR's routing protocol offers a unique iterative path-selection algorithm, which initially computes suitable clustering based on residual resources at the control layer and then implements application-aware threshold-based multi-hop report transmissions on the forwarding plane. The operation of the SACFIR algorithm is centrally supervised by the SDN controller residing at the Base Station (BS). This paper extends SACFIR to SDN-based Application-aware Main-value Centralized adaptive Flow Iterative Reconfiguring (SAMCFIR) to establish both proactive and reactive reporting. The SAMCFIR transmission phase enables sensor nodes to trigger direct transmissions for main-value reports, while in the case of SACFIR, all reports follow computed routes. Our SDN-enabled proposed models adjust the reconfiguration period according to the traffic burden on sensor nodes, which results in heterogeneity awareness, load-balancing and application-specific reconfigurations of WSNs. Extensive experimental simulation-based results show that SACFIR and SAMCFIR yield the maximum scalability, network lifetime and stability

SACFIR: SDN-Based Application-Aware Centralized Adaptive Flow Iterative Reconfiguring Routing Protocol for WSNs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Aslam

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Smart reconfiguration of a dynamic networking environment is offered by the central control of Software-Defined Networking (SDN. Centralized SDN-based management architectures are capable of retrieving global topology intelligence and decoupling the forwarding plane from the control plane. Routing protocols developed for conventional Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs utilize limited iterative reconfiguration methods to optimize environmental reporting. However, the challenging networking scenarios of WSNs involve a performance overhead due to constant periodic iterative reconfigurations. In this paper, we propose the SDN-based Application-aware Centralized adaptive Flow Iterative Reconfiguring (SACFIR routing protocol with the centralized SDN iterative solver controller to maintain the load-balancing between flow reconfigurations and flow allocation cost. The proposed SACFIR’s routing protocol offers a unique iterative path-selection algorithm, which initially computes suitable clustering based on residual resources at the control layer and then implements application-aware threshold-based multi-hop report transmissions on the forwarding plane. The operation of the SACFIR algorithm is centrally supervised by the SDN controller residing at the Base Station (BS. This paper extends SACFIR to SDN-based Application-aware Main-value Centralized adaptive Flow Iterative Reconfiguring (SAMCFIR to establish both proactive and reactive reporting. The SAMCFIR transmission phase enables sensor nodes to trigger direct transmissions for main-value reports, while in the case of SACFIR, all reports follow computed routes. Our SDN-enabled proposed models adjust the reconfiguration period according to the traffic burden on sensor nodes, which results in heterogeneity awareness, load-balancing and application-specific reconfigurations of WSNs. Extensive experimental simulation-based results show that SACFIR and SAMCFIR yield the maximum scalability, network lifetime

Low manipulation prevalence following fast-track total knee arthroplasty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Husted, Henrik; Jørgensen, Christoffer C.; Gromov, Kirill

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Postoperative joint stiffness following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) may compromise the outcome and necessitate manipulation. Previous studies have not been in a fast-track setting with optimized pain treatment, early mobilization, and short length of stay (LOS), which ma...

Mobile Technology: Binding Social and Cloud into a New Enterprise Applications Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luminita HURBEAN

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, the IT industry is revolving around the build-out and adoption of a new platform, characterized by mobility, cloud-based application and service delivery, and value-generating overlays of social business and pervasive analytics. The paper explores the convergence of mobile, cloud, and social, as well as the effects for the enterprise and the emergence of the new enterprise application platforms. In the beginning we set the stage, while showing the ex-pansion of the mobile, cloud, and social in the business information system, as they were found in the literature. We then look over the IT trends, especially the consumerization of IT, as reasons and basis for the information systems embracing of mobile. Afterwards, we present a mobility roadmap for the enterprise and illustrate the reconfiguration of the enterprise ap-plication platform.

Lightweight submersed 'Walking' NDE manipulators for PWR and BWR vessel weld inspection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saernmark, Ivan; Lenz, Herbert [WesDyne TRC AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

2008-04-15

Three new manipulators developed by WesDyne TRC in Sweden have under the year 2007 performed three very successful inspections in the PWR reactor Ringhals 3 and the BWR reactors Ringhals 1 and Oskarshamn 1. The manipulator systems can be used to perform inspection of circumferential and vertical welds on the reactor pressure vessel, the core shroud, core shroud support in BWR reactors or vessel and core barrel welds in PWR reactors. Most other flat or curved surfaces can be inspected using the new concept through relatively simple mechanical reconfigurations of system modules. The first inspection was performed on the R3 PWR core barrel in June 2007 with a very good result. This Manipulator is designed for access in very narrow gaps and for the type of core barrels with a shield covering the whole area of the perimeter. The manipulator is attached to the inspection area by means of a new unique suction cup system. The current manipulators consist of a curved horizontal beam, with radius similar to the reactor vessel, and a straight vertical beam, forming a T-shaped structure. By alternating the application of suction cup pairs on the horizontal beam and the vertical beam and by driving the scanning motors, the manipulator performs an incremental translational movement upwards/downwards or from side to side. The principles of this system give a well defined and stable platform for global and local positioning accuracy. A combination of advanced sensor solutions provides accurate position information in the absence of other physical reference objects. The system is controlled by the new WesDyne TRC Motor Control Panel and software, the MCP is specifically designed for remote control of submersed manipulators using techniques for cable reduction.

Reconfigurable control of a power plant deaerator using learning automata

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, H.E.; Ray, A.; Edwards, R.M.

1991-01-01

A deaerating feedwater heater, equipped with a water level controller and a pressure controller, has been chosen to investigate the feasibility of a reconfigurable control scheme for power plants by incorporating the concept of learning automata. In this paper simulation results based on a model of the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II) at the Argonne National Laboratory site in Idaho are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the reconfigurable control scheme

Protozoa manipulation by ultrasound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yancy Milena Porras Rodríguez

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Microorganism manipulation, considered as controlled motion and positioning, is one of the most important activities in microbiology and medicine. To achieve this goal there are some techniques such as those which and optical forces, among others. These techniques are usually sophisticated, and some of them can induce irreversible alterations on the microorganisms which prevents their use in another tests. Thus, there is justified the study of technological alternatives to manipulate microorganisms in an easy and cost-effective way. This work shows the interaction between protozoa and air microbubbles when they are under the influence of an ultrasonic field of 5.8 mW. At the microbubbles resonant frequencies, microorganisms were attracted toward the bubbles' frontier remaining there while the ultrasonic field was applied. Once the ultrasound disappears, protozoa recover their freedom of movement. The observed effects could be used as the actuation principle of devices capable to trap, hold and release microorganisms of high mobility without any apparent damage. Microbubbles are generated by electrolysis which take place on the surface of an electrode array, while the ultrasound is originated by means of a piezoelectric transducer. As microorganisms there were employed those present in stagnated water, and were observed through an stereomicroscope. Key words: manipulator; protozoa; ultrasonic; transducer; piezoelectric.

Rotor-Flying Manipulator: Modeling, Analysis, and Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bin Yang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Equipping multijoint manipulators on a mobile robot is a typical redesign scheme to make the latter be able to actively influence the surroundings and has been extensively used for many ground robots, underwater robots, and space robotic systems. However, the rotor-flying robot (RFR is difficult to be made such redesign. This is mainly because the motion of the manipulator will bring heavy coupling between itself and the RFR system, which makes the system model highly complicated and the controller design difficult. Thus, in this paper, the modeling, analysis, and control of the combined system, called rotor-flying multijoint manipulator (RF-MJM, are conducted. Firstly, the detailed dynamics model is constructed and analyzed. Subsequently, a full-state feedback linear quadratic regulator (LQR controller is designed through obtaining linearized model near steady state. Finally, simulations are conducted and the results are analyzed to show the basic control performance.

Virtual Reality Interaction Using Mobile Devices

KAUST Repository

Aseeri, Sahar A.

2013-07-01

With the use of an immersive display system such as CAVE system, the user is able to realize a 3D immersive virtual environment realistically. However, interacting with virtual worlds in CAVE systems using traditional input devices to perform easy operations such as manipulation, object selection, and navigation is often difficult. This difficulty could diminish the immersion and sense of presence when it comes to 3D virtual environment tasks. Our research aims to implement and evaluate alternative approaches of interaction with immersive virtual environments on mobile devices for manipulation and object selection tasks. As many researchers have noted, using a mobile device as an interaction device has a number of advantages, including built-in display, built-in control, and touch screen facility. These advantages facilitate simple tasks within immersive virtual environments. This research proposes new methods using mobile devices like Smart-phones to perform di↵erent kinds of interactions both as an input device, (e.g. performing selection and manipulation of objects) and as an output device (e.g. utilizing the screen as an extra view for a virtual camera or information display). Moreover, we developed a prototype system to demonstrate and informally evaluate these methods. The research conclusion suggests using mobile devices as a 3D-controller. This will be a more intuitive approach to interact within the virtual environment.

Reconfigurable Multicore Architectures for Streaming Applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Kokkeler, Andre B.J.; Rauwerda, G.K.; Jacobs, J.W.M.; Nicolescu, G.; Mosterman, P.J.

2009-01-01

This chapter addresses reconfigurable heterogenous and homogeneous multicore system-on-chip (SoC) platforms for streaming digital signal processing applications, also called DSP applications. In streaming DSP applications, computations can be specified as a data flow graph with streams of data items

Chelant extraction and REDOX manipulation for mobilization of heavy metals from contaminated soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brewster, M.D.; Peters, R.W.; Miller, G.A.; Patton, T.L.; Martino, L.E.

1994-01-01

Was the result of open burning and open detonation of chemical agents and munitions in the Toxic Burning Pits area at J-Field, located in the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, Maryland, soils have been contaminated with heavy metals. Simultaneous extraction is complicated because of the multitude of contaminant forms that exist. This paper uses data from a treatability study performed at Argonne National Laboratory to discuss and compare several treatment methods that were evaluated for remediating metals-contaminated soils. J-Field soils were subjected to a series of treatability experiments designed to determine the feasibility of using soil washing/soil flushing, enhancements to soil washing/soil flushing, solidification/stabilization, and electrokinetics for remediating soils contaminated with metals. Chelating and mobilizing agents evaluated included ammonium acetate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, citric acid, Citranox, gluconic acid, phosphoric acid, oxalic acid, and nitrilotriacetic acid, in addition to pH-adjusted water. REDOX manipulation can maximize solubilities, increase desorption, and promote removal of heavy metal contaminants. Reducing agents that were studied included sodium borohydride, sodium metabisulfite, and thiourea dioxide. The oxidants studied included hydrogen peroxide, sodium percarbonate, sodium hypochlorite, and potassium permanganate. This paper summaries the results from the physical/chemical characterization, soil washing/soil flushing, and enhancements to soil washing/soil flushing portions of the study

Communication-Oriented Design Space Exploration for Reconfigurable Architectures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gogniat Guy

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Many academic works in computer engineering focus on reconfigurable architectures and associated tools. Fine-grain architectures, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs, are the most well-known structures of reconfigurable hardware. Dedicated tools (generic or specific allow for the exploration of their design space to choose the best architecture characteristics and/or to explore the application characteristics. The aim is to increase the synergy between the application and the architecture in order to get the best performance. However, there is no generic tool to perform such an exploration for coarse-grain or heterogeneous-grain architectures, just a small number of very specific tools are able to explore a limited set of architectures. To address this major lack, in this paper we propose a new design space exploration approach adapted to fine- and coarse-grain granularities. Our approach combines algorithmic and architecture explorations. It relies on an automatic estimation tool which computes the communication hierarchical distribution and the architectural processing resources use rate for the architecture under exploration. Such an approach forwards the rapid definition of efficient reconfigurable architectures dedicated to one or several applications.

Introduction to autonomous manipulation case study with an underwater robot, SAUVIM

CERN Document Server

Marani, Giacomo

2014-01-01

“Autonomous manipulation” is a challenge in robotic technologies. It refers to the capability of a mobile robot system with one or more manipulators that performs intervention tasks requiring physical contacts in unstructured environments and without continuous human supervision. Achieving autonomous manipulation capability is a quantum leap in robotic technologies as it is currently beyond the state of the art in robotics. This book addresses issues with the complexity of the problems encountered in autonomous manipulation including representation and modeling of robotic structures, kinematic and dynamic robotic control, kinematic and algorithmic singularity avoidance, dynamic task priority, workspace optimization and environment perception. Further development in autonomous manipulation should be able to provide robust improvements of the solutions for all of the above issues. The book provides an extensive tract on sensory-based autonomous manipulation for intervention tasks in unstructured environment...

Reconfigurable Three-Dimensional Gold Nanorod Plasmonic Nanostructures Organized on DNA Origami Tripod.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Pengfei; Dutta, Palash K; Wang, Pengfei; Song, Gang; Dai, Mingjie; Zhao, Shu-Xia; Wang, Zhen-Gang; Yin, Peng; Zhang, Wei; Ding, Baoquan; Ke, Yonggang

2017-02-28

Distinct electromagnetic properties can emerge from the three-dimensional (3D) configuration of a plasmonic nanostructure. Furthermore, the reconfiguration of a dynamic plasmonic nanostructure, driven by physical or chemical stimuli, may generate a tailored plasmonic response. In this work, we constructed a 3D reconfigurable plasmonic nanostructure with controllable, reversible conformational transformation using bottom-up DNA self-assembly. Three gold nanorods (AuNRs) were positioned onto a reconfigurable DNA origami tripod. The internanorod angle and distance were precisely tuned through operating the origami tripod by toehold-mediated strand displacement. The transduction of conformational change manifested into a controlled shift of the plasmonic resonance peak, which was studied by dark-field microscopy, and agrees well with electrodynamic calculations. This new 3D plasmonic nanostructure not only provides a method to study the plasmonic resonance of AuNRs at prescribed 3D conformations but also demonstrates that DNA origami can serve as a general self-assembly platform for constructing various 3D reconfigurable plasmonic nanostructures with customized optical properties.

Design requirements and performance requirements for reactor fuel recycle manipulator systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grundmann, J.G.

1975-01-01

The development of a new generation of remote handling devices for remote production work in support of reactor fuel recycle systems is discussed. These devices require greater mobility, speed and visual capability than remote handling systems used in research activities. An upgraded manipulator system proposed for a High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor fuel refabrication facility is described. Design and performance criteria for the manipulators, cranes, and TV cameras in the proposed system are enumerated

Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems

OpenAIRE

Jitendra R. Raol; Ajith Gopal

2010-01-01

Mobile intelligent autonomous systems (MIAS) is a fast emerging research area. Although it can be regarded as a general R&D area, it is mainly directed towards robotics. Several important subtopics within MIAS research are:(i) perception and reasoning, (ii) mobility and navigation,(iii) haptics and teleoperation, (iv) image fusion/computervision, (v) modelling of manipulators, (vi) hardware/software architectures for planning and behaviour learning leadingto robotic architecture, (vii) ve...

Robust Throughput Boosting for Low Latency Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nannarelli, Alberto; Re, M.; Cardarilli, Gian Carlo

2017-01-01

Reducing the configuration time of portions of an FPGA at run time is crucial in contemporary FPGA-based accelerators. In this work, we propose a method to increase the throughput for FPGA dynamic partial reconfiguration by using standard IP blocks. The throughput is increased by over-clocking th......Reducing the configuration time of portions of an FPGA at run time is crucial in contemporary FPGA-based accelerators. In this work, we propose a method to increase the throughput for FPGA dynamic partial reconfiguration by using standard IP blocks. The throughput is increased by over...

The strategic trade-offs for beneficial open innovation : the case of ''open source'' consortia in mobile OS development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Querbes, A.

2011-01-01

The trivialization of smartphones has given rise to an architectural reconfiguration of the mobile operating system innovation process. We have also seen the recent emergence of three ?open source? consortia: the Symbian and LiMo Foundations, and the Open Handset Alliance. In this exploratory paper,

RF-MEMS for future mobile applications: experimental verification of a reconfigurable 8-bit power attenuator up to 110 GHz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iannacci, J; Tschoban, C

2017-01-01

RF-MEMS technology is proposed as a key enabling solution for realising the high-performance and highly reconfigurable passive components that future communication standards will demand. In this work, we present, test and discuss a novel design concept for an 8-bit reconfigurable power attenuator, manufactured using the RF-MEMS technology available at the CMM-FBK, in Italy. The device features electrostatically controlled MEMS ohmic switches in order to select/deselect the resistive loads (both in series and shunt configuration) that attenuate the RF signal, and comprises eight cascaded stages (i.e. 8-bit), thus implementing 256 different network configurations. The fabricated samples are measured (S-parameters) from 10 MHz to 110 GHz in a wide range of different configurations, and modelled/simulated with Ansys HFSS. The device exhibits attenuation levels (S21) in the range from  −10 dB to  −60 dB, up to 110 GHz. In particular, S21 shows flatness from 15 dB down to 3–5 dB and from 10 MHz to 50 GHz, as well as fewer linear traces up to 110 GHz. A comprehensive discussion is developed regarding the voltage standing wave ratio, which is employed as a quality indicator for the attenuation levels. The margins of improvement at design level which are needed to overcome the limitations of the presented RF-MEMS device are also discussed. (paper)

The Effects of Interference Suppression by a Reconfigurable Structure at DSSS-DPSK Receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Dimitrijevic

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we show the performances of DSSS-DPSK receiver where the interference rejection circuit is reconfigurable and is using ksi-structure. The results will be shown for the case of packet, as well as for the continuous QPSK interference. The results show that the proposed reconfiguration circuit, in case of packet QPSK interference, significantly decreases the error probability, compared to the system using only ksi-structure. Also, in case of continuous interference, the reconfigurable structure has equally good performance, regardless of interference power and its bitrate.

Secure, Mobile, Wireless Network Technology Designed, Developed, and Demonstrated

Science.gov (United States)

Ivancic, William D.; Paulsen, Phillip E.

2004-01-01

The inability to seamlessly disseminate data securely over a high-integrity, wireless broadband network has been identified as a primary technical barrier to providing an order-of-magnitude increase in aviation capacity and safety. Secure, autonomous communications to and from aircraft will enable advanced, automated, data-intensive air traffic management concepts, increase National Air Space (NAS) capacity, and potentially reduce the overall cost of air travel operations. For the first time ever, secure, mobile, network technology was designed, developed, and demonstrated with state-ofthe- art protocols and applications by a diverse, cooperative Government-industry team led by the NASA Glenn Research Center. This revolutionary technology solution will make fundamentally new airplane system capabilities possible by enabling secure, seamless network connections from platforms in motion (e.g., cars, ships, aircraft, and satellites) to existing terrestrial systems without the need for manual reconfiguration. Called Mobile Router, the new technology autonomously connects and configures networks as they traverse from one operating theater to another. The Mobile Router demonstration aboard the Neah Bay, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel stationed in Cleveland, Ohio, accomplished secure, seamless interoperability of mobile network systems across multiple domains without manual system reconfiguration. The Neah Bay was chosen because of its low cost and communications mission similarity to low-Earth-orbiting satellite platforms. This technology was successfully advanced from technology readiness level (TRL) 2 (concept and/or application formation) to TRL 6 (system model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment). The secure, seamless interoperability offered by the Mobile Router and encryption device will enable several new, vehicle-specific and systemwide technologies to perform such things as remote, autonomous aircraft performance monitoring and early detection and

Design of a real-time open architecture controller for a reconfigurable machine tool

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Masekamela, I

2008-11-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the design and the development of a real-time, open architecture controller that is used for control of reconfigurable manufacturing tools (RMTs) in reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS). The controller that is presented can...

