Small-sized System Research Articles

Development of a small-sized mobile aerostat system

Development of a small-sized mobile aerostat system

Granular sample collection simulation via counter rotating wheels sampler for small-sized system at reduced gravity environment

Granular sample collection simulation via counter rotating wheels sampler for small-sized system at reduced gravity environment

Design of a Compact Hologram System Capable of 3D Lesion Diagnosis in Clinic.

This paper proposes a small-sized hologram system for the 3D imaging of lesions in a clinical environment. In a general hologram system, the distance between the beam-generating device and the screen (400mm) and the size of the screen must be increased proportionally to obtain excellent image quality. However, in a clinical environment, the beam spread distance and screen size must be reduced. This paper proposes a method for reducing the beam divergence distance and screen size for clinical applications. To reduce the beam spread distance and screen size, a beam prism with a 45° refractive index is used to reduce the beam spread distance by 1/3. The direction of the bent light must be adjusted such that it can reach the screen accurately. However, because the reflected light may be refracted owing to the material properties of the mirror and cause loss, this problem can be solved by using a full reflection mirror. The beam spread distance of the designed hologram system is 200mm. The types of lesions obtained from the 3D images of the hologram include the lung, liver, and colon. The image resolution is 300 × 145. If the proposed method is used in a clinical environment, doctors can improve their understanding of the patient quickly and efficiently; thereby, shortening the treatment time. The proposed hologram system is expected to be useful in treatment rooms, operating rooms, and educational programs in medical schools.

Performance enhancement of packed bed thermal energy storage system for solar cogeneration of power and potable water production

Solar integrated combined organic ranking cycle and multi-stage desalination with packed bed thermal energy storage is proposed, and thermo-economic-environmentally analyzed for residential areas to increase the self-sustainability. The designed system has produced power and potable water of 118.51 kWe and 74.03 kg/day without energy storage. Significantly, Marble and Quartzite are the best and worst materials from the collected material, it is identified by the proposed novel combination of ITARA-TOPSIS-MODM method in Matlab. Especially, the performance of the energy storage is analyzed in Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium (LTNE) – Ansys 18.1 domain. The thin thermocline was obtained for the smallest diameter (d = 0.03m) of filler material with the lowest porosity (ε ≤ 0.3). The Stanton Number (St), Porosity (ε), and Radius (D/r) are found to be the most influential term for the storage process among eight non-dimensional parameters. The overall exergy destruction rate is found to be 37.80 kW, which is nearly 41.17% of irreversibility that occurred in the trough collector as a primary component of exergy wasting. Moreover, the energetic and exergetic efficiency of the storage adopted combined system was found as 79.38% and 34.82%, nearly 23.91% and 6.96% higher than without an energy storage system. The adoption of energy storage increased power output to 222.30 kWe, and potable water production to 202.51 kg/day, which is nearly 1.5 and 2.73 times more than the conventional system. Furthermore, the energy storage has drastically reduced the payback period from 4.61 years to 2.31 years at the cost of power, and potable water is Rs.6.54/kWe and Rs.4/litre. Finally, the annual reduction of the CO2 pollutant was found as 92.95 metric tons, and the corresponding annual and lifetime social cost is found as Rs.6.06 Lakhs and Rs.90.64 Lakhs. The designed small-sized combined system may be suitable for hospitals, institutional buildings, hotels, and offices.

Small-sized magnetolevitation system of the trestle type for the Arctic

The construction of large technical systems (industrial and transport) poses a threat to the environmental situation in the Arctic. On the other hand, the operation of such systems in harsh Arctic conditions is also unsafe, especially in permafrost conditions. We offer a small-sized maglev system of the trestle type with “movers” and “fellow travelers” type suspension. In this system, the track magnetic field is created by a moving sequence of interacting magnetic field sources –movers in a special control channel (beam, pipe), which also interact with the magnetic field sources of transport modules –fellow travelers. Fellow travelers are suspended in controlled channels due to interaction with permanent sources of magnetic field. The structure is mounted on arc-shaped supports that evenly distribute the load on the supporting surface and protect it from snow drifts and water flows. A model of a two-channel system with the lower location of the controlled channel has been developed. Further improvement of the system involves the use of the “magnetic potential hole” effect and the principles of the planetary model construction.

