Programmable Integration Research Articles

Development of motion control function library based on PLCopen specification

The motion control library is a standard set of functional blocks integrated in a programmable integration environment, which is of great significance for the rapid development of reconfigurable Programmable Automation Controllers (PAC). However, due to the encapsulation and concealment of function blocks and the incompatibility between software and hardware, the development efficiency of function blocks is low, which is not conducive to the development of autonomous, controllable PAC. Aiming at the above problems, the methods of function block opening and key technology are studied, and a kind of motion control function library architecture and rapid development method based on the PLCopen specification are proposed. A series of motion control function libraries are developed on domestic PLC software. An experimental platform based on domestic hardware and software was designed to verify the typical motion control function library. Experimental results show that this method can effectively shorten the development cycle and that the developed motion control module can meet the actual control needs.

Carbon-silicon based hybrid quantum dot short wave infrared photodetector

Recently infrared photodetectors based on low-dimensional semiconductors have developed rapidly. However, due to its poor light absorption and incompatibility with traditional silicon-based readout circuit processes, the sensitivity and integration of such photodetectors are limited. In this work, we proposes a 64 × 64 quantum dot short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) photodetector composed of carbon nanotube thin film transistor (CNT TFT) and silicon-based ROIC. CNT TFT's gate is constructed by PbS colloidal quantum dots (PbS CQDs) which improve the absorption rate of infrared light. The generated photovoltage is amplified and converted in situ by CNT TFT. Notably, under infrared radiation of 1300 nm, the noise equivalent current reach up to 1.25*10−13A/Hz1/2. At a drain-source bias (Vds)= -0.1 V. The device exhibits detectivity of 5.6*1013 Jones and a fast response of 0.57 ms. The silicon-based ROIC is implemented by CMOS 0.18um process, with a power supply voltage of 1.8 V. It mainly includes a programmable integrator, a sampling and holding circuit, and a 10bit/2.5 MHz successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC). The programmable integrator has four levels of integral gain to meet the application requirements of different infrared light intensities. The experiment results show that the imaging function of the overall photodetector is correct, laying the foundation for the development of carbon-silicon based heterojunction integrated photodetector in the future.

Reversible adhesives with controlled wrinkling patterns for programmable integration and discharging

Switchable and minimally invasive tissue adhesives have great potential for medical applications. However, on-demand adherence to and detachment from tissue surfaces remain difficult. We fabricated a switchable hydrogel film adhesive by designing pattern-tunable wrinkles to control adhesion. When adhered to a substrate, the compressive stress generated from the bilayer system leads to self-similar wrinkling patterns at short and long wavelengths, regulating the interfacial adhesion. To verify the concept and explore its application, we established a random skin flap model, which is a crucial strategy for repairing severe or large-scale wounds. Our hydrogel adhesive provides sufficient adhesion for tissue sealing and promotes neovascularization at the first stage, and then gradually detaches from the tissue while a dynamic wrinkling pattern transition happens. The gel film can be progressively ejected out from the side margins after host-guest integration. Our findings provide insights into tunable bioadhesion by manipulating the wrinkling pattern transition.

Targeted DNA integration in human cells without double-strand breaks using CRISPR-associated transposases.

Conventional genome engineering with CRISPR-Cas9 creates double-strand breaks (DSBs) that lead to undesirable byproducts and reduce product purity. Here we report an approach for programmable integration of large DNA sequences in human cells that avoids the generation of DSBs by using Type I-F CRISPR-associated transposases (CASTs). We optimized DNA targeting by the QCascade complex through protein design and developed potent transcriptional activators by exploiting the multi-valent recruitment of the AAA+ ATPase TnsC to genomic sites targeted by QCascade. After initial detection of plasmid-based integration, we screened 15 additional CAST systems from a wide range of bacterial hosts, identified a homolog from Pseudoalteromonas that exhibits improved activity and further increased integration efficiencies. Finally, we discovered that bacterial ClpX enhances genomic integration by multiple orders of magnitude, likely by promoting active disassembly of the post-integration CAST complex, akin to its known role in Mu transposition. Our work highlights the ability to reconstitute complex, multi-component machineries in human cells and establishes a strong foundation to exploit CRISPR-associated transposases for eukaryotic genome engineering.

Drag-and-drop genome insertion of large sequences without double-strand DNA cleavage using CRISPR-directed integrases.

