Module Placement Research Articles

Energy partitioning and spatial variability of air temperature, VPD and radiation in a greenhouse tunnel shaded by semitransparent organic PV modules

A study related to the application of organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules in greenhouses is presented. It considers the impact of nonhomogeneous shading by semitransparent OPV modules, placed on the cover of a greenhouse tunnel housing a tomato crop, on energy partitioning and the spatial variability of radiation, air temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) within the tunnel. Experiments were conducted in two similar tunnels covered by a diffuse polyethylene sheet. Flexible semitransparent strips of OPV modules were placed on 37% of the roof area of one tunnel, creating an approximately 23% nonhomogeneous shading, while the other tunnel, homogeneously shaded by a 25% black shading net, served as a control greenhouse. The results show that on cloudy days (high diffuse radiation), spatial variability of radiation in the OPV tunnel was smaller than on sunny days (low diffuse radiation). Conversely, variability in air temperature and VPD did not change much with the change in diffuse radiation. Except when diffuse radiation was high, no significant difference in the energy partitioning between nonhomogeneous shading by OPVs and homogeneous shading was observed. Most of the net radiation in the tunnels was converted into latent heat. With a high solar elevation angle, the spatial variability of radiation within the tunnel was higher than with a low solar elevation angle. Additional experiments are needed to determine the best arrangement of semitransparent OPV modules on the roof, without resulting in any significant increase in spatial variability. Agronomic aspects of plant growth under the OPV modules are briefly presented.

Enhance the Output Power of a Shaded Solar Photovoltaic Arrays with Shade Dispersion based TCT Configuration

Partial shading has a negative impact on the performance parameters of a Solar Photovoltaic (PV) array, because it shades certain panels while leaving others un-shaded. This article focuses on modeling, comparing and performance assessment of 6×6, 6×5 and 5×6 size shadowed solar PV arrays under different partial shading cases in the MATLAB/ Simulink software. For this purpose, the simulation of series-parallel (SP), Total-Cross-Tied (TCT) and proposed shade dispersion based TCT (SD-TCT) type of array configurations was carried out under few shading cases. The proposed SD-TCT was designed using the shades dispersion technique, which is based on a number logic approach. In this technique, in order to effectively remove the row-current mismatches in the TCT PV array configuration, the shaded and un-shaded modules in an array were re-arranged, so that the shading on modules expands across the whole array. The physical placement of the TCT array modules has been reordered in accordance with the proposed number logic pattern exclusive of altering the electrical links among the panels. The simulation results showed that the performance of the SD-TCT type was superior to that of conventional array configurations.

Virtual Surfaces and Attitude Aware Planning and Behaviours for Negative Obstacle Navigation

This letter presents an autonomous navigation system for ground robots traversing aggressive unstructured terrain through a cohesive arrangement of mapping, deliberative planning and reactive behaviour modules. All systems are aware of terrain slope, visibility and vehicle orientation, enabling robots to recognize, plan and react around unobserved areas and overcome negative obstacles, slopes, steps, overhangs and narrow passageways. This is one of pioneer works to explicitly and simultaneously couple mapping, planning and reactive components in dealing with negative obstacles. The system was deployed on three heterogeneous ground robots for the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, and we present results in Urban and Cave environments, along with simulated scenarios, that demonstrate this approach.

Performance analysis and optimization of solar-powered E-rickshaw for environmental sustainability in rural transportation.

The last mile connectivity through public transport is a challenging task in India. However, according to the Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM) statistics, three-wheelers sales increased by 10.27% in the year financial year of 2018-2019 compared to the previous financial year. In this growth, it is recorded that the passenger carrier three-wheeler sales increased by 10.62% and goods carrier three-wheeler grew by 8.75% in the year 2019 compared to the previous year. The existing design consideration in the three-wheeler development shows poor performance in the real-world scenario because the three-wheeler's open drive compartment creates more aerodynamic drag to the vehicle. This increases the amount of energy consumption to achieve the same amount of range (km/L). Three-wheeler's extra energy consumption will directly increase the amount of exhaust emission in internal combustion engines and electrical energy consumption in electric vehicles. The present paper attempts in designing a solar-powered electrical auto-rickshaw for rural transportation. The paper aims to obtain an optimal solar module placement angle and analyzes the solar-powered electrical auto-rickshaw performance by incorporating the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) aerodynamic design principles. The optimal solar module placement angle is identified by analyzing the various configurations like front alone tilt at 16°-degree, rear alone tilt at the 5°-degree and combined front at 16°-degree, and rear at 5°-degree to reduce the aerodynamic drag effect. The paper also aims to identify the effect of the optimal angle on vehicle speed, and solar power generation to enhance the performance and energy efficiency for achieving environmentally sustainable transportation.

