Electronic Actuators Research Articles

Reduced graphene oxide paper as bimorphic electrical actuators

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) papers prepared by simple self-assembly process were used as electrode material for the fabrication of bimorphic electrical actuators. Initially, the structural studies of the rGO paper confirmed the formation of graphitic structure. The ionic gel electrolyte was prepared separately and used to couple the two rGO paper electrodes. This forms the tri-layered structure as an actuator, the displacement was measured by varying the applied potential with respect to time. The actuation properties were extended for both photon as well as electronic conducting gel electrolyte. The experimental results suggest that the flexible rGO paper can be used for electronic actuators.

Redox-Responsive Molecular Systems and Materials.

Redox reactions can alter the electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of molecules and their ensembles by adding or removing electrons. Here, the developments made over the past 10 years using molecular events are discussed, such as assembly/disassembly, transformation of ensembles, geometric changes, and molecular motions that are designed to be redox-responsive. Considerable progress has occurred in the application of these events to the realization of electronic memory, color displays, actuators, adhesives, and drug delivery. In these cases, systems behave in either a highly or a poorly correlated manner depending on the number of redox-active units involved, based on the method of integration. One of the great advantages of redox-responsive devices and materials is that they have the potential to be readily integrated into existing electronic technologies.

Preparation of organosilicate/PVDF composites with enhanced piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity by stretching

Organosilicate (OS)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composites containing 2 and 4 wt% OS were prepared by the melt-blending method. It was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy that OS was homogeneously distributed in the PVDF matrix. The results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and wide angle X-ray diffraction indicated that the incorporation of OS along with stretching treatment could effectively transform PVDF crystallization from the stable α phase to the most useful electroactive β phase. The interfacial interaction between PVDF and OS was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and zeta potential. The dielectric properties, AC conductivities, mechanical properties, Rockwell hardness, and thermal conductivity of resultant OS/PVDF composites have been measured. More importantly, the piezoelectric coefficient d33 and pyroelectric coefficient p of stretched OS/PVDF composites were enhanced significantly in comparison with the pure PVDF, making them promising materials for self-powered electronic systems, thermal detectors, sensors, and actuators.

A new shape memory alloy film/p-Si solar light four quadrant detector for solar tracking applications

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are promising materials for industrial and electronic actuators applications. The Cu-Al-Mn-Ni shape memory alloy was coated as a Schottky contact on p-Si substrate to fabricate a four quadrant sensor using a vacuum coating system. A front illuminated shape memory film-p-type silicon -based four-quadrant solar light Schottky sensor was fabricated using the various metal contact masks. The electrical and photoresponse properties of Cu-Al-Mn-Ni/p-Si diode were investigated. These properties of the diode were analyzed under in a wide range of frequencies and illumination intensities. The reverse current of the diode increases with increasing illumination intensities. This result confirms that the diode exhibits both photoconducting and photovoltaic behavior. The forward bias current of the diode increases exponentially with voltage confirming rectification behavior. Electronic parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance of the diode were determined from I-V characteristics and Cheung’s functions. The transient photocurrent, photocapacitance and photoconductance measurements indicate that the diode is very sensitive to illumination. Also, the admittance measurements of the diode exhibited a decrease in capacitance and increase in conductance with increasing frequency. The frequency dependence of capacitance and conductance is attributed to the presence of interface states. It is evaluated that Cu-Al-Mn-Ni/p-Si shape memory alloy film/p-Si based four quadrant detector can be used in solar tracking applications.

On Submodularity and Controllability in Complex Dynamical Networks

Controllability and observability have long been recognized as fundamental structural properties of dynamical systems, but have recently seen renewed interest in the context of large, complex networks of dynamical systems. A basic problem is sensor and actuator placement: choose a subset from a finite set of possible placements to optimize some real-valued controllability and observability metrics of the network. Surprisingly little is known about the structure of such combinatorial optimization problems. In this paper, we show that several important classes of metrics based on the controllability and observability Gramians have a strong structural property that allows for either efficient global optimization or an approximation guarantee by using a simple greedy heuristic for their maximization. In particular, the mapping from possible placements to several scalar functions of the associated Gramian is either a modular or submodular set function. The results are illustrated on randomly generated systems and on a problem of power electronic actuator placement in a model of the European power grid.

CFD 해석을 통한 인공호흡기 유량조절디스크의 압력 강하 성능개선

Cases of cardiac arrests due to cardiovascular ailments have increased recently., portable Current portable resuscitators which can be automatically supply oxygen operated by the pressure of supplied oxygen without manual or electronic actuators are now widely used in emergency worldwide. However, reductions in Pressure drop characteristics through the extended use of this type of resuscitator, however, is are not well-known described. This paper describes the reduction in pressure loss drop performance of the various holes in within the flow control disc of with various hole size of the portable resuscitators using on breathing resistance through the CFD simulation, and suggests the an optimum optimal design of the hole shapes for the minimization of alteration in order to minimize this pressure drops.

A smart orthopedic compression device based on a polymeric stress memory actuator

In current practice of compression therapy, there has been a challenge of compression controlling and need for multiple devices to achieve different functions. Herein, the potential of a thermal-sensitive memory polymer, namely, polyurethane (MPU), is explored in designing a prototype that acts as a flexible bandage system to provide dual benefits (heat and pressure) simultaneously for a desired compression. After preconditioning, the thermomechanical behavior of the MPU becomes repeatable and consistent, which can be programmed to remember (store) and retrieve reversibly a prescribed internal stress, responsive to an external stimulus around its transition temperature (Ttrans). The smart bandage system is then built using the MPU actuator which integrates electric resistive wires as both a heat source for thermal therapy and stimulus for trigger control. The compression can also be easily switched between static and dynamic (massage) modes using a pro-set thermal stimulus. This paper also addresses several challenging issues and design considerations for the prototype. Theoretical analyses have been applied to predict the device performance, showing excellent agreement with experimental results. This work sheds insights for broadening the applications of stress memory and for engineering smart products needing stimulus responsive forces such as dynamic cushions, pressure garment and electronic actuators.

Control System Development and Response Analysis of an Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle for Agricultural Pesticide Applications

The goal of this research project was to further the development of an electromechanically controlled variable-orifice nozzle by creating an electronic control system and then evaluating that system based on step and ramp inputs. The control system was developed in a programming environment that combined an electronic data acquisition system and actuator with pressure and flow sensors. A proportional, variable-gain (based on system pressure) control system was developed to adjust nozzle flow rates to meet target application rates. The constraints were to achieve settling time of less than 1.0 s, overshoot of less than 10% of maximum flow (or minimum flow), and average absolute steady-state error of less than 2%. After several trials, the resulting control system achieved these objectives for full steps from maximum and minimum flow rates (and vice versa) at carrier pressures from 140 to 410 kPa. Ramp response analyses revealed the maximum flow rate change (mL s -2 ) of the nozzle control system. Operation was considered successful if the average absolute error was less than 5% and the average absolute error +2Iƒ did not exceed 10% of the desired flow, thereby ensuring that the nozzle operated within specifications 95% of the time. An additional goal was to maintain nozzle response lag times of less than 1.0 s based on input rate changes in the form of ramp signal input frequencies. Lag times were found to be less than 0.5 s (±0.05 s) over the carrier pressure range at input frequencies of up to 0.2 Hz. Further, these results indicated that for each carrier pressure, a maximum rate change frequency of 0.07 Hz ensured that system errors were within the design requirements. Lag times at this frequency were less than 0.38 s for all carrier pressures tested. The range of rate change achieved by the nozzle control system ranged from 2.97 to 6.39 mL s -2 for carrier pressures of 140 to 414 kPa, respectively. Thus, as operating pressure increased, the nozzle was capable of compensating for greater changes in the desired flow rate. While the turndown ratios (~2.4:1) over the range of carrier pressures were essentially stable, flow rates increased with carrier pressure.

Fast-fabrication process for low environmental impact microsystems

In the context of building a sustainable future by reducing fossil energy consumption with the objective of minimizing detrimental climate change, particular attention was given to minimizing the complexity, energy consumption and environmental impact of microstructures manufacturing. In this work a new fast-fabrication process for microelectromechanical systems is presented. The name of this new fabrication process is KISSES for Keep It Short, Simple and Environmentally Sustainable. Combining classical deposition techniques (with common metals and polymers and with less common materials such as tree resins, paper and glue), release techniques and a computer numerical control cutting machine, a two-dimensional fabrication process has been developed and the first steps of three-dimensional microfabrication have also been initiated. In order to test this new process, various test structures have been fabricated and tested. These include resonant structures with electronic actuation and electronic measurement, having good quality factors for plastic-based devices, and high-resolution masks (∼10 μm) which can be used, for example, for screen-printing techniques. Finally, a temperature sensor and a viscosity sensor have been designed, fabricated with the KISSES process and characterized. These devices exhibit, respectively, a limit of detection of 0.112 °C and a viscosity estimation error of less than 10% for viscous silicone oils from 5 cP to 50 cP. These characterizations of the microdevices show that the proposed process provides a simple method that is capable of fabricating devices that function with high performance. The aim of developing a rapid, simple and environmentally sustainable process has therefore been demonstrated.

SCADA Based Automated Bottle Quality & Quantity Detection and Filling System by Using PLC

In this paper, we propose an automated bottle quality, quantity detection and filling system in a manufacturing department using a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and SCADA. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system. The main objective of the project has four processing stages. Firstly, detect the fault of the bottle by using optical sensor. In the second stage, remove the faulted bottle from the conveyer belt using electronic pusher. In the next stage, detect the quantity (size) of the bottle using proximity sensor. In the final stage, bottle filling process regarding size of the bottle. The quality and quantities of the physical system in the field is sensed by the sensors and fed as inputs to the PLC which in turn sent to PC through RS-232 for necessary processing. A PLC program is developed based on the signals received from the PLC input module, process the signals and send the output signals to the PLC output modules, which is programmed to actuate the necessary electronic actuator. The SCADA screens are developed regarding four processing stages on PC using Wonderware-Intouch SCADA software. The Allen Bradley micrologix 1000 PLC to be link up with the supporting SCADA Wonderware-Intouch 9.0 by giving necessary tag names. With the help of SCADA, simulation of the physical system is also developed to monitor the quantities to be measured and status of the equipment in the plant from field point.

Highly electrically conductive nanocomposites based on polymer-infused graphene sponges.

Conductive polymer composites require a threedimensional 3D network to impart electrical conductivity. A general method that is applicable to most polymers for achieving a desirable graphene 3D network is still a challenge. We have developed a facile technique to fabricate highly electrical conductive composite using vacuumassisted infusion of epoxy into graphene sponge GS scaffold. Macroscopic GSs were synthesized from graphene oxide solution by a hydrothermal method combined with freeze drying. The GSepoxy composites prepared display consistent isotropic electrical conductivity around 1Sm, and it is found to be close to that of the pristine GS. Compared with neat epoxy, GSepoxy has a 12ordersofmagnitude increase in electrical conductivity, attributed to the compactly interconnected graphene network constructed in the polymer matrix. This method can be extended to other materials to fabricate highly conductive composites for practical applications such as electronic devices, sensors, actuators, and electromagnetic shielding.

What Really Happens In The Home: The Medication Environment Of Urban, Minority Youth

To describe the asthma medication environment in the homes of urban minority youth, and to determine predictors of medication use, technique, and asthma control in this high risk population. Baseline data from two cohorts of minority youth with asthma in Chicago were combined for cross-sectional analysis. Bilingual research assistants (RAs) asked caregivers and children to self-report medications using pictures and observed children’s asthma medicines and inhaler technique. Adherence was determined using electronic actuation monitors and/or medication counters. The sample contained 162 mainly Latino (93%) youth ranging from 5-18 years old. Almost all were on public insurance (79%). Most had uncontrolled asthma (69% in last 4-weeks, 79% in last 12-months). Only 25% had a spacer, 78% had a quick relief medicine, and 49% had any controller. RA observations controllers showed good agreement with parent self-report (kappa=0.64) and child self-report (kappa=0.57). Children reported less parental help with medications (41%) than their parents (53%) (kappa=0.40). Only 6% of children with inhaled corticosteroids (n=54) took 4 doses/day. For the metered dose inhaler (n=141), 37% were able to properly demonstrate ≥ 6 correct steps; 33% did not actuate the medicine. Improved medication technique was associated with having an observed controller (p=0.05), having a spacer (p=0.01), more English spoken at home (p=0.02), and caregiver education level (p=0.01) but not with asthma control. This rigorous evaluation of the medication home environment of high risk youth demonstrated that many families lack critical medications, devices, technique, and adherence for proper medical management of asthma.

Optimal Sensor and Actuator Placement in Complex Dynamical Networks

Controllability and observability have long been recognized as fundamental structural properties of dynamical systems, but have recently seen renewed interest in the context of large, complex networks of dynamical systems. A basic problem is sensor and actuator placement: choose a subset from a finite set of possible placements to optimize some real-valued controllability and observability metrics of the network. Surprisingly little is known about the structure of such combinatorial optimization problems. In this paper, we show that an important class of metrics based on the controllability and observability Gramians has a strong structural property that allows efficient global optimization: the mapping from possible placements to the trace of the associated Gramian is a modular set function. We illustrate the results via placement of power electronic actuators in a model of the European power grid.

Multiplexed actuation using ultra dielectrophoresis for proteomics applications: a comprehensive electrical and electrothermal design methodology.

In this work, we present a methodological approach to analyze an enhanced dielectrophoresis (DEP) system from both a circuit analysis and electrothermal view points. In our developed model, we have taken into account various phenomena and constraints such as voltage degradation (due to the presence of the protecting oxide layer), oxide breakdown, instrumentation limitations, and thermal effects. The results from this analysis are applicable generally to a wide variety of geometries and high voltage microsystems. Here, these design guidelines were applied to develop a robust electronic actuation system to perform a multiplexed bead-based protein assay. To carry out the multiplexed functionality, along a single microfluidic channel, an array of proteins is patterned, where each element is targeting a specific secondary protein coated on micron-sized beads in the subsequently introduced sample solution. Below each element of the array, we have a pair of addressable interdigitated electrodes. By selectively applying voltage at the terminals of each interdigitated electrode pair, the enhanced DEP, or equivalently 'ultra'-DEP (uDEP) force detaches protein-bound beads from each element of the array, one by one, without disturbing the bound beads in the neighboring regions. The detached beads can be quantified optically or electrically downstream. For proof of concept, we illustrated 16-plex actuation capability of our device to elute micron-sized beads that are bound to the surface through anti-IgG and IgG interaction which is on the same order of magnitude in strength as typical antibody-antigen interactions. In addition to its application in multiplexed protein analysis, our platform can be potentially utilized to statistically characterize the strength profile of biological bonds, since the multiplexed format allows for high throughput force spectroscopy using the array of uDEP devices, under the same buffer and assay preparation conditions.

The warning glove – Development and evaluation of a multimodal action-specific warning prototype

This paper has two objectives: first, to introduce the concept of multimodal action-specific warnings and its prototypic realization in the form of a warning glove and second, to present the main findings of a user study that was conducted to test the warning glove against a conventional warning system. Regarding the first goal, the combination of multimodality and action-specificity was implemented by attaching electronic actuators on a right-handed glove for transmitting visual, auditory and tactile feedback. For the second objective, a user study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the warning glove is capable of obtaining faster responses and to determine the perceptions of the users regarding the appropriateness of the warning glove. The results confirmed the assumption of faster response times and participants perceived the warning glove to be ‘fairly appropriate’. These results warrant further development of this multimodal action-specific warning glove.

On the Integration of Electrical/Electronic Product Data in the Automotive Domain

The recent innovation of modern cars has mainly been driven by the development of new as well as the continuous improvement of existing electrical and electronic (E/E) components, including sensors, actuators, and electronic control units. This trend has been accompanied by an increasing complexity of E/E components and their numerous interdependencies. In addition, external impact factors (e.g., changes of regulations, product innovations) demand for more sophisticated E/E product data management (E/E-PDM). Since E/E product data is usually scattered over a large number of distributed, heterogeneous IT systems, application-spanning use cases are difficult to realize (e.g., ensuring the consistency of artifacts corresponding to different development phases, plausibility of logical connections between electronic control units). To tackle this challenge, the partial integration of E/E product data as well as corresponding schemas becomes necessary. This paper presents the properties of a typical IT system landscape related to E/E-PDM, reveals challenges emerging in this context, and elicits requirements for E/E-PDM. Based on this, insights into our framework, which targets at the partial integration of E/E product data, are given. Such an integration will foster E/E product data integration and hence contribute to an improved E/E product quality.

The Invention of the Car Horn Intelligent Display System

This article describes a system device capable of displaying a car outside sounds, the system device sound signals collected by the sound sensor , combined with the single-chip analytical processing Finally, LED lights, buzzer and other electronic actuator smart car external speaker sound source direction and strength of the drivers are able to accurately determine the rear of the vehicle the location and intentions, in order to take more appropriate driving route and speed, so that the operation of the vehicle more intelligent, is conducive to maintaining the smooth flow of traffic, more effective in reducing traffic accidents, to further improve automotive safety system, greatly improves the safety performance of vehicles.

Evaluating virtual reality and augmented reality training for industrial maintenance and assembly tasks

The current study evaluated the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) platforms, developed within the scope of the SKILLS Integrated Project, for industrial maintenance and assembly (IMA) tasks training. VR and AR systems are now widely regarded as promising training platforms for complex and highly demanding IMA tasks. However, there is a need to empirically evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness compared to traditional training methods. Forty expert technicians were randomly assigned to four training groups in an electronic actuator assembly task: VR (training with the VR platform twice), Control-VR (watching a filmed demonstration twice), AR (training with the AR platform once), and Control-AR (training with the real actuator and the aid of a filmed demonstration once). A post-training test evaluated performance in the real task. Results demonstrate that, in general, the VR and AR training groups required longer training time compared to the Control-VR and Control-AR groups, respectively. There were fewer unsolved errors in the AR group compared to the Control-AR group, and no significant differences in final performance between the VR and Control-VR groups, probably due to a ceiling effect created by the use of two training trials in the selected task for participants who were expert technicians. The results suggest that use of the AR platform for training IMA tasks should be encouraged and use of the VR platform for that purpose should be further evaluated.

Actuation of silicon pillar micro-mechanical resonators by Kelvin polarization force

Pillars resonators arrays are emerging as powerful sensors for their peculiar characteristics, namely high mass sensitivity, high active areas density and operation in liquid. On the other hand, their characteristic vertical geometry and fabrication strategy hinders a direct integration within integrated circuits. So far, the examples reported in literature are based on a bulk piezoelectric actuation and optical lever detection, which are not suitable for further integration. In this paper we report on the design, fabrication and characterization of Kelvin polarization force actuated pillar resonator. This work represents the first step toward a full integration of pillars with on-chip electronic actuation and detection.

Development of Intelligent Electric Vehicle for Study of Unmanned Autonomous Driving Algorithm

World-class automakers such as BMW, Audi, GM and even IT Company Google are giving much effort in developing unmanned autonomous vehicles. As it can be seen from IEEE report that 3 of every 4 vehicles in 2040 will be unmanned, the studies on future unmanned vehicles have become very important issues these days. This report proposes an intelligent electric vehicle, developed for unmanned autonomous driving algorithm study. This intelligent electric vehicle directly controls traditional steering device and acceleration/brake pedals through electrical signals with electronic actuators which were equipped at each component. Also, various sensors were utilized to recognize surrounding situations, obstacles, and road boundary instead of human. The obtained sensor data and vehicle state are used for performing of unmanned autonomous driving, evaluating the performance of intelligent vehicles.