Proprietary Design Research Articles

The Low-Power High-Frequency Transceivers with a Received Signal Power Indicator Used in the Access Control System

The article deals with relevant issues to implement automatic disarming through the radio channel of car alarm when approaching the car. Notes that the implementation of automatic (keyless) access in standard automotive systems, using wireless communication between the owner's transponder tag and the car's transponder at a frequency of 125 kHz and a set of active antennas, requires large costs and is therefore available only in business-class cars. To implement this function in the same form at the stage of installation of additional equipment is expensive and time-consuming. As an alternative, the proposal is to use the radio car alarm. A disarming process involves two devices, namely a RFID-tag, which the owner carries around, and an alarm unit. Both the tag and the alarm unit radio channel contain transceivers, i.e. devices capable of operating both as a transmitter and as a receiver. The paper justifies that it is expedient to place the transceiver of unit on the car windshield and use a passive label responding to the request signal from the transceiver of unit. Formulates requirements for transceiver characteristics and based on the analysis of publications proves the CC2400 (Texas Instruments) transceiver selection. Analyses the possible types of antennas the manufacturer offers for the CC2500 transceiver. Estimates their using efficiency in RFID-tags through manufacturing and testing a developed batch with PCB antennas of different type. A developed proprietary antenna design, as compared to the manufacturer’s antennas, has a polarization diagram close to circular. The paper shows its experimentally estimated effectiveness. An algorithm is analysed when the distance of automatic disarming is adjusted only through the power of the transmitter of the alarm transceiver. It is noted that the algorithm does not use information about the signal from the tag to the unit. It is experimentally justified that its use of the algorithm without feedback allows us to obtain a stable automatic disarming zone. A radio-exchange algorithm between the car alarm transceiver and the tag transceiver is proposed and justified using the power indicator of the signal received from the tag. The operation and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are tested experimentally.

Experimental Studies on Seakeeping and Maneuverability of Ships in Adverse Weather Conditions

The introduction of the energy efficiency design index (EEDI), which is applicable for various types of new-built ships after January 1,2013, raised concerns regarding the sufficiency of propulsion power and steering devices to maintain maneuverability in adverse conditions. This was the motivation for the initiation of the EU research project SHOPERA (Energy Efficient Safe SHip OPERAtion, 2013–2016, http://www.shopera.org). The aim of this article is the development of suitable methods, tools, and guidelines to effectively address the above concerns and to enable safe and green shipping. Within the framework of SHOPERA, a comprehensive experimental program of more than 1300 different model tests for three ship hulls of different geometry and hydrodynamic characteristics has been conducted by four leading European maritime experimental research institutes: MARINTEK, Norway; CEHIPAR, Spain; Technische Universität Berlin, Germany; and Flanders Hydraulics Research, Belgium. The tested hull types refer to two public domain designs, namely the KVLCC2 tanker and the Duisburg Test Case (DTC) container ship, as well as to a small RoPax ferry design, which is a proprietary hull design of a member of the SHOPERA consortium. The conducted tests were distributed among the four research institutes to benefit from the unique possibilities of each facility and to gain added value by establishing data sets for the same hull model and test type at different under keel clearances. This article presents the scope of the SHOPERA model test program for the two public domain hull models—the KVLCC2 and the DTC. The main particulars and loading conditions for the two vessels as well as the experimental setup is provided to support the interpretation of the experimental data that is presented. The focus lies on the added resistance and drift forces at zero and moderate forward speed, propulsion, and rudder force tests in waves and the assessment of maneuverability of ships in waves, as compared to calm water conditions.

The anti-bacterial effect of an electrochemical anti-fouling method intended for the protection of miniaturised oceanographic sensors

An electrochemical anti-fouling method, based upon the generation of chlorine from seawater, was applied to a proprietary design of Lab on a Chip conductivity, temperature and dissolved oxygen sensor. The method was evaluated using PCR after a six-week field trial in which it significantly reduced the burden of bacterial biofouling.