Programmable genome integration of large, diverse DNA cargo without DNA repair of exposed DNA double-strand breaks remains an unsolved challenge in genome editing. We present programmable addition via site-specific targeting elements (PASTE), which uses a CRISPR-Cas9 nickase fused to both a reverse transcriptase and serine integrase for targeted genomic recruitment and integration of desired payloads. We demonstrate integration of sequences as large as ~36 kilobases at multiple genomic loci across three human cell lines, primary T cells and non-dividing primary human hepatocytes. To augment PASTE, we discovered 25,614 serine integrases and cognate attachment sites from metagenomes and engineered orthologs with higher activity and shorter recognition sequences for efficient programmable integration. PASTE has editing efficiencies similar to or exceeding those of homology-directed repair and non-homologous end joining-based methods, with activity in non-dividing cells and in vivo with fewer detectable off-target events. PASTE expands the capabilities of genome editing by allowing large, multiplexed gene insertion without reliance on DNA repair pathways.

22.2: Invited Paper: Programmable integration of silicon nanowires into orderly and stretchable arrays for high performance thin film transistors

22.2: <i>Invited Paper:</i> Programmable integration of silicon nanowires into orderly and stretchable arrays for high performance thin film transistors

Femtosecond laser programmed artificial musculoskeletal systems

Natural musculoskeletal systems have been widely recognized as an advanced robotic model for designing robust yet flexible microbots. However, the development of artificial musculoskeletal systems at micro-nanoscale currently remains a big challenge, since it requires precise assembly of two or more materials of distinct properties into complex 3D micro/nanostructures. In this study, we report femtosecond laser programmed artificial musculoskeletal systems for prototyping 3D microbots, using relatively stiff SU-8 as the skeleton and pH-responsive protein (bovine serum albumin, BSA) as the smart muscle. To realize the programmable integration of the two materials into a 3D configuration, a successive on-chip two-photon polymerization (TPP) strategy that enables structuring two photosensitive materials sequentially within a predesigned configuration was proposed. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate a pH-responsive spider microbot and a 3D smart micro-gripper that enables controllable grabbing and releasing. Our strategy provides a universal protocol for directly printing 3D microbots composed of multiple materials.

A Monolithic Amorphous-Selenium/CMOS Visible-Light Imager With Sub-9-μm Pixel Pitch and Extended Full-Well Capacity

We present a monolithic hybrid visible-light imager composed of an amorphous selenium (a-Se) photoconductor thin film integrated on a CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) array readout integrated circuit. We achieve more than 14-dB signal-to-noise ratio under monochromatic light at an illuminance of 0.04 lux in one quadrant of the imager containing $7.8\times 7.8-\mu \,\,\text{m}^{2}$ pixels using a 1.6-s exposure (integration) time without operating the a-Se sensor in avalanche mode. Long integration times are made possible by exploiting the low dark-current of a 20- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick a-Se sensor layer and by implementing dark-current reduction techniques in the APS, such as series stacking reset and protection devices. In addition, use of a relatively thick 20- $\mu \text{m}$ a-Se layer obviates the need for an additional planarization step of the sensing layer as was done with a previously-reported avalanche-mode a-Se/CMOS imager that incorporated a 0.5- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick sensing layer. We also demonstrate an improved APS design, with $7.8\times 8.7-\mu \,\,\text{m}^{2}$ dimensions, containing a programmable in-pixel integration capacitor to provide enhanced full-well capacity (FWC) for a-Se/CMOS imagers. Measured results show that our APS achieves a FWC of approximately 230 ke−, which is comparable to several previously-reported photodiode-based CMOS imagers with extended FWC. Our imager can also resolve an effective object size of approximately $12.5~\mu \text{m}$ , demonstrated through measurement of the modulation transfer function.

Compact Assembly and Programmable Integration of Supercapacitors.

Microsized supercapacitors (mSCs) with small volume, rapid charge-discharge rate, and ultralong cyclic lifetime are urgently needed to meet the demand of miniaturized portable electronic devices. A versatile self-shrinkage assembling (SSA) strategy to directly construct the compact mSCs (CmSCs) from hydrogels of reduced graphene oxide is reported. A single CmSC is only 0.0023 cm3 in volume, which is significantly smaller than most reported mSCs in fiber/yarn and planar interdigital forms. It exhibits a high capacitance of up to 68.3 F cm-3 and a superior cycling stability with 98% capacitance retention after 25 000 cycles. Most importantly, the SSA technique enables the CmSC as the building block to realize arbitrary, programmable, and multi-dimensional integration for adaptable and complicated power systems. By design on mortise and tenon joint connection, autologous integrated 3D interdigital CmSCs are fabricated in a self-holding-on manner, which thus dramatically reduces the whole device volume to achieve the high-performance capacitive behavior. Consequently, the SSA technique offers a universal and versatile approach for large-scale on-demand integration of mSCs as flexible and transformable power sources.

