Sensitivity Optimization and Experimental Study of the Long-Range Metal Detector Based on Chaotic Duffing Oscillator

Sensors based on chaotic oscillators have a simple design, combined with high sensitivity and energy efficiency. Among many developed schemes of such sensors, the promising one is based on the Duffing oscillator, which possesses a remarkable property of demonstrating chaotic oscillations only in the presence of a weak sine wave at the input. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the maximal sensitivity of a practically implemented metal detector based on the Duffing oscillator and compare its sensitivity with conventional sensors. To achieve high efficiency of the Duffing-based design, we proposed an algorithm which performs a bifurcation analysis of any chaotic system, classifies the oscillation modes and determines the system sensitivity to a change in different parameters. We apply the developed algorithm to improve the sensitivity of the electronic circuit implementing the Duffing oscillator, serving as a key part of a three-coil metal detector. We show that the developed design allows detecting the presence of metal objects near the coils more reliably than the conventional signal analysis techniques, and the developed detector is capable of sensing a large metal plate at distances up to 2.8 of the coil diameter, which can be considered a state-of-the-art result. © 2022 by the authors

Structural vibration energy harvesting via bistable nonlinear attachments

A vibration-based bistable electromagnetic energy harvester coupled to a directly excited host structure is theoretically and experimentally examined. The primary goal of the study is to investigate the potential benet of the bistable element for harvesting broadband and low-amplitude vibration energy. The considered system consists of a grounded, weakly damped, linear oscillator (LO) coupled to a lightweight, damped oscillator by means of an element which provides for both cubic nonlinear and negative linear stiness components and electromechanical coupling elements. Single and repeated impulses with varying amplitude applied to the LO are the vibration energy sources considered. A thorough sensitivity analysis of the system's key parameters provides design insights for a bistable nonlinear energy harvesting (BNEH) device able to attain robust harvesting efficiency. Energy localization into the bistable attachment is achieved through the exploitation of three BNEH main dynamical regimes; namely, periodic cross-well, aperiodic (chaotic) cross-well, and in-well oscillations. For the experimental investigation on the performance of the bistable device, nonlinear and negative linear terms in the mechanical coupling are physically realized by exploiting the transverse displacement of a buckled slender steel beam; the electromechanical coupling is accomplished by an electromagnetic transducer

A fast and precise tool for multi-layer planar coil self-inductance calculation

An open-source tool that allows for a fast and precise analytical calculation of multi-layer planar coils self-inductance, without any geometry limitation is proposed here. The process of designing and simulating planar coils to achieve reliable results is commonly limited on accuracy and or geometry, or are too time-consuming and expensive, thus a tool to speed up this design process is desired. The model is based on Grover equations, valid for any geometry. The validation of the tool was performed through the comparison with experimental measurements, Finite Element Model (FEM) simulations, and the main analytical methods usually used in literature, with errors registered to be below 2.5%, when compared to standard FEM simulations, and when compared to experimental measurements they are below 10% in the case of the 1-layer coils, and below 5% in the 2-layer coils (without taking into consideration the coil connectors). The proposed model offers a new approach to the calculation of the self-inductance of planar coils of several layers that combines precision, speed, independence of geometry, easy interaction, and no need for extra resources.This work is supported by: European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) [Project nº 037902; Funding Reference: POCI-01-0247-FEDER-037902]. The work of Andreia Faria was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under Grant PD/BD/128142/2016. The work of Carlos Ferreira was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under Grant PD/BDE/135102/2017

Theoretical Approaches in Non-Linear Dynamical Systems

From Preface: The 15th International Conference „Dynamical Systems - Theory and Applications” (DSTA 2019, 2-5 December, 2019, Lodz, Poland) gathered a numerous group of outstanding scientists and engineers who deal with widely understood problems of theoretical and applied dynamics. Organization of the conference would not have been possible without great effort of the staff of the Department of Automation, Biomechanics and Mechatronics of the Lodz University of Technology. The patronage over the conference has been taken by the Committee of Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland. It is a great pleasure that our event was attended by over 180 researchers from 35 countries all over the world, who decided to share the results of their research and experience in different fields related to dynamical systems. This year, the DSTA Conference Proceedings were split into two volumes entitled „Theoretical Approaches in Non-Linear Dynamical Systems” and „Applicable Solutions in Non-Linear Dynamical Systems”. In addition, DSTA 2019 resulted in three volumes of Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics entitled „Control and Stability of Dynamical Systems”, „Mathematical and Numerical Approaches in Dynamical Systems” and „Dynamical Systems in Mechatronics and Life Sciences”. Also, many outstanding papers will be recommended to special issues of renowned scientific journals.Cover design: Kaźmierczak, MarekTechnical editor: Kaźmierczak, Mare