Optimization of Module Arrangement in Ship Engine Room

This article presents a new approach for engine room design based on the modularization concept including the part arrangement optimization. The characteristics of the proposed methods are as follows. First, attention was paid to piping systems of multiple bulk carrier series of different sizes. The cost and length of the piping system as well as the similarity and the commonness of the modules and arrangements were considered. Second, to define an effective module that could be commonly used in different ships, a design structure matrix was adopted. Third, in the arrangement design, an optimization system was developed using a genetic algorithm to obtain a similar pattern for module arrangement in multiple series ships with specific consideration toward cost and similarity. Some examples using the proposed method are shown at the end of article.

A hybrid artificial bee colony algorithm for scheduling of digital microfluidic biochip operations

SummaryDigital microfluidic biochips (DMFBs) are designed to efficiently carry out biochemical and biomedical analysis in a miniaturized way. DMFBs offer various advantages over traditional laboratory techniques and reduces cost, and increases automation and software programmability. Scheduling of microfluidic operations is the first and essential step in the fluidic‐level synthesis of DMFBs, while the other two are the module placement and droplet routing. Scheduling DMFB operations is a multiconstrained optimization problem, and the particular decision problem is NP‐complete. We propose a hybrid artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm using generalized N‐point crossover (GNX) based scheduling of DMFB operations. Proposed ABC‐GNX perturbs through search space, evaluates various schedules possible, and returns the best schedule among the evaluated schedules. Simple list scheduling based heuristic algorithms can explore a single schedule based on the sequence generated by the priority function. Iterative improvement based search algorithms explore the search space and evaluate more schedules, but the proposed ABC‐GNX algorithm produces optimal solutions in shorter execution times. Simulation results show that the proposed ABC‐GNX produces a higher number of optimal completion times and faster execution times than existing algorithms.

Measurement of the Thermal Characteristics of Concentrator Photovoltaic Modules

In this paper, a technique is proposed to study the thermal properties of concentrator photovoltaic modules indoor in darkened conditions. The technique combines the procedure of heating the module by passing direct current and the subsequent rapid measurement of the current–voltage characteristics, during which the solar cell temperature does not have time to change significantly due to the heat capacity of the material. The characteristics of six types of concentrator modules differing in design, sizes, and materials of heat sinks are compared. The influence of spatial arrangement of modules on the efficiency of heat removal was studied for concentrator modules of large sizes.

The effect of bypass diode installation on partially covered solar panel output power

Shadow or partial shading is a bad phenomenon that affects the performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems in producing energy. Shadows can be caused by moving clouds, building shadows, tree shadows, bird droppings or dust covering the surface of solar panels. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of installing bypass diode on the output power of a partially closed solar panel based on three configurations of the solar module arrangement namely, a configuration without using bypass diode, two solar modules with one bypass diode, and one solar module with one bypass diode. Furthermore, the three configurations were tested with a shadow pattern scenario is 12.5% to 100% of solar panel area using Matlab software. The result shows the I-V and P-V characteristics when experiencing shading 12.5% - 100%. The peak power value or maximum power value of the one solar module configuration with one bypass diode is greater than the two solar module configuration with one bypass diode and the configuration without using a bypass diode. Different from shadow conditions 100% the effect of installing bypass diode on the configuration of two solar modules with one bypass diode and the configuration of one solar module with one bypass diode the resulting power is the same as the configuration without using a bypass diode, which is 179.2 W.