A scalable, low-cost and robust photo-thermal fabric with tunable and programmable 2D/3D structures towards environmentally adaptable liquid/solid-medium water extraction

As a renewable and sustainable resource, solar energy exploited to conduct interfacial water evaporation has attracted considerable attention. However, conventional photo-thermal materials mainly focus on the issues of energy efficiency and multifunctionality, the lack of scalable, low-cost, flexible and washable features severely restrict the application from labs to industrialization. Significantly, owing to the low utilization of the spatial volume of the conventional two-dimensional (2D) evaporators, the development of editable and controllable 3D structures toward improved energy efficiency is highly desirable. Inspired by the traditional sewing clothes, herein, a functional photo-thermal fabrics with excellent scalable, washable and inexpensive features is designed to realize tunable and programmable 2D/3D structures, which enable the favorable in-plane and out-of-plane water extraction from liquid/solid medium. Since the polypyrrole (PPy) has favorable photo-thermal, stable features and strong interactions with the fibrous cotton, an in situ tunable oxypolymerization strategy was employed to construct PPy modified cotton fabric. The facile and robust approach enables the formation of a large-area PPy-modified cotton (PMC), which could function as a 2D generator for well-controlled in-plane water evaporation. Furthermore, the excellent sewable and editable features of the fabrics allow the programmable integration of these functional PMC building blocks into 3D system towards high-efficient out-of-plane solar vaporization. Specifically, the 3D design can adapt the photo-thermal fabrics to diverse environments with efficient purified water collection even from sand matrix.

PETA4: a multi-channel TDC/ADC ASIC for SiPM readout

The PETA4 ASIC is the latest member of a family of chips targeted mainly at the readout of Silicon Photomultipliers in PET, with possible use in other detector applications. PETA4 houses 36 channels on a 5 × 5mm2 die and is fabricated in the UMC 180nm technology.It uses bump bonds with a convenient pitch of ≈ 270μm to allow the construction of very compact modules at moderate substrate cost. The chip requires nearly no external components by integrating everything (PLL loop filter, bandgap reference, bias DACs,…) on chip. Power consumption is ⩽ 40mW per channel, depending on digital speed and bias settings.Every channel has two independent frontends: an established differential amplifier which has shown to be insensitive to pickup in the target application of PET/MRI, and a single-ended frontend with very low input impedance (Zin ≈ 7Ω) for high channel count operation. A fast discriminator with tunable threshold and a noise of ⩽ 300μV self-triggers time stamping with a bin width of 50ps as well as an integratorwith programmable integration time. The amplitude signal is converted by a ≈ 9-bit SAR ADC. After conversion, events with sufficient amplitude arequeued for serial readout. The previous chip version PETA3 has achieved a CRT time resolution of ≈ 200ps when reading out scintillation lightfrom a 3 × 3×5mm3 LYSO crystal coupled at room temperature to a 3 × 3mm2 SiPM from FBK. Energy resolution for LYSO is ≈ 12.5%FWHM. LYSO crystals of 1.3mm size could be clearly identified with SiPMs of 4 × 4mm2 when using a light spreader.The architecture of PETA4 and its performance in the lab and with SiPMs will be presented.

Self‐assembly in additive manufacturing: opportunities and obstacles

PurposeAdditive manufacturing (AM) offers substantial flexibility in shape, but much less flexibility in materials and functionality – particularly at small size scales. A system for automatically incorporating microscale components would enable the fabrication of objects with more functionality. The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of self‐assembly to serve as an automated programmable integration method. In particular, it addresses the ability of random self‐assembly processes to successfully assemble objects with high performance despite the possibility of assembly errors.Design/methodology/approachA self‐assembled thermoelectric system is taken as a sample system. The performance expectations for these systems are then predicted using modified one‐dimensional models that incorporate the effects of random errors. Monte‐Carlo simulation is used to predict the likely performance of self‐assembled thermoelectric systems and evaluate the impact of key process and system design parameters.FindingsWhile assembly yield can drop quickly with increasing numbers of assembled parts, large functional assemblies can be constructed by arranging components in parallel to provide redundancy. In some cases, the performance losses are minimal. Alternatively, sensing can be incorporated to identify perfect assemblies. For small assemblies, the probability of perfection may be high enough to achieve an acceptable assembly rate. Small assemblies could then be combined into larger functional systems.Originality/valueThe paper identifies two strategies that can guide the development of AM processes that incorporate miniature components to increase the system functionality. The analysis shows that this may be possible despite significant errors in the self‐assembly process because systems may be tolerant of significant assembly errors.