Vibration, Control and Stability of Dynamical Systems

From Preface: This is the fourteenth time when the conference “Dynamical Systems: Theory and Applications” gathers a numerous group of outstanding scientists and engineers, who deal with widely understood problems of theoretical and applied dynamics. Organization of the conference would not have been possible without a great effort of the staff of the Department of Automation, Biomechanics and Mechatronics. The patronage over the conference has been taken by the Committee of Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland. It is a great pleasure that our invitation has been accepted by recording in the history of our conference number of people, including good colleagues and friends as well as a large group of researchers and scientists, who decided to participate in the conference for the first time. With proud and satisfaction we welcomed over 180 persons from 31 countries all over the world. They decided to share the results of their research and many years experiences in a discipline of dynamical systems by submitting many very interesting papers. This year, the DSTA Conference Proceedings were split into three volumes entitled “Dynamical Systems” with respective subtitles: Vibration, Control and Stability of Dynamical Systems; Mathematical and Numerical Aspects of Dynamical System Analysis and Engineering Dynamics and Life Sciences. Additionally, there will be also published two volumes of Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics entitled “Dynamical Systems in Theoretical Perspective” and “Dynamical Systems in Applications”

Vibration Energy Harvesting for Wireless Sensors

Kinetic energy harvesters are a viable means of supplying low-power autonomous electronic systems for the remote sensing of operations. In this Special Issue, through twelve diverse contributions, some of the contemporary challenges, solutions and insights around the outlined issues are captured describing a variety of energy harvesting sources, as well as the need to create numerical and experimental evidence based around them. The breadth and interdisciplinarity of the sector are clearly observed, providing the basis for the development of new sensors, methods of measurement, and importantly, for their potential applications in a wide range of technical sectors

Nonlinear vibration energy harvesters for powering the internet of things

The ever decreasing power consumption in electronic devices and sensors have facilitated the development of autonomous wireless sensor nodes (WSNs), which ushered in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). However, the problem of long-term power supply to the numerous WSNs pervasively dispersed to enable the IoT is yet to be resolved. This work focuses on the development of novel vibration energy harvesting (VEH) devices and technologies for effective transduction of mostly wide-band and noisy ambient mechanical vibrations to power WSNs. In this thesis meso-scale and MEMS-scale nonlinear and frequency tunable VEH devices have been designed, fabricated and characterized. The first meso-scale VEH prototype developed in this thesis combines a nonlinear bistable oscillator with mechanical impact induced nonlinearity, which exhibits upto 118% broadening in the frequency response over a standalone bistable system. The second meso-scale prototype combines magnetic repulsion induced bistable nonlinearity with stretching induced monostable cubic nonlinearity in a single device structure. The device effectively merged the beneficial features of the individual nonlinear bistable and monostable systems, and demonstrates upto 85% enhanced spectral performance compared to the bistable device. The third prototype is a MEMS-scale device fabricated using spiral silicon spring structure and double-layer planar micro-coils. A magnetic repulsion induced frequency tuning mechanism was incorporated in the prototype, and it was demonstrated that both linear and nonlinear hysteretic frequency responses could be tuned (by upto 18.6%) to match various ambient vibration frequencies. In order to enhance the power generating capability of MEMS-scale electromagnetic devices, an ultra-dense multi-layer micro-coil architecture has been developed. The proposed ultra-dense micro-coil is designed to incorporate double number of turns within the same volume as a conventional micro-coil, and significantly enhance the magnetic flux linkage gradient resulting in higher power output (~4 times). However, attempts to fabricate the ultra-dense coil have not been successful due to lack of proper insulation between the successive coil layers. Finally, a power management system combining diode equivalent low voltage drop (DELVD) circuit and a boost regulator module was developed. It was demonstrated that energy harvested from harmonic and bandlimited random vibrations using linear, nonlinear bistable, and combined nonlinear VEH devices could be conditioned into usable electricity by the power management system with 60% - 75% efficiency. In addition to developing new prototypes and techniques, this thesis recommends directions towards future research for further improvement in vibration energy harvesting devices and technologies

Engineering Dynamics and Life Sciences

From Preface: This is the fourteenth time when the conference “Dynamical Systems: Theory and Applications” gathers a numerous group of outstanding scientists and engineers, who deal with widely understood problems of theoretical and applied dynamics. Organization of the conference would not have been possible without a great effort of the staff of the Department of Automation, Biomechanics and Mechatronics. The patronage over the conference has been taken by the Committee of Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland. It is a great pleasure that our invitation has been accepted by recording in the history of our conference number of people, including good colleagues and friends as well as a large group of researchers and scientists, who decided to participate in the conference for the first time. With proud and satisfaction we welcomed over 180 persons from 31 countries all over the world. They decided to share the results of their research and many years experiences in a discipline of dynamical systems by submitting many very interesting papers. This year, the DSTA Conference Proceedings were split into three volumes entitled “Dynamical Systems” with respective subtitles: Vibration, Control and Stability of Dynamical Systems; Mathematical and Numerical Aspects of Dynamical System Analysis and Engineering Dynamics and Life Sciences. Additionally, there will be also published two volumes of Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics entitled “Dynamical Systems in Theoretical Perspective” and “Dynamical Systems in Applications”