Mobile work, multilocal dwelling and spaces of wellbeing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorman-Murray, Andrew; Bissell, David

2018-05-01

Mobile work is increasingly common. For our purposes, mobile work entails long-distance commuting arrangements with periods living away from the primary domestic residence that may be considered 'home'. Mobile work reconfigures the relational fabric of 'home', introducing multilocal mooring points into worker's lives, and thus reshaping the spatial and temporal patterns and meanings of dwelling. Geography and cognate disciplines have begun to investigate the spatialities and temporalities of mobile work and multilocal dwelling, including the complexities of space-time management, but as yet little attention has been given to implications and impacts on the wellbeing of workers and their families - this is despite growing concern for worker and family wellbeing in some mobile work sectors, such as FIFO mining. Wellbeing is also a complex and multivalent concept, taking in objective and subjective dimensions, including health indicators and quality of life. In this context, this paper reviews recent literature on mobile work and multilocal dwelling and geographies of wellbeing to identify productive intersections for conceptual and empirical development. We suggest that provocations about space-times of wellbeing (Fleuret and Prugneau, 2015) and wellbeing as a relational, situated assemblage (Atkinson, 2013) are productive for analysing wellbeing in a context of mobility and multilocality. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Network Reconfiguration Method Considering Data Uncertainties in Smart Distribution Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ke-yan Liu

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This work presents a method for distribution network reconfiguration with the simultaneous consideration of distributed generation (DG allocation. The uncertainties of load fluctuation before the network reconfiguration are also considered. Three optimal objectives, including minimal line loss cost, minimum Expected Energy Not Supplied, and minimum switch operation cost, are investigated. The multi-objective optimization problem is further transformed into a single-objective optimization problem by utilizing weighting factors. The proposed network reconfiguration method includes two periods. The first period is to create a feasible topology network by using binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO. Then the DG allocation problem is solved by utilizing sensitivity analysis and a Harmony Search algorithm (HSA. In the meanwhile, interval analysis is applied to deal with the uncertainties of load and devices parameters. Test cases are studied using the standard IEEE 33-bus and PG&E 69-bus systems. Different scenarios and comparisons are analyzed in the experiments. The results show the applicability of the proposed method. The performance analysis of the proposed method is also investigated. The computational results indicate that the proposed network reconfiguration algorithm is feasible.

A Reconfigurable Metal-Plasma Yagi-Yuda Antenna for Microwave Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giulia Mansutti

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper is an extension of the work originally presented at the European Microwave Conference (EuMC about a reconfigurable hybrid metal-plasma Yagi-Uda antenna operating at 1.55 GHz: this antenna consists of metallic reflector and active element and two plasma directors. The conference work showed through full-wave numerical simulations (CST Microwave Studio how it is possible to achieve reconfigurability with respect to the gain by turning on/off the plasma discharges. However the model that was used to represent the plasma discharges was quite ideal, so one comment that was provided questioned the actual possibility of achieving reconfigurability in a real system. Consequently we performed extensive measurements of different plasma discharges and thanks to the collected data, we noticed some important differences between the full-wave numerical model of the plasma that we used in the conference paper and the actual plasma discharges that were generated in the experimental setup: the dielectric vessel and the metallic electrodes used respectively to confine and generate the plasma have an influence on the radiation pattern of the antenna and so they must be included in the design procedure; the cylindrical plasma discharge is much easier to realize when the cylinder diameter is at least 3mm; and finally the collision frequency of the plasma in realistic cases is pretty higher than the one adopted in our previous work. Therefore this work presents a feasibility study of a more detailed and realistic model of our antenna with respect to the plasma discharges. We will show that reconfigurability can still be achieved through a proper design of the overall antenna, thus paving the way to an actual realization of the proposed reconfigurable Yagi-Uda.

Diagnosis and Reconfiguration using Bayesian Networks: An Electrical Power System Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, W. Bradley; Mengshoel, Ole

2009-01-01

Automated diagnosis and reconfiguration are important computational techniques that aim to minimize human intervention in autonomous systems. In this paper, we develop novel techniques and models in the context of diagnosis and reconfiguration reasoning using causal Bayesian networks (BNs). We take as starting point a successful diagnostic approach, using a static BN developed for a real-world electrical power system. We discuss in this paper the extension of this diagnostic approach along two dimensions, namely: (i) from a static BN to a dynamic BN; and (ii) from a diagnostic task to a reconfiguration task. More specifically, we discuss the auto-generation of a dynamic Bayesian network from a static Bayesian network. In addition, we discuss subtle, but important, differences between Bayesian networks when used for diagnosis versus reconfiguration. We discuss a novel reconfiguration agent, which models a system causally, including effects of actions through time, using a dynamic Bayesian network. Though the techniques we discuss are general, we demonstrate them in the context of electrical power systems (EPSs) for aircraft and spacecraft. EPSs are vital subsystems on-board aircraft and spacecraft, and many incidents and accidents of these vehicles have been attributed to EPS failures. We discuss a case study that provides initial but promising results for our approach in the setting of electrical power systems.

The Gospel of Matthew: Reconfigured Torah

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard B. Hays

2005-10-01

Full Text Available This essay surveys the evangelist Matthew’s reading of Israel’s Scripture. Rather than focusing only on Matthew’s distinctive formula quotations, we must observe the subtler ways that Matthew evokes scriptural images and patterns. The essay highlights four major aspects of Matthew’s reading of Scripture. (1 Matthew reads Israel’s Scripture as a story that highlights election, kingship, exile, and messianic salvation as the end of exile. (2 Matthew reconfigures Torah into a call for radical transformation of the heart. (3 Matthew highlights Scripture’s call for mercy, particularly by emphasizing Hosea 6:6 as the hermeneutical key to Torah. (4 Matthew interprets the mission to the Gentiles as the fulfilment of Israel’s destiny and the active embodiment of the authority of the Son of Man (Dn 7:13-14 over the whole world. Jointly taken, these strategies of interpretation produce a striking reconfiguration of Israel’s Torah.

Implementation of the Two-Point Angular Correlation Function on a High-Performance Reconfigurable Computer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volodymyr V. Kindratenko

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We present a parallel implementation of an algorithm for calculating the two-point angular correlation function as applied in the field of computational cosmology. The algorithm has been specifically developed for a reconfigurable computer. Our implementation utilizes a microprocessor and two reconfigurable processors on a dual-MAP SRC-6 system. The two reconfigurable processors are used as two application-specific co-processors. Two independent computational kernels are simultaneously executed on the reconfigurable processors while data pre-fetching from disk and initial data pre-processing are executed on the microprocessor. The overall end-to-end algorithm execution speedup achieved by this implementation is over 90× as compared to a sequential implementation of the algorithm executed on a single 2.8 GHz Intel Xeon microprocessor.

Multi-objective optimal operation of smart reconfigurable distribution grids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdollah Kavousi-Fard

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Reconfiguration is a valuable technique that can support the distribution grid from different aspects such as operation cost and loss reduction, reliability improvement, and voltage stability enhancement. An intelligent and efficient optimization framework, however, is required to reach the desired efficiency through the reconfiguration strategy. This paper proposes a new multi-objective optimization model to make use of the reconfiguration strategy for minimizing the power losses, improving the voltage profile, and enhancing the load balance in distribution grids. The proposed model employs the min-max fuzzy approach to find the most satisfying solution from a set of nondominated solutions in the problem space. Due to the high complexity and the discrete nature of the proposed model, a new optimization method based on harmony search (HS algorithm is further proposed. Moreover, a new modification method is suggested to increase the harmony memory diversity in the improvisation stage and increase the convergence ability of the algorithm. The feasibility and satisfying performance of the proposed model are examined on the IEEE 32-bus distribution system.

Electron beam effects on VLSI MOS conditions for testing and reconfiguration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girard, P.; Roche, F.M.; Pistoulet, B.

1986-01-01

Wafer scale integrated-MOS circuits problems related to test and reconfiguration by electron beams are analyzed. First of all the alterations in characteristics of MOS circuits submitted to an electron beam testing are considered. Then the capabilities of reconfiguration by an electron beam bombardment are discussed. The various phenomena involved are reviewed. Experimental data are reported and discussed on the light of data of the literature. (Auth.)

Switchable reconfiguration of nucleic acid nanostructures by stimuli-responsive DNA machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiaoqing; Lu, Chun-Hua; Willner, Itamar

2014-06-17

CONSPECTUS: The base sequence in DNA dictates structural and reactivity features of the biopolymer. These properties are implemented to use DNA as a unique material for developing the area of DNA nanotechnology. The design of DNA machines represents a rapidly developing research field in the area of DNA nanotechnology. The present Account discusses the switchable reconfiguration of nucleic acid nanostructures by stimuli-responsive DNA machines, and it highlights potential applications and future perspectives of the area. Programmed switchable DNA machines driven by various fuels and antifuels, such as pH, Hg(2+) ions/cysteine, or nucleic acid strands/antistrands, are described. These include the assembly of DNA tweezers, walkers, a rotor, a pendulum, and more. Using a pH-oscillatory system, the oscillatory mechanical operation of a DNA pendulum is presented. Specifically, the synthesis and "mechanical" properties of interlocked DNA rings are described. This is exemplified with the preparation of interlocked DNA catenanes and a DNA rotaxane. The dynamic fuel-driven reconfiguration of the catenane/rotaxane structures is followed by fluorescence spectroscopy. The use of DNA machines as functional scaffolds to reconfigurate Au nanoparticle assemblies and to switch the fluorescence features within fluorophore/Au nanoparticle conjugates between quenching and surface-enhanced fluorescence states are addressed. Specifically, the fluorescence features of the different DNA machines are characterized as a function of the spatial separation between the fluorophore and Au nanoparticles. The experimental results are supported by theoretical calculations. The future development of reconfigurable stimuli-responsive DNA machines involves fundamental challenges, such as the synthesis of molecular devices exhibiting enhanced complexities, the introduction of new fuels and antifuels, and the integration of new payloads being reconfigured by the molecular devices, such as enzymes or

Design of a novel magnetic platform for cell manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Lucarini, Gioia; Iacovacci, Veronica; Gouveia, Pedro J.; Ricotti, Leonardo; Menciassi, Arianna

2018-02-01

Cell manipulation tasks, especially in lab-on-a-chip applications for personalized medicine, could greatly benefit from mobile untethered microdevices able to wirelessly navigate in fluidic environments by means of magnetic fields. In this paper, the design, fabrication and testing of a magnetic platform enabling the controlled locomotion and immersion of microrobots placed at the air/liquid interface is proposed and exploited for cell manipulation. The proposed microrobot consists of a polymeric magnetic thin film that acts as cell transporter and a specific coating strategy, devised to enhance a safe cancer cell adhesion to the magnetic film. Experimental results demonstrated an overall cell viability and a fine control of magnetic microrobot locomotion. The proposed technologies are promising in view of future cell manipulation tasks for personalized medicine applications.

Mobility Data Analytics Center.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Mobility Data Analytics Center aims at building a centralized data engine to efficiently manipulate : large-scale data for smart decision making. Integrating and learning the massive data are the key to : the data engine. The ultimate goal of underst...

Ultra Low Energy FDSOI Asynchronous Reconfiguration Network for Adaptive Circuits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soundous Chairat

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a plug-and-play on-chip asynchronous communication network aimed at the dynamic reconfiguration of a low-power adaptive circuit such as an internet of things (IoT system. By using a separate communication network, we can address both digital and analog blocks at a lower configuration cost, increasing the overall system power efficiency. As reconfiguration only occurs according to specific events and has to be automatically in stand-by most of the time, our design is fully asynchronous using handshake protocols. The paper presents the circuit’s architecture, performance results, and an example of the reconfiguration of frequency locked loops (FLL to validate our work. We obtain an overall energy per bit of 0.07 pJ/bit for one stage, in a 28 nm Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator (FDSOI technology at 0.6 V and a 1.1 ns/bit latency per stage.

Market-based multiagent system for reconfiguration of shipboard power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Kai; Srivastava, Sanjeev K.; Cartes, David A.; Sun, Li-Hsiang

2009-01-01

On ships, the electric shipboard power system (SPS) supplies electrical power to critical functions such as navigation, communication, emergency systems, and in the case of warships, weapon systems. During ship operation, some parts of the SPS may become unavailable due to damage, fault, or maintenance. For the survivability and reliability of ships, it is desired to make the SPS highly reconfigurable. This paper presents a market-based multiagent system (MAS) for the reconfiguration of radial SPS. Radial SPSs are found on majority of ships. In the proposed MAS, each agent only communicates with its neighbor agents to make the system work in a fully decentralized manner. The MAS is implemented using Java Agent Development Framework (JADE), which is fully implemented in Java and compliant with Foundation of Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA). An SPS with two generators and four loads is used for testing the proposed MAS. The results show the proposed MAS can successfully reconfigure a radial SPS. (author)

Implementation of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems, the Case of The LEGO Group

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Ying; Bilberg, Arne; Hadar, Ronen

of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS). A literature review is made to describe the advantages and core characteristics of RMS. Based on the theory, a conceptual model is developed to analyze where RMS would be most suitable and have most benefits in The LEGO Group. Finally, the conclusion is drawn based...... on the analysis through the model. Keywords: Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems, Conceptual Model of RMS, Production of The LEGO Group...

Reconfigurable Computing for Dynamically Reprogrammable Communications, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This project addresses the need for a framework and domain architecture suitable for reconfigurable transceivers and associated component technologies. The goal of...

Easy Reconfiguration of Modular Industrial Collaborative Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schou, Casper

2016-01-01

the production staff collaborating to perform common tasks. This change of environment imposes a much more dynamic lifecycle for the robot which consequently requires new ways of interacting. This thesis investigates how the changeover to a new task on a collaborative robot can be performed by the shop floor...... operators already working alongside the robot. To effectively perform this changeover, the operator must both reconfigure the hardware of the robot and reprogram the robot to match the new task. To enable shop floor operators to quickly and intuitively program the robot, this thesis proposes the use...... of parametric, task-related robot skills with a manual parameterization method. Reconfiguring the hardware entails adding, removing, or modifying some of the robot’s components. This thesis investigate how software configurator tools can aid the operator in selecting appropriate hardware modules, and how agent...

Poster: Virtual reality interaction using mobile devices

KAUST Repository

Aseeri, Sahar A.

2013-03-01

In this work we aim to implement and evaluate alternative approaches for interacting with virtual environments on mobile devices for navigation, object selection and manipulation. Interaction with objects in virtual worlds using traditional input such as current state-of-the-art devices is often difficult and could diminish the immersion and sense of presence when it comes to 3D virtual environment tasks. We have developed new methods to perform different kinds of interactions using a mobile device (e.g. a smartphone) both as input device, performing selection and manipulation of objects, and as output device, utilizing the screen as an extra view (virtual camera or information display). Our hypothesis is that interaction via mobile devices facilitates simple tasks like the ones described within immersive virtual reality systems. We present here our initial implementation and result. © 2013 IEEE.

Topological Magnonics: A Paradigm for Spin-Wave Manipulation and Device Design

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X. S.; Zhang, H. W.; Wang, X. R.

2018-02-01

Conventional magnonic devices use magnetostatic waves whose properties are sensitive to device geometry and the details of magnetization structure, so the design and the scalability of the device or circuitry are difficult. We propose topological magnonics, in which topological exchange spin waves are used as information carriers, that do not suffer from conventional problems of magnonic devices with additional nice features of nanoscale wavelength and high frequency. We show that a perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnet on a honeycomb lattice is generically a topological magnetic material in the sense that topologically protected chiral edge spin waves exist in the band gap as long as a spin-orbit-induced nearest-neighbor pseudodipolar interaction (and/or a next-nearest-neighbor Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction) is present. The edge spin waves propagate unidirectionally along sample edges and domain walls regardless of the system geometry and defects. As a proof of concept, spin-wave diodes, spin-wave beam splitters, and spin-wave interferometers are designed by using sample edges and domain walls to manipulate the propagation of topologically protected chiral spin waves. Since magnetic domain walls can be controlled by magnetic fields or electric current or fields, one can essentially draw, erase, and redraw different spin-wave devices and circuitry on the same magnetic plate so that the proposed devices are reconfigurable and tunable. The topological magnonics opens up an alternative direction towards a robust, reconfigurable and scalable spin-wave circuitry.

Validation of multi-body modelling methodology for reconfigurable underwater robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, M.C.; Eidsvik, O. A.; Blanke, Mogens

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the problem of employing reconfigurable robots in an underwater setting. The main results presented is the experimental validation of a modelling methodology for a system consisting of N dynamically connected robots with heterogeneous dynamics. Two distinct types...... of experiments are performed, a series of hydrostatic free-decay tests and a series of open-loop trajectory tests. The results are compared to a simulation based on the modelling methodology. The modelling methodology shows promising results for usage with systems composed of reconfigurable underwater modules...

SaRDIn - A Safe Reconfigurable Distributed Interlocking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fantechi, Alessandro; Gnesi, S.; Haxthausen, Anne Elisabeth

2016-01-01

Current computer-based interlocking systems most often have a centralized design, with all logic residing in a single computer. Centralized interlockings are complex to design. Following the general trend in Cyber-Physical Systems, the SaRDIn (Safe Reconfigurable Distributed Interlockings) concept...

Finding Optimal Independent Grasp Regions of Parallel Manipulators with Additional Applications for Limbed Robot Mobility

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — For the problem of robotic manipulation, wherein a robotic manipulator interacts with objects or its environment using an end-effector (gripper), there have been...

Homogeneous and single-side-operational connector mechanism for self-reconfigurable, self-assembly and self-healing systems

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Wei-Min (Inventor); Kovac, Robert M. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

Designs of single-end-operative reconfigurable genderless connectors that include a base, a plurality of movable jaws that are formed on the base and can engage to the jaws of another connector, and an actuator that is mounted on the base and can engage and move the jaws of the reconfigurable connector to connect the reconfigurable connector with another connector.

A reconfigurable all-optical VPN based on XGM effect of SOA in WDM PON

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Liang; Cao, Pan; Wang, Tao; Su, Yikai

2010-12-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a reconfigurable all-optical VPN scheme enabling intercommunications among different ONUs in a WDM PON. Reconfiguration is realized by dynamically setting wavelength conversion of optical VPN signal using a SOA in the OLT.

Dynamic reconfiguration of human brain functional networks through neurofeedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Haller, Sven; Kopel, Rotem; Jhooti, Permi; Haas, Tanja; Scharnowski, Frank; Lovblad, Karl-Olof; Scheffler, Klaus; Van De Ville, Dimitri

2013-11-01

Recent fMRI studies demonstrated that functional connectivity is altered following cognitive tasks (e.g., learning) or due to various neurological disorders. We tested whether real-time fMRI-based neurofeedback can be a tool to voluntarily reconfigure brain network interactions. To disentangle learning-related from regulation-related effects, we first trained participants to voluntarily regulate activity in the auditory cortex (training phase) and subsequently asked participants to exert learned voluntary self-regulation in the absence of feedback (transfer phase without learning). Using independent component analysis (ICA), we found network reconfigurations (increases in functional network connectivity) during the neurofeedback training phase between the auditory target region and (1) the auditory pathway; (2) visual regions related to visual feedback processing; (3) insula related to introspection and self-regulation and (4) working memory and high-level visual attention areas related to cognitive effort. Interestingly, the auditory target region was identified as the hub of the reconfigured functional networks without a-priori assumptions. During the transfer phase, we again found specific functional connectivity reconfiguration between auditory and attention network confirming the specific effect of self-regulation on functional connectivity. Functional connectivity to working memory related networks was no longer altered consistent with the absent demand on working memory. We demonstrate that neurofeedback learning is mediated by widespread changes in functional connectivity. In contrast, applying learned self-regulation involves more limited and specific network changes in an auditory setup intended as a model for tinnitus. Hence, neurofeedback training might be used to promote recovery from neurological disorders that are linked to abnormal patterns of brain connectivity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reconfiguration de visualisations du CRDI

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Office 2004 Test Drive User

Dans chaque reconfiguration, j'ai essayé de demeu- rer raisonnablement fidèle à l'original. Par exemple, la taille globale des éléments sta- tiques n'a pas changé. Dans trois des quatre cas, j'ai conservé la typographie et la palette de couleurs de l'original. En outre, j'ai supposé que la visualisation (l'image) était destinée à.