Programmable Direct-Printing Nanowire Electronic Components

In order for recently developed advanced nanowire (NW) devices(1-5) to be produced on a large scale, high integration of the separately fabricated nanoscale devices into intentionally organized systems is indispensible. We suggest a unique fabrication route for semiconductor NW electronics. This route provides a high yield and a large degree of freedom positioning the device on the substrate. Hence, we can achieve not only a uniform performance of Si NW devices with high fabrication yields, suppressing device-to-device variation, but also programmable integration of the NWs. Here, keeping pace with recent progress of direct-writing circuitry,(6-8) we show the flexibility of our approach through the individual integrating, along with the three predesigned N-shaped sites. On each predesigned site, nine bottom gate p-type Si NW field-effect transistors classified according to their on-current level are programmably integrated.

A Multishutter Time Sensor for Multispectral Imaging in a 3-D Reconstruction Integrated Sensor

The work presented here is related to Cyclope, an integrated active 3-D vision system. The challenge is to realize an integrated sensor which achieve real-time depth vision with constraints on size, consumption and computational resources. In this paper, we present acquisition method which allows to grab both texture and IR pattern images at least at 25 frames/s. The method uses a pulsed IR laser pattern projector and CMOS image sensor with programmable integration time. This sensor is realized in a standard CMOS technology and does not envolve any special optical filtering. We present some experimental results with the realization of a large scale demonstrator using a SOPC prototyping board and the said image sensor.

저가형 요분석 시스템의 다중 광 검출 모듈개발

An optic module system is developed adopting multiple colorimetry units for the measurement of multi-pad urinalysis dipsticks. Multiple photometry system instead of moving mechanisms has the advantages of system reliability and simplicity as well as economic aspects due to the recent development of economic color light emitting diodes and stable photo sensors. An integration amplifier with programmable integration time, a current source circuit with selectable and stable current settings were connected through analog multiplexers to thirty light emitting diodes for illumination and ten photo transistors for reading each strip pad. All the circuits are controlled by a microprocessor through a simple set of serial communication commands. The detect ability is eighteen times better than the minimum color difference of the test grading which is 0.013 in urobilinogen in the color space defined in this paper.

Designing and executing scientific workflows with a programmable integrator

As in many other fields of science, computational methods in molecular biology need to intersperse information access and algorithm execution in a computational workflow. Users often find difficulties when transferring data between data sources and applications. In most cases there is no standard solution for workflow design and execution and tailored scripting mechanisms are implemented in a case by case basis. In this paper, we present a general purpose 'programmable integrator' that can access information from a variety of sources in a coordinated manner. Its usefulness in complex bioinformatics applications is claimed and supported by some application examples. Tools are freely available to non-profit educations and research institutions. Usage by commercial organizations requires a license agreement. Software requirements: Java v1.3 (http://java.sun.com), Xerces XML Parser (http://xml.apache.org/xerces-j) and Kweelt implementation of XQuery (http://kweelt.sourceforge.net/).

A wide dynamic range integrator/discriminator/timer chip set for PMT applications

We have designed, fabricated and tested a full custom analog bipolar chip set for front end readout of the 10000 PMT Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. Each chip set instruments four independent PMT's with two self-gating integrator (HI/LO) channels, a fast discriminator and a timing sequence with three programmable intervals. The chip set provides a companion CMOS time to voltage converter (TVC) and analog memory chip with two programmable integration gates and a fixed width pulse suitable for time measurement and trigger processing. Novel features such as an internal 12 ns analog delay and an early voltage compensation network are discussed along with a short description of the basic circuit functions.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Digitally Programmable Integrator and Differentiator

Digitally programmable integrator and differentiator circuits are presented. Each circuit uses at most one operational amplifier, two operational transconductance amplifiers, and one capacitor. The time constants of the circuits are decided by the biasing currents of the operational transconductance amplifiers. The circuits can be easily interfaced with microprocessor-based systems. Experimental results are included.

From R&amp;D laboratories: A microprocessor controlled dual‐input integrator

AbstractA grounded capacitor dual‐input active integrator network configuration is presented. For the digital control of the time constant of the integrator, an array of binary weighted switched resistors has been used. The switch activation is done by a digital code generated by a microprocessor. Experimental results on such a digitally programmable integrator design are included.

Automation of an experimental system for the microbial epoxidation of propene and 1-butene

An experimental set-up for automatic gas chromatographic analysis of circulation gas in a batch-reactor system is described. Gas sampling, substrate addition, data acquisition and data reduction are done with a coupled programmable integrator and microcomputer. On-line monitoring of the microbial oxidation of the gaseous alkenes, propene and 1- butene, to the corresponding epoxides is used to illustrate the operation of the experimental system. Measured gas concentrations of alkene and alkene oxide can be converted readily to quantify the reaction course in the liquid phase(s) of the circulation system. Results are presented for both one liquid phase (water) and two liquid phases (water and organic solvent) present in the reactor. The operational stability of the immobilized-cell system used for the epoxidations can be assessed by computer-controlled addition of gaseous alkene.