Uncertainty propagation through an aeroelastic wind turbine model using polynomial surrogates

Abstract Polynomial surrogates are used to characterize the energy production and lifetime equivalent fatigue loads for different components of the DTU 10 MW reference wind turbine under realistic atmospheric conditions. The variability caused by different turbulent inflow fields are captured by creating independent surrogates for the mean and standard deviation of each output with respect to the inflow realizations. A global sensitivity analysis shows that the turbulent inflow realization has a bigger impact on the total distribution of equivalent fatigue loads than the shear coefficient or yaw miss-alignment. The methodology presented extends the deterministic power and thrust coefficient curves to uncertainty models and adds new variables like damage equivalent fatigue loads in different components of the turbine. These surrogate models can then be implemented inside other work-flows such as: estimation of the uncertainty in annual energy production due to wind resource variability and/or robust wind power plant layout optimization. It can be concluded that it is possible to capture the global behavior of a modern wind turbine and its uncertainty under realistic inflow conditions using polynomial response surfaces. The surrogates are a way to obtain power and load estimation under site specific characteristics without sharing the proprietary aeroelastic design.

Testing Results of Plasma Spraying Ceramics Coatings by Pulse Plasma Modulation Technology

The work below was done mainly in the USSR (Tajikistan) and partly continued in Israel. This technology provides substantially better coating performance compared with the respective individual processes (plasma, Cold Spraying, arc or oxy-fuel, etc.). The coatings of large areas can be accomplished at much higher quality and deposition rates than conventional plasma, arc or flame spray techniques and at a far lower cost. These benefits have been accomplished through a specially designed torch head and power supply modulation unit. The system does not require expensive argon-helium based plasma of hydrogen, nitrogen or helium mixtures but rather uses air plasma alone or in combination with hydrocarbon fuel. The plasma chemical technology overcomes a previously fundamental limitation of air plasma systems - oxidation of the coating. In addition, the proprietary design of the torch head and supply modulation unit produces both superior coating and substantially reduces the erosion rate of expensive torch electrodes thereby significantly increasing the resource of operating time of a plasma generator. Detailed design specifications and process validation experiments have been of successfully completed, and the design, technology and market of a pre-production prototype has passed through an evaluation by potential strategic partners with the impressive estimation.

Reliability of Resonance Frequency Analysis as an Indicator of Implant Micromotion: An In Vitro Study.

To assess validity and reliability of resonance frequency analysis (RFA) as an indicator of implant micromotion (MM) in implants of different lengths and thread designs. Two types of implants were studied-An implant with an asymmetrical, self-tapping thread design, varying thread pitch and geometry (Myriad Plus; Equinox Medical Technology, Amersfoort, The Netherlands) and a tapered implant with a proprietary buttress thread design (Tapered Internal; BioHorizon). MM was assessed for 2 implant lengths (Myriad-Plus 3.8 × 13 and 3.8 × 9.5 mm) and 2 designs (Myriad-Plus 3.8 × 9.5 mm and BioHorizon 3.8 × 9 mm). Ten implants of each group were inserted in fresh bovine bone of uniform bone density. Insertion torque (IT), implant stability quotient (ISQ), and MM were measured using protocol described in the literature. Longer implants showed reduced IT, RFA values, and MM compared with shorter implants (P < 0.01). BioHorizon implants showed similar IT, significantly higher ISQ values (P < 0.01), yet higher MM (P < 0.01). Implant length and macrodesign affect ISQ, MM, and IT. Clinical measurements (ISQ) and IT have limited value as an indicator of implant MM.

Cost of enlarged operating zone for an existing Francis runner

Traditionally, hydro power plants have been operated close to best efficiency point, the more stable operating condition for which they have been designed. However, because of changes in the electricity market, many hydro power plants operators wish to operate their machines differently to fulfil those new market needs. New operating conditions can include whole range operation, many start/stops, extensive low load operation, synchronous condenser mode and power/frequency regulation. Many of these new operating conditions may impose more severe fatigue damage than the traditional base load operation close to best efficiency point. Under these conditions, the fatigue life of the runner may be significantly reduced and reparation or replacement cost might occur sooner than expected.In order to design reliable Francis runners for those new challenging operating scenarios, Andritz Hydro has developed various proprietary tools and design rules. These are used within Andritz Hydro to design mechanically robust Francis runners for the operating scenarios fulfilling customer's specifications. To estimate residual life under different operating scenarios of an existing runner designed years ago for best efficiency base load operation, Andritz Hydro's design rules and tools would necessarily lead to conservative results.While the geometry of a new runner can be modified to fulfil all conservative mechanical design rules, the predicted fatigue life of an existing runner under off-design operating conditions may appear rather short because of the conservative safety factor included in the calculations. The most precise and reliable way to calculate residual life of an existing runner under different operating scenarios is to perform a strain gauge measurement campaign on the runner. This paper presents the runner strain gage measurement campaign of a mid-head Francis turbine over all the operating conditions available during the test, the analysis of the measurement signals and the runner residual life assessment under different operating scenarios. With these results, the maintenance cost of the change in operating mode can then be calculated and foreseen by the power plant owner.

Experimental measurement of microwave ablation heating pattern and comparison to computer simulations

Introduction: For computational models of microwave ablation (MWA), knowledge of the antenna design is necessary, but the proprietary design of clinical applicators is often unknown. We characterised the specific absorption rate (SAR) during MWA experimentally and compared to a multi-physics simulation.Methods: An infrared (IR) camera was used to measure SAR during MWA within a split ex vivo liver model. Perseon Medical’s short-tip (ST) or long-tip (LT) MWA antenna were placed on top of a tissue sample (n = 6), and microwave power (15 W) was applied for 6 min, while intermittently interrupting power. Tissue surface temperature was recorded via IR camera (3.3 fps, 320 × 240 resolution). SAR was calculated intermittently based on temperature slope before and after power interruption. Temperature and SAR data were compared to simulation results.Results: Experimentally measured SAR changed considerably once tissue temperatures exceeded 100 °C, contrary to simulation results. The ablation zone diameters were 1.28 cm and 1.30 ± 0.03 cm (transverse), and 2.10 cm and 2.66 ± −0.22 cm (axial), for simulation and experiment, respectively. The average difference in temperature between the simulation and experiment were 5.6 °C (ST) and 6.2 °C (LT). Dice coefficients for 1000 W/kg SAR iso-contour were 0.74 ± 0.01 (ST) and 0.77 (± 0.03) (LT), suggesting good agreement of SAR contours.Conclusion: We experimentally demonstrated changes in SAR during MWA ablation, which were not present in simulation, suggesting inaccuracies in dielectric properties. The measured SAR may be used in simplified computer simulations to predict tissue temperature when the antenna geometry is unknown.

A New Concept of Controller for Accelerators’ Magnet Power Supplies

The complexity of a particle accelerator implies the remote control of very large numbers of devices, with many different typologies, either distributed along the accelerator or concentrated in locations, often far away from each other. Local and global control systems handle the devices through dedicated communication channels and interfaces. Each controlled device is practically a “smart node” performing a specific task. In addition, very often, those tasks are managed in real-time mode. The performances required to the control interface has an influence on the cost of the distributed nodes as well as on their hardware and software implementation. In large facilities (e.g. CERN) the “smart nodes” derive from specific in-house developments. Alternatively, it is possible to find on the market commercial devices, whose performances (and prices) are spread over a broad range, and spanning from proprietary design (customizable to the user’s needs) to open source/design. In this paper, we will describe some applications of smart nodes in the particle accelerators field, with special focus on the power supplies for magnets. In modern accelerators, in fact, magnets and their associated power supplies constitute systems distributed along the accelerator itself, and strongly interfaced with the remote control system as well as with more specific (and often more demanding) orbit/trajectory feedback systems. We will give examples of actual systems, installed and operational on two light sources, Elettra and FERMI, located in the Elettra Research Center in Trieste, Italy.

The Influence of Technology-Related, Market-Related, and Standards-Related Strategic Signaling During a Standards War

To increase their likelihoods of product-market success, innovating firms use strategic signals to communicate with market participants in order to reduce participants’ perceived uncertainties associated with their innovative products. We examine, during a standards war involving a technology-based product, the influence of technology-, market-, and standards-related strategic signals on the stock price of one of the product-market's technology leaders. A technology leader is defined as a firm that develops and promotes its proprietary product design to become industry standard. Using event study methodology, we find that a technology leader's market- and standards-related signals have significant positive influences on this leader's stock price; competitor technology leaders ’ technology-related and standards-related signals have significant negative influences, while these competitor leaders’ market-related signals have a significant positive influence; and c ompetitor technology followers ’ market- and standards-related signals lacked significant influences, while these followers’ technology-related signals possessed a weak negative influence.

Evaluation of a pulsed terrestrial laser scanner based on ISO standards

The evaluation of the accuracy and precision of measuring equipment is critical in order to achieve results that meet the specifications of a given project. Standard calibration models and field procedures exist for all traditional surveying instruments, but are still lacking for recently developed technologies like terrestrial laser scanners (TLS). The main reason is limited knowledge of errors that affect these systems, owing to the proprietary design of the scanners and their software, and the integration of many potential sources of error. Owing to the difficulty of separating the different error sources of TLS, it is proposed in this paper that a test procedure can assess the overall achievable precision for a scanner instrument without individual errors being known. The proposed tests are based on the International Organization for Standardization specifications for geodetic instruments (www.iso.org). The tests can be performed in either a controlled or uncontrolled environment, which is advantageous for on-the-job calibration. A pulsed terrestrial laser scanner (Leica Scanstation 2) was used as a test subject and the evaluation results indicated that the specific instrument performed well within the manufacturer’s specifications.

Applying ISO 16840-2 Standard to differentiate impact force dissipation characteristics of selection of commercial wheelchair cushions.

Results from applying the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 16840-2 test method for determining the impact damping characteristics of 35 wheelchair cushions plus a high resilience (HR70) polyurethane reference foam sample are reported. The generation of impact forces when a wheelchair user either transfers onto a cushion or the wheelchair encounters rough terrain or bumps down a step can endanger the viability of tissues, especially if these forces occur repeatedly. The results demonstrate significant differences in the impact force dissipation characteristics of different cushion products but do not reliably identify differences in performance that can be attributed to descriptive information about cushion composition alone. Instead, these results demonstrate that the materials, proprietary design, and construction features of wheelchair cushions in combination dictate impact force dissipation properties. The results of a cluster analysis are used to generate a model that can be used to compare the impact damping properties obtained from the ISO 16840-2 test method with those of a range of cushions and the reference cushion. Manufacturers will therefore be able to provide users and clinicians with information about the impact force dissipation properties of the cushions that will enable them to make more informed product choices for achieving improved comfort and to protect skin integrity.

Steam-enhanced regime for liquid hydrocarbons combustion: velocity distribution in the burner flame

The lab-scale burner device with proprietary design was used for combustion of diesel fuel in a steam-enhanced regime. This operation mode ensures drastic intensification of liquid hydrocarbon combustion due to supply of superheated steam jet to the combustion zone. The particle image velocimetry technique was used for study of velocity field in the burner flame. The method of seeding of flow zone with new kind of tracers (micro-sized silica particles produced from silicon oil added to liquid fuel) was tested.