Multi-criteria grey relational approach to evaluating reconfigurable manufacturing configurations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rehman, A. U.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In response to highly dynamic markets, manufacturing industries need alternative feasible manufacturing strategies. The strategy currently adopted is to reconfigure the existing manufacturing system. The conditions to reconfigure existing configurations change from time to time. An attempt is made to identify and apply an approach to evaluate these configurations. The paper proposes a grey relational decision-making approach. The approach takes into account multiple performance measures. The ProModel 6.2 simulation platform is adopted to examine the performance of each feasible alternative manufacturing configuration.

Mechanical accessories for mobile teleoperators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, M.J.; Herndon, J.N.

1985-01-01

The choice of optimum mechanical accessories for mobile teleoperators involves matching the criteria for emergency response with the available technology. This paper presents a general background to teleoperations, a potpourri of the manipulator systems available, and an argument for force reflecting manipulation. The theme presented is that the accomplishment of humanlike endeavors in hostile environments will be most successful when man model capabilities are utilized. The application of recent electronic technology to manipulator development has made new tools available to be applied to emergency response activities. The development activities described are products of the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 13 refs., 7 figs

Space Plasma Slab Studies using a new 3D Embedded Reconfigurable MPSoC Sounder

Science.gov (United States)

Dekoulis, George

2016-07-01

This paper presents recent ionospheric slab thickness measurements using a new mobile digital sounder system. The datasets obtained have been compared to the results of existing sounders in operation. The data validity has been verified. The slab thickness data allow constant monitoring of the lower ionosphere revealing the dynamic trends of the physical processes being involved. The prototype offers a tremendous amount of hardware processing power and a previously unseen response time in servicing the input and output data interfaces. This has been enabled by incorporating the latest three-dimensional Ultrascale+ technologies available commercially from the reconfigurable Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) computing industry. Furthermore, a previously developed Network-on-Chip (NoC) design methodology has been incorporated for connecting and controlling the application driven multiprocessor network. The system determines electron distributions, aggregate electromagnetic field gradients and plasma current density.

Schematic Approach to Information Services Reconfiguration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabah Al-Fedaghi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Information system change is concerned with deliberate modifications to an organization’s technical and organiza‐ tional subsystems that deal with information. Changes result in adjustments being made to the configuration of information systems that could have an impact on the operations of those systems. This paper examines the problem of interference between old configuration activi‐ ties, new configuration activities and reconfiguration activities that occur due to overlapping modes. The paper proposes a novel form of depicting and solving the problem based on a flow-based conceptualization in which a configuration can be viewed as a system of flow systems organized architecturally, described by their internal flows, and connected by external flows and triggering. This method of diagramming is applied to a complex case study involving the reconfiguration of an office workflow for order processing described in BPMN. The diagrams resulting from this method and the BPMN diagrams are then examined side by side. Accordingly, the conclusion is that a new high-level representation seems more system‐ atic as a foundation for building a conceptual schema of business processes.

Universal Reconfigurable Translator Module (URTM) Final Report

Science.gov (United States)

Leventhal, Edward; Machan, Roman; Jones, Rob

2009-01-01

This report describes the Universal Reconfigurable Translation Module, or URTM. The URTM was developed by Sigma Space Corporation for NASA in order to translate specific serial protocols, both logically and physically. At present, the prototype configuration has targeted MIL-STD-1553B (RT and BC), IEEE 1394b (Firewire), and ECSS-E-50-12A (SpaceWire). The objectives of this program were to study the feasibility of a configurable URTM to translate serial link data as might be used in a space-flight mission and to design, develop, document, and deliver an engineering prototype model of the URTM with a path to spaceflight. By simply connecting two of the three Physical Interface Modules (PIM) on either end of the RPTM (Reconfigurable Protocol Translator Module), the URTM then self configures via a library of interface translation functions, thereby allowing the two data links to communicate seamlessly.

SmartCell: An Energy Efficient Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architecture for Stream-Based Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Cao

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents SmartCell, a novel coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture, which tiles a large number of processor elements with reconfigurable interconnection fabrics on a single chip. SmartCell is able to provide high performance and energy efficient processing for stream-based applications. It can be configured to operate in various modes, such as SIMD, MIMD, and systolic array. This paper describes the SmartCell architecture design, including processing element, reconfigurable interconnection fabrics, instruction and control process, and configuration scheme. The SmartCell prototype with 64 PEs is implemented using 0.13  m CMOS standard cell technology. The core area is about 8.5  , and the power consumption is about 1.6 mW/MHz. The performance is evaluated through a set of benchmark applications, and then compared with FPGA, ASIC, and two well-known reconfigurable architectures including RaPiD and Montium. The results show that the SmartCell can bridge the performance and flexibility gap between ASIC and FPGA. It is also about 8% and 69% more energy efficient than Montium and RaPiD systems for evaluated benchmarks. Meanwhile, SmartCell can achieve 4 and 2 times more throughput gains when comparing with Montium and RaPiD, respectively. It is concluded that SmartCell system is a promising reconfigurable and energy efficient architecture for stream processing.

Optimal energy management strategy for self-reconfigurable batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouchhima, Nejmeddine; Schnierle, Marc; Schulte, Sascha; Birke, Kai Peter

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a novel energy management strategy for multi-cell high voltage batteries where the current through each cell can be controlled, called self-reconfigurable batteries. An optimized control strategy further enhances the energy efficiency gained by the hardware architecture of those batteries. Currently, achieving cell equalization by using the active balancing circuits is considered as the best way to optimize the energy efficiency of the battery pack. This study demonstrates that optimizing the energy efficiency of self-reconfigurable batteries is no more strongly correlated to the cell balancing. According to the features of this novel battery architecture, the energy management strategy is formulated as nonlinear dynamic optimization problem. To solve this optimal control, an optimization algorithm that generates the optimal discharge policy for a given driving cycle is developed based on dynamic programming and code vectorization. The simulation results show that the designed energy management strategy maximizes the system efficiency across the battery lifetime over conventional approaches. Furthermore, the present energy management strategy can be implemented online due to the reduced complexity of the optimization algorithm. - Highlights: • The energy efficiency of self-reconfigurable batteries is maximized. • The energy management strategy for the battery is formulated as optimal control problem. • Developing an optimization algorithm using dynamic programming techniques and code vectorization. • Simulation studies are conducted to validate the proposed optimal strategy.

Electrically Reconfigurable Liquid Crystalline Mirrors (Postprint)

Science.gov (United States)

2018-04-24

focus on dynamic reconfiguration of the reflection band gap of polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs). Recent research has reported the...public release: distribution unlimited. © 2018 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY (STINFO COPY) AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING...MONITORING AGENCY ACRONYM(S) Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH

Importance analysis for reconfigurable systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Si, Shubin; Levitin, Gregory; Dui, Hongyan; Sun, Shudong

2014-01-01

Importance measures are used in reliability engineering to rank the system components according to their contributions to proper functioning of the entire system and to find the most effective ways of reliability enhancement. Traditionally, the importance measures do not consider the possible change of system structure with the improvement of specific component reliability. However, if a component's reliability changes, the optimal system structure/configuration may also change and the importance of the corresponding component will depend on the chosen structure. When the most promising component reliability improvement is determined, the component importance should be taken into account with respect to the possible structure changes. This paper studies the component reliability importance indices with respect to the changes of the optimal component sequencing. This importance measure indicates the critical components in providing the system reliability enhancement by both enhancing the component's reliability and reconfiguring the system. Examples of linear consecutive-k-out-of-n: F and G systems are considered to demonstrate the change of the component Birnbaum importance with the optimal system reconfiguration. The results show that the change of the importance index corresponds to the change of the system optimal configuration and the importance index can change not monotonically with the variation of the component reliability

Wideband Monolithic Tile for Reconfigurable Phased Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-01

interference and jamming. Previous reconfigurable architectures [1] were limited in bandwidth and performance by the use of discrete SMT components with...Settings Figure 7 shows the feed point and segment activation with control settings optimized for Gain, Horizontal Polarization, Steered at Phi = 15°, 6

Control Reconfigurability of Bilinear Hydraulic Drive Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaker, Hamid Reza; Tahavori, Maryamsadat

2011-01-01

The objective of the methods within the framework of the plug and play process control and particularly fault tolerant control is to establish control techniques which guarantee a certain performance through control reconfiguration at the occurrence of the faults or changes. These methods cannot ...

A methodological approach for designing and sequencing product families in Reconfigurable Disassembly Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ignacio Eguia

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose: A Reconfigurable Disassembly System (RDS represents a new paradigm of automated disassembly system that uses reconfigurable manufacturing technology for fast adaptation to changes in the quantity and mix of products to disassemble. This paper deals with a methodology for designing and sequencing product families in RDS. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is developed in a two-phase approach, where products are first grouped into families and then families are sequenced through the RDS, computing the required machines and modules configuration for each family. Products are grouped into families based on their common features using a Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm. The optimal sequence of the product families is calculated using a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming model minimizing reconfigurability and operational costs. Findings: This paper is focused to enable reconfigurable manufacturing technologies to attain some degree of adaptability during disassembly automation design using modular machine tools. Research limitations/implications: The MILP model proposed for the second phase is similar to the well-known Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP and therefore its complexity grows exponentially with the number of products to disassemble. In real-world problems, which a higher number of products, it may be advisable to solve the model approximately with heuristics. Practical implications: The importance of industrial recycling and remanufacturing is growing due to increasing environmental and economic pressures. Disassembly is an important part of remanufacturing systems for reuse and recycling purposes. Automatic disassembly techniques have a growing number of applications in the area of electronics, aerospace, construction and industrial equipment. In this paper, a design and scheduling approach is proposed to apply in this area. Originality/value: This paper presents a new concept called Reconfigurable Disassembly System

Towards Python-based Domain-specific Languages for Self-reconfigurable Modular Robotics Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moghadam, Mikael; Johan Christensen, David; Brandt, David

2013-01-01

This paper explores the role of operating system and high-level languages in the development of software and domain-specific languages (DSLs) for self-reconfigurable robotics. We review some of the current trends in self-reconfigurable robotics and describe the development of a software system...... for ATRON II which utilizes Linux and Python to significantly improve software abstraction and portability while providing some basic features which could prove useful when using Python, either stand-alone or via a DSL, on a self-reconfigurable robot system. These features include transparent socket...... communication, module identification, easy software transfer and reliable module-to-module communication. The end result is a software platform for modular robots that where appropriate builds on existing work in operating systems, virtual machines, middleware and high-level languages....

Heterogeneous reconfigurable processors for real-time baseband processing from algorithm to architecture

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Chenxin; Öwall, Viktor

2016-01-01

This book focuses on domain-specific heterogeneous reconfigurable architectures, demonstrating for readers a computing platform which is flexible enough to support multiple standards, multiple modes, and multiple algorithms. The content is multi-disciplinary, covering areas of wireless communication, computing architecture, and circuit design. The platform described provides real-time processing capability with reasonable implementation cost, achieving balanced trade-offs among flexibility, performance, and hardware costs. The authors discuss efficient design methods for wireless communication processing platforms, from both an algorithm and architecture design perspective. Coverage also includes computing platforms for different wireless technologies and standards, including MIMO, OFDM, Massive MIMO, DVB, WLAN, LTE/LTE-A, and 5G. •Discusses reconfigurable architectures, including hardware building blocks such as processing elements, memory sub-systems, Network-on-Chip (NoC), and dynamic hardware reconfigur...

Characterization of a piezoelectric MEMS actuator surface toward motion-enabled reconfigurable RF circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Tellers, M. C.; Pulskamp, J. S.; Bedair, S. S.; Rudy, R. Q.; Kierzewski, I. M.; Polcawich, R. G.; Bergbreiter, S. E.

2018-03-01

As an alternative to highly constrained hard-wired reconfigurable RF circuits, a motion-enabled reconfigurable circuit (MERC) offers freedom from transmission line losses and homogeneous materials selection. The creation of a successful MERC requires a precise mechanical mechanism for relocating components. In this work, a piezoelectric MEMS actuator array is modeled and experimentally characterized to assess its viability as a solution to the MERC concept. Actuation and design parameters are evaluated, and the repeatability of high quality on-axis motion at greater than 1 mm s-1 is demonstrated with little positional error. Finally, an initial proof-of-concept circuit reconfiguration has been demonstrated using off-the-shelf RF filter components. Although initial feasibility tests show filter performance degradation with an additional insertion loss of 0.3 dB per contact, out-of-band rejection degradation as high as 10 dB, and ripple performance reduction from 0.25 dB to 1.5 dB, MERC is proven here as an alternative to traditional approaches used in reconfigurable RF circuit applications.

An Overview of Reconfigurable Hardware in Embedded Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenyin Fu

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Over the past few years, the realm of embedded systems has expanded to include a wide variety of products, ranging from digital cameras, to sensor networks, to medical imaging systems. Consequently, engineers strive to create ever smaller and faster products, many of which have stringent power requirements. Coupled with increasing pressure to decrease costs and time-to-market, the design constraints of embedded systems pose a serious challenge to embedded systems designers. Reconfigurable hardware can provide a flexible and efficient platform for satisfying the area, performance, cost, and power requirements of many embedded systems. This article presents an overview of reconfigurable computing in embedded systems, in terms of benefits it can provide, how it has already been used, design issues, and hurdles that have slowed its adoption.

Optimal distribution feeder reconfiguration for increasing the penetration of plug-in electric vehicles and minimizing network costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kavousi-Fard, Abdollah; Abbasi, Alireza; Rostami, Mohammad-Amin; Khosravi, Abbas

2015-01-01

Appearance of PEVs (Plug-in Electric Vehicles) in future transportation sector brings forward opportunities and challenges from grid perspective. Increased utilization of PEVs will result in problems such as greater total loss, unbalanced load factor, feeder congestion and voltage drop. PEVs are mobile energy storages dispersed all over the network with benefits to both owners and utilities in case of V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) possibility. The intelligent bidirectional power flow between grid and large number of vehicles adds complexity to the system and requires operative tools to schedule V2G energy and subdue PEV impacts. In this paper, DFR (Distribution Feeder Reconfiguration) is utilized to optimally coordinate PEV operation in a stochastic framework. Uncertainty in PEVs characteristics can be due to several sources from location and time of grid connection to driving pattern and battery SoC (State-of-Charge). The proposed stochastic problem is solved with a self-adaptive evolutionary swarm algorithm based on SSO (Social Spider Optimization) algorithm. Numerical studies verify the efficacy of the proposed DFR to improve the system performance and optimal dispatch of V2G. - Highlights: • Consideration effect of PEVS on the distribution feeder reconfiguration. • Increasing the penetration of PEVS. • Introducing a new artificial optimization algorithm. • Modeling the uncertainty in network. • Investigating the degradation cost of batteries in V2G technology.

Joint NetWork Reconfiguration and Capacitor Placement by Bactrial Foraging Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Ali Mohammadnia

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Power system engineers are forced to place more emphasis on reducing losses at the distribution level. From an economic perspective, Joint network reconfiguration and capacitor placement is one of the best ways to save energy. Application of heuristic technique is unavoidable, because of expansion of distribution networks and becoming more complex connections in these grids. In view of this, for the first this paper investigates the ability of Bacterial Foraging Algorithm (BFA for Joint network reconfiguration and capacitor placement.

Robust reconfigurable control for parametric and additive faults with FDI uncertainties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stoustrup, Jakob; Yang, Zhenyu

2000-01-01

From the system recoverable point of view, this paper discusses robust reconfigurable control synthesis for LTI systems and a class of nonlinear control systems with parametric and additive faults as well as derivations generated by FDI algorithms. By following the model-matching strategy......, an augmented optimal control problem is constructed based on the considered faulty and fictitious nominal systems, such that the robust control design techniques, such as H-infinity control and mu synthesis, can be employed for the reconfigurable control design....

Efficient Modelling Methodology for Reconfigurable Underwater Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Blanke, Mogens; Schjølberg, Ingrid

2016-01-01

This paper considers the challenge of applying reconfigurable robots in an underwater environment. The main result presented is the development of a model for a system comprised of N, possibly heterogeneous, robots dynamically connected to each other and moving with 6 Degrees of Freedom (DOF). Th...

Dynamic configuration management of a multi-standard and multi-mode reconfigurable multi-ASIP architecture for turbo decoding

Science.gov (United States)

Lapotre, Vianney; Gogniat, Guy; Baghdadi, Amer; Diguet, Jean-Philippe

2017-12-01

The multiplication of connected devices goes along with a large variety of applications and traffic types needing diverse requirements. Accompanying this connectivity evolution, the last years have seen considerable evolutions of wireless communication standards in the domain of mobile telephone networks, local/wide wireless area networks, and Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB). In this context, intensive research has been conducted to provide flexible turbo decoder targeting high throughput, multi-mode, multi-standard, and power consumption efficiency. However, flexible turbo decoder implementations have not often considered dynamic reconfiguration issues in this context that requires high speed configuration switching. Starting from this assessment, this paper proposes the first solution that allows frame-by-frame run-time configuration management of a multi-processor turbo decoder without compromising the decoding performances.

Hardware support for software controlled fast reconfiguration of performance counters

Science.gov (United States)

Salapura, Valentina; Wisniewski, Robert W.

2013-06-18

Hardware support for software controlled reconfiguration of performance counters may include a plurality of performance counters collecting one or more counts of one or more selected activities. A storage element stores data value representing a time interval, and a timer element reads the data value and detects expiration of the time interval based on the data value and generates a signal. A plurality of configuration registers stores a set of performance counter configurations. A state machine receives the signal and selects a configuration register from the plurality of configuration registers for reconfiguring the one or more performance counters.

Modular reconfigurable machines incorporating modular open architecture control

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Padayachee, J

2008-01-01

Full Text Available degrees of freedom on a single platform. A corresponding modular Open Architecture Control (OAC) system is presented. OAC overcomes the inflexibility of fixed proprietary automation, ensuring that MRMs provide the reconfigurability and extensibility...

Investigation of control law reconfigurations to accommodate a control element failure on a commercial airplane

Science.gov (United States)

Ostroff, A. J.; Hueschen, R. M.

1984-01-01

The ability of a pilot to reconfigure the control surfaces on an airplane after a failure, allowing the airplane to recover to a safe condition, becomes more difficult with increasing airplane complexity. Techniques are needed to stabilize and control the airplane immediately after a failure, allowing the pilot more time to make longer range decisions. This paper presents a baseline design of a discrete multivariable control law using four controls for the longitudinal channel of a B-737. Non-reconfigured and reconfigured control laws are then evaluated, both analytically and by means of a digital airplane simulation, for three individual control element failures (stabilizer, elevator, spoilers). The simulation results are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the control reconfiguration on tracking ability during the approach and landing phase of flight with severe windshear and turbulence disturbing the airplane dynamics.

High degree-of-freedom dynamic manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Michael P.; Stephens, Benjamin; Abe, Yeuhi; Rizzi, Alfred A.

2012-06-01

The creation of high degree of freedom dynamic mobile manipulation techniques and behaviors will allow robots to accomplish difficult tasks in the field. We are investigating the use of the body and legs of legged robots to improve the strength, velocity, and workspace of an integrated manipulator to accomplish dynamic manipulation. This is an especially challenging task, as all of the degrees of freedom are active at all times, the dynamic forces generated are high, and the legged system must maintain robust balance throughout the duration of the tasks. To accomplish this goal, we are utilizing trajectory optimization techniques to generate feasible open-loop behaviors for our 28 dof quadruped robot (BigDog) by planning the trajectories in a 13 dimensional space. Covariance Matrix Adaptation techniques are utilized to optimize for several criteria such as payload capability and task completion speed while also obeying constraints such as torque and velocity limits, kinematic limits, and center of pressure location. These open-loop behaviors are then used to generate feed-forward terms, which are subsequently used online to improve tracking and maintain low controller gains. Some initial results on one of our existing balancing quadruped robots with an additional human-arm-like manipulator are demonstrated on robot hardware, including dynamic lifting and throwing of heavy objects 16.5kg cinder blocks, using motions that resemble a human athlete more than typical robotic motions. Increased payload capacity is accomplished through coordinated body motion.

Novel wideband microwave polarization network using a fully-reconfigurable photonic waveguide interleaver with a two-ring resonator-assisted asymmetric Mach-Zehnder structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Leimeng; Beeker, Willem; Leinse, Arne; Heideman, René; van Dijk, Paulus; Roeloffzen, Chris

2013-02-11

We propose and demonstrate a novel wideband microwave photonic polarization network for dual linear-polarized antennas. The polarization network is based on a waveguide-implemented fully-reconfigurable optical interleaver using a two-ring resonator-assisted asymmetric Mach-Zehnder structure. For microwave photonic signal processing, this structure is able to serve as a wideband 2 × 2 RF coupler with reconfigurable complex coefficients, and therefore can be used as a polarization network for wideband antennas. Such a device can equip the antennas with not only the polarization rotation capability for linear-polarization signals but also the capability to operate with and tune between two opposite circular polarizations. Operating together with a particular modulation scheme, the device is also able to serve for simultaneous feeding of dual-polarization signals. These photonic-implemented RF functionalities can be applied to wideband antenna systems to perform agile polarization manipulations and tracking operations. An example of such a interleaver has been realized in TriPleX waveguide technology, which was designed with a free spectral range of 20 GHz and a mask footprint of smaller than 1 × 1 cm. Using the realized device, the reconfigurable complex coefficients of the polarization network were demonstrated with a continuous bandwidth from 2 to 8 GHz and an in-band phase ripple of smaller than 5 degree. The waveguide structure of the device allows it to be further integrated with other functional building blocks of a photonic integrated circuit to realize on-chip, complex microwave photonic processors. Of particular interest, it can be included in an optical beamformer for phased array antennas, so that simultaneous wideband beam and polarization trackings can be achieved photonically. To our knowledge, this is the first-time on-chip demonstration of an integrated microwave photonic polarization network for dual linear-polarized antennas.

Self-Assembling Wireless Autonomous Reconfigurable Modules (SWARM), Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Payload Systems Inc. and the MIT Space Systems Laboratory propose Self-assembling, Wireless, Autonomous, Reconfigurable Modules (SWARM) as an innovative approach to...

Control Suite and Teleoperator Interface for Whole-Body Mobile Manipulators, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Robots that can move about in terrestrial environments and manipulate large and small objects serve a critical role in NASA's Moon/Mars initiative. Such systems will...

Towards micro-assembly of hybrid MOEMS components on a reconfigurable silicon free-space micro-optical bench

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bargiel, S; Gorecki, C; Rabenorosoa, K; Clévy, C; Lutz, P

2010-01-01

The 3D integration of hybrid chips is a viable approach for the micro-optical technologies to reduce the costs of assembly and packaging. In this paper a technology platform for the hybrid integration of MOEMS components on a reconfigurable silicon free-space micro-optical bench (FS-MOB) is presented. In this approach a desired optical component (e.g. micromirror, microlens) is integrated with a removable and adjustable silicon holder which can be manipulated, aligned and fixed in the precisely etched rail of the silicon baseplate by use of a robotic micro-assembly station. An active-based gripping system allows modification of the holder position on the baseplate with nanometre precision. The fabrication processes of the micromachined parts of the micro-optical bench, based on bulk micromachining of standard silicon wafer and SOI wafer, are described. The successful assembly of the holders, equipped with a micromirror and a refractive glass ball microlens, on the baseplate rail is demonstrated.

Physical security technologies for weapons complex reconfiguration facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, C.D.

1994-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories was a member of the Weapons Complex Reconfiguration (WCR) Safeguards and Security (S ampersand S) team providing assistance to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Weapons Complex Reconfiguration. The physical security systems in the new and upgraded facilities being considered for the WCR had to meet DOE orders and other requirements set forth in the WCR Programmatic Design Criteria (PDC), incorporate the latest physical security technologies using proven state-of-the-art systems and meet fundamental security principles. The outcome was to avoid costly retrofits and provide effective and comprehensive protection against current and projected threats with minimal impact on operations, costs and schedule. Physical security requirements for WCR facilities include: (1) reducing S ampersand S life-cycle costs, (2) where feasible automating S ampersand S functions to minimize operational costs, access to critical assets and exposure of people to hazardous environments, (3) increasing the amount of delay to outsider adversary attack, (4) compartmentalizing the facility to minimize the number of personnel requiring access to critical areas and (5) having reliable and maintainable systems. To be most effective against threats physical security must be integrated with facility operations, safety and other S ampersand S activities, such as material control and accountability, nuclear measurements and computer and information security. This paper will discuss the S ampersand S issues, requirements, technology opportunities and needs. Physical security technologies and systems considered in the design effort of the Weapons Complex Reconfiguration facilities will be reviewed

A 16-channel reconfigurable OCDMA/DWDM system using continuous phase-shift SSFBGs

OpenAIRE

Chun, Tian; Zhang, Zhaowei; Ibsen, M.; Petropoulos, P.; Richardson, D.J.

2007-01-01

We demonstrate a reconfigurable 16-channel optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA)/dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system (4 OCDMA times 4 DWDM times 625 Mb/s) based on novel 31-chip, 40 Gchip/s quaternary phase coding gratings operating at a channel spacing of just 50 GHz. The system performance is studied for cases of both fixed and code-reconfigurable decoders. Error-free performance is achieved in both cases and for all 16 channels.

Optimal reconfiguration-based dynamic tariff for congestion management and line loss reduction in distribution networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Shaojun; Wu, Qiuwei; Cheng, Lin

2016-01-01

This paper presents an optimal reconfiguration-based dynamic tariff (DT) method for congestion management and line loss reduction in distribution networks with high penetration of electric vehicles. In the proposed DT concept, feeder reconfiguration (FR) is employed through mixed integer programm...

76 FR 1660 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Reconfiguring an African...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-11

... Determinations: ``Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists From Three... ``Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents... that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY...

Design of a novel parallel reconfigurable machine tool

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Modungwa, D

2008-06-01

Full Text Available of meeting the demands for high mechanical dexterity adaptation as well as high stiffness necessary for mould and die re-conditioning. This paper presents, the design of parallel reconfigurable machine tool (PRMT) based on both application...

A Reconfigurable Buck, Boost, and Buck-Boost Converter: Unified Model and Robust Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martín Antonio Rodríguez Licea

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The need for reconfigurable, high power density, and low-cost configurations of DC-DC power electronic converters (PEC in areas such as the transport electrification and the use of renewable energy has spread out the requirement to incorporate in a single circuit several topologies, which generally result in an increment of complexity about the modeling, control, and stability analyses. In this paper, a reconfigurable topology is presented which can be applied in alterative/changing power conversion scenarios and consists of a reconfigurable Buck, Boost, and Buck-Boost DC-DC converter (RBBC. A unified averaged model of the RBBC is obtained, a robust controller is designed through a polytopic representation, and a Lyapunov based switched stability analysis of the closed-loop system is presented. The reported RBBC provides a wide range of voltage operation, theoretically from -∞ to ∞ volts with a single power source. Robust stability, even under arbitrarily fast (bounded parameter variations and reconfiguration changes, is reported including numerical and experimental results. The main advantages of the converter and the robust controller proposed are simple design, robustness against abrupt changes in the parameters, and low cost.

A reconfigurable analog baseband circuit for WLAN, WCDMA, and Bluetooth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tong Tao; Chi Baoyong; Wang Ziqiang; Zhang Ying; Jiang Hanjun; Wang Zhihua

2010-01-01

A reconfigurable analog baseband circuit for WLAN, WCDMA, and Bluetooth in 0.35 μm CMOS is presented. The circuit consists of two variable gain amplifiers (VGA) in cascade and a G m -C elliptic low-pass filter (LPF). The filter-order and the cut-off frequency of the LPF can be reconfigured to satisfy the requirements of various applications. In order to achieve the optimum power consumption, the bandwidth of the VGAs can also be dynamically reconfigured and some G m cells can be cut off in the given application. Simulation results show that the analog baseband circuit consumes 16.8 mW for WLAN, 8.9 mW for WCDMA and only 6.5 mW for Bluetooth, all with a 3 V power supply. The analog baseband circuit could provide -10 to +40 dB variable gain, third-order low pass filtering with 1 MHz cut-off frequency for Bluetooth, fourth-order low pass filtering with 2.2 MHz cut-off frequency for WCDMA, and fifth-order low pass filtering with 11 MHz cut-off frequency for WLAN, respectively. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

A reconfigurable analog baseband circuit for WLAN, WCDMA, and Bluetooth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tong Tao; Chi Baoyong; Wang Ziqiang; Zhang Ying; Jiang Hanjun; Wang Zhihua, E-mail: tongt05@gmail.co [Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2010-05-15

A reconfigurable analog baseband circuit for WLAN, WCDMA, and Bluetooth in 0.35 {mu}m CMOS is presented. The circuit consists of two variable gain amplifiers (VGA) in cascade and a G{sub m}-C elliptic low-pass filter (LPF). The filter-order and the cut-off frequency of the LPF can be reconfigured to satisfy the requirements of various applications. In order to achieve the optimum power consumption, the bandwidth of the VGAs can also be dynamically reconfigured and some G{sub m} cells can be cut off in the given application. Simulation results show that the analog baseband circuit consumes 16.8 mW for WLAN, 8.9 mW for WCDMA and only 6.5 mW for Bluetooth, all with a 3 V power supply. The analog baseband circuit could provide -10 to +40 dB variable gain, third-order low pass filtering with 1 MHz cut-off frequency for Bluetooth, fourth-order low pass filtering with 2.2 MHz cut-off frequency for WCDMA, and fifth-order low pass filtering with 11 MHz cut-off frequency for WLAN, respectively. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Reconfiguring grid-interfacing converters for power quality improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, F.; Duarte, J.L.; Hendrix, M.A.M.; Encica, L.; Gysen, B.L.J.; Jansen, J.W.; Krop, D.C.J.

2008-01-01

In this paper reconfiguration of grid-interfacing converters is proposed for power quality improvement. In addition to the traditional function of delivering energy between distributed sources and the utility grid, more flexible ancillary functions can be integrated into the control of

Automated Mobility Transitions: Governing Processes in the UK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debbie Hopkins

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Contemporary systems of mobility are undergoing a transition towards automation. In the UK, this transition is being led by (often new partnerships between incumbent manufacturers and new entrants, in collaboration with national governments, local/regional councils, and research institutions. This paper first offers a framework for analyzing the governance of the transition, adapting ideas from the Transition Management (TM perspective, and then applies the framework to ongoing automated vehicle transition dynamics in the UK. The empirical analysis suggests that the UK has adopted a reasonably comprehensive approach to the governing of automated vehicle innovation but that this approach cannot be characterized as sufficiently inclusive, democratic, diverse and open. The lack of inclusivity, democracy, diversity and openness is symptomatic of the post-political character of how the UK’s automated mobility transition is being governed. The paper ends with a call for a reconfiguration of the automated vehicle transition in the UK and beyond, so that much more space is created for dissent and for reflexive and comprehensive big picture thinking on (automated mobility futures.

Optically Controlled Reconfigurable Antenna Array Based on E-Shaped Elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arismar Cerqueira Sodré Junior

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This work presents the development of optically controlled reconfigurable antenna arrays. They are based on two patch elements with E-shaped slots, a printed probe, and a photoconductive switch made from an intrinsic silicon die. Numerical simulations and experiments have been shown to be in agreement, and both demonstrate that the frequency response of the antenna arrays can be efficiently reconfigured over two different frequency ISM bands, namely, 2.4 and 5 GHz. A measured gain of 12.5 dBi has been obtained through the use of two radiating elements printed in a low-cost substrate and a dihedral corner reflector.

Integrating DC/DC Conversion with Possible Reconfiguration within Submodule Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Peter Jen-Hung

This research first proposes a method to merge photovoltaic (PV) cells or PV panels within the internal components DC-DC converters. The purpose of this merged structure is to reconfigure the PV modules between series and parallel connections using high switching frequencies (hundreds of kHz). This leads to multi-levels of voltages and currents that become applied to the output filter of the converter. Further, this research introduces a concept of a switching cell that utilizes the reconfiguration of series and parallel connections in DC-DC converters. The switching occurs at high switching frequency and the switches can be integrated to be within the solar panels or in between the solar cells. The concept is generalized and applied to basic buck and boost topologies. As examples of the new types of converters: reconfigurable PV-buck and PV-boost converter topologies are presented. It is also possible to create other reconfigurable power converters: non-isolated and isolated topologies. Analysis, simulation and experimental verification for the reconfigurable PV-buck and PV-boost converters are presented extensively to illustrate proof of concept. Benefits and drawbacks of the new approach are discussed. The second part of this research proposes to utilize the internal solar cell capacitance and internal solar module wire parasitic inductances to replace the input capacitor and filter inductor in boost derived DC-DC converters for energy harvesting applications. High switching frequency (MHz) hard switched and resonant boost converters are proposed. Their analysis, simulation and experimental prototypes are presented. A specific proof-of-concept application is especially tested for foldable PV panels, which are known for their high internal wire inductance. The experimental converters successfully boost solar module voltage without adding any external input capacitance or filter inductor. Benefits and drawbacks of new proposed PV submodule integrated boost

Advantage of redundancy in the controllability of remote handling manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhammad, Ali; Mattila, Jouni; Vilenius, Matti; Siuko, Mikko; Semeraro, Luigi

2011-01-01

To carry out a variety of remote handling operations inside the ITER divertor a Water Hydraulic MANipulator (WHMAN) and its control system have been designed and developed at Tampere University of Technology. The manipulator is installed on top of Cassette Multifunctional Mover (CMM) to assist during the cassette removal and installation operations. While CMM is designed to carry heavy components such as cassettes through the service ducts relying on positioning accuracy and repeatability, WHMAN is designed to execute a mix of remote handling operations using position trajectories and master-slave telemanipulation. WHMAN is composed of eight joints: six rotational and two translational. Since a manipulator requires only six joints to acquire the desired position and orientation in operational-space, the two additional joints of WHMAN provide the redundant degrees of mobility. This paper presents how this redundancy of WHMAN can be an advantage to optimize the execution of remote handling tasks. The paper also discusses an effective way to practically exploit the redundancy. The results show that the additional degrees of freedom can be utilized to improve the dynamic behavior of the manipulator.

Architecture design of reconfigurable accelerators for demanding apllications.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jozwiak, L.; Jan, Y.

2010-01-01

This paper focuses on mastering the architecture development of reconfigurable hardware accelerators for highly demanding applications. It presents the results of our analysis of the main issues that have to be addressed when designing accelerators for demanding applications, when using as an

Wavelength-converted long-reach reconfigurable optical access network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tran, N.C.; Tangdiongga, E.; Koonen, A.M.J.

2012-01-01

Next generation optical access networks should not only increase the capacity but also be able to redistribute the capacity on the fly in order to manage more fluctuated traffic patterns. Wavelength reconfigurability is the instrument to enable such capability of network-wide bandwidth

Hardware/software virtualization for the reconfigurable multicore platform.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ferger, M.; Al Kadi, M.; Hübner, M.; Koedam, M.L.P.J.; Sinha, S.S.; Goossens, K.G.W.; Marchesan Almeida, Gabriel; Rodrigo Azambuja, J.; Becker, Juergen

2012-01-01

This paper presents the Flex Tiles approach for the virtualization of hardware and software for a reconfigurable multicore architecture. The approach enables the virtualization of a dynamic tile-based hardware architecture consisting of processing tiles connected via a network-on-chip and a

Reconfigurable support vector machine classifier with approximate computing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Leussen, M.J.; Huisken, J.; Wang, L.; Jiao, H.; De Gyvez, J.P.

2017-01-01

Support Vector Machine (SVM) is one of the most popular machine learning algorithms. An energy-efficient SVM classifier is proposed in this paper, where approximate computing is utilized to reduce energy consumption and silicon area. A hardware architecture with reconfigurable kernels and

A hybrid evolutionary algorithm for distribution feeder reconfiguration

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

the reconfiguration of distribution networks has been proposed by .... An effective strategy to increase the loading margin of heavily loaded feeders is to ... social animals such as a flock of birds, a school of fish or a group of people that pursue.

Personal Safety Triggering System on Android Mobile Platform

OpenAIRE

Ramalingam, Ashokkumar; Dorairaj, Prabhu; Ramamoorthy, Saranya

2012-01-01

Introduction of Smart phones redefined the usage of mobile phones in the communication world. Smart phones are equipped with various sophisticated features such as Wi-Fi, GPS navigation, high resolution camera, touch screen with broadband access which helps the mobile phone users to keep in touch with the modern world. Many of these features are primarily integrated with the mobile operatingsystem which is out of reach to public, by which the users can’t manipulate those features. Google came...

Preservation of correctness during system reconfiguration in Data Distribution Service for Real-Time Systems (DDS)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zieba, Bogumil; van Sinderen, Marten J.

This paper addresses dynamic reconfiguration of distributed systems that use a publish/subscribe (pub/sub) middleware. The objective of dynamic reconfiguration is to evolve incrementally from one system configuration to another at run-time in order to e.g., ensure the reliability of the system. The

Static Scheduling of Periodic Hardware Tasks with Precedence and Deadline Constraints on Reconfigurable Hardware Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ikbel Belaid

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Task graph scheduling for reconfigurable hardware devices can be defined as finding a schedule for a set of periodic tasks with precedence, dependence, and deadline constraints as well as their optimal allocations on the available heterogeneous hardware resources. This paper proposes a new methodology comprising three main stages. Using these three main stages, dynamic partial reconfiguration and mixed integer programming, pipelined scheduling and efficient placement are achieved and enable parallel computing of the task graph on the reconfigurable devices by optimizing placement/scheduling quality. Experiments on an application of heterogeneous hardware tasks demonstrate an improvement of resource utilization of 12.45% of the available reconfigurable resources corresponding to a resource gain of 17.3% compared to a static design. The configuration overhead is reduced to 2% of the total running time. Due to pipelined scheduling, the task graph spanning is minimized by 4% compared to sequential execution of the graph.

The development of mobile robot for security application and nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, B. S.; Lee, Y. B.; Choi, Y. S.; Seo, Y. C.; Park, Y. M

1999-12-01

The use of a mobile robot system in nuclear radioactive environments has the advantage of watching and inspecting the NPP safety-related equipment systematically and repairing damaged parts efficiently, thereby enhancing the safe operations of NPPs as well as reducing significantly personnel's dose rate to radioactive environment. Key technology achieved through the development of such robotic system can be used for security application and can offer new approaches to many of the tasks faced to the industry as well. The mobile robot system was composed of a mobile subsystem, a manipulator subsystem, a control subsystem, and a sensor subsystem to use in security application and nuclear radioactive environments. The mobile subsystem was adopted to synchro-drive method to improve the mobility of it. And the manipulator subsystem was developed to minimize the weight and easy to control at remote site. Finally, we developed the USB-based robot control system considering the expandability and modularity. The developed mobile robot for inspection and security was experimented for the collision avoidance and autonomous algorithm, and then it was confirmed that the mobile robot was very effective to the security application and inspection of nuclear facilities. (author)

The development of mobile robot for security application and nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, B. S.; Lee, Y. B.; Choi, Y. S.; Seo, Y. C.; Park, Y. M.