Load Flow and Transient Stability Analyses for an Integrated Solar Combined Cycle Station in Iraqi Southern by Using ETAP

Analyses of a power system are important for designing and operating phase execution monitoring and to ensure reliable grid operations by sufficient protection projects settings. In this paper, electrical model of a 340 MW integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) located in the south of Iraq, is developed by Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP) and load flow, voltage stability and short circuit analyses are performed. Impact of power grid voltage instability on system buses of the power plant is estimated. Using load flow analysis that use Newton-Raphson algorithm, buses operating at under voltage due to power grid voltage instability are specified and their voltages are improved according to given voltage limitation that are based on buses criticality with regard to loads. On-load tap changers and reactive power compensation are used to improve steady state voltage stability. Optimal position for capacitor banks placement and number of capacitor banks are proposed by using optimal capacitor placement module of ETAP. The use of modern technology and advance planning have a big impact on reducing losses. The article shows that the lack of planning is one of the main causes of energy losses. The parameters of the module also indicate the voltage limits, bus voltage and ratings of available capacitor banks. The voltage limit is set at 95% ≤ V ≤ 110%, and it is global for all buses

Electromagnet-Based Three-Dimensional Self-Assembly System for Hierarchical Modular Space Structures

This study focused on the hierarchical modular approach to assembling space structures, which can be scaled up to increasingly larger sizes. This approach is based on dividing a large space structure into multiple modules, each with homogeneous automatic assembly functions. Hence, the overall structure can have diverse shapes and functions depending on the arrangement of modules, regardless of the size of the structure. Conventional approaches use locomotion and docking/release mechanisms installed on each module, but have been limited to 2-D shapes. In this study, a mechanism was developed that uses permanent magnets and electromagnets to assemble the space structure into any shape in three dimensions. The response surface method and downhill simplex method were used to optimize the size and arrangement of the magnets for efficient locomotion. The proposed mechanism was applied to a demonstration experiment to evaluate its effectiveness compared with existing methods.

Retracted] SAP: An IoT Application Module Placement Strategy Based on Simulated Annealing Algorithm in Edge‐Cloud Computing

The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly growing and provides the foundation for the development of smart cities, smart home, and health care. With more and more devices connecting to the Internet, huge amounts of data are produced, creating a great challenge for data processing. Traditional cloud computing has the problems of long delays. Edge computing is an extension of cloud computing, processing data at the edge of the network can reduce the long processing delay of cloud computing. Due to the limited computing resources of edge servers, resource management of edge servers has become a critical research problem. However, the structural characteristics of the subtask chain between each pair of sensors and actuators are not considered to address the task scheduling problem in most existing research. To reduce processing latency and energy consumption of the edge‐cloud system, we propose a multilayer edge computing system. The application deployed in the system is based on directed digraph. To fully use the edge servers, we proposed an application module placement strategy using Simulated Annealing module Placement (SAP) algorithm. The modules in an application are bounded to each sensor. The SAP algorithm is designed to find a module placement scheme for each sensor and to generate a module chain including the mapping of the module and servers for each sensor. Thus, the edge servers can transmit the tuples in the network with the module chain. To evaluate the efficacy of our algorithm, we simulate the strategy in iFogSim. Results show the scheme is able to achieve significant reductions in latency and energy consumption.

Ensuring the Security of the Operation of Complex Systems: New Models and Algorithms

Abstract The relevance of the development and application of real-time systems as essential elements of ensuring the safety of complex systems is considered. The functions of its main blocks are highlighted: the network model generator, the schedule generator, and the control optimization block. Formulations of problems of existence and the construction of a valid schedule with interruptions are proposed. Unlike traditional statements, the case is considered when the graph of connections between processors is not complete and can vary over time. It also takes into account the time required to process interrupts and switches during the execution of works. A multi-product network model was built, and the necessary and sufficient conditions for the solution of the problem were indicated. New algorithms have been developed for effective planning and control of work performance, used in the design of real-time systems. An algorithm of optimal arrangement of control modules is proposed. Estimates of the complexity and accuracy of the developed algorithms are obtained. The scope of application of the developed algorithms is supposed.

Survey about impact voltage instability and transient stability for a power system with an integrated solar combined cycle plant in Iraq by using ETAP

The Analyses for power systems are more necessary for the designing, operating phase execution control and to make sure safe network operations by sufficient protection project settings. In this article, we have prepared a sufficient scientific survey about the electrical model of a 340 MW integrated solar combined cycle system (ISCCS) located in the Iraqi southern, is developed and simulation by a program called Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP) and carry out throw this program the load flow, voltage stability and short circuit analyses for this power plant with part of the national grid in Al-Basra city in an industrial region. The effect of voltage instability for the grid on system buses (load buses) of the power system is estimated. By using load flow analysis as a case study by using the Newton-Raphson algorithm, when the load buses operating at down voltage because of instability voltage of the power grid are specified and their voltages are should to improved according to given voltage limitations that are depended on buses criticality with regard to loads. The appliance on-load tap changers of the transformer and reactive power compensation are used to improve steady-state voltage stability for any instability system. The method of the optimal position for capacitor banks placement is meaning the number of capacitor banks is proposed to adding to the weak buses by using the optimal capacitor placement module of ETAP. Energy is actually required for the expansion of our country. To sustain the generation of electric power at an adequate level power system supplies power to different types of loads that are located far away from the generating plants using transmission lines.