Evaluation of machine-assisted irrigation on removal of intracanal biofilm and extrusion of sodium hypochlorite using a three-dimensionally printed root canal model.

This study aimed to compare the biofilm removal and apical extrusion of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) following machine-assisted irrigation using a three-dimensionally (3D) printed dentin-insert model. Multispecies biofilms were formed in a 3D-printed curved root canal model with dentin insert. The model was then placed in a container that was filled with 0.2% agarose gel containing 0.1% m-Cresol purple. Root canals were irrigated with 1% NaOCl using syringe irrigation, sonically agitated (EndoActivator or EDDY) or ultrasonically activated (Endosonic Blue) irrigation. Samples were photographed and the color-changed area was measured. Biofilm removal was assessed using colony-forming unit counting, confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis and scanning electron microscopic observations. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey test (P < 0.05). EDDY and Endosonic Blue demonstrated significantly greater reduction of biofilms compared to other groups. No significant differences were observed in the remaining biofilm volume in syringe irrigation and EndoActivator groups. Furthermore, EDDY and Endosonic Blue presented with numerous exposed dentinal tubules. EDDY showed significantly greater NaOCl extrusion compared to other groups. Ultrasonic activation with a small-sized nickel-titanium file irrigation system may be beneficial in intracanal biofilm removal avoiding extrusion of NaOCl beyond the root apex.

Specification and Simplification of Analytical Methods to Determine Wine Color

The color of wine is an important quality parameter essential for the first impression of consumers. The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) recommends two methods to describe wine color: color calculation according to Glories and the determination of coordinates in the CIE L*a*b* color space. The measurement of wine color is often not feasible for winemakers because the required instrumentation is expensive and bulky. In this study, the influence of photometer settings on the calculated color was investigated based on 14 wines. Furthermore, the CIE L*a*b* and Glories system were compared using 56 red and 56 white wines. Photometer settings were found to influence the reproducibility of color determination. In addition, CIE L*a*b* system do not correlate in all wines with the Glories system and Glories probably provides less information about wine color. Using interpolation, CIE L*a*b* coordinates were calculated from single wavelength measurements taken by a small-sized and inexpensive portable analysis system, which could be used by winemakers in the future.

Use of a Smartphone-Based Device for Fundus Examination in Birds: A Pilot Study.

Simple SummaryEye examination is crucial for therapeutic plans and rehabilitation of birds in wildlife rehabilitation centers. However, fundus examination using classical direct or indirect ophthalmoscopy techniques can be challenging in those species. The aim of the study was to assess the use of a smartphone-based retinal imaging system in birds. Fundus examination was feasible in most bird species examined in this study. The difficulties of carrying out the examination seem to be related to the form of the globe, the color of the iris, and the quality of pupil dilation. Further investigations are necessary to confirm these findings.Ophthalmic examination is essential in the avian triage process in order to apply prompt therapeutic plans and evaluate rehabilitation potential. Fundoscopy is traditionally performed by direct or indirect ophthalmoscopy. Recent technological developments have enabled the design of a small-sized and affordable retinal imaging system to examine the fundus. We investigate the use of a smartphone-based device to realize fundus examination through a prospective cross-sectional observational study. Seventy-seven eyes of 39 birds of 15 different species were evaluated using the smartphone-based device in a rescue wildlife center. Pupil dilation was achieved prior to examination via rocuronium topical application. Assessment of fundus by the smartphone was classified as satisfactory, moderately satisfactory, and unsatisfactory. Fundus examination was also performed with a 20D, 30D, or 78D lens for comparison. Pupillary dilation was satisfactory, moderately satisfactory, or absent in 17, 32, and 28 eyes, respectively. Fundus examination with the smartphone-based device was satisfactory, moderately satisfactory, or unsatisfactory in 44, 15, and 18 eyes, respectively. The feasibility of the fundus examination was affected by the form of the globe; by the quality of pupil dilation; by the color of the iris (images could not be obtained from species with an orange, bright iris); and by the species, with owls (Strigiformes) being the easiest to observe. Based on these findings, fundus examination was feasible in most bird species examined in this study.

