494 research outputs found

    JTEC panel on display technologies in Japan

    Get PDF
    This report is one in a series of reports that describes research and development efforts in Japan in the area of display technologies. The following are included in this report: flat panel displays (technical findings, liquid crystal display development and production, large flat panel displays (FPD's), electroluminescent displays and plasma panels, infrastructure in Japan's FPD industry, market and projected sales, and new a-Si active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) factory); materials for flat panel displays (liquid crystal materials, and light-emissive display materials); manufacturing and infrastructure of active matrix liquid crystal displays (manufacturing logistics and equipment); passive matrix liquid crystal displays (LCD basics, twisted nematics LCD's, supertwisted nematic LCD's, ferroelectric LCD's, and a comparison of passive matrix LCD technology); active matrix technology (basic active matrix technology, investment environment, amorphous silicon, polysilicon, and commercial products and prototypes); and projection displays (comparison of Japanese and U.S. display research, and technical evaluation of work)

    Machine Learning in Sensors and Imaging

    Get PDF
    Machine learning is extending its applications in various fields, such as image processing, the Internet of Things, user interface, big data, manufacturing, management, etc. As data are required to build machine learning networks, sensors are one of the most important technologies. In addition, machine learning networks can contribute to the improvement in sensor performance and the creation of new sensor applications. This Special Issue addresses all types of machine learning applications related to sensors and imaging. It covers computer vision-based control, activity recognition, fuzzy label classification, failure classification, motor temperature estimation, the camera calibration of intelligent vehicles, error detection, color prior model, compressive sensing, wildfire risk assessment, shelf auditing, forest-growing stem volume estimation, road management, image denoising, and touchscreens

    Status Report 2006

    Get PDF
    The European Union is implementing challenging commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% in accord with the Kyoto protocol, and has established ambitious targets for renewable energies and energy end-use efficiency in its White Paper: Energy for the Future: Renewable Sources of Energy. In the past decade, renewable energy technologies have made significant progress in terms of performance, cost and reliability, thanks to vigorous research, development, demonstration and market introduction programmes at European, national and also regional level. Developments primarily rooted in environmental concerns are now penetrating all societal decision making and have led to a new, dynamic, and exponentially growing industry. Three major drivers are determining today’s socio-economic framework for the impressive renewables’ industrial and market developments. First, successful application of legally binding feed-in tariffs; secondly, liberalisation of the electricity market, and thus new possibilities for decentralisation of power generation. Third, and in the medium term, there is the undisputed need for massive re-powering the larger part of Europe’s generation capacity. This will incur generally higher electricity costs, which reflect somewhat better the real costs (incl. externalities) of all the different energy technologies. Thus a more favourable market situation for sustainable technology choices will evolve, e.g. for massive renewable power generation. While technology development has been a key driver in the progress of renewables, first examples of significant penetration would have been impossible without appropriate, supporting policies including instruments such as introduction targets, carbon taxes, elimination of non-technical barriers, internalisation of external costs of energy, and harmonisation of market rules. The efficient end-use of energy is a parallel area where modern technology, policies, better public conscience of the issues and market forces, like the utilities’ interest to exploit the potentials for avoidance of new transmission and generation capacity, have combined to achieve significant results. New integrated marketing concepts, like energy service companies, have been very successful lately, and organisationally break ground for the implementation of sharper physical efficiency concepts as well. This is of particular strategic importance for the New Member States of the EU, as the use of energy, including electricity, in these countries is still significantly less efficient than in the old Member States. The aim of this Status Report is to provide relevant, validated and independent information on renewable energy and the efficient end-use of electricity to decision makers and the public.JRC.H.8-Renewable energie

    Fundamental study of underfill void formation in flip chip assembly

    Get PDF
    Flip Chip in Package (FCIP) has been developed to achieve the assembly process with area array interconnects. Particularly, a high I/O count coupled with finer pitch area array interconnects structured FCIP can be achieved using no-flow underfill assembly process. Using the assembly process, a high, stable yield assembly process recently reported with eutectic lead-tin solder interconnections, 150 µm pitch, and I/O counts in excess of 3000. The assembly process reported created a large number of voids among solder interconnects in FCIP. The voids formed among solder interconnections can propagate, grow, and produce defects such as solder joint cracking and solder bridging. Moreover, these voids can severely reduce reliability performance. Indeed, many studies were conducted to examine the void formation in FCIP. Based on the studies, flip chip geometric design, process conditions, and material formulation have been considered as the potential causes of void formation. However, the present research won't be able to identify the mechanism of void formation, causing a lot of voids in assembly process without consideration of chemical reaction in the assembly process with a fine-pitch, high I/O density FCIP. Therefore, this research will present process technology necessary to achieve high yields in FCIP assemblies using no-flow underfills and investigate the underlying problem of underfill void formation in these assemblies. The plausible causes of void formation will be investigated using experimental techniques. The techniques will identify the primary source of the void formation. Besides, theoretical models will be established to predict the number of voids and to explain the growth behavior of voids in the FCIP. The established theoretical models will be verified by experiments. These models will validate with respect to the relationship between process parameters to achieve a high yield and to minimize voids in FCIP assemblies using no-flow underfill materials regarding process as well as material stand points. Eventually, this research provides design guideline achieving a high, stable yield and void-free assembly process.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Baldwin, Daniel; Committee Member: Colton, Jonathan; Committee Member: Ghiaasiaan, Mostafa; Committee Member: Moon, Jack; Committee Member: Tummala, Ra

