Full Measurement Range Research Articles

An Improved Linearization Circuit Used for Optical Rotary Encoders

Abstract Optical rotary encoders generate nonlinear sine and cosine signals in response to a change of angular position that is being measured. Due to the nonlinear shape of encoder output signals, encoder sensitivity to very small changes of angular position is low, causing a poor measurement accuracy level. To improve the optical encoder sensitivity and to increase its accuracy, an improved linearization circuit based on pseudo-linear signal generation and its further linearization with the two-stage piecewise linear analog-to-digital converter is presented in this paper. The proposed linearization circuit is composed of a mixed-signal circuit, which generates analog pseudo-linear signal and determines the first four bits of the final digital result, and the two-stage piecewise linear analog-to-digital converter, which performs simultaneous linearization and digitalization of the pseudo-linear signal. As a result, the maximal value of the absolute measurement error equals to 3.77168·10−5 [rad] (0.00216°) over the full measurement range of 2π [rad].

Extending the Torque Calibration Range – Necessity and Outline of a Mathematical Approach

The current torque calibration range up to 1.1 MN·m is not any longer sufficient. The fast growing wind energy sector raised the demand for traceability of torque in the MN·m range over the last few years. To this end, a 5 MN·m torque transducer was acquired to extend the torque calibration range. Since the measuring device cannot be calibrated over its full measurement range, mathematical methods to forecast the behaviour of the torque transducer above 1.1 MN·m and their further development are presented.

Fast and full range measurements of ellipsometric parameters using a 45° dual-drive symmetric photoelastic modulator.

The fast and full range measurements of ellipsometric parameters ψ and Δ using a 45° dual-drive symmetric photoelastic modulator (PEM) are proposed. The PEM operates in a pure traveling modulation mode with a constant retardation magnitude and the modulation axis performing circular motion. A field programmable gate array is used to control the PEM and fulfill the data processing. The parameters sin 2ψ sinΔ, sin 2ψ cosΔ, and sin 2ψ can be measured simultaneously, providing accurate measurements of ψ and Δ over the full range. The experimental results show that the repeatability and sensitivity of this system are at 10-3°, and the data acquisition rate is 1 ms/point.

Depth Errors Analysis and Correction for Time-of-Flight (ToF) Cameras.

Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras, a technology which has developed rapidly in recent years, are 3D imaging sensors providing a depth image as well as an amplitude image with a high frame rate. As a ToF camera is limited by the imaging conditions and external environment, its captured data are always subject to certain errors. This paper analyzes the influence of typical external distractions including material, color, distance, lighting, etc. on the depth error of ToF cameras. Our experiments indicated that factors such as lighting, color, material, and distance could cause different influences on the depth error of ToF cameras. However, since the forms of errors are uncertain, it’s difficult to summarize them in a unified law. To further improve the measurement accuracy, this paper proposes an error correction method based on Particle Filter-Support Vector Machine (PF-SVM). Moreover, the experiment results showed that this method can effectively reduce the depth error of ToF cameras to 4.6 mm within its full measurement range (0.5–5 m).

Selection of MEMS Accelerometers for Tilt Measurements

In order to build a tilt sensor having a desired sensitivity and measuring range, one should select an appropriate type, orientation, and initial position of an accelerometer. Various cases of tilt measurements are considered: determining exclusively pitch, axial tilt, or both pitch and roll, where Cartesian components of the gravity acceleration are measured by means of low-g uni-, bi-, tri-, or multiaxial micromachined accelerometers. 15 different orientations of such accelerometers are distinguished (each illustrated with respective graphics) and related to the relevant mathematical formulas. Results of the performed experimental study revealed inherent misalignments of the sensitive axes of micromachined accelerometers as large as 1°. Some of the proposed orientations make it possible to avoid a necessity of using the most misaligned pairs of the sensitive axes; some increase the accuracy of tilt measurements by activating all the sensitive axes or reducing the effects of anisotropic properties of micromachined triaxial accelerometers; other orientations make it possible to reduce a necessary number of the sensitive axes at full measurement range. An increase of accuracy while using multiaxial accelerometers is discussed. Practical guidelines for an optimal selection of a particular micromachined accelerometer for a specific case of tilt measurement are provided.

Humidity-Sensing Properties of One-Step Hydrothermally Synthesized Tin Dioxide-Decorated Graphene Nanocomposite on Polyimide Substrate

This paper demonstrates the one-step hydrothermal synthesis of a tin dioxide (SnO2)-decorated reduced graphene oxide (RGO) hybrid nanocomposite, which was drop-casted on a polyimide substrate as a humidity sensor. The as-synthesized hybrid was characterized in terms of its nanostructural, morphological and compositional features by SEM, XRD and nitrogen sorption. The humidity sensing properties of the presented RGO/SnO2 hybrid nanocomposite, such as repeatability, stability, response-recovery characteristics, were investigated by exposing it to a broad humidity range of 11–97% RH at room temperature. As a result, the sensor demonstrated a high sensitivity, a good repeatability, an acceptable linearity, a fast response/recovery characteristic and high long-term stability over a full humidity range measurement, indicating the unique advantages of one-step hydrothermal synthesis for sensor fabrication. The possible and proposed sensing mechanism for the sensor is mainly attributed to a humidity-induced transfer of charge carriers occuring at the interfaces and the swelling effect of RGO.

Development of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and Immunoaffinity Column Chromatography for Saikosaponin d Using an Anti-Saikosaponin d Monoclonal Antibody.

This work developed a novel immunochemical approach for the quality control of saikosaponin d using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Splenocytes from mice immunized with the saikosaponin d-bovine serum albumin conjugate were fused with the hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine-sensitive mouse myeloma SP2/0 cell line, and a hybridoma secreting monoclonal antibody against saikosaponin d was successfully obtained. The prepared anti-saikosaponin d monoclonal antibody 1E7F3 has a novel characteristic, showing weak reactivity with compounds that are structurally related to saikosaponin d. Using monoclonal antibody 1E7F3, a specific and reliable enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to detect saikosaponin d. The system shows a full measurement range from 156.25 to 5000.00 ng × mL(-1). Both intra-assay and inter-assay repeatability and precision were achieved, with relative standard deviations lower than 10.00%. The recovery rates ranged from 92.36% to 101.00%, meeting the requirements for biological samples. There was a good correlation between the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and high-performance liquid chromatography analyses of saikosaponin d, and the saikosaponin d levels in formulated Chinese medicines were successfully determined. Furthermore, immunoaffinity column chromatography was established using this anti-saikosaponin d monoclonal antibody, and the elution profile of saikosaponin d was detected by a Bio-Rad QuadTec UV/Vis detector at 203 nm. The results demonstrate that we generated a reliable and more efficient assay system for measuring saikosaponin d and provide a potential approach for purifying and separating saikosaponin d.

An Annular Planar-capacitive Tilt Sensor with a 360° Measurement Range

A planar-capacitive tilt sensor with concentric annular electrodes is proposed for further expansion of inclination measurement range. Using dielectric liquid as a sensing pendulum, the proposed sensor can measure the inclination angle of an object with respect to gravity, such as a crane boom or a robot manipulator. The capacitance values of four segmented annular planar capacitors in sensor head vary with the rotation of the object. Such measurement mechanism remains effective even with a 360° rotation. In our lab, a tilt-sensor prototype was assembled with optimized sensor head and suitable dielectric liquid and its performance was evaluated on a tilted plane. Experimental results show that a full measurement range of 360° was achieved with an accuracy of 0.4° and a resolution better than 0.1°. Moreover, the proposed tilt sensor is easy to fabricate, and its components are available at a low cost.

Fabrication and characterization of an ultrasensitive humidity sensor based on metal oxide/graphene hybrid nanocomposite

This paper demonstrated a flexible humidity sensor based on tin dioxide/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposite film. The humidity sensor was fabricated on a polyimide substrate with microelectrodes by using a facile one-step hydrothermal route. The hydrothermal synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles and SnO2/RGO hybrid nanostructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The humidity sensing properties of the presented SnO2/RGO nano-hybrid sensor were investigated by exposing it to a broad humidity range of 11–97%RH at room temperature. Compared with traditional humidity sensors, the SnO2 modified graphene sensor demonstrated an ultrahigh sensitivity and a rapid response/recovery characteristic over a full humidity range measurement, highlighting the unique advantages of hydrothermal synthesis for sensors fabrication. Finally, the possible humidity sensing mechanism of the proposed sensor was discussed by using complex impedance spectra and bode diagrams. These observed results demonstrate that RGO modified with metal oxide is promising nanomaterials for constructing high performance humidity sensors in widespread applications.

Attosecond-Resolution Er:Fiber-Based Optical Frequency Comb**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 91336101 and 61127901, and the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant No 2013ZD02.

Highly stable frequency-controlled optical frequency combs are key elements of many applications in time-frequency and optical-metrology domains. In this work, we demonstrate a highly stable frequency-controlled erbium-fiber-based optical frequency comb system. Its repetition rate is phase-stabilized to a continuous-wave laser with both an intra-cavity electro-optic modulator and a piezo-transducer; while the carrier-envelope-offset frequency is phase-locked to a radio-frequency signal generator by controlling the pump power. In-loop relative frequency stabilities of the comb are below 1 × 10−16 at 1 s, and integrate down to low 10−20 level at 104 s. The corresponding timing uncertainties are 100–200 as over the full measurement range.

Design and verification of an ultra-precision 3D-coordinate measuring machine with parallel drives

An ultra-precision 3D coordinate measuring machine (CMM), the TriNano N100, has been developed. In our design, the workpiece is mounted on a 3D stage, which is driven by three parallel drives that are mutually orthogonal. The linear drives support the 3D stage using vacuum preloaded (VPL) air bearings, whereby each drive determines the position of the 3D stage along one translation direction only. An exactly constrained design results in highly repeatable machine behavior. Furthermore, the machine complies with the Abbé principle over its full measurement range and the application of parallel drives allows for excellent dynamic behavior. The design allows a 3D measurement uncertainty of 100 nanometers in a measurement range of 200 cubic centimeters. Verification measurements using a Gannen XP 3D tactile probing system on a spherical artifact show a standard deviation in single point repeatability of around 2 nm in each direction.

Temperature-compensated fibre Bragg grating ‐based sensor with variable sensitivity

In this paper a Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG)-based sensor device for strain measurement with adjustable full-scale sensitivity is proposed. Installation flanges of the sensor can be moved with respect to the internal fixed FBG sensing length in order to adjust the overall strain sensitivity and the full scale measurement range of the device. Thermal drift is compensated using a technique based on the thermal expansion of a solid block connected to the fibre, in the pre-stressed region outside the grating. Typical calibration curves are reported to illustrate the sensor sensitivity variation with the layout and temperature.

Phase noise measurement of wideband microwave sources based on a microwave photonic frequency down-converter.

An approach for phase noise measurement of microwave signal sources based on a microwave photonic frequency down-converter is proposed. Using the same optical carrier, the microwave signal under test is applied to generate two +1st-order optical sidebands by two stages of electro-optical modulations. A time delay is introduced between the two sidebands through a span of fiber. By beating the two +1st-order sidebands at a photodetector, frequency down-conversion is implemented, and phase noise of the signal under test can be calculated thereafter. The system has a very large operation bandwidth thanks to the frequency conversion in the optical domain, and good phase noise measurement sensitivity can be achieved since the signal degradation caused by electrical amplifiers is avoided. An experiment is carried out. The phase noise measured by the proposed system agrees well with that measured by a commercial spectrum analyzer or provided by the datasheet. A large operation bandwidth of 5-40GHz is demonstrated using the proposed system. Moreover, good phase noise floor is achieved (-123 dBc/Hz at 1kHz and -137 dBc/Hz at 10kHz at 10GHz), which is nearly constant over the full measurement range.

High-speed angle-resolved imaging of a single gold nanorod with microsecond temporal resolution and one-degree angle precision.

We developed two types of high-speed angle-resolved imaging methods for single gold nanorods (SAuNRs) using objective-type vertical illumination dark-field microscopy and a high-speed CMOS camera to achieve microsecond temporal and one-degree angle resolution. These methods are based on: (i) an intensity analysis of focused images of SAuNR split into two orthogonally polarized components and (ii) the analysis of defocused SAuNR images. We determined the angle precision (statistical error) and accuracy (systematic error) of the resultant SAuNR (80 nm × 40 nm) images projected onto a substrate surface (azimuthal angle) in both methods. Although both methods showed a similar precision of ∼1° for the azimuthal angle at a 10 μs temporal resolution, the defocused image analysis showed a superior angle accuracy of ∼5°. In addition, the polar angle was also determined from the defocused SAuNR images with a precision of ∼1°, by fitting with simulated images. By taking advantage of the defocused image method's full revolution measurement range in the azimuthal angle, the rotation of the rotary molecular motor, F1-ATPase, was measured with 3.3 μs temporal resolution. The time constants of the pauses waiting for the elementary steps of the ATP hydrolysis reaction and the torque generated in the mechanical steps have been successfully estimated. The high-speed angle-resolved SAuNR imaging methods will be applicable to the monitoring of the fast conformational changes of many biological molecular machines.

Fast response and high sensitivity ZnO/glass surface acoustic wave humidity sensors using graphene oxide sensing layer.

We report ZnO/glass surface acoustic wave (SAW) humidity sensors with high sensitivity and fast response using graphene oxide sensing layer. The frequency shift of the sensors is exponentially correlated to the humidity change, induced mainly by mass loading effect rather than the complex impedance change of the sensing layer. The SAW sensors show high sensitivity at a broad humidity range from 0.5%RH to 85%RH with < 1 sec rise time. The simple design and excellent stability of our GO-based SAW humidity sensors, complemented with full humidity range measurement, highlights their potential in a wide range of applications.

Ultrafast response sensor to formaldehyde gas based on metal oxide.

Thick film semiconductor gas sensors based on indium oxide were fabricated on Si substrate. The sensing materials on Si substrate were characterized using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and so on. They were very fine and uniform and we found out that particle sizes were about 20~30 nm through XRD analysis. Gas responses of fabricated sensors were measured in a chamber where gas flow was controlled by mass flow controller (MFC). Their resistance changes were monitored in real time by using data acquisition board and personal computer. Gas response characteristics were examined for formaldehyde (HCHO) gas which was known as the cause of sick building syndrome. Particularly, the sensors showed responses to formaldehyde gas at sub ppm (cf, standard of natural environment in building is about 80 ppb by ministry of environment in Korea), as a function of operating temperatures and gas concentrations. Also, we investigated sensitivity, repetition, selectivity, response speed and reproducibility of the sensors. The lowest detection limit is HCHO 25 ppb and sensitivity at 800 ppb is over 25% at 350 °C operating temperature. The response time (8 s) and recovery time (15 s) to HCHO gas at 200 ppb were very fast compared to other commercial products in flow type measurement condition. Repetition measurement was very good with ±3% in full measurement range. The fabricated metal oxide gas sensor showed good performance to HCHO gas and proved that it could be adaptable to indoor environment in building.

Humidity sensors based on the composite of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and crosslinked polyelectrolyte with good sensitivity and capability of detecting low humidity

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were dispersed in the matrix of quaternized and crosslinked poly(4-vinylpyridine) (QC-P4VP) to prepare a composite via solution blending and heat treatment. The composite was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Thin film humidity sensors based on the composite were fabricated and their electrical responses to relative humidity (RH) were investigated at room temperature. The composite sensor showed much higher response magnitude than the sensor based on MWNTs (impedance increase of ∼4700% from 7 to 90%RH). Meanwhile, its impedance at low humidity was significantly decreased with respect to that of QC-P4VP based sensor. Furthermore, it could detect very low humidity with good sensitivity (impedance change of 16%/%RH over 1–30%RH), and demonstrate its capability of realizing full-range measurement of humidity. The effect of content of MWNTs, poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) and the additive, molecular weight of P4VP, temperature and testing frequency on the humidity sensing properties of the composite sensors has been examined. A sensing mechanism was proposed by considering the MWNT conductive network in the polyelectrolyte matrix.

Extraction of anisotropic parameters of turbid media using hybrid model comprising differential- and decomposition-based Mueller matrices

A hybrid model comprising the differential Mueller matrix formalism and the Mueller matrix decomposition method is proposed for extracting the linear birefringence (LB), linear dichroism (LD), circular birefringence (CB), circular dichroism (CD), and depolarization properties (Dep) of turbid optical samples. In contrast to the differential-based Mueller matrix method, the proposed hybrid model provides full-range measurements of all the anisotropic properties of the optical sample. Furthermore, compared to the decomposition-based Mueller matrix method, the proposed model is insensitive to the multiplication order of the constituent basis matrices. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by extracting the anisotropic properties of a compound chitosan-glucose-microsphere sample with LB/CB/Dep properties and two ferrofluidic samples with CB/CD/Dep and LB/LD/Dep properties, respectively. It is shown that the proposed hybrid model not only yields full-range measurements of all the anisotropic parameters, but is also more accurate and more stable than the decomposition method. Moreover, compared to the decomposition method, the proposed model more accurately reflects the dependency of the phase retardation angle and linear dichroism angle on the direction of the external magnetic field for ferrofluidic samples. Overall, the results presented in this study confirm that the proposed model has significant potential for extracting the optical parameters of real-world samples characterized by either single or multiple anisotropic properties.

A closed-loop MEMS accelerometer with capacitive sensing interface ASIC

A closed-loop MEMS accelerometer with capacitive sensing interface ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) is presented. The parasitic-insensitive switched-capacitor sample-charge architecture is used to implement the capacitive sensing, which is crucial to the case where sensor and interface ASIC are combined in a two-chip approach to implement the closed-loop MEMS accelerometer. Based on the 0.35 µm CMOS sensing interface ASIC, an accelerometer prototype has been implemented, in which force-rebalance with the lag-proportional–integral controller is applied to improve the system stability and frequency response performance, and the testing results indicate the sensitivity of the presented accelerometer is 650 mV/g, the full measurement range ±15 g, the non-linearity 0.098% and the noise floor 23.17 µg/rt-Hz.

Stacked-type potentiometric solid-state CO2 gas sensor

A Li-ion based stacked-type potentiometric solid-state (S-PSS) sensor was designed and fabricated to detect carbon dioxide (CO2) on an alumina substrate in an indoor environment using mass production techniques. This design can reduce 70% of the active area compared to a planar-type potentiometric solid-state (P-PSS) sensor, as a reference material is not required. All deposition materials used in the sensor were screen-printed except for the electrolyte, which was deposited using thermal evaporation. The prepared materials were characterized through an X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The gas response characteristics of the S-PSS and P-PSS were examined a temperature range of 350–500°C and for CO2 gas concentrations of between 16 and 5000ppm. The S-PSS sensor showed a response of 40–90mV/dec, which is similar to the P-PSS sensor performance at the same operating temperatures. The response and recovery times of the S-PSS were about 2 and 4s, respectively. Repeated measurements showed a very good consistency of within 5mV in a full measurement range.