Design and Fabrication of High Energy Density Lithium Battery

Rechargeable LIBs have been widely used in many portable consumer electronics. They presently have limited acceptance in larger energy storage markets, e.g., plug-in hybrid and electrical vehicles due to several issues, including 1) low energy density or power density, 2) poor cycling stability, 3) safety concerns about lithium-ion batteries.EC Power has been working on development of novel polymer-carbon nanocomposite cathode materials to demonstrate high energy/power Li-ion batteries using the electrode materials. A series of polymers with electrochemically active functional groups have been synthesized, characterized, and fabricated as cathode for lithium batteries. The polymer cathode has showed high capacity up to 250mAh/g and the long cycling performance up to 500 cycles. Compared to the traditional cathode materials, the polymer cathode materials not only have high specific capacity, but also are potentially low-cost and recyclable.In order to study the degradation of the battery cells, EC Power also designed and fabricated 3-electrode cells. With the lithium reference, we are able to test and observe the voltage profile of cathode, anode and the full cell, respectively. Thus we will be able to study the degradation behavior of the cathode and anode respectively in the full cell environment. The degradation behavior of cathode and anode in a full cell is different from that in a half-cell. The study help us to understand the kinetics of full cell chemistry, target the control step in degradation and thus to mitigate the degradation.In this presentation, we will also demonstrate several complimentary methods for fabrication of commercially viable size cells of the Li-polymer and conventional Li-ion batteries with the process much faster and cost-effective. With the EC Power’s proprietary cell design software, which gives us a very reasonable starting point for expected cell performance upon cell fabrication, EC Power has successfully fabricated different types of cells.

Implementing Pico-hydropower Sites in Rural Rwanda

Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering's Hydropower Project seeks to implement small-scale “pico” hydropower in remote communities around the world. These smaller systems produce under a single kilowatt (kW) of power, and are capable of charging car batteries that can be distributed to community members. These rechargeable batteries are rented out through a battery box kiosk station, which is run by a member of the community. Once DHE's Hydropower group arrives in country, the team begins installation, which includes training local technicians to operate and maintain the site and the kiosk. DHE has utilized an iterative design process in developing its proprietary Pelton turbine design, aided by the assistance of graduate-level work done over 2011. The project has installed and helped maintain three turbines in Rwanda over the past five years.

Improved Matrix Body Design: Five Factors to Achieve Exceptional Bit Performance in Hard, Abrasive Rock

Young Technology Showcase Matrix body bits are known for longevity and reliability in challenging formations such as granite, chert, and abrasive sandstones and conglomerates. What is often missing from bit performance under these conditions is the ability to maintain a relatively high rate of penetration (ROP) while maximizing footage drilled in one run. The goal remains the same: Drill every interval in one run at the optimal ROP. In other words, the bit should not be the limiter when it comes to drilling performance. Focusing on five key factors that contribute to ROP and longevity, a major bit supplier has designed a matrix body fixed-cutter bit that is setting records in a wide range of fields and formations. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts: The five new technologies comprising the design work to create a significantly higher standard of performance than is typically accepted for hard rock/abrasive rock drilling. The examples following represent distinct formation types such as sand and shale intervals in the Rockies, limestone and sandstone in east Texas, the Granite Wash formation in the Texas Panhandle, and limestone and dolomite in the Permian Basin. All of these examples are laden with transition zones and most include conglomerate or other challenges to impact and abrasion resistance. The bits have been run in conventional and motor applications with equally good outcomes. Five Performance Factors Cutters. A critical improvement to the new bit design is the polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutter technology. The proprietary interface design of the cutters used provides an extremely durable and efficient cutting element, removing significantly more rock with substantially less wear. Furthermore, increased abrasion resistance in PDC cutters also increases the ability to withstand intense heat situations, contributing to thermal stability. While both thermally stable bits and abrasion-resistant bits perform similarly at the start of drilling, as cutter wear begins, the thermally stable products wear more slowly. Ongoing research into wear mechanisms has optimized abrasion and impact resistance, and advanced the vital performance criterion of thermal mechanical integrity (TMI), or resistance to heat-generated wear. With greater TMI, the new cutters are highly TMI-qualified, able to withstand the extreme temperature cycling that occurs during drilling to provide greater strength and durability.

Who will get you there quicker, Fred Flintstone or George Jetson?

Sequoia Sciences identifies novel chemistry from its library of structurally diverse small molecules isolated from plants. The proprietary design of this library allows for the biological screening of these compounds at optimal HTS concentrations, without non-drug-like interferences. Sequoia built this analytical process such that rapid isolation and structure elucidation of active compounds could be accomplished. Sequoia's efforts to date have been to create a high-throughput natural products chemistry program.

Incorporation of nanoparticle clusters into a liquid using a proprietary design mixer, Ytron Y Jet

This paper reports the comparative performance of a proprietary design mixer, Ytron Y Jet, on the incorporation of clusters of nanoscale silica powder into water. Two sets of characteristic power curves were obtained for Ytron Y Jet depending on whether the valve on feed tube was open or closed. Whilst there was little difference at low speeds, as the speed was increased entrainment from the feed tube decreased Po which would be as a consequence of a decrease of the pressure difference between the two sides of the rotating blades. Drawdown time values determined for surface additions followed the same trends reported for traditional impellers. Powder incorporation became faster with increasing power input at a given concentration and for incremental additions of 1% (w:w), incorporation rate decreased steeply with increasing concentration. With the use of the feed tube, which is part of the design, particles could be introduced into the impeller region, and incorporation rate could be maintained constant over a wide concentration range. This suggests that whilst the flow field in the vicinity of the impeller is not significantly modified with changes in viscosity and rheology, away from the impeller, close to liquid surface liquid velocities die out quickly. When a highly non-Newtonian rheology (Bingham plastic) developed with further particle addition, incorporation rate decreased. Ability to feed into the impeller region is the main advantage this design offers for this application.

Improving Bandwidth of Yagi-Uda Arrays

A novel approach for improving antenna bandwidth is described using a 6-element Yagi-Uda array as an example. The new approach applies Central Force Optimization, a deterministic metaheuristic, and Variable Z0 technology, a novel, proprietary design and optimization methodology, to produce an array with 33.09% fractional impedance bandwidth. This array’s performance is compared to its CFO-optimized Fixed Z0counterpart, and to the performance of a 6-ele- ment Dominating Cone Line Search-optimized array. Both CFO-optimized antennas exhibit better performance than the DCLS array, especially with respect to impedance bandwidth. Although the Yagi-Uda antenna was chosen to illustrate this new approach to antenna design and optimization, the methodology is entirely general and can be applied to any antenna against any set of performance objectives.

Investigating Overlay Topologies and Dynamics of P2P-TV Systems: The Case of SopCast

Several successful commercial P2P-TV applications are already available. Unfortunately, some algorithms and protocols they adopt are unknown, since many follow a closed and proprietary design. This calls for tools and methodologies that allow the investigation of the application behavior. In this paper, we present a novel approach to analyze the graph properties and the traffic generated by P2P-TV applications run by customers in operative networks. The proposed methodology allows us to distinguish and investigate three different graphs: (i) the social networks that link users based on their interest, (ii) the overlay networks created by peers that are watching the same channel, and (iii) the distribution networks that involve the subset of peers that are contributing to the video distribution. We apply this methodology to the traffic collected for more than one year from three national ISPs in Europe, where SopCast is the largely preferred application. Considering users' behavior, we uncover the attitude to use the P2P-TV application mainly to follow live sport events. P2P-TV systems have then to deal with both flash crowd and sudden peer departures that happen at the beginning and end of an event. Furthermore, zapping among channels offering the same event is also relevant. SopCast deals with this by implementing a very robust and greedy overlay topology discovery process in which more than 170 peers are contacted every 60 s. Considering video distribution, we provide evidence that SopCast implements algorithms that restrict traffic within Autonomous System boundaries. Still, high bandwidth peers must be present to supply the necessary upload capacity to sustain the video service.