    Hardware design of a portable medical device to measure the quadriceps muscle group after a total knee arthroplasty by EMG, LBIA and clinical score methods

    Get PDF
    El propòsit d'aquest projecte és el disseny del hardware d'un dispositiu mèdic portàtil per a mesurar senyals d'electromiografia (EMG) i bioimpedància localitzada (LBIA), que s'utilitzarà per avaluar la progressió de dues pròtesis de genoll (Medial-Pivot i Ultra- Congruent) en pacients operats d'una artroplàstia total de genoll per a l'hospital Germans Trias i Pujol de Badalona. Per això, s'ha realitzat un estudi complet sobre els senyals d'EMG i LBIA, per tal de definir les característiques necessàries de l'equip mèdic i poder optimitzar el disseny electrònic. Per l'adquisició de senyals EMG, s'ha dissenyat i simulat un sistema compost per diferents fases, que treballen independentment per adquirir, amplificar, filtrar i adaptar el senyal EMG pel seu futur processament digital. D'altra banda, per obtenir valors de la bioimpedància localitzada dels diferents músculs que conformen el quàdriceps, s'ha dissenyat un sistema compost per dos grans blocs; el primer bloc és l'etapa d'injecció, on es genera i s'injecta un senyal feble de corrent altern a la zona a mesurar, mentre que el segon bloc, és l'etapa d'adquisició de senyals. Aquest últim s'encarrega d'adquirir la diferència de voltatge produïda per la injecció de corrent al múscul (anteriorment mencionat) per després calcular la bioimpedància a partir de la llei d'ohm. Tots els senyals són digitalitzats mitjançant el microcontrolador STM32F407VG, que s'encarregarà de processar i aconseguir les dades claus per determinar quina de les deus pròtesis desenvolupa una millor funció mecànica i una millor adaptació biològica. És important remarcar que tot el disseny, sigui per a EMG o LBIA s'ha dut a terme de manera discreta sense fer servir Front-Ends comercials o integrats complexos més que l'amplificador d'instrumentació o ADC. En addició, el present treball inclou una primera estimació dels costos de producció i fabricació per a una sola unitat, càlculs de consums i funcionament (sorolls, CMRR del sistema i amplada de banda) i una simulació completa d'EMG i LBIA per observar com funciona i es du a terme cada etapa del circuit. Finalment, en tractar-se d'un equip mèdic, també s'ha revisat la normativa aplicable i se n'ha analitzat l'impacte ambiental, s'ha proposat i definit diferents punts per a futurs treballs, com podria ser la validació i testatge de l'equip, càlculs més aproximats de consums i perfilar la bill of materials (BOM) per a grans demandes de components.The purpose of this project is the hardware design of a portable medical device to measure electromyography (EMG) and localized bioimpedance (LBIA) signals, which will be used to evaluate the adaptability and progression of two knee prostheses (medial-pivot and ultra-congruent) in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty at the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Badalona. For this, the present work undercovers the relevant properties of the EMG and LBIA signals in order to define the characteristics of the medical equipment and thus optimize its electronic design. For the EMG measurements, a system made up of different stages has been designed and simulated. These phases work independently to acquire, amplify, filter, and adapt the EMG signal for its further digital processing. On the other hand, to obtain the bioimpedance values of different quadriceps muscles, a system composed of two large blocks has been designed; the first is the injection block, where a weak alternating current signal is generated and injected into the area to be measured, while the second block is the signal acquisition stage. The purpose of the latter is to acquire the voltage difference produced by the injection of current (mentioned above) and then obtain the bioimpedance from Ohm's law. All the signals are digitized from the STM32F407VG microcontroller, which will be in charge of processing and obtaining the key data to determine which of the two prostheses performs a better mechanical function and biological adaptation. It is important to note that the entire design, whether for EMG or LBIA, has been developed discreetly without using commercial Front-Ends or complex ICs other than the instrumentation amplifier or ADC. In addition, the thesis includes a first estimation of the production and manufacturing costs for a single unit, calculations of consumption and work operation (noise, CMRR of the system and bandwidth) and a complete simulation of EMG and LBIA to observe how it works on each stage for both circuits. Finally, as it is a medical device, the applicable regulations have also been reviewed and its environmental impact has been analysed. Additionally, different points have been proposed and defined for future work, such as the construction of the PCB and its respective validation, improving both the consumption calculations and the list of materials (BOM) for large component demands.El propósito de este proyecto es el diseño del Hardware de un dispositivo médico portátil para mediciones de electromiografía (EMG) y bioimpedancia localizada (LBIA), que se utilizará para estudiar la evolución de la adaptabilidad y funcionamiento de dos prótesis de rodilla (medial-pívot y ultracongruente) en pacientes operados de artroplastia total de rodilla en el Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol de Badalona. Para ello, se ha realizado un estudio exhaustivo sobre las propiedades de las señales de EMG y LBIA con la finalidad de definir las características del equipo médico y de esta forma, optimizar el diseño electrónico del mismo. Para la lectura de mediciones EMG, se ha diseñado y simulado un sistema constituido por distintas etapas, que trabajan independientemente para adquirir, amplificar, filtrar, y adaptarla señal EMG para su posterior procesado digital. Por otro lado, para obtener los valores de bioimpedancia de distintos músculos del cuádriceps, se ha diseñado un sistema compuesto por dos grandes bloques; el primero es el bloque de inyección, donde se genera y se inyecta una señal débil de corriente alterna en la zona a medir, mientras que el segundo bloque es la etapa de adquisición de señales. Esta última tiene como finalidad adquirir la diferencia de voltaje producido por la inyección de corriente (anteriormente mencionada) para después obtener la bioimpedancia a partir de la ley de ohm. Todas las señales son digitalizadas a partir del microcontrolador STM32F407VG, que se encargará de procesar y obtener los datos claves para determinar cuál de las dos prótesis desempeña una mejor función mecánica y adaptación biológica. Es importante remarcar que todo el diseño, ya sea para EMG o LBIA, se ha desarrollado de manera discreta sin usar Front-Ends comerciales o integrados complejos más que el amplificador de instrumentación o ADC. En adición, la tesis incluye una primera estimación de los costes de producción y fabricación para una sola unidad, cálculos de consumos y funcionamiento (ruidos, CMRR del sistema y ancho de banda) y una simulación completa de EMG y LBIA para observar cómo funciona y se desarrolla cada etapa de los distintos circuitos. Finalmente, al tratarse de un equipo médico, también se ha revisado la normativa aplicable y se ha analizado el impacto ambiental del mismo. Por último, se han propuesto y definido distintos puntos para futuros trabajos, como es la construcción de la PCB y su respectiva validación, realizar cálculos más aproximados de consumos y perfilar la lista de materiales (BOM) para grandes demandas de componentes

    Creating the Future: Research and Technology

    Get PDF
    With the many different technical talents, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) continues to be an important force behind many scientific breakthroughs. The MSFC's annual report reviews the technology developments, research in space and microgravity sciences, studies in space system concepts, and technology transfer. The technology development programs include development in: (1) space propulsion and fluid management, (2) structures and dynamics, (3) materials and processes and (4) avionics and optics

    Applications of Power Electronics:Volume 2

    Get PDF

    Contribuitions and developments on nonintrusive load monitoring

    Get PDF
    Energy efficiency is a key subject in our present world agenda, not only because of greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, but also because of possible supply interruptions. In Brazil, energy wastage in the residential market is estimated to be around 15%. Previous studies have indicated that the most savings were achieved with specific appliance, electricity consumption feedback, which caused behavioral changes and encouraged consumers to pursue energy conservation. Nonintrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) is a relatively new term. It aims to disaggregate global consumption at an appliance level, using only a single point of measurement. Various methods have been suggested to infer when appliances are turned on and off, using the analysis of current and voltage aggregated waveforms. Within this context, we aim to provide a methodology for NILM to determine which sets of electrical features and feature extraction rates, obtained from aggregated household data, are essential to preserve equivalent levels of accuracy; thus reducing the amount of data that needs to be transferred to, and stored on, cloud servers. As an addendum to this thesis, a Brazilian appliance dataset, sampled from real appliances, was developed for future NILM developments and research. Beyond that, a low-cost NILM smart meter was developed to encourage consumers to change their habits to more sustainable methods.Eficiência energética é um assunto essencial na agenda mundial. No Brasil, o desperdício de energia no setor residencial é estimado em 15%. Estudos indicaram que maiores ganhos em eficiência são conseguidos quando o usuário recebe as informações de consumo detalhadas por cada aparelho, provocando mudanças comportamentais e incentivando os consumidores na conservação de energia. Monitoramento não intrusivo de cargas (NILM da sigla em inglês) é um termo relativamente novo. A sua finalidade é inferir o consumo de um ambiente até observar os consumos individualizados de cada equipamento utilizando-se de apenas um único ponto de medição. Métodos sofisticados têm sido propostos para inferir quando os aparelhos são ligados e desligados em um ambiente. Dentro deste contexto, este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia para a definição de um conjunto mínimo de características elétricas e sua taxa de extração que reduz a quantidade de dados a serem transmitidos e armazenados em servidores de processamento de dados, preservando níveis equivalentes de acurácia. São utilizadas diferentes técnicas de aprendizado de máquina visando à caracterização e solução do problema. Como adendo ao trabalho, apresenta-se um banco de dados de eletrodomésticos brasileiros, com amostras de equipamentos nacionais para desenvolvimentos futuros em NILM, além de um medidor inteligente de baixo custo para desagregação de cargas, visando tornar o consumo de energia mais sustentável
    • …
    corecore