EXFOR-based simultaneous evaluation of neutron-induced uranium and plutonium fission cross sections for JENDL-5

ABSTRACT The neutron-induced fission cross sections were simultaneously evaluated for the JENDL-5 library for 233,235U and 239,241Pu from 10 keV to 200 MeV and for 238U and 240Pu from 100 keV to 200 MeV. Evaluation was performed by least-squares fitting of Schmittroth’s roof function to the logarithms of the experimental cross sections and cross section ratios in the EXFOR library. A simultaneous evaluation code SOK was used with its extension to data in arbitrary unit. The outputs of the code were adopted as the evaluated cross sections without any further corrections. The newly obtained evaluated cross sections were compared with the evaluated cross sections in the JENDL-4.0 library and the IAEA Neutron Data Standards 2017. The evaluated cross sections were also validated against the californium-252 spontaneous fission neutron spectrum averaged cross sections, (coupled thermal/fast uranium and boron carbide spherical assembly) neutron spectrum averaged cross sections, and small-sized LANL fast system criticalities. The changes in the obtained evaluated cross sections from those in the JENDL-4.0 library are within 4% (241Pu), 3% (233U, 240Pu), or 2% (235U, 239Pu). The newly evaluated 235U, 238U and 239Pu cross sections agree with the IAEA Neutron Data Standards 2017 within 2% with some exceptions.

Experimental measurements of monopole inner/outer collar waves and estimation of P wave velocity in acoustic LWD

Acoustic logging while drilling (LWD) technology is extensively applied for petroleum prospecting. It utilizes the acoustic characteristics of stratum to deduce the formation properties such as porosity, permeability, and oil saturation, etc., which can help to detect the location of oil reservoirs. In acoustic logging process, the formation longitudinal (P) and transverse (S) wave velocity is the primary factor of interest. Nevertheless, an accurate identification of P/S wave velocity in different formations is hard to be performed due to the influence of the collar waves, which has become an urgent problem in LWD measurements. To study this issue more practically, a small-sized measurement system based on the propagation mechanism of collar waves is established in our laboratory. With this system, we design and perform multiple sets of monopole acoustic LWD experiments with different models. After recording the experimental data, the attenuations of inner and outer collar waves received along the axial direction are compared and analyzed. The result shows that the collar waves have an exponential decay in amplitude by the expansion of source-receiver distance, but the outer collar wave decreases more rapidly. We also conduct experiments at different source frequencies (20–400 kHz) to quantitatively describe the relationship between the amplitude and frequency. The result suggests that the inner/outer collar waves and P/S waves have a similar frequency response, and it's difficult to remove collar waves from the full waveforms of LWD signals by only changing source frequency. Therefore, we present a new data processing method for extracting the formation wave velocities according to the energy distribution of the componential waves, and then apply it in the analysis of two borehole measurements. The inner and outer collar waves are almost removed from the processed time domain waveforms, which leads to a successful verification of formation P/S wave velocities. These experimental results prove the feasibility and repeatability of our method, and propose an alternative method for the LWD data explanations.

Autonomous Frequency Regulation of a Grid-Following Converter Powered by Battery Energy Storage System

This paper deals with an Autonomous Frequency Regulation (AFR) of a grid-following (GFL) converter powered by a Battery Energy Storage System(BESS). It deals with the frequency stabilization function of a small-sized BESS system that will be widely used along with the spread of electric vehicles and eco-friendly housing. As requirements of AFR, it should be able to actively respond to the frequency deviation using the measured voltage at a PCC (Point of Common Coupling). Due to battery capacity limitation, the variation of energy in a BESS for AFR should be limited to a level that does not affect the original installation purpose (e.g., load transfer, uninterruptible power supply, etc.). So in this paper, a new AFR method has been proposed, which uses a PI-based selective frequency damping and achieves cooperative frequency support while obeying the Electric Power System (EPS)’ frequency control scheme. As a verification, the effect of the proposed AFR algorithm mounted on the GFL converter is simulated in a modified IEEE-14 bus system having multiple random loads and multiple distributed ESSs.

