Wavelet packet decomposition for IEC compliant assessment of harmonics under stationary and fluctuating conditions

This paper presents the validation and characterization of a wavelet based decomposition method for the assessment of harmonic distortion in power systems, under stationary and non-stationary conditions. It uses Wavelet Packet Decomposition with Butterworth Infinite Impulse Response filters and a decomposition structure, which allows the measurement of both odd and even harmonics, up to the 63rd order, fully compliant with the requirements of the IEC 61000-4-7 standard. The method is shown to fulfil the IEC accuracy requirements for stationary harmonics, obtaining the same accuracy even under fluctuating conditions. Then, it is validated using simulated signals with real harmonic content. The proposed method is proven to be fully equivalent to Fourier analysis under stationary conditions, being often more accurate. Under non-stationary conditions, instead, it provides significantly higher accuracy, while the IEC strategy produces large errors. Lastly, the method is tested with real current and voltage signals, measured in conditions of high harmonic distortion. The proposed strategy provides a method with superior performance for fluctuating harmonics, but at the same time IEC compliant under stationary conditions

Wave-based sensor, actuator and optimizer

Programa doutoral em Sistemas Avançados de Engenharia para a Indústria (AESI)A presente tese explora a utilização de ondas para abordar dois desafios significativos na indústria automóvel. O primeiro desafio consiste no desenvolvimento de um sistema de cancelamento ativo de ruído (ANC) que possa reduzir os ruídos não estacionários no compartimento de passageiros de um veículo. O segundo desafio é criar uma metodologia de conceção ótima para sensores de posição indutivos capazes de medir deslocamentos lineares, rotacionais e angulares. Para abordar o primeiro desafio, foi desenvolvido de um sistema ANC onde wavelets foram combinadas com um banco de filtros adaptativos. O sistema foi implementado em uma FPGA, e testes demonstraram que o sistema pode reduzir o ruído não estacionário em um ambiente acústico aberto e não controlado em 9 dB. O segundo desafio foi abordado através de uma metodologia que combina um algoritmo genético com um método numérico rápido para otimizar um sensor de posição indutivo. O método numérico foi usado para simular o campo eletromagnético associado à geometria do sensor, permitindo a maximização da corrente induzida nas bobinas recetoras e a minimização da não-linearidade no sensor. A minimização da não-linearidade foi conseguida através do desenho (layout) das bobinas que compõem o sensor. Sendo este otimizado no espaço de Fourier através da adição de harmónicos apropriados na geometria. As melhores geometrias otimizadas apresentaram uma não-linearidade inferior a 0,01% e a 0,25% da escala total para os sensores de posição angular e linear, respetivamente, sem calibração por software. O sistema ANC proposto tem o potencial de melhorar o conforto dos ocupantes do veículo, reduzindo o ruído indesejado dentro do compartimento de passageiros. Isso poderia reduzir o uso de materiais de isolamento acústico no veículo, levando a um veículo mais leve e, em última análise, a uma redução no consumo de energia. A metodologia desenvolvida para sensores de posição indutivos contribui para o estado da arte de sensores de posição eficientes e económicos, o que é crucial para os requisitos complexos da indústria automóvel. Essas contribuições têm implicações para o desenho de sistemas automotivos, com requisitos de desempenho e considerações ambientais e económicas.This thesis explores the use of waves to tackle two major engineering challenges in the automotive industry. The first challenge is the development of an Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) system that can effectively reduce non-stationary noise inside a vehicle’s passenger compartment. The second challenge is the optimization of an inductive position sensor design methodology capable of measuring linear, rotational, and angular displacements. To address the first challenge, this work designs an ANC system that employs wavelets combined with a bank of adaptive filters. The system was implemented in an FPGA, and field tests demonstrate its ability to reduce non-stationary noise in an open and uncontrolled acoustic environment by 9 dB. The second challenge was tackled by proposing a new approach that combines a genetic algorithm with a fast and lightweight numerical method to optimize the geometry of an inductive position sensor. The numerical method is used to simulate the sensor’s electromagnetic field, allowing for the maximization of induced current on the receiver coils while minimizing the sensor’s non-linearity. The non-linearity minimization was achieved through its unique sensor’s coils design optimized in the Fourier space by adding the appropriate harmonics to the coils’ geometry. The best optimized geometries exhibited a non-linearity of less than 0.01% and 0.25% of the full scale for the angular and linear position sensors, respectively. Both results were achieved without the need for signal calibration or post-processing manipulation. The proposed ANC system has the potential to enhance the comfort of vehicle occupants by reducing unwanted noise inside the passenger compartment. Moreover, it has the potential to reduce the use of acoustic insulation materials in the vehicle, leading to a lighter vehicle and ultimately reducing energy consumption. The developed methodology for inductive position sensors represents a state-of-the-art contribution to efficient and cost-effective position sensor design, which is crucial for meeting the complex requirements of the automotive industry.I would like to thank the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and Bosch Car Multimedia for funding my PhD (grant PD/BDE/142901/2018)

Comprehensive Review on Detection and Classification of Power Quality Disturbances in Utility Grid With Renewable Energy Penetration

The global concern with power quality is increasing due to the penetration of renewable energy (RE) sources to cater the energy demands and meet de-carbonization targets. Power quality (PQ) disturbances are found to be more predominant with RE penetration due to the variable outputs and interfacing converters. There is a need to recognize and mitigate PQ disturbances to supply clean power to the consumer. This article presents a critical review of techniques used for detection and classification PQ disturbances in the utility grid with renewable energy penetration. The broad perspective of this review paper is to provide various concepts utilized for extraction of the features to detect and classify the PQ disturbances even in the noisy environment. More than 220 research publications have been critically reviewed, classified and listed for quick reference of the engineers, scientists and academicians working in the power quality area

Wavelet-Based Harmonic Magnitude Measurement in the Presence of Interharmonics

The increasing proliferation of power electronic converters, nonlinear loads, and distributed generation are leading to increased levels of harmonic and interharmonics in power networks. As a consequence, power quality (PQ) has become a critical performance indicator for power utilities and end-users. This study proposes a novel harmonic estimation method based on the real-time stationary discrete wavelet packet transform (RT-SDWPT). The proposed technique decomposes an input signal into frequency bands with harmonic information at cutoff frequencies and uses a compensation strategy to estimate root mean square (RMS) values of harmonics at every sampling period. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed method are assessed using real measurement data from field cases and experimental setup. The real measurements include challenging scenarios with harmonics, subharmonics, interharmonics, frequency deviation, and non-stationary PQ events. The proposed method outperforms the harmonic estimation provided by the discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based approach and existing wavelet packet-based methods in terms of accuracy and speed

Applications of Wavelet Transforms to the Analysis of Superoscillations

The phenomenon of superoscillation is the local oscillation of a band limited function at a frequency ω higher than the band limit. Superoscillations exist during the limited time intervals, and their amplitude is small compared to the signal components with the frequencies inside the bandwidth. For this reason, the wavelet transform is a useful mathematical tool for the quantitative description of the superoscillations. Continuous-time wavelet transform (CWT) of a transient signal ft is a function of two variables: one of them represents a time shift, and the other one is the scale or dilation variable. As a result, CWT permits the simultaneous analysis of the transient signals both in the time and frequency domain. We show that the superoscillations strongly localized in time and frequency domains can be identified by using CWT analysis. We use CWT with the Mexican hat and Morlet mother wavelets for the theoretical investigation of superoscillation spectral features and time dependence for the first time, to our best knowledge. The results clearly show that the high superoscillation frequencies, time duration, and energy contours can be found by using CWT of the superoscillating signals

Towards Real-Time Non-Stationary Sinusoidal Modelling of Kick and Bass Sounds for Audio Analysis and Modification

Sinusoidal Modelling is a powerful and flexible parametric method for analysing and processing audio signals. These signals have an underlying structure that modern spectral models aim to exploit by separating the signal into sinusoidal, transient, and noise components. Each of these can then be modelled in a manner most appropriate to that component's inherent structure. The accuracy of the estimated parameters is directly related to the quality of the model's representation of the signal, and the assumptions made about its underlying structure. For sinusoidal models, these assumptions generally affect the non-stationary estimates related to amplitude and frequency modulations, and the type of amplitude change curve. This is especially true when using a single analysis frame in a non-overlapping framework, where biased estimates can result in discontinuities at frame boundaries. It is therefore desirable for such a model to distinguish between the shape of different amplitude changes and adapt the estimation of this accordingly. Intra-frame amplitude change can be interpreted as a change in the windowing function applied to a stationary sinusoid, which can be estimated from the derivative of the phase with respect to frequency at magnitude peaks in the DFT spectrum. A method for measuring monotonic linear amplitude change from single-frame estimates using the first-order derivative of the phase with respect to frequency (approximated by the first-order difference) is presented, along with a method of distinguishing between linear and exponential amplitude change. An adaption of the popular matching pursuit algorithm for refining model parameters in a segmented framework has been investigated using a dictionary comprised of sinusoids with parameters varying slightly from model estimates, based on Modelled Pursuit (MoP). Modelling of the residual signal using a segmented undecimated Wavelet Transform (segUWT) is presented. A generalisation for both the forward and inverse transforms, for delay compensations and overlap extensions for different lengths of Wavelets and the number of decomposition levels in an Overlap Save (OLS) implementation for dealing with convolution block-based artefacts is presented. This shift invariant implementation of the DWT is a popular tool for de-noising and shows promising results for the separation of transients from noise

Diagnosis of electric induction machines in non-stationary regimes working in randomly changing conditions

Tradicionalmente, la detección de faltas en máquinas eléctricas se basa en el uso de la Transformada Rápida de Fourier ya que la mayoría de las faltas pueden ser diagnosticadas con ella con seguridad si las máquinas operan en condiciones de régimen estacionario durante un intervalo de tiempo razonable. Sin embargo, para aplicaciones en las que las máquinas operan en condiciones de carga y velocidad fluctuantes (condiciones no estacionarias) como por ejemplo los aerogeneradores, el uso de la Transformada Rápida de Fourier debe ser reemplazado por otras técnicas. La presente tesis desