This contribution presents a streamlined data pipeline to bring medical 3D scans onto Augmented Reality (AR) hardware. When a 3D scan is visualized on a 2D screen, depth information is lost and doctors have to rely on their experience to map the displayed data to the patient. Showing such a scan in AR addresses this problem, as one can view that scan in real 3D. To achieve this, the scan produced by a medical scanner has to be preprocessed by the user and brought onto the AR hardware. Usually, many manual steps are involved in achieving this, which require technical knowledge about the underlying software and hardware components and impede acceptance of this new technology by the target group, medical personnel. This work presents a streamlined pipeline for this process, leading to an enhanced user experience. The core component of the pipeline is a web application, to which a user can upload the direct output of a medical scanner. The scan can be interactively segmented by the user, after which both the scan and segment are stored on a server. Additionally, this paper introduces an AR application, which can be used to browse through patients and view their scans and previously created segments. We evaluate our streamlined data pipeline and AR application in a user study, reporting the results of a system usability questionnaire and a Thinking Aloud test.

An increasing share of power production from sun and wind energy in Europe led to an increasing interest in novel energy storage technologies. The production of hydrogen from electricity via electrolysis enables the conversion of electrical energy into chemical energy, which can be stored with high energy density, if further process steps are applied. The Fischer-Tropsch process is well-known for the production of diesel fuel from different fuel types. Within the present work, results of an experimental campaign with a laboratory-scale Fischer-Tropsch plant are illustrated. The described experimental campaign was executed to determine the performance of a diesel fuel production from biomass. Furthermore, the investigation included the integration of hydrogen from wind power promoting a combined power-to-gas and biomass-to-liquid process. As a result, the investigated process is aiming at the storage of wind energy by the use of a chemical process enabling high energy density. Therefore, extensive measurement data was collected illustrating the influence of load changes on the operated laboratory-scale Fischer-Tropsch plant. The experimental campaign showed that an increased gas stream feed, enabled by the addition of hydrogen from wind power, leads to an increased output of Fischer-Tropsch products. Furthermore, the executed experimental campaign proved the suitability of different catalysts with respect to fluctuating load changes.

In this paper a balancing cube is presented. Driven flywheels are used as actuators for the balancing control. The cube is additionally equipped with an IMU measuring the orientation and rotational velocity of the cube. The control is done on an embedded control system. Based on the kinematical and dynamical modelling, two methods for swing-up of the cube are presented. The first one makes use of pre-defined trajectories, while for the second one a time/energy optimal solution subject to technological constraints is performed. Proportional control laws based on velocities and orientation measurements are used for stabilization. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the test bench, experimental results are shown.

This paper treats the dynamical modeling of elastic robots. A structured way to do this is the usage of the Projection Equation in subsystem representation in combination with the Ritz approximation method for the structural elastic degrees of freedom. Typical subsystems for such robots contain a motor, an elastic gear, an elastic link and a tip mass. Also the effect of dynamical stiffening is treated in the subsystem formulation. A final projection into the minimal space leads to the equations of motion for the whole robot. This model is analyzed in detail regarding the choice of ansatz functions for the elastic degrees of freedom. Therefore, the eigenfrequencies resulting from a linearized model are compared when using different ansatz functions. Finally, the influence of dynamical stiffening w.r.t eigenfrequencies is discussed.

Ash components of biomass fuels can cause fouling, slagging, and bed material agglomeration during thermal utilization in fluidized bed combustion and gasification plants. The influence of ash components on these problems in dual fluidized bed biomass gasification plants is investigated in an industrial scale plant in Gussing, Austria. Samples of fouling are analyzed, and the results are evaluated. The samples were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence analysis and thermal analyses such as thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. Mass balances of inorganic matter are presented, evaluating different loop configurations. The analyses showed high potassium contents compared to the fuel ash composition in fouling of up to 23% by weight. The potassium content of fly ash with a particle size smaller than 200 μm is half that of coarse fly ash with a particle size larger than 200 μm. The thermal analyses showed a large difference between samples of inorganic strea...

High oil prices and peak oil, next to ecological aspects, increase the necessity of governmental support regarding the use of renewable energy resources. Biomass is a renewable energy source, which allows a sustainable utilization for several reasons. Its carbon dioxide neutrality and high availability in countries across Europe make economic usage of this source possible. Nowadays, biomass is used in rather conservative ways to produce heat and/or electric power. A more sophisticated way of using wood is transforming it into a secondary energy source by liquefaction and gasification. The product of the gasification process—considered in this paper—is a medium calorific product gas, which is nearly free of nitrogen and has a H2/CO ratio favourable for synthesis processes. Therefore, the product gas can be converted into a synthetic natural gas (BioSNG). In Gussing (Austria), the concept of a steam blown dual fluidized bed gasifier coupled to a catalytic conversion of the product gas to BioSNG could be proven successfully. A slipstream was used to run a demonstration unit with a capacity of 1 MW BioSNG. The resulting BioSNG exceeded the regulations for injection into the natural gas grid. The compressed BioSNG was stored in a fuelling station to supply CNG cars with energy. Thus, the applicability of using BioSNG in CNG cars was proven as well. The simulation software IPSEpro was used to model the overall system of gasification, gas cleaning, methanation and upgrading to BioSNG. The aim of this modelling work was to evaluate the optimization potential within the system and improve the economic and ecologic situation. Moreover, this tool will also be used to scale-up the process hereafter.

A highly sensitive method for measuring the activity of the enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO) independent of the type of substrate is described. The principle of the assay is to determine the amount hydrogen peroxide generated as a reaction product during oxidation of diamines by DAO. PSatto, a highly sensitive luminescence reagent, was used to generate a signal depending on the hydrogen peroxide concentration based on the action of horseradish peroxidase. DAO is specifically captured from a sample by an antibody immobilized to microwell plates, and the substrate is added to the bound enzyme. Various diamines were used as substrates; the peroxide produced is directly proportional to the amount of DAO bound to the specific antibodies. With this very sensitive method, it is possible to detect pmol amounts of generated hydrogen peroxide in plasma matrix corresponding to the biological activity of DAO.

A thermoelectric generator (TEG) produces electric power directly out of a heat flux across a certain temperature difference. This thermoelectric effect is based on interlinking effects of thermodynamic forces and fluxes (Seebeck and Peltier effect). Within the present work, a prototype unit using Bi2Te3 semiconductor elements is installed at the biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Gu¨ssing, Austria. Different operation points are examined according to a specific test program in order to find operating figures and describe the technical and economical potential of the TEG. A model of the TEG is implemented in the simulation software IPSEpro and verified with results from the experiments. Based on the model, the test plant is extrapolated to the size of possible demonstration plants for which electric output and energetic efficiency are calculated. For the entire CHP plant, the costs for retrofitting standard heat exchangers to TEGs are calculated and compared to the expected revenues from feeding the additional electricity into the grid. It can be concluded that the TEG gives way for new concepts and ideas but the expenses, especially with respect to the high material costs of the semiconductor, do not support a technically efficient and economically lucrative application of the TEG combined with decentralized heat and power production at present time.

Fluidized bed steam gasification of solid biomass yields a high quality producer gas, which can be used for efficient combined heat and power production (CHP) and as an intermediate product for chemical syntheses. In order to study the behavior of an 8 MW (fuel power) CHP plant, which has been in successful operation since 2001, a comprehensive model library has been developed for the equation-oriented process simulation software IPSEpro. The models are validated with measured data from the commercial scale plant. Because every model is based on the conservation of mass and energy, the simulation also allows the validation of measured data. By solution of a system describing the entire process, which uses measured data as input, a reference case for actual plant operation can be defined. In a next step, the behavior of the plant is studied during variations of selected parameters. Therefore, a model of the gasification reactor, which is able to describe the behavior during parameter variation, is necessary. It can be shown that fuel water content and gasification temperature significantly influence the global plant performance. The simulation predicts the efficiency of the existing power plant in optimized operation. Finally, part load behavior is investigated and a performance map of the CHP plant is presented. The results show that CHP-concepts based on fluidized bed steam gasification can reach high electric efficiencies and high overall fuel utilization rates even at small plant capacities of 10 MW fuel power.