MobiPlace: Mobility-Aware Controller Placement in Software-Defined Vehicular Networks

In this paper, we propose a mobility-aware scheme, named MobiPlace, to address the controller placement problem (CPP) at the Road Side Units (RSUs) in Software-Defined Vehicular Networks (SDVNs). MobiPlace places local controllers at the selected RSUs to reduce the operational delay experienced in traditional SDVN architecture, where controllers are placed at the cloud. Additionally, we consider the effect of dynamic road traffic and propose dynamic adjustment of the placement of the controller with minimal changes. In contrast to the existing literature, we infuse traffic monitoring and traffic prediction strategies to ensure accurate delivery of control messages and data packets. We formulate an Integer Linear Program (ILP) and propose a solution approach consisting of three modules — mobility management , controller placement , and controller selection . The mobility management module uses Markov predictor to predict vehicle movement and reduce controller synchronization overhead when a vehicle moves to a different controller's coverage area. The controller placement module applies a simulated annealing-based algorithm to select potential RSUs that serve as local controllers. The controller selection module determines the preferable controller location for processing the service requests. Simulation results depict that MobiPlace reduces the average flow setup delay by $13.85 \%$ compared to the existing state-of-the-art.

Sequential Activation of Guide RNAs to Enable Successive CRISPR-Cas9 Activities

Currently, either highly multiplexed genetic manipulations can be delivered to mammalian cells all at once or extensive engineering of gene regulatory sequences can be used to conditionally activate a few manipulations. Here, we provide proof of principle for a new system enabling multiple genetic manipulations to be executed as a preprogrammed cascade of events. The system leverages the programmability of the S.pyogenes Cas9 and is based on flexible arrangements of individual modules of activity. The basic module consists of an inactive single-guide RNA (sgRNA)-like component that is converted to an active state through the effects of another sgRNA. Modules can be arranged to bring about an algorithmic program of sequential genetic manipulations without the need for engineering cell-type-specific promoters or gene regulatory sequences. With the expanding diversity of available tools that use spCas9, this sgRNA-based system provides multiple levels of interfacing with mammalian cell biology.

Power-Efficient Mapping of Large Applications on Modern Heterogeneous FPGAs

The increasing size of modern field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) allows for ever more complex applications to be mapped onto them. However, long design implementation times for large designs can severely affect design productivity. A modular design methodology can improve design productivity in a divide and conqueror fashion but at the expense of degraded performance and power consumption of the resulting implementation. To reduce the dominant power dissipation component in FPGAs, the routing power, methodologies have been proposed that consider data communication between modules during module formation and placement on the FPGA. Selecting proper mapping region on target FPGAs, on the other hand, is becoming a critical process because of the heterogeneous resources and column arrangements in modern FPGAs. Selecting inappropriate FPGA regions for mapping could lead to degraded performance. Hence, we propose a methodology that uses communication-aware module placement, such that modules are mapped by selecting the best shape and region on the FPGA factoring the columnar resource arrangements. Additionally, techniques for module locking and splitting have been proposed for deterministic convergence of the algorithm and for improved module placement. This methodology exhibits nearly 19% routing power reduction with respect to commercial CAD flows without any degradation in achievable performance.

Energetic-Environmental-Economic Feasibility and Impact Assessment of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic System in Wastewater Treatment Plant: Case Study

Wastewater treatment plants and power generation constitute inseparable parts of present society. So the growth of wastewater treatment plants is accompanied by an increase in the energy consumption, and a sustainable development implies the use of renewable energy sources on a large scale in the power generation. A case study of the synergy between wastewater treatment plants and photovoltaic systems, aiming to improve the energetic, environmental and economic impacts, is presented. Based on data acquisition, the energy consumption analysis of wastewater treatment plant reveals that the highest demand is during April, and the lowest is during November. The placement of photovoltaic modules is designed to maximize the use of free space on the technological area of wastewater treatment plant in order to obtain a power output as high as possible. The peak consumption of wastewater treatment plant occurs in April, however the peak production of the photovoltaic is in July, so electrochemical batteries can partly compensate for this mismatch. The impact of the photovoltaic system connectivity on power grid is assessed by means of the matching-index method and the storage battery significantly improves this parameter. Carbon credit and energy payback time are used to assess the environmental impact. The results prove that the photovoltaic system mitigates 12,118 tons of carbon and, respectively, the embedded energy is compensated by production in 8 ½ years. The economic impact of the photovoltaic system is analyzed by the levelized cost of energy, and the results show that the price of energy from the photovoltaic source is below the current market price of energy.

An adaptive optimization reverse regulation method for neutron spectrum based on standardized response module

• An adaptive optimization reverse regulation method for neutron spectrum based on standardized response module was developed. • 50 standardized response modules with different thickness and materials were designed for neutron spectrum regulation. • The differential evolution and artificial neural network algorithms are used to optimize the arrangement of response modules. • Verifications on ITER TBM and RBEC-M have confirmed the accuracy and universality of the developed method. The neutron spectrum is one of the essential parameters in the design of advanced nuclear energy systems. Neutron spectra of different nuclear energy systems have wide differences so that accurate regulation of a specific neutron spectrum is of great significance to its development. In this research, an adaptive optimization reverse regulation method for neutron spectrum based on standardized response module was developed. The proposed method designed different types of standardized response modules and calibrated it with their corresponding multi-dimensional response matrix calculated by the Monte Carlo program. Combined with an intelligent optimization algorithm and artificial neural network algorithm, the regulation scheme of the target neutron spectrum could be constructed and modified accurately and efficiently. The 14 MeV single-energy fusion neutron source was used to verify the regulated results of the proposed method on the tritium breeder blanket of a fusion reactor (ITER) whose results showed that the accuracy of the proposed method was improved by 7.69 % compared to the forward manual experiment. Also, a verification of the regulated spectrum on a fission reactor RBEC-M was done to ensure universal application of the method.

Influence of heat pipe assisted terminal cooling on the thermal behavior of a large prismatic lithium-ion cell during fast charging in electric vehicles

Lithium-ion based battery systems are a vital part of electric vehicles. Due to limited driving range accompanied by long charging times, manufactures focus on fast charging introducing serious challenges for the battery. Even if improved charging procedures have been discussed widely, little attention has been paid so far to the thermal behavior of larger automotive cells, especially in module arrangements. Therefore, the thermal behavior of a large prismatic cell during fast charging at electric vehicle conditions is investigated for common profiles such as constant-, pulse-, and boost charging. Revealing the necessity of an improved cooling, in this work, a novel heat pipe based terminal cooling concept in addition to conventional bottom cooling is investigated experimentally and by simulation. Therefore, a 3D electro-thermal model is developed predicting the cell temperature behavior at electric vehicle boundary conditions. After successful experimental validation with a prototype based on a prismatic 25 Ah cell, the effects of the proposed heat pipe cooling concept on the fast charging profiles are investigated in detail. Investigating various fast charging profiles and module scenarios, a decrease of the jelly roll temperature by a maximum of 4.3 °C and a reduction of thermal inhomogeneities are obtained, which reduces uneven aging.

Fostering Function-Sharing Using Bioinspired Product Architecture

AbstractThis work deduces principles of bioinspired product architecture to effectively leverage biological function-sharing in engineering design. Function-sharing enables a single structure to perform multiple functions and can improve the performance characteristics of a system. The process of evolution via natural selection has led to the emergence of function-sharing adaptations in biological systems. However, the current practice of bioinspired function-sharing is largely limited to the solution-driven imitation of biological structures. This work aims to overcome such limitations by performing a function-based analysis of biological product architectures. First, a phylogenetic approach is used to select generalized case studies from the animal kingdom. Next, the product architectures of the selected case studies are then modeled using function modeling and analyzed by clustering the identified functions into modules. A function-based categorization of the sampled biological modules reveals the presence of four types of modules in the biological case studies. Analyzing the function-sharing scenarios associated with each type of biological module enables us to deduce four guidelines for bioinspired development and arrangement of function-sharing modules. Finally, a demonstration study applies the guidelines to the design of an inlet–outlet port for a washer–dryer system. The deduced guidelines can enable engineers to identify function-sharing scenarios in the early stages of product design and reduce the need to imitate biological structures for function-sharing.