Low error-sensitive design of small-sized high-resolution space camera optical system

Low error-sensitive design of small-sized high-resolution space camera optical system

Способы совершенствования практической реализации технологии совмещенного рециркулятивного рыбоводства и интенсивного растениеводства

The article focuses on the problem of adopting the effective methods for combined cultivation of food products in cities, which requires the rapidly deployable and scalable aquaponic urban farms for year-round cultivating the aquaculture and crop products. Experimental work on cultivating the agricultural products in a small-sized system of combined recirculating fish farming and intensive crop production (aquaponics) has been carried out. A well-grounded idea of the qualitative and quantitative requirements for feed formulations, the possibilities of their optimization due to including the ingredients of natural origin was obtained. With combined recirculating fish farming and intensive crop production the control over the physiological state of the aquatic organisms grown on feed on their own formulation is carried out on the analysis of special biochemical parameters, which complement the general characteristics of the limits of reference values of homeostasis constants and determine the physiological status of fish. Feeding rates (% of body weight) of fish determine the amount of organic load for nutrition of plant growing objects, in particular leafy greens. In the course of research it was found out that when feeding sterlet (100 g) with the developed feed with protein content 45% the feeding rate is 4% of the body weight. The equivalent area 1 m2 with leafy greenery accounts for 40–50 g of feed with a mass of water bodies up to 5.0 kg/m3.

Определение угла поворота беспилотного воздушного судна по данным радиоугломера.

In this paper a device for determining the angles of the UAV position based on a small-sized radio goniometric system with a ground transmitter are presented. We use an antenna system with three mutually orthogonal antennas and a multichannel direct conversion digital receiver. Similar systems can also be used in radio inclinometry.

Formation of Fused Images of the Land Surface from Radar and Optical Images in Spatially Distributed On-Board Operational Monitoring Systems

This paper considers the issues of image fusion in a spatially distributed small-size on-board location system for operational monitoring. The purpose of this research is to develop a new method for the formation of fused images of the land surface based on data obtained from optical and radar devices operated from two-position spatially distributed systems of small aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles. The advantages of the method for integrating information from radar and optical information-measuring systems are justified. The combined approach allows removing the limitations of each separate system. The practicality of choosing the integration of information from several widely used variants of heterogeneous sources is shown. An iterative approach is used in the method for combining multi-angle location images. This approach improves the quality of synthesis and increases the accuracy of integration, as well as improves the information content and reliability of the final fused image by using the pixel clustering algorithm, which produces many partitions into clusters. The search for reference points on isolated contours is carried out on a pair of left and right images of the docked image from the selected partition. For these reference points, a functional transformation is determined. Having applied it to the original multi-angle heterogeneous images, the degree of correlation of the fused image is assessed. Both the position of the reference points of the contour and the desired functional transformation itself are refined until the quality assessment of the fusion becomes acceptable. The type of functional transformation is selected based on clustered images and then applied to the original multi-angle heterogeneous images. This process is repeated for clustered images with greater granularity in case if quality assessment of the fusion is considered to be poor. At each iteration, there is a search for pairs of points of the contour of the isolated areas. Areas are isolated with the use of two image segmentation methods. Experiments on the formation of fused images are presented. The result of the research is the proposed method for integrating information obtained from a two-position airborne small-sized radar system and an optical location system. The implemented method can improve the information content, quality, and reliability of the finally established fused image of the land surface.

Investigating a small-sized bike-sharing system’s impact on transit usage: a synthetic control analysis in Tucson, Arizona

Investigating a small-sized bike-sharing system’s impact on transit usage: a synthetic control analysis in Tucson, Arizona

FUSION OF THE OPTICAL AND RADAR IMAGES OF THE LAND SURFACE IN MULTI-POSITION ON-BOARD SYSTEMS FOR OPERATIONAL MONITORING

Abstract. The issues of image fusion in a two-position small-size radar on-board operational monitoring system are considered. The aim of present research is to develop a method for fusion of images of the land surface based on data obtained from a multi-sensor spatially distributed on-board location system implemented on the basis of a UAV. The method of combining different-angle location images is implemented iteratively. At each iteration, there is a search for pairs of points of the contour of the isolated areas. Areas are highlighted using two image segmentation methods. The final result is a proposed method for information fusion from a two-position on-board small-sized radar system and an optical location system. The implemented method of fusion makes it possible to increase the information content, quality and reliability of information about the observed underlying surfaces and the physical objects detected on them. The practical significance of the results obtained lies in the formation of integral information in real time in the interests of environmental reconnaissance, monitoring in hard-to-reach and dangerous places for human life, as well as in order to promptly prevent natural and man-made emergencies.

Adaptive Estimation Algorithm for Correcting Low-Cost MEMS-SINS Errors of Unmanned Vehicles under the Conditions of Abnormal Measurements.

In this paper, a low-cost small-sized strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS)—Gyrolab GL-VG 109—is studied. When the system is installed on an unmanned vehicle and works in autonomous mode, it is difficult to determine the navigation parameters of the unmanned vehicle. Correcting the SINS information from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can significantly increase the determination accuracy of the navigation parameters. However, this is only available when the GNSS signals are stable. A new adaptive estimation algorithm that can automatically detect, evaluate, and process the abnormal measurements is proposed in the present work. The determination of the navigation parameters can reach the third accuracy class using the proposed method. The effectiveness of the algorithm is verified by the mathematical simulation and the experimental tests (with a real SINS GL-VG 109), which are conducted in urban environments with a GNSS signal containing 15% and 40% abnormal measurements. The results show that the proposed method can significantly reduce the impact of abnormal measurements and improve the estimation accuracy.

Diagnostic method for GLONASS onboard transmitters using monitoring system based on small-size reflector antenna

Regular measurements of the power level of the satellite signals make it possible to detect abnormal functioning of the on-board transmitting device. Due to the high complexity, the large mass of the moving units and the presence of a mechanical drive, it is difficult to carry out regular measurements of the power of the signals of the orbital constellation using large-aperture monitoring systems. To monitor the GLONASS satellites, a small-sized non-power system based on a fixed antenna with a diameter of D = 2 m was developed and put into operation, which allows the NSV self-passage through the main beam of the diagram to make regular assessments of the received power level of the radio navigation signal. The aim of the work is to identify malfunctions of the on-board transmitting devices of the full orbital constellation of the GLONASS satellite based on data obtained by a small-sized monitoring system. The analysis of the data obtained in the period from March 22 to August 11, 2020 revealed 6 NSVs with one or two failed on-board amplifiers and 3 NSVs with three, which was later confirmed by telemetry data. The practical significance of the work lies in the development of a method and a working prototype for alternative diagnostics of the onboard transmitting devices of the GLONASS satellite.

Effects of Nozzle Exit Position on Condenser Outlet Split Ejector-Based R600a Household Refrigeration Cycle

The objective of this study is to investigate the performance characteristics of a small-sized R600a household refrigeration system that adopts a condenser outlet split (COS) ejector cycle under various operating and ejector geometry conditions. The coefficient of performance and pressure lifting ratio of the COS ejector cycle were analyzed and measured by varying the entrainment ratio, compressor speed, and nozzle exit position. The optimum nozzle exit position in the COS ejector cycle adopted to achieve the maximum cycle performance was proposed as a function of the compressor speed and entrainment ratio. The optimum nozzle exit position was 0 mm when the entrainment ratio and compressor speed were low, and it increased as the entrainment ratio and compressor speed increased owing to the associated internal pressure drop in the suction section.