1999-12-01

The use of a mobile robot system in nuclear radioactive environments has the advantage of watching and inspecting the NPP safety-related equipment systematically and repairing damaged parts efficiently, thereby enhancing the safe operations of NPPs as well as reducing significantly personnel's dose rate to radioactive environment. Key technology achieved through the development of such robotic system can be used for security application and can offer new approaches to many of the tasks faced to the industry as well. The mobile robot system was composed of a mobile subsystem, a manipulator subsystem, a control subsystem, and a sensor subsystem to use in security application and nuclear radioactive environments. The mobile subsystem was adopted to synchro-drive method to improve the mobility of it. And the manipulator subsystem was developed to minimize the weight and easy to control at remote site. Finally, we developed the USB-based robot control system considering the expandability and modularity. The developed mobile robot for inspection and security was experimented for the collision avoidance and autonomous algorithm, and then it was confirmed that the mobile robot was very effective to the security application and inspection of nuclear facilities. (author)

Reconfiguring waveguide-gratings-based M-signature codecs to enhance OCDMA network confidentiality

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jen-Fa; Chen, Kai-Sheng; Lin, Ying-Chen; Li, Chung-Yu

2014-02-01

A reconfiguration scheme based on composite signature codes over waveguide-gratings-based optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) network coder/decoders (codecs) is proposed in the paper. By using central control node to monitor network traffic condition and reconfigure the composite signature codes made up of maximal-length sequence (M-sequence) component codes and random changing the signature codes assigned for each user to improve the confidentiality performance in an OCDMA system. The proposed scheme is analyzed with some practical eavesdroppers' attacks.

Mobile robots for the nuclear industry - A 1990 status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meieran, H.B.

1990-01-01

Mobile robots with and without manipulating arms have been available for use in radioactive environments for almost 30 yr. Their use commenced in the early 1960s with a family of mobile robots manufactured by the PAR Corporation (now the PAR division of CIMCORP). It was a tethered, two-tracked teleoperator-controlled vehicle that supported one master-slave manipulating arm. The durability of this device is continuing to be demonstrated by HERMAN, which is currently on standby availability at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to respond to emergency situations by supporting mitigating actions at scenes of incidents that involve the release of radioactive material. Mobile robots are being employed in a spectrum of locations in many reactors and other nuclear installations. This paper presents the current status of the use of mobile robots in the nuclear industry and describes currently contemplated missions, with examples, that are being or will be conducted on terrestrial surfaces, underwater, in pipeline locations, and through the air

Gallium-Based Room-Temperature Liquid Metals: Actuation and Manipulation of Droplets and Flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leily Majidi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Gallium-based room-temperature liquid metals possess extremely valuable properties, such as low toxicity, low vapor pressure, and high thermal and electrical conductivity enabling them to become suitable substitutes for mercury and beyond in wide range of applications. When exposed to air, a native oxide layer forms on the surface of gallium-based liquid metals which mechanically stabilizes the liquid. By removing or reconstructing the oxide skin, shape and state of liquid metal droplets and flows can be manipulated/actuated desirably. This can occur manually or in the presence/absence of a magnetic/electric field. These methods lead to numerous useful applications such as soft electronics, reconfigurable devices, and soft robots. In this mini-review, we summarize the most recent progresses achieved on liquid metal droplet generation and actuation of gallium-based liquid metals with/without an external force.

Proof of Concept of an Irradiance Estimation System for Reconfigurable Photovoltaic Arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincenzo Li Vigni

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In order to reduce the mismatch effect caused by non-uniform shadows in PV arrays, reconfigurable interconnections approaches have been recently proposed in the literature. These systems usually require the knowledge of the solar radiation affecting every solar module. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of three irradiance estimation approaches in order to define which can be well suited for reconfigurable PV arrays. It is presented a real-time solar irradiance estimation device (IrradEst, implementing the three different estimation methods. The proposed system is based on mathematical models of PV modules enabling to estimate irradiation values by sensing a combination of temperature, voltage and current of a PV module. Experimental results showed generally good agreement between the estimated irradiances and the measurements performed by a standard pyranometer taken as reference. Finally one of the three methods was selected as possible solution for a reconfigurable PV system.

Reconfigurable Computing As an Enabling Technology for Single-Photon-Counting Laser Altimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Wesley; Hicks, Edward; Pinchinat, Maxime; Dabney, Philip; McGarry, Jan; Murray, Paul

2003-01-01

Single-photon-counting laser altimetry is a new measurement technique offering significant advantages in vertical resolution, reducing instrument size, mass, and power, and reducing laser complexity as compared to analog or threshold detection laser altimetry techniques. However, these improvements come at the cost of a dramatically increased requirement for onboard real-time data processing. Reconfigurable computing has been shown to offer considerable performance advantages in performing this processing. These advantages have been demonstrated on the Multi-KiloHertz Micro-Laser Altimeter (MMLA), an aircraft based single-photon-counting laser altimeter developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with several potential spaceflight applications. This paper describes how reconfigurable computing technology was employed to perform MMLA data processing in real-time under realistic operating constraints, along with the results observed. This paper also expands on these prior results to identify concepts for using reconfigurable computing to enable spaceflight single-photon-counting laser altimeter instruments.

Fine-grain reconfigurable platform: FPGA hardware design and software toolset development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pappas, I; Kalenteridis, V; Vassiliadis, N; Pournara, H; Siozios, K; Koutroumpezis, G; Tatas, K; Nikolaidis, S; Siskos, S; Soudris, D J; Thanailakis, A

2005-01-01

A complete system for the implementation of digital logic in a fine-grain reconfigurable platform is introduced. The system is composed of two parts. The fine-grain reconfigurable hardware platform (FPGA) on which the logic is implemented and the set of CAD tools for mapping logic to the FPGA platform. A novel energy-efficient FPGA architecture is presented (CLB, interconnect network, configuration hardware) and simulated in STM 0.18 μm CMOS technology. Concerning the tool flow, each tool can operate as a standalone program as well as part of a complete design framework, composed by existing and new tools

Fine-grain reconfigurable platform: FPGA hardware design and software toolset development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pappas, I [Electronics and Computers Div., Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki (Greece); Kalenteridis, V [Electronics and Computers Div., Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki (Greece); Vassiliadis, N [Electronics and Computers Div., Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki (Greece); Pournara, H [Electronics and Computers Div., Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki (Greece); Siozios, K [VLSI Design and Testing Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi (Greece); Koutroumpezis, G [VLSI Design and Testing Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi (Greece); Tatas, K [VLSI Design and Testing Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi (Greece); Nikolaidis, S [Electronics and Computers Div., Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki (Greece); Siskos, S [Electronics and Computers Div., Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki (Greece); Soudris, D J [VLSI Design and Testing Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi (Greece); Thanailakis, A [Electronics and Computers Div., Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki (Greece)

2005-01-01

A complete system for the implementation of digital logic in a fine-grain reconfigurable platform is introduced. The system is composed of two parts. The fine-grain reconfigurable hardware platform (FPGA) on which the logic is implemented and the set of CAD tools for mapping logic to the FPGA platform. A novel energy-efficient FPGA architecture is presented (CLB, interconnect network, configuration hardware) and simulated in STM 0.18 {mu}m CMOS technology. Concerning the tool flow, each tool can operate as a standalone program as well as part of a complete design framework, composed by existing and new tools.

Reconfigurable intelligent sensors for health monitoring: a case study of pulse oximeter sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Jovanov, E; Milenkovic, A; Basham, S; Clark, D; Kelley, D

2004-01-01

Design of low-cost, miniature, lightweight, ultra low-power, intelligent sensors capable of customization and seamless integration into a body area network for health monitoring applications presents one of the most challenging tasks for system designers. To answer this challenge we propose a reconfigurable intelligent sensor platform featuring a low-power microcontroller, a low-power programmable logic device, a communication interface, and a signal conditioning circuit. The proposed solution promises a cost-effective, flexible platform that allows easy customization, run-time reconfiguration, and energy-efficient computation and communication. The development of a common platform for multiple physical sensors and a repository of both software procedures and soft intellectual property cores for hardware acceleration will increase reuse and alleviate costs of transition to a new generation of sensors. As a case study, we present an implementation of a reconfigurable pulse oximeter sensor.

A Design Method for Fault Reconfiguration and Fault-Tolerant Control of a Servo Motor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing He

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A design scheme that integrates fault reconfiguration and fault-tolerant position control is proposed for a nonlinear servo system with friction. Analysis of the non-linear friction torque and fault in the system is used to guide design of a sliding mode position controller. A sliding mode observer is designed to achieve fault reconfiguration based on the equivalence principle. Thus, active fault-tolerant position control of the system can be realized. A real-time simulation experiment is performed on a hardware-in-loop simulation platform. The results show that the system reconfigures well for both incipient and abrupt faults. Under the fault-tolerant control mechanism, the output signal for the system position can rapidly track given values without being influenced by faults.

Reconfigurable EVA Radio with Built-In Navigation Capability, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Intelligent Automation, Inc. and its sub-contractor, Purdue University, propose to develop a power-efficient miniaturized reconfigurable EVA radio system with...

An ultra-wideband pattern reconfigurable antenna based on graphene coating

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, YanNan; Yuan, Rui; Gao, Xi; Wang, Jiao; Li, SiMin; Lin, Yi-Yu

2016-11-01

An ultra-wideband pattern reconfigurable antenna is proposed. The antenna is a dielectric coaxial hollow monopole with a cylindrical graphene-based impedance surface coating. It consists of a graphene sheet coated onto the inner surface of a cylindrical substrate and a set of independent polysilicon DC gating pads mounted on the outside of the cylindrical substrate. By changing the DC bias voltages to the different gating pads, the surface impedance of the graphene coating can be freely controlled. Due to the tunability of graphene's surface impedance, the radiation pattern of the proposed antenna can be reconfigured. A transmission line method is used to illustrate the physical mechanism of the proposed antenna. The results show that the proposed antenna can reconfigure its radiation pattern in the omnidirectional mode with the relative bandwidth of 58.5% and the directional mode over the entire azimuth plane with the relative bandwidth of 67%. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61661012, 61461016, and 61361005), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi, China (Grant Nos. 2015GXNSFBB139003 and 2014GXNSFAA118283), Program for Innovation Research Team of Guilin University of Electromagnetic Technology, China, and the Dean Project of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Wireless Wideband Communication and Signal Processing, China.

A Workload-Adaptive and Reconfigurable Bus Architecture for Multicore Processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shoaib Akram

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Interconnection networks for multicore processors are traditionally designed to serve a diversity of workloads. However, different workloads or even different execution phases of the same workload may benefit from different interconnect configurations. In this paper, we first motivate the need for workload-adaptive interconnection networks. Subsequently, we describe an interconnection network framework based on reconfigurable switches for use in medium-scale (up to 32 cores shared memory multicore processors. Our cost-effective reconfigurable interconnection network is implemented on a traditional shared bus interconnect with snoopy-based coherence, and it enables improved multicore performance. The proposed interconnect architecture distributes the cores of the processor into clusters with reconfigurable logic between clusters to support workload-adaptive policies for inter-cluster communication. Our interconnection scheme is complemented by interconnect-aware scheduling and additional interconnect optimizations which help boost the performance of multiprogramming and multithreaded workloads. We provide experimental results that show that the overall throughput of multiprogramming workloads (consisting of two and four programs can be improved by up to 60% with our configurable bus architecture. Similar gains can be achieved also for multithreaded applications as shown by further experiments. Finally, we present the performance sensitivity of the proposed interconnect architecture on shared memory bandwidth availability.

The Effect of Velocity of Joint Mobilization on Corticospinal Excitability in Individuals With a History of Ankle Sprain.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Beth E; Piraino, Andrew; Lee, Ya-Yun; Smith, Jo Armour; Johnson, Sean; Davenport, Todd E; Kulig, Kornelia

2016-07-01

Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Background Joint mobilization and manipulation decrease pain and improve patient function. Yet, the processes underlying these changes are not well understood. Measures of corticospinal excitability provide insight into potential mechanisms mediated by the central nervous system. Objectives To investigate the differential effects of joint mobilization and manipulation at the talocrural joint on corticospinal excitability in individuals with resolved symptoms following ankle sprain. Methods Twenty-seven participants with a history of ankle sprain were randomly assigned to the control, joint mobilization, or thrust manipulation group. The motor-evoked potential (MEP) and cortical silent period (CSP) of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius were obtained with transcranial magnetic stimulation at rest and during active contraction of the tibialis anterior. The slopes of MEP/CSP input/output curves and the maximal MEP/CSP values were calculated to indicate corticospinal excitability. Behavioral measures, including ankle dorsiflexion and dynamic balance, were evaluated. Results A repeated-measures analysis of variance of the MEP slope showed a significant group-by-time interaction for the tibialis anterior at rest (P = .002) and during active contraction (P = .042). After intervention, the thrust manipulation group had an increase in corticospinal excitability, while the corticospinal excitability decreased in the mobilization group. The thrust manipulation group, but not other groups, also demonstrated a significant increase in the maximal MEP amplitude of the tibialis anterior after intervention. Conclusion The findings suggest that joint manipulation and mobilization have different effects on corticospinal excitability. The increased corticospinal excitability following thrust manipulation may provide a window for physical therapists to optimize muscle recruitment and subsequently movement. The trial was registered at

Using Simulated Partial Dynamic Run-Time Reconfiguration to Share Embedded FPGA Compute and Power Resources across a Swarm of Unpiloted Airborne Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kearney David

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We show how the limited electrical power and FPGA compute resources available in a swarm of small UAVs can be shared by moving FPGA tasks from one UAV to another. A software and hardware infrastructure that supports the mobility of embedded FPGA applications on a single FPGA chip and across a group of networked FPGA chips is an integral part of the work described here. It is shown how to allocate a single FPGA's resources at run time and to share a single device through the use of application checkpointing, a memory controller, and an on-chip run-time reconfigurable network. A prototype distributed operating system is described for managing mobile applications across the swarm based on the contents of a fuzzy rule base. It can move applications between UAVs in order to equalize power use or to enable the continuous replenishment of fully fueled planes into the swarm.

Designing Secure Systems on Reconfigurable Hardware

OpenAIRE

Huffmire, Ted; Brotherton, Brett; Callegari, Nick; Valamehr, Jonathan; White, Jeff; Kastner, Ryan; Sherwood, Ted

2008-01-01

The extremely high cost of custom ASIC fabrication makes FPGAs an attractive alternative for deployment of custom hardware. Embedded systems based on reconfigurable hardware integrate many functions onto a single device. Since embedded designers often have no choice but to use soft IP cores obtained from third parties, the cores operate at different trust levels, resulting in mixed trust designs. The goal of this project is to evaluate recently proposed security primitives for reconfigurab...

Reconfigurable antenna using plasma reflector

Science.gov (United States)

Jusoh, Mohd Taufik; Ahmad, Khairol Amali; Din, Muhammad Faiz Md; Hashim, Fakroul Ridzuan

2018-02-01

This paper presents the feasibility study and design of plasma implementation in industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) communication band. A reflector antenna with rounded shaped is proposed to collimate beam in particular direction radiated by a quarter wave antenna operating at 2.4GHz. The simulations result has shown that by using plasma as the reflector elements, the gain, directivity and radiation patterns are identical with metal elements with only small different in the broadside direction. The versatility of the antenna is achievable by introducing electrical reconfigurable option to change the beam pattern.

Management of chronic ankle pain using joint mobilization and ASTYM® treatment: a case report

OpenAIRE

Slaven, Emily J; Mathers, Jessie

2011-01-01

Treatment of ankle sprains predominately focuses on the acute management of this condition; less emphasis is placed on the treatment of ankle sprains in the chronic phase of recovery. Manual therapy, in the form of joint mobilization and manipulation, has been shown to be effective in the management of this condition, but the combination of joint mobilization and manipulation in tandem with ASTYM® treatment has not been explored. The purpose of this case report is to chronicle the management ...

Mobile technologies and the spatiotemporal configurations of institutional practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shklovski, Irina; Troshynski, Emily; Dourish, Paul

2015-01-01

are specifically concerned with what happens to institutional roles, power relationships, and decision-making processes when a particular type of information—that of spatiotemporal location of people—is made into a technologically tradable object through the use of location-based systems. We examine...... in which broad adoption of location-based and mobile technologies has the capacity to radically reconfigure the spatiotemporal arrangement of institutional processes. The presence of digital location traces creates new forms of institutional accountability, facilitates a shift in the understood relation...... between location and action, and necessitates new models of interpretation and sense making in practice....

Performance Analysis of Generating Function Approach for Optimal Reconfiguration of Formation Flying

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kwangwon Lee

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The use of generating functions for solving optimal rendezvous problems has an advantage in the sense that it does not require one to guess and iterate the initial costate. This paper presents how to apply generating functions to analyze spacecraft optimal reconfiguration between projected circular orbits. The series-based solution obtained by using generating functions demonstrates excellent convergence and approximation to the nonlinear reference solution obtained from a numerical shooting method. These favorable properties are expected to hold for analyzing optimal formation reconfiguration under perturbations and non-circular reference orbits.

A new reconfiguration scheme for voltage stability enhancement of radial distribution systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arun, M.; Aravindhababu, P.

2009-01-01

Network reconfiguration is an operation problem, which entails altering the topological structure of the distribution feeders by rearranging the status of switches in order to obtain an optimal configuration in order to minimise the system losses. This paper presents a new reconfiguration algorithm that enhances voltage stability and improves the voltage profile besides minimising losses without incurring any additional cost for installation of capacitors, tap changing transformers and related switching equipment in the distribution system. Test results on a 69 node distribution system reveal the superiority of this algorithm.

A Reconfigurable Buck, Boost, and Buck-Boost Converter: Unified Model and Robust Controller

OpenAIRE

Licea, Martín Antonio Rodríguez; Pinal, Francisco Javier Perez; Gutiérrez, Alejandro Israel Barranco; Ramírez, Carlos Alonso Herrera; Perez, Jose Cruz Nuñez

2018-01-01

The need for reconfigurable, high power density, and low-cost configurations of DC-DC power electronic converters (PEC) in areas such as the transport electrification and the use of renewable energy has spread out the requirement to incorporate in a single circuit several topologies, which generally result in an increment of complexity about the modeling, control, and stability analyses. In this paper, a reconfigurable topology is presented which can be applied in alterative/changing power co...

Fully reconfigurable 2x2 optical cross-connect using tunable wavelength switching modules

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Fenghai; Zheng, Xueyan; Pedersen, Rune Johan Skullerud

2001-01-01

A modular tunable wavelength switching module is proposed and used to construct 2x2 fully reconfigurable optical cross-connects. Large size optical switch is avoided in the OXC and it is easy to upgrade to more wavelength channels.......A modular tunable wavelength switching module is proposed and used to construct 2x2 fully reconfigurable optical cross-connects. Large size optical switch is avoided in the OXC and it is easy to upgrade to more wavelength channels....

Uranium Mobility During In Situ Redox Manipulation of the 100 Areas of the Hanford Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Resch, C.T.; Szecsody, J.E.; Fruchter, J.S.; Cantrell, K.J.; Krupka, K.M.; Williams, M.D.

1998-01-01

A series of laboratory experiments and computer simulations was conducted to assess the extent of uranium remobilization that is likely to occur at the end of the life cycle of an in situ sediment reduction process. The process is being tested for subsurface remediation of chromate- and chlorinated solvent-contaminated sediments at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. Uranium species that occur naturally in the +6 valence state ∼(VI) at 10 ppb in groundwater at Hanford will accumulate as U(N) through the reduction and subsequent precipitation conditions of the permeable barrier created by in situ redox manipulation. The precipitated uranium will W remobilized when the reductive capacity of the barrier is exhausted and the sediment is oxidized by the groundwater containing dissolved oxygen and other oxidants such as chromate. Although U(N) accumulates from years or decades of reduction/precipitation within the reduced zone, U(W) concentrations in solution are only somewhat elevated during aquifer oxidation because oxidation and dissolution reactions that release U(N) precipitate to solution are slow. The release rate of uranium into solution was found to be controlled mainly by the oxidation/dissolution rate of the U(IV) precipitate (half-life 200 hours) and partially by the fast oxidation of adsorbed Fe(II) (half- life 5 hours) and the slow oxidation of Fe(II)CO 3 (half-life 120 hours) in the reduced sediment. Simulations of uranium transport that incorporated these and other reactions under site-relevant conditions indicated that 35 ppb U(VI) is the maximum concentration likely to result from mobilization of the precipitated U(IV) species. Experiments also indicated that increasing the contact time between the U(IV) precipitates and the reduced sediment, which is likely to occur in the field, results in a slower U(IV) oxidation rate, which, in turn, would lower the maximum concentration of mobilized U(W). A six-month-long column experiment confirmed that

Reconfigurable Magneto-Electric Dipole Antennas for Base Stations in Modern Wireless Communication Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Ge

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Magneto-electric (ME dipole antennas, with the function of changing the antenna characteristics, such as frequency, polarization, or radiation patterns, are reviewed in this paper. The reconfigurability is achieved by electrically altering the states of diodes or varactors to change the surface currents distributions or reflector size of the antenna. The purpose of the designs is to obtain agile antenna characteristics together with good directive radiation performances, such as low cross-polarization level, high front-to-back ratio, and stable gain. By reconfiguring the antenna capability to support more than one wireless frequency standard, switchable polarizations, or cover tunable areas, the reconfigurable ME dipole antennas are able to switch functionality as the mission changes. Therefore, it can help increase the communication efficiency and reduce the construction cost. This shows very attractive features in base station antennas of modern wireless communication applications.

Distributed reconfigurable control strategies for switching topology networked multi-agent systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallehdari, Z; Meskin, N; Khorasani, K

2017-11-01

In this paper, distributed control reconfiguration strategies for directed switching topology networked multi-agent systems are developed and investigated. The proposed control strategies are invoked when the agents are subject to actuator faults and while the available fault detection and isolation (FDI) modules provide inaccurate and unreliable information on the estimation of faults severities. Our proposed strategies will ensure that the agents reach a consensus while an upper bound on the team performance index is ensured and satisfied. Three types of actuator faults are considered, namely: the loss of effectiveness fault, the outage fault, and the stuck fault. By utilizing quadratic and convex hull (composite) Lyapunov functions, two cooperative and distributed recovery strategies are designed and provided to select the gains of the proposed control laws such that the team objectives are guaranteed. Our proposed reconfigurable control laws are applied to a team of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) under directed switching topologies and subject to simultaneous actuator faults. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed distributed reconfiguration control laws in compensating for the effects of sudden actuator faults and subject to fault diagnosis module uncertainties and unreliabilities. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Novel Class of Reconfigurable Spherical Fermat Spiral Multi-port Antennas

Science.gov (United States)

Caratelli, D.; Yarovoy, A.; Haider, N.

Reconfigurability in antenna systems is a desired characteristic that has attracted attention in the past years. In this work, a novel class of spherical Fermat spiral multi-port antennas for next-generation wireless communications and radar applications is presented. The device modelling is carried out by using a computationally enhanced locally conformal finite-difference time-domain full-wave procedure. In this way, the circuital characteristics and radiation properties of the antennas are investigated accurately. The structure reconfigurability, in terms of frequency of operation and radiation efficiency, is technically performed by a suitable solid-state tuning circuitry adopted to properly change the feeding/loading conditions at the input ports of the antenna.

Mobile robotics research at Sandia National Laboratories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morse, W.D.

1998-09-01

Sandia is a National Security Laboratory providing scientific and engineering solutions to meet national needs for both government and industry. As part of this mission, the Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center conducts research and development in robotics and intelligent machine technologies. An overview of Sandia`s mobile robotics research is provided. Recent achievements and future directions in the areas of coordinated mobile manipulation, small smart machines, world modeling, and special application robots are presented.

Enhanced situation awareness and decision making for an intelligent reconfigurable reactor power controller

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kenney, S.J.; Edwards, R.M.

1996-01-01

A Learning Automata based intelligent reconfigurable controller has been adapted for use as a reactor power controller to achieve improved reactor temperature performance. The intelligent reconfigurable controller is capable of enforcing either a classical or an optimal reactor power controller based on control performance feedback. Four control performance evaluation measures: dynamically estimated average quadratic temperature error, power, rod reactivity and rod reactivity rate were developed to provide feedback to the control decision component of the intelligent reconfigurable controller. Fuzzy Logic and Neural Network controllers have been studied for inclusion in the bank of controllers that form the intermediate level of an enhanced intelligent reconfigurable reactor power controller (IRRPC). The increased number of alternatives available to the supervisory level of the IRRPC requires enhanced situation awareness. Additional performance measures have been designed and a method for synthesizing them into a single indication of the overall performance of the currently enforced reactor power controller has been conceptualized. Modification of the reward/penalty scheme implemented in the existing IRRPC to increase the quality of the supervisory level decision process has been studied. The logogen model of human memory (Morton, 1969) and individual controller design information could be used to allocate reward to the most appropriate controller. Methods for allocating supervisory level attention were also studied with the goal of maximizing learning rate

Reconfigurable Braille display with phase change locking

Science.gov (United States)

Soule, Cody W.; Lazarus, Nathan

2016-07-01

Automatically updated signs and displays for sighted people are common in today’s world. However, there is no cheap, low power equivalent available for the blind. This work demonstrates a reconfigurable Braille cell using the solid-to-liquid phase change of a low melting point alloy as a zero holding power locking mechanism. The device is actuated with the alloy in the liquid state, and is then allowed to solidify to lock the Braille dot in the actuated position. A low-cost manufacturing process is developed that includes molding of a rigid silicone to create pneumatic channels, and bonding of a thin membrane of a softer silicone on the surface for actuation. A plug of Field’s metal (melting point 62 °C) is placed in the pneumatic channels below each Braille dot to create the final device. The device is well suited for low duty cycle operation in applications such as signs, and is able to maintain its state indefinitely without additional power input. The display requires a pneumatic pressure of only 24 kPa for actuation, and reconfiguration has been demonstrated in less than a minute and a half.

Management of chronic ankle pain using joint mobilization and ASTYM® treatment: a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Slaven, Emily J; Mathers, Jessie

2011-05-01

Treatment of ankle sprains predominately focuses on the acute management of this condition; less emphasis is placed on the treatment of ankle sprains in the chronic phase of recovery. Manual therapy, in the form of joint mobilization and manipulation, has been shown to be effective in the management of this condition, but the combination of joint mobilization and manipulation in tandem with ASTYM® treatment has not been explored. The purpose of this case report is to chronicle the management of a patient with chronic ankle pain who was treated with manual therapy including manipulation and ASTYM treatment. As a result of a fall down stairs 6 months previously, the patient sustained a severe ankle sprain. The soft tissue damage was accompanied by bony disruptions which warranted the patient spending 3 weeks in a walking boot. At the initial evaluation, the patient reported difficulty with descending stairs reciprocally and not being able to run more than 4 minutes on the treadmill before the pain escalated to the level that she had to stop running. After five sessions of therapy consisting of joint mobilization, manipulation and ASTYM, the patient was able to descend stairs and run 40 minutes without pain.

Spin Injection, Manipulation, and Detection, in InAs Nanodevices

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, G. M.; Jonker, B. T.; Bennett, B. R.; Meyer, J. R.; Twigg, M. E.; Reinecke, T. L.; Park, D.; Pereverzev, S. V.; Badescu, C. S.; Li, C. H.; Hanbicki, A. T.; van'terve, O.; Vurgaftman, I.

2008-03-01

In this talk the authors will discuss their progress using InAs heterostructures to produce spin-polarized injection and detection, as well as manipulation of coherent spin-polarized electrons for a spin-based FET (SpinFET). High-quality n-type InAs heterostructures demonstrate many favorable characteristics necessary to the study of spin dynamics, including 2DEG's with small effective mass (m* = 0.023) and large g-factor (g = -15). Previously, high-mobility InAs heterostructures have been demonstrated in which electrons pass ballistically over hundreds of nanometers up to room temperature. Our devices seek to exploit the strong Spin-Orbit effect present in InAs to manipulate coherent spin-polarized electrons during transport, by producing perpendicular electric field using isolated top-gates fabricated over the electron transport region.

Contention aware mobility prediction routing for intermittently connected mobile networks

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed; Ho, Pin-Han; Shihada, Basem

2013-01-01

This paper introduces a novel multi-copy routing protocol, called predict and forward (PF), for delay tolerant networks, which aims to explore the possibility of using mobile nodes as message carriers for end-to-end delivery of the messages. With PF, the message forwarding decision is made by manipulating the probability distribution of future inter-contact and contact durations based on the network status, including wireless link condition and nodal buffer availability. In particular, PF is based on the observations that the node mobility behavior is semi-deterministic and could be predicted once there is sufficient mobility history information. We implemented the proposed protocol and compared it with a number of existing encounter-based routing approaches in terms of delivery delay, delivery ratio, and the number of transmissions required for message delivery. The simulation results show that PF outperforms all the counterpart multi-copy encounter-based routing protocols considered in the study.

Contention aware mobility prediction routing for intermittently connected mobile networks

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed

2013-04-26

This paper introduces a novel multi-copy routing protocol, called predict and forward (PF), for delay tolerant networks, which aims to explore the possibility of using mobile nodes as message carriers for end-to-end delivery of the messages. With PF, the message forwarding decision is made by manipulating the probability distribution of future inter-contact and contact durations based on the network status, including wireless link condition and nodal buffer availability. In particular, PF is based on the observations that the node mobility behavior is semi-deterministic and could be predicted once there is sufficient mobility history information. We implemented the proposed protocol and compared it with a number of existing encounter-based routing approaches in terms of delivery delay, delivery ratio, and the number of transmissions required for message delivery. The simulation results show that PF outperforms all the counterpart multi-copy encounter-based routing protocols considered in the study.

Integrated Reconfigurable High-Voltage Transmitting Circuit for CMUTs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Llimos Muntal, Pere; Larsen, Dennis Øland; Jørgensen, Ivan Harald Holger

2014-01-01

-out and measurements are performed on the integrated circuit. The transmitting circuit is reconfigurable externally making it able to drive a wide variety of CMUTs. The transmitting circuit can generate several pulse shapes, pulse voltages up to 100 V, maximum pulse range of 50 V and frequencies up to 5 MHz. The area...

Analysis of reconfigurable assembly system framing systems in automotive industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md Zain Mohamad Zamri

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Current trend in automotive industry shows increasing demand for multiple models with lean production. Prior to that, automotive manufacturing systems evolved from mass production to flexible automation. Material handling systems and equipment in a single assembly line with multiple models require high investment but with low throughput thus making production cost relatively high. Current assembly process of side structure and undercarriage with downtime occurrence during assembly process affecting production performance (quality, cost and delivery. Manufacturing facilities should allow more flexibility and increase intelligence evolving toward novel reconfigurable assembly systems (RAS. RAS is envisaged capable of increasing factor flexibility and responsiveness by incorporating assembly jig, robot and framing, which could be next generation of world class automotive assembly systems. This project research proposes a new methodology of framework reconfigurable assembly systems principles in automotive framing systems i.e. enhance assembly process between side structure assembly and undercarriage assembly which a new RAS is capable to reconfigure the assembly processes of multiple model on a single assembly line. Simulation software (Witness will be used to simulate and validate current and proposed assembly process. RAS is expected to be a solution for rapid change in structure and for a responsively adjustable production capacity. Quality, cost and delivery are production key parameters that can be achieved by implementing RAS.

Rapidly reconfigurable high-fidelity optical arbitrary waveform generation in heterogeneous photonic integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Shaoqi; Qin, Chuan; Shang, Kuanping; Pathak, Shibnath; Lai, Weicheng; Guan, Binbin; Clements, Matthew; Su, Tiehui; Liu, Guangyao; Lu, Hongbo; Scott, Ryan P; Ben Yoo, S J

2017-04-17

This paper demonstrates rapidly reconfigurable, high-fidelity optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) in a heterogeneous photonic integrated circuit (PIC). The heterogeneous PIC combines advantages of high-speed indium phosphide (InP) modulators and low-loss, high-contrast silicon nitride (Si3N4) arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) so that high-fidelity optical waveform syntheses with rapid waveform updates are possible. The generated optical waveforms spanned a 160 GHz spectral bandwidth starting from an optical frequency comb consisting of eight comb lines separated by 20 GHz channel spacing. The Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) values of the generated waveforms were approximately 16.4%. The OAWG module can rapidly and arbitrarily reconfigure waveforms upon every pulse arriving at 2 ns repetition time. The result of this work indicates the feasibility of truly dynamic optical arbitrary waveform generation where the reconfiguration rate or the modulator bandwidth must exceed the channel spacing of the AWG and the optical frequency comb.

An energy-efficient high-performance processor with reconfigurable data-paths using RSFQ circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takagi, Naofumi

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► An idea of a high-performance computer using RSFQ circuits is shown. ► An outline of processor with reconfigurable data-paths (RDPs) is shown. ► Architectural details of an SFQ-RDP are described. -- Abstract: We show recent progress in our research on an energy-efficient high-performance processor with reconfigurable data-paths (RDPs) using rapid single-flux-quantum (RSFQ) circuits. We mainly describe the architectural details of an RDP implemented using RSFQ circuits. An RDP consists of a lot of floating-point units (FPUs) and operand routing networks (ORNs) which connect the FPUs. We reconfigure the RDP to fit a computation, i.e., a group of floating-point operations, appearing in a ‘for’ loop of programs for numerical computations by setting the route in ORNs before the execution of the loop. In the RDP, a lot of FPUs work in parallel with pipelined fashion, and hence, very high-performance computation is achieved

A Novel Reconfigurable Logic Unit Based on the DNA-Templated Potassium-Concentration-Dependent Supramolecular Assembly.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Chunrong; Zou, Dan; Chen, Jianchi; Zhang, Linyan; Miao, Jiarong; Huang, Dan; Du, Yuanyuan; Yang, Shu; Yang, Qianfan; Tang, Yalin

2018-03-15

Plenty of molecular circuits with specific functions have been developed; however, logic units with reconfigurability, which could simplify the circuits and speed up the information process, are rarely reported. In this work, we designed a novel reconfigurable logic unit based on a DNA-templated, potassium-concentration-dependent, supramolecular assembly, which could respond to the input stimuli of H + and K + . By inputting different concentrations of K + , the logic unit could implement three significant functions, including a half adder, a half subtractor, and a 2-to-4 decoder. Considering its reconfigurable ability and good performance, the novel prototypes developed here may serve as a promising proof of principle in molecular computers. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Practical, redundant, failure-tolerant, self-reconfiguring embedded system architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Klarer, Paul R.; Hayward, David R.; Amai, Wendy A.

2006-10-03

This invention relates to system architectures, specifically failure-tolerant and self-reconfiguring embedded system architectures. The invention provides both a method and architecture for redundancy. There can be redundancy in both software and hardware for multiple levels of redundancy. The invention provides a self-reconfiguring architecture for activating redundant modules whenever other modules fail. The architecture comprises: a communication backbone connected to two or more processors and software modules running on each of the processors. Each software module runs on one processor and resides on one or more of the other processors to be available as a backup module in the event of failure. Each module and backup module reports its status over the communication backbone. If a primary module does not report, its backup module takes over its function. If the primary module becomes available again, the backup module returns to its backup status.

The Robust Control Mixer Module Method for Control Reconfiguration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Z.; Blanke, M.

1999-01-01

into a LTI dynamical system, and furthermore multiple dynamical control mixer modules can be employed in our consideration. The H_{\\infty} control theory is used for the analysis and design of the robust control mixer modules. Finally, one practical robot arm system as benchmark is used to test the proposed......The control mixer concept is efficient in improving an ordinary control system into a fault tolerant one, especially for these control systems of which the real-time and on-line redesign of the control laws is very difficult. In order to consider the stability, performance and robustness...... of the reconfigurated system simultaneously, and to deal with a more general controller reconfiguration than the static feedback mechanism by using the control mixer approach, the robust control mixer module method is proposed in this paper. The form of the control mixer module extends from a static gain matrix...

Tradeoffs in process strategy games with application in the WDM reconfiguration problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cohen, Nathann; Coudert, David; Mazauric, Dorian

2011-01-01

We consider a variant of the graph searching games that models the routing reconfiguration problem in WDM networks. In the digraph processing game, a team of agents aims at processing, or clearing, the vertices of a digraph D. We are interested in two different measures: (1) the total number...... tradeoffs may happen even for a basic class of digraphs. On the other hand, we exhibit classes of graphs for which good tradeoffs can be achieved. We finally detail the relationship between this game and the routing reconfiguration problem. In particular, we prove that any instance of the processing game, i...

Epoxy resin-inspired reconfigurable supramolecular networks

OpenAIRE

Balkenende Diederik; Olson Rebecca; Balog Sandor; Weder Christoph; Montero de Espinosa Lucas

2016-01-01

With the goal to push the mechanical properties of reconfigurable supramolecular polymers toward those of thermoset resins we prepared and investigated a new family of hydrogen bonded polymer networks that are assembled from isophthalic acid terminated oligo(bisphenol A co epichlorohydrin) and different bipyridines. These materials display high storage moduli of up to 3.9 GPa can be disassembled upon heating to form melts with a viscosity of as low as 2.1 Pa·s and fully reassemble upon coolin...

Highly-Integrated, Reconfigurable, Large-Area, Flexible Radar Antenna Arrays, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Reconfigurable antennas are attractive for remote sensing, surveillance and communications, since they enable changes in operating frequency and / or radiation...

Microwave photonic filters using low-cost sources featuring tunability, reconfigurability and negative coefficients.

Science.gov (United States)

Capmany, José; Mora, José; Ortega, Beatriz; Pastor, Daniel

2005-03-07

We propose and experimentally demonstrate two configurations of photonic filters for the processing of microwave signals featuring tunability, reconfigurability and negative coefficients based on the use of low cost optical sources. The first option is a low power configuration based on spectral slicing of a broadband source. The second is a high power configuration based on fixed lasers. Tunability, reconfigurability and negative coefficients are achieved by means of a MEMS cross-connect, a variable optical attenuator array and simple 2x2 switches respectively.

An Interface for a Decentralized 2D Reconfiguration on Xilinx Virtex-FPGAs for Organic Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Schuck

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Partial and dynamic online reconfiguration of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs is a promising approach to design high adaptive systems with lower power consumption, higher task specific performance, and even build-in fault tolerance. Different techniques and tool flows have been successfully developed. One of them, the two-dimensional partial reconfiguration, based on the Readback-Modify-Writeback method implemented on Xilinx Virtex devices, makes them ideally suited to be used as a hardware platform in future organic computing systems, where a highly adaptive hardware is necessary. In turn, decentralisation, the key property of an organic computing system, is in contradiction with the central nature of the FPGAs configuration port. Therefore, this paper presents an approach that connects the single ICAP port to a network on chip (NoC to provide access for all clients of the network. Through this a virtual decentralisation of the ICAP is achieved. Further true 2-dimensional partial reconfiguration is raised to a higher level of abstraction through a lightweight Readback-Modify-Writeback hardware module with different configuration and addressing modes. Results show that configuration data as well as reconfiguration times could be significantly reduced.

The Reconfigured Body. Human-animal relations in xenotransplantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristofer Hansson

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The article explores issues concerning the reconfiguration of human and animal bodies in modern biotechnology. The examples are based on xenotransplantation: Transplantation of cells, tissue and organs from animals to humans. Three thematic issues that emerged from xenotransplantation research in Sweden in the 1990s and early 2000s are examined in the article. The first issue concerns how the pig was introduced as a donor animal in xenotransplantation and, at the same time, dehumanized in relation to what is human. Baboons and chimpanzees that had previously been used in xenotransplantation now became an ethically problematic choice, and were in stead humanized. The second issue concerns the introduction of transgenic and cloned pigs as commoditized objects. The biotechnological development reconfigured the pig’s cells, tissue and organs to become more human-like. The third issue concerns the risk that pigs contain retrovirus that could infect the transplanted patients. The human body became part of a network of both animal and retrovirus. Boundlessness between human and animal bodies appears in these three thematic phases and is analysed from a cultural perspective.

Optical microassembly platform for constructing reconfigurable microenvironment for biomedical studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodrigo, Peter John; Kelemen, Lóránd; Palima, Darwin

2009-01-01

Cellular development is highly influenced by the surrounding microenvironment. We propose user-reconfigurable microenvironments and bio-compatible scaffolds as an approach for understanding cellular development processes. We demonstrate a model platform for constructing versatile microenvironment...

Ultra-High Resolution Ion Mobility Separations Utilizing Traveling Waves in a 13 m Serpentine Path Length Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations Module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng, Liulin; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; Hamid, Ahmed M.; Garimella, Sandilya V. B.; Webb, Ian K.; Zheng, Xueyun; Prost, Spencer A.; Sandoval, Jeremy A.; Norheim, Randolph V.; Anderson, Gordon A.; Tolmachev, Aleksey V.; Baker, Erin S.; Smith, Richard D.

2016-09-20

We report the development and initial evaluation of a 13-m path length Structures for Lossless Manipulations (SLIM) module for achieving high resolution separations using traveling waves (TW) with ion mobility (IM) spectrometry. The TW SLIM module was fabricated using two mirror-image printed circuit boards with appropriately configured RF, DC and TW electrodes and positioned with a 2.75-mm inter-surface gap. Ions were effective confined between the surfaces by RF-generated pseudopotential fields and moved losslessly through a serpentine path including 44 “U” turns using TWs. The ion mobility resolution was characterized at different pressures, gaps between the SLIM surfaces, TW and RF parameters. After initial optimization the SLIM IM-MS module provided about 5-fold higher resolution separations than present commercially available drift tube or traveling wave IM-MS platforms. Peak capacity and peak generation rates achieved were 246 and 370 s-1, respectively, at a TW speed of 148 m/s. The high resolution achieved in the TW SLIM IM-MS enabled e.g., isomeric sugars (Lacto-N-fucopentaose I and Lacto-N-fucopentaose II) to be baseline resolved, and peptides from a albumin tryptic digest much better resolved than with existing commercial IM-MS platforms. The present work also provides a foundation for the development of much higher resolution SLIM devices based upon both considerably longer path lengths and multi-pass designs.

Environmental hardening of a mobile-manipulator system for nuclear environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, S.L.; Cable, T.; Tulenko, J.S.; Toshkov, S.; Sias, F.R. Jr.

1993-01-01

This research report discusses the radiation hardening of a commercially available mobile robot, the REMOTEC ANDROS. This hardening effort is culminating in the availability of a megarad hardened mobile platform to access areas in nuclear facilities with extremely high levels of radiation (0.1 to 1 Mrad). These radiation levels may be encountered both during routine repair and monitoring activities and accident situations. The project has completed a phase-I U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Innovative Research contract and is now in a phase-II effort with completion scheduled in early 1995. The research involves the evaluation of the material and electrical components of an ANDROS robot to determine the anticipated radiation hardness of the current production version and evaluation of the components that must be replaced or modified to harden the system to higher radiation levels. The work being reported is based on an evaluation of the complete list of all electronic, electrical, and mechanical parts used in the robot and includes initial experimental radiation evaluations performed at the University of Florida

Reconfigurable network systems and software-defined networking

OpenAIRE

Zilberman, N.; Watts, P. M.; Rotsos, C.; Moore, A. W.

2015-01-01

Modern high-speed networks have evolved from relatively static networks to highly adaptive networks facilitating dynamic reconfiguration. This evolution has influenced all levels of network design and management, introducing increased programmability and configuration flexibility. This influence has extended from the lowest level of physical hardware interfaces to the highest level of network management by software. A key representative of this evolution is the emergence of software-defined n...

Evaluation of a reconfigurable portable instrument for copper determination based on luminescent carbon dots.

Science.gov (United States)

Salinas-Castillo, Alfonso; Morales, Diego P; Lapresta-Fernández, Alejandro; Ariza-Avidad, María; Castillo, Encarnación; Martínez-Olmos, Antonio; Palma, Alberto J; Capitan-Vallvey, Luis Fermin

2016-04-01

A portable reconfigurable platform for copper (Cu(II)) determination based on luminescent carbon dot (Cdots) quenching is described. The electronic setup consists of a light-emitting diode (LED) as the carbon dot optical exciter and a photodiode as a light-to-current converter integrated in the same instrument. Moreover, the overall analog conditioning is simply performed with one integrated solution, a field-programmable analog array (FPAA), which makes it possible to reconfigure the filter and gain stages in real time. This feature provides adaptability to use the platform as an analytical probe for carbon dots coming from different batches with some variations in luminescence characteristics. The calibration functions obtained that fit a modified Stern-Volmer equation were obtained using luminescence signals from Cdots quenching by Cu(II). The analytical applicability of the reconfigurable portable instrument for Cu(II) using Cdots has been successfully demonstrated in tap water analysis.

Reconfiguration of sustainable thermoelectric generation using wireless sensor network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Min

2014-01-01

wireless sensor networks (WSNs), where remotely deployed temperature and voltage sensors as well as latching relays can be organized as a whole to intelligently identify and execute the optimal interconnection of TEM strings. A reconfigurable TEM array with a WSN controller and a maximum power point...

Towards Shop Floor Hardware Reconfiguration for Industrial Collaborative Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schou, Casper; Madsen, Ole

2016-01-01

In this paper we propose a roadmap for hardware reconfiguration of industrial collaborative robots. As a flexible resource, the collaborative robot will often need transitioning to a new task. Our goal is, that this transitioning should be done by the shop floor operators, not highly specialized...

Reconfigurable chaotic logic gates based on novel chaotic circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behnia, S.; Pazhotan, Z.; Ezzati, N.; Akhshani, A.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A novel method for implementing logic gates based on chaotic maps is introduced. • The logic gates can be implemented without any changes in the threshold voltage. • The chaos-based logic gates may serve as basic components of future computing devices. - Abstract: The logical operations are one of the key issues in today’s computer architecture. Nowadays, there is a great interest in developing alternative ways to get the logic operations by chaos computing. In this paper, a novel implementation method of reconfigurable logic gates based on one-parameter families of chaotic maps is introduced. The special behavior of these chaotic maps can be utilized to provide same threshold voltage for all logic gates. However, there is a wide interval for choosing a control parameter for all reconfigurable logic gates. Furthermore, an experimental implementation of this nonlinear system is presented to demonstrate the robustness of computing capability of chaotic circuits

A Novel Time Synchronization Method for Dynamic Reconfigurable Bus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Weigong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available UM-BUS is a novel dynamically reconfigurable high-speed serial bus for embedded systems. It can achieve fault tolerance by detecting the channel status in real time and reconfigure dynamically at run-time. The bus supports direct interconnections between up to eight master nodes and multiple slave nodes. In order to solve the time synchronization problem among master nodes, this paper proposes a novel time synchronization method, which can meet the requirement of time precision in UM-BUS. In this proposed method, time is firstly broadcasted through time broadcast packets. Then, the transmission delay and time deviations via three handshakes during link self-checking and channel detection can be worked out referring to the IEEE 1588 protocol. Thereby, each node calibrates its own time according to the broadcasted time. The proposed method has been proved to meet the requirement of real-time time synchronization. The experimental results show that the synchronous precision can achieve a bias less than 20 ns.

Self-sufficiency of an autonomous reconfigurable modular robotic organism

CERN Document Server

Qadir, Raja Humza

2015-01-01

This book describes how the principle of self-sufficiency can be applied to a reconfigurable modular robotic organism. It shows the design considerations for a novel REPLICATOR robotic platform, both hardware and software, featuring the behavioral characteristics of social insect colonies. Following a comprehensive overview of some of the bio-inspired techniques already available, and of the state-of-the-art in re-configurable modular robotic systems, the book presents a novel power management system with fault-tolerant energy sharing, as well as its implementation in the REPLICATOR robotic modules. In addition, the book discusses, for the first time, the concept of “artificial energy homeostasis” in the context of a modular robotic organism, and shows its verification on a custom-designed simulation framework in different dynamic power distribution and fault tolerance scenarios. This book offers an ideal reference guide for both hardware engineers and software developers involved in the design and implem...

The Structure and Dimensional Design of a Reconfigurable PKM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoqiang Tang

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Parallel Kinematic Machines (PKMs have many advantages and have been widely used in the machine industry. Benefitting from its modular structure, a PKM is more reconfigurable than traditional serial machines. In this paper, a new type of driving strut module and innovative joints are designed for the Reconfigurable Parallel Kinematic Machine (RPKM. The new driving strut module can be changed from linear drive mode to telescopic drive mode easily, and the new spherical joint and universal joint are designed to achieve a large rotation angle. The inverse kinematics problems in relation to the 6-DOF RPKM are analysed, and the Workspace Volume Index (WVI and the Global ConditionIndex (GCI are adopted to design the RPKM. According to the WVI and GCI analysis of the selected parameters for two types of 6-DOF PKM, the dimensional parameters of the RPKM are designed. In the end, the new type of RPKM prototype is built, with which a wax pattern is machined.

Highly Integrated, Reconfigurable, Large-Area, Flexible Radar Antenna Arrays, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Highly-integrated, reconfigurable radar antenna arrays fabricated on flexible substrates offer high functionality in a portable package that can be rolled up and...

Experimental Results of Novel DoA Estimation Algorithms for Compact Reconfigurable Antennas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henna Paaso

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Reconfigurable antenna systems have gained much attention for potential use in the next generation wireless systems. However, conventional direction-of-arrival (DoA estimation algorithms for antenna arrays cannot be used directly in reconfigurable antennas due to different design of the antennas. In this paper, we present an adjacent pattern power ratio (APPR algorithm for two-port composite right/left-handed (CRLH reconfigurable leaky-wave antennas (LWAs. Additionally, we compare the performances of the APPR algorithm and LWA-based MUSIC algorithms. We study how the computational complexity and the performance of the algorithms depend on number of selected radiation patterns. In addition, we evaluate the performance of the APPR and MUSIC algorithms with numerical simulations as well as with real world indoor measurements having both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight components. Our performance evaluations show that the DoA estimates are in a considerably good agreement with the real DoAs, especially with the APPR algorithm. In summary, the APPR and MUSIC algorithms for DoA estimation along with the planar and compact LWA layout can be a valuable solution to enhance the performance of the wireless communication in the next generation systems.

Basic Algorithms for the Asynchronous Reconfigurable Mesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yosi Ben-Asher

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Many constant time algorithms for various problems have been developed for the reconfigurable mesh (RM in the past decade. All these algorithms are designed to work with synchronous execution, with no regard for the fact that large size RMs will probably be asynchronous. A similar observation about the PRAM model motivated many researchers to develop algorithms and complexity measures for the asynchronous PRAM (APRAM. In this work, we show how to define the asynchronous reconfigurable mesh (ARM and how to measure the complexity of asynchronous algorithms executed on it. We show that connecting all processors in a row of an n×n ARM (the analog of barrier synchronization in the APRAM model can be solved with complexity Θ(nlog⁡n. Intuitively, this is average work time for solving such a problem. Next, we describe general a technique for simulating T -step synchronous RM algorithms on the ARM with complexity of Θ(T⋅n2log⁡n. Finally, we consider the simulation of the classical synchronous algorithm for counting the number of non-zero bits in an n bits vector using (k

Operating System for Runtime Reconfigurable Multiprocessor Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Göhringer

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Operating systems traditionally handle the task scheduling of one or more application instances on processor-like hardware architectures. RAMPSoC, a novel runtime adaptive multiprocessor System-on-Chip, exploits the dynamic reconfiguration on FPGAs to generate, start and terminate hardware and software tasks. The hardware tasks have to be transferred to the reconfigurable hardware via a configuration access port. The software tasks can be loaded into the local memory of the respective IP core either via the configuration access port or via the on-chip communication infrastructure (e.g. a Network-on-Chip. Recent-series of Xilinx FPGAs, such as Virtex-5, provide two Internal Configuration Access Ports, which cannot be accessed simultaneously. To prevent conflicts, the access to these ports as well as the hardware resource management needs to be controlled, e.g. by a special-purpose operating system running on an embedded processor. For that purpose and to handle the relations between temporally and spatially scheduled operations, the novel approach of an operating system is of high importance. This special purpose operating system, called CAP-OS (Configuration Access Port-Operating System, which will be presented in this paper, supports the clients using the configuration port with the services of priority-based access scheduling, hardware task mapping and resource management.

Dynamic multi-channel TMS with reconfigurable coil.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ruoli; Jansen, Ben H; Sheth, Bhavin R; Chen, Ji

2013-05-01

Investigations of the causal involvement of particular brain areas and interconnections in behavior require an external stimulation system with reasonable spatio-temporal resolution. Current transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technology is limited to stimulating a single brain area once in a given trial. Here, we present a feasibility study for a novel TMS system based on multi-channel reconfigurable coils. With this hardware, researchers will be able to stimulate multiple brain sites in any temporal order in a trial. The system employs a wire-mesh coil, constructed using x- and y-directional wires. By varying the current direction and/or strength on each wire, we can configure the proposed mesh-wire coil into a standard loop coil and figure-eight coil of varying size. This provides maximum flexibility to the experimenter in that the location and extent of stimulation on the brain surface can be modified depending on experimental requirement. Moreover, one can dynamically and automatically modify the site(s) of stimulation several times within the span of seconds. By pre-storing various sequences of excitation patterns inside a control unit, one can explore the effect of dynamic TMS on behavior, in associative learning, and as rehabilitative therapy. Here, we present a computer simulation and bench experiments that show the feasibility of the dynamically-reconfigurable coil.

A secure wireless mobile-to-server link

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Abhinav; Akopian, David; Agaian, Sos; Creutzburg, Reiner

2009-02-01

Modern mobile devices are some of the most technologically advanced devices that people use on a daily basis and the current trends indicate continuous growth in mobile phone applications. Nowadays phones are equipped with cameras that can capture still images and video, they are equipped with software that can read, convert, manipulate, communicate and save multimedia in multiple formats. This tremendous progress increased the volumes of communicated sensitive information which should be protected against unauthorized access. This paper discusses two general approaches for data protection, steganography and cryptography, and demonstrates how to integrate such algorithms with a mobile-toserver link being used by many applications.

Reconfigurable optical interconnection network for multimode optical fiber sensor arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, R. T.; Robinson, D.; Lu, H.; Wang, M. R.; Jannson, T.; Baumbick, R.

1992-01-01

A single-source, single-detector architecture has been developed to implement a reconfigurable optical interconnection network multimode optical fiber sensor arrays. The network was realized by integrating LiNbO3 electrooptic (EO) gratings working at the Raman Na regime and a massive fan-out waveguide hologram (WH) working at the Bragg regime onto a multimode glass waveguide. The glass waveguide utilized the whole substrate as a guiding medium. A 1-to-59 massive waveguide fan-out was demonstrated using a WH operating at 514 nm. Measured diffraction efficiency of 59 percent was experimentally confirmed. Reconfigurability of the interconnection was carried out by generating an EO grating through an externally applied electric field. Unlike conventional single-mode integrated optical devices, the guided mode demonstrated has an azimuthal symmetry in mode profile which is the same as that of a fiber mode.

Providing Memory Management Abstraction for Self-Reconfigurable Video Processing Platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kurt Franz Ackermann

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a concept for an SDRAM controller targeting video processing platforms with dynamically reconfigurable processing units (RPUs. A priority-arbitration algorithm provides the required QoS and supports high bit-rate data streaming of multiple clients. Conforming to common video data structures the controller organizes the memory in partitions, frames, lines, and pixels. The raised level of abstraction drastically reduces the complexity of clients' addressing logic. Its uniform interface structure facilitates instantiations in systems with various clients. In addition to SDRAM controllers for regular applications, special demands of reconfigurable platforms have to be satisfied. The aim of this work is to minimize the number of required bus macros leading to relaxed place and route constraints and reducing the number of critical design paths. A suitable interface protocol is presented, and fundamental implementation issues are outlined.

Reconfigurable terahertz grating with enhanced transmission of TE polarized light

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. W. He

2017-07-01

Full Text Available We demonstrate an optically reconfigurable grating with enhanced transmission of TE-polarized waves in the terahertz (THz waveband. This kind of grating is realized by projecting a grating image onto a thin Si wafer with a digital micromirror device (DMD. The enhanced transmission is caused by a resonance of the electromagnetic fields between the photoexcited strips. The position of the transmission peak shifts with the variation of the period and duty cycle of the photoinduced grating, which can be readily controlled by the DMD. Furthermore, a flattened Gaussian model was applied to describe the distribution of the photoexcited free carriers in the Si wafer, and the simulated transmittance spectra are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results. In future, the photoexcited carriers could also be used to produce THz diffractive elements with reconfigurable functionality.

Toward a Reconfigurable MIMO Downlink Air Interface and Radio Resource Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kovacs, Istvan Zsolt; Luis, Garcia Ordonez; Ferrández, Miguel Navarro

2010-01-01

This article presents a reconfigurable multiple-input multiple-output air interface design combined with radio resource management algorithms applicable to multi-user MIMO transmission in downlink orthogonal frequency-division multiple access systems. A low-complexity, adaptive, and channel...... scheduling. System-level performance analysis, including the effects of limited and imperfect feedback from the terminals, shows that the SURFACE air interface provides an attractive practical solution for operations with high-rate adaptive MIMO transmission schemes in the context of next-generation wireless......-aware single-user and multi-user MIMO transmission solution is proposed based on the findings of the SURFACE European Commission funded research project. The resulting cross-layer design covers the reconfigurable air interface, and practical layer 1 and layer 2 RRM mechanisms for time-frequency packet...

Recent Developments of Reflectarray Antennas for Reconfigurable Beams Using Surface-Mounted RF-MEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Carrasco

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Some of the most recent developments in reconfigurable reflectarrays using surface-mounted RF-MEMS, which have been developed at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, are summarized in this paper. The results include reconfigurable elements based on patches aperture-coupled to delay lines in two configurations: single elements and gathered elements which form subarrays with common phase control. The former include traditional aperture-coupled elements and a novel wideband reflectarray element which has been designed using two stacked patches. The latter are proposed as a low cost solution for reducing the number of electronic control devices as well as the manufacturing complexity of large reflectarrays. The main advantages and drawbacks of the grouping are evaluated in both pencil and shaped-beam antennas. In all the cases, the effects of the MEMS switches and their assembly circuitry are evaluated when they are used in a 2-bit phase shifter which can be extended to more bits, demonstrating that the proposed elements can be used efficiently in reconfigurable-beam reflectarrays.

SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS: A reconfigurable analog baseband circuit for WLAN, WCDMA, and Bluetooth

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Tong; Baoyong, Chi; Ziqiang, Wang; Ying, Zhang; Hanjun, Jiang; Zhihua, Wang

2010-05-01

A reconfigurable analog baseband circuit for WLAN, WCDMA, and Bluetooth in 0.35 μm CMOS is presented. The circuit consists of two variable gain amplifiers (VGA) in cascade and a Gm-C elliptic low-pass filter (LPF). The filter-order and the cut-off frequency of the LPF can be reconfigured to satisfy the requirements of various applications. In order to achieve the optimum power consumption, the bandwidth of the VGAs can also be dynamically reconfigured and some Gm cells can be cut off in the given application. Simulation results show that the analog baseband circuit consumes 16.8 mW for WLAN, 8.9 mW for WCDMA and only 6.5 mW for Bluetooth, all with a 3 V power supply. The analog baseband circuit could provide -10 to +40 dB variable gain, third-order low pass filtering with 1 MHz cut-off frequency for Bluetooth, fourth-order low pass filtering with 2.2 MHz cut-off frequency for WCDMA, and fifth-order low pass filtering with 11 MHz cut-off frequency for WLAN, respectively.

Scheduling a Single Mobile Robot Incorporated into Production Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dang, Vinh Quang; Nielsen, Izabela Ewa; Steger-Jensen, Kenn

2013-01-01

to the challenges of issues such as energy conservation and pollution preventions. Facing the central tension between manufacturing and environmental drivers is difficult, but critical to develop new technologies, particularly mobile robots, that can be incorporated into production to achieve holistic solutions....... This chapter deals with the problem of finding optimal operating sequence in a manufacturing cell of a mobile robot with manipulation arm that feeds materials to feeders. The “Bartender Concept” is discussed to show the cooperation between the mobile robot and industrial environment. The performance criterion...

Radiation Resistant, Reconfigurable, Shape Memory Metal Rubber Space Arrays, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NanoSonic has demonstrated that Shape Memory Metal RubberTM (SM-MR) adaptive skins exhibit reconfigurable and durable RF properties. It is hypothesized that such...

Reconfigurable Boolean logic using magnetic single-electron transistors

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gonzalez-Zalba, M.F.; Ciccarelli, C.; Zarbo, Liviu; Irvine, A.C.; Campion, R.C.; Gallagher, B. L.; Jungwirth, Tomáš; Ferguson, A.J.; Wunderlich, Joerg

2015-01-01

Roč. 10, č. 4 (2015), e0125142 E-ISSN 1932-6203 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LM2011026; GA ČR GB14-37427G EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 268066 - 0MSPIN Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : single-electron transitor * reconfigurable logic * ferromagnetic semiconductor Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 3.057, year: 2015

Augmented reality as a design tool for mobile interfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bertelsen, Olav Wedege; Nielsen, Christina

2000-01-01

applications derived from the classification of augmented reality interfaces. The focus on physical interaction with objects of work and with the mobile device provides us with a range of interaction styles, based on e.g. gestures and manipulation of objects. Furthermore, issues of transparency and directness......This paper challenges user interface paradigms for mobile devices, by using the technical classification of augmented reality interfaces as a thinking tool to develop ideas for interaction with mobile devices. The paper presents future work scenarios from a wastewater treatment plant embodying PDA...... are addressed. The future scenarios indicate that the concepts of augmented reality support solving context problems in mobile design....

A fuzzy genetic approach for network reconfiguration to enhance voltage stability in radial distribution systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahoo, N.C.; Prasad, K.

2006-01-01

This paper presents a fuzzy genetic approach for reconfiguration of radial distribution systems (RDS) so as to maximize the voltage stability of the network for a specific set of loads. The network reconfiguration involves a mechanism for selection of the best set of branches to be opened, one from each loop, such that the reconfigured RDS possesses desired performance characteristics. This discrete solution space is better handled by the proposed scheme, which maximizes a suitable optimizing function (computed using two different approaches). In the first approach, this function is chosen as the average of a voltage stability index of all the buses in the RDS, while in the second approach, the complete RDS is reduced to a two bus equivalent system and the optimizing function is the voltage stability index of this reduced two bus system. The fuzzy genetic algorithm uses a suitable coding and decoding scheme for maintaining the radial nature of the network at every stage of genetic evolution, and it also uses a fuzzy rule based mutation controller for efficient search of the solution space. This method, tested on 69 bus and 33 bus RDSs, shows promising results for the both approaches. It is also observed that the network losses are reduced when the voltage stability is enhanced by the network reconfiguration

Structural Synthesis of 3-DoF Spatial Fully Parallel Manipulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfonso Hernandez

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the architectures of three degrees of freedom (3-DoF spatial, fully parallel manipulators (PMs, whose limbs are structurally identical, are obtained systematically. To do this, the methodology followed makes use of the concepts of the displacement group theory of rigid body motion. This theory works with so-called ‘motion generators’. That is, every limb is a kinematic chain that produces a certain type of displacement in the mobile platform or end-effector. The laws of group algebra will determine the actual motion pattern of the end-effector. The structural synthesis is a combinatorial process of different kinematic chains’ topologies employed in order to get all of the 3-DoF motion pattern possibilities in the end-effector of the fully parallel manipulator.

Securing optical code-division multiple-access networks with a postswitching coding scheme of signature reconfiguration

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jen-Fa; Meng, Sheng-Hui; Lin, Ying-Chen

2014-11-01

The optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) technique is considered a good candidate for providing optical layer security. An enhanced OCDMA network security mechanism with a pseudonoise (PN) random digital signals type of maximal-length sequence (M-sequence) code switching to protect against eavesdropping is presented. Signature codes unique to individual OCDMA-network users are reconfigured according to the register state of the controlling electrical shift registers. Examples of signature reconfiguration following state switching of the controlling shift register for both the network user and the eavesdropper are numerically illustrated. Dynamically changing the PN state of the shift register to reconfigure the user signature sequence is shown; this hinders eavesdroppers' efforts to decode correct data sequences. The proposed scheme increases the probability of eavesdroppers committing errors in decoding and thereby substantially enhances the degree of an OCDMA network's confidentiality.

Reconfigurable digital receiver design and application for instantaneous polarimetric measurement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Z.; Krasnov, O.A.; Babur, G.P.; Ligthart, L.P.; Van der Zwan, F.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the development of a reconfigurable receiver to undertake challenging signal processing tasks for a novel polarimetric radar system. The field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)-based digital receiver samples incoming signals at intermediate frequency (IF) and processes signals

Software-defined reconfigurable microwave photonics processor.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Daniel; Gasulla, Ivana; Capmany, José

2015-06-01

We propose, for the first time to our knowledge, a software-defined reconfigurable microwave photonics signal processor architecture that can be integrated on a chip and is capable of performing all the main functionalities by suitable programming of its control signals. The basic configuration is presented and a thorough end-to-end design model derived that accounts for the performance of the overall processor taking into consideration the impact and interdependencies of both its photonic and RF parts. We demonstrate the model versatility by applying it to several relevant application examples.

Experimental validation of tip over stability of a tracked mobile manipulator

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dube, C

2013-09-01

Full Text Available hanging wall (roof has to be inspected for loose rock that could potentially fall and cause injuries. This inspection is typically performed by a miner who is in constant danger while performing the task. The aim of the MSP project is to remove the miner... form danger by sending in a robot to perform the post-blast inspection. The platform will explore and create a map of the mine stope and it’s manipulator will then perform inspections of the hanging wall. An iRobot PackBot510 robot is currently being...

Towards automatic model based controller design for reconfigurable plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Axel Gottlieb; Stoustrup, Jakob; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh

2008-01-01

This paper introduces model-based Plug and Play Process Control, a novel concept for process control, which allows a model-based control system to be reconfigured when a sensor or an actuator is plugged into a controlled process. The work reported in this paper focuses on composing a monolithic m...

DSTATCOM allocation in distribution networks considering reconfiguration using differential evolution algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jazebi, S.; Hosseinian, S.H.; Vahidi, B.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Reconfiguration and DSTATCOM allocation are implemented for RDS planning. → Differential evolution algorithm is applied to solve the nonlinear problem. → Optimal status of tie switches, DSTATCOM size and location are determined. → The goal is to minimize network losses and to improve voltage profile. → The results show the effectiveness of the proposed method to satisfy objectives. -- Abstract: The main idea in distribution network reconfiguration is usually to reduce loss by changing the status of sectionalizing switches and determining appropriate tie switches. Recently Distribution FACTS (DFACTS) devices such as DSTATCOM also have been planned for loss reduction and voltage profile improvement in steady state conditions. This paper implements a combinatorial process based on reconfiguration and DSTATCOM allocation in order to mitigate losses and improve voltage profile in power distribution networks. The distribution system tie switches, DSTATCOM location and size have been optimally determined to obtain an appropriate operational condition. Differential evolution algorithm (DEA) has been used to solve and overcome the complicity of this combinatorial nonlinear optimization problem. To validate the accuracy of results a comparison with particle swarm optimization (PSO) has been made. Simulations have been applied on 69 and 83 busses distribution test systems. All optimization results show the effectiveness of the combinatorial approach in loss reduction and voltage profile improvement.

Development of a Multi-Arm Mobile Robot for Nuclear Decommissioning Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed J. Bakari

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns the design of a two-arm mobile delivery platform for application within nuclear decommissioning tasks. The adoption of the human arm as a model of manoeuvrability, scale and dexterity is the starting point for operation of two seven-function arms within the context of nuclear decommissioning tasks, the selection of hardware and its integration, and the development of suitable control methods. The forward and inverse kinematics for the manipulators are derived and the proposed software architecture identified to control the movements of the arm joints and the performance of selected decommissioning tasks. We discuss the adoption of a BROKK demolition machine as a mobile platform and the integration with its hydraulic system to operate the two seven-function manipulators separately. The paper examines the modelling and development of a real-time control method using Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID and Proportional-Integral-Plus (PIP control algorithms in the host computer with National Instruments functions and tools to control the manipulators and obtain feedback through wireless communication. Finally we consider the application of a third party device, such as a personal mobile phone, and its interface with LabVIEW software in order to operate the robot arms remotely.

W-Band Real-Time Transmission Utilizing a Reconfigurable RAU for NG-PON Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chorchos, Łukasz; Turkiewicz, Jarosław P.; Rommel, Simon

2016-01-01

In this article, we propose and test a reconfigurable Remote Access Unit (RAU) to interface optical and W-band wireless communication links (75–110 GHz), utilizing optical heterodyne signal upconversion. The RAU is composed of a tunable local oscillator, narrow optical filter and a control unit....... The RAU can be software-reconfigured to select a specific dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) channel. Real-time tests with 100 GHz spaced DWDM signals have been performed. Real-time 2.5 Gbit/s error free radio transmission in the 75 GHz to 95 GHz range of the W-band was achieved after 15 km...

GCPSO in cooperation with graph theory to distribution network reconfiguration for energy saving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Assadian, Mehdi; Farsangi, Malihe M.; Nezamabadi-pour, Hossein

2010-01-01

Network reconfiguration for loss reduction in distribution system is an important way to save energy. This paper investigates the ability of guaranteed convergence particle swarm optimization (GCPSO) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) in cooperation with graph theory for network reconfiguration to reduce the power loss and enhancement of voltage profile of distribution systems. Numerical results of three distribution systems are presented which illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method by GCPSO and PSO using the graph theory. To validate the obtained results, genetic algorithm (GA) using graph theory is also applied and is compared with the proposed GCPSO and PSO using graph theory.

Mobile teleoperator research at Savannah River Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byrd, J.S.

1985-01-01

A Robotics Technology Group was organized at Savannah River Laboratory to employ modern automation and robotics for applications at the Savannah River site. Several industrial robots have been installed in plant processes. Other robotics systems are under development in the laboratories, including mobile teleoperators for general remote tasks and emergency response operations. This paper discusses present work on a low-cost wheeled mobile vehicle, a modular light duty manipulator arm, a large gantry telerobot system, and a high technology six-legged walking robot with a teleoperated arm

Magnetic tagging of cell-derived microparticles: new prospects for imaging and manipulation of these mediators of biological information.

Science.gov (United States)

Vats, Nidhi; Wilhelm, Claire; Rautou, Pierre-Emmanuel; Poirier-Quinot, Marie; Péchoux, Christine; Devue, Cécile; Boulanger, Chantal M; Gazeau, Florence

2010-07-01

Submicron membrane fragments termed microparticles (MPs), which are released by apoptotic or activated cells, are newly considered as vectors of biological information and actors of pathology development. We propose the tagging of MPs with magnetic nanoparticles as a new approach allowing imaging, manipulation and targeting of cell-derived MPs. MPs generated in vitro from human endothelial cells or isolated from atherosclerotic plaques were labeled using citrate-coated 8 nm iron-oxide nanoparticles. MPs were tagged with magnetic nanoparticles on their surface and detected as Annexin-V positive by flow cytometry. Labeled MPs could be mobilized, isolated and manipulated at a distance in a magnetic field gradient. Magnetic mobility of labeled MPs was quantified by micromagnetophoresis. Interactions of labeled MPs with endothelial cells could be triggered and modulated by magnetic guidance. Nanoparticles served as tracers at different scales: at the subcellular level by electron microscopy, at the cellular level by histology and at the macroscopic level by MRI. Magnetic labeling of biogenic MPs opens new prospects for noninvasive monitoring and distal manipulations of these biological effectors.

Integrated reconfigurable multiple-input–multiple-output antenna system with an ultra-wideband sensing antenna for cognitive radio platforms

KAUST Repository

Hussain, Rifaqat

2015-06-18

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2015. A compact, novel multi-mode, multi-band frequency reconfigurable multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system, integrated with ultra-wideband (UWB) sensing antenna, is presented. The developed model can be used as a complete antenna platform for cognitive radio applications. The antenna system is developed on a single substrate area of dimensions 65 × 120 mm². The proposed sensing antenna is used to cover a wide range of frequency bands from 710 to 3600 MHz. The frequency reconfigurable dual-element MIMO antenna is integrated with P-type, intrinsic, N-type (PIN) diodes for frequency agility. Different modes of selection are used for the MIMO antenna system reconfigurability to support different wireless system standards. The proposed MIMO antenna configuration is used to cover various frequency bands from 755 to 3450 MHz. The complete system comprising the multi-band reconfigurable MIMO antennas and UWB sensing antenna for cognitive radio applications is proposed with a compact form factor.

Network topology exploration of mesh-based coarse-grain reconfigurable architectures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bansal, N.; Gupta, S.; Dutt, N.D.; Nicolau, A.; Gupta, R.

2004-01-01

Several coarse-grain reconfigurable architectures proposed recently consist of a large number of processing elements (PEs) connected in a mesh-like network topology. We study the effects of three aspects of network topology exploration on the performance of applications on these architectures: (a)

Cooling and manipulation of a levitated nanoparticle with an optical fiber trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mestres, Pau; Berthelot, Johann; Spasenović, Marko; Gieseler, Jan; Novotny, Lukas; Quidant, Romain

2015-01-01

Accurate delivery of small targets in high vacuum is a pivotal task in many branches of science and technology. Beyond the different strategies developed for atoms, proteins, macroscopic clusters, and pellets, the manipulation of neutral particles over macroscopic distances still poses a formidable challenge. Here, we report an approach based on a mobile optical trap operated under feedback control that enables cooling and long range 3D manipulation of a silica nanoparticle in high vacuum. We apply this technique to load a single nanoparticle into a high-finesse optical cavity through a load-lock vacuum system. We foresee our scheme to benefit the field of optomechanics with levitating nano-objects as well as ultrasensitive detection and monitoring

Design and Fabrication of a Reconfigurable MEMS-Based Antenna

KAUST Repository

Martinez, Miguel Angel Galicia

2011-01-01

According to the high gain obtained in a lossy silicon substrate and the compatibility of the custom MEMS process with the state of the art standard CMOS process, it is believed that the design of this antenna can lead to efficient and low cost reconfigurable millimeter-wave System-on-Chip (SoC) solution.

Available Resources for Reconfigurable Systems in 5G Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodríguez Páez, Juan Sebastián; Vegas Olmos, Juan José

2017-01-01

In this paper, the concept of a Radio-over-Fiber based Centralized Radio Access Network is explained and analyzed, in order to identify a set of resources within the network that can be used as a base in the design of reconfigurable systems. This analysis is then used to design a different reconf...

Grasping and Placing Operation for Labware Transportation in Life Science Laboratories using Mobile Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Myasar Ali

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In automated working environments, mobile robots can be used for different purposes such as material handling, domestic services, and objects transportation. This work presents a grasping and placing operation for multiple labware and tube racks in life science laboratories using the H20 mobile robots. The H20 robot has dual arms where each arm consists of 6 revolute joints with 6-DOF and 2-DOF grippers. The labware, which have to be manipulated and transported, contain chemical and biological components. Therefore, an accurate approach for object recognition and position estimation is required. The recognition and pose estimation of the desired objects are very essential to guide the robotic arm in the manipulation tasks. In this work, the problem statement of H20 transportation system with the proposed methodology are presented. Different strategies (visual and non-visual of labware manipulation using mobile robots are described. The H20 robot is equipped with a Kinect V2 sensor to identify and estimate the position of the target. The local features recognition based on SURF algorithm (Speeded-Up Robust Features is used. The recognition process is performed for the required labware and holder to perform the grasping and placing operation. A strategy is proposed to find the required holder and to check its emptiness for the placing tasks. Different styles of grippers and labware containers are used to manipulate different weights of labware and to realize a safe transportation. The parts of mobile robot transportation system are communicated with each other using Asynchronous socket Channels.

Compression Ratio Ion Mobility Programming (CRIMP) Accumulation and Compression of Billions of Ions for Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Using Traveling Waves in Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng, Liulin; Garimella, Venkata BS; Hamid, Ahmed M.; Webb, Ian K.; Attah, Isaac K.; Norheim, Randolph V.; Prost, Spencer A.; Zheng, Xueyun; Sandoval, Jeremy A.; Baker, Erin M.; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; Smith, Richard D.

2017-05-25

We report on the implementation of a traveling wave (TW) based compression ratio ion mobility programming (CRIMP) approach within Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) that enables both greatly enlarged trapped ion charge capacities and also their subsequent efficient compression for use in ion mobility (IM) separations. Ion accumulation is conducted in a long serpentine path TW SLIM region after which CRIMP allows the large ion populations to be ‘squeezed’. The compression process occurs at an interface between two SLIM regions, one operating conventionally and the second having an intermittently pausing or ‘stuttering’ TW, allowing the contents of multiple bins of ions from the first region to be merged into a single bin in the second region. In this initial work stationary voltages in the second region were used to block ions from exiting the first (trapping) region, and the resumption of TWs in the second region allows ions to exit, and the population to also be compressed if CRIMP is applied. In our initial evaluation we show that the number of charges trapped for a 40 s accumulation period was ~5×109, more than two orders of magnitude greater than the previously reported charge capacity using an ion funnel trap. We also show that over 1×109 ions can be accumulated with high efficiency in the present device, and that the extent of subsequent compression is only limited by the space charge capacity of the trapping region. Lower compression ratios allow increased IM peak heights without significant loss of signal, while excessively large compression ratios can lead to ion losses and other artifacts. Importantly, we show that extended ion accumulation in conjunction with CRIMP and multiple passes provides the basis for a highly desirable combination of ultra-high sensitivity and ultra-high resolution IM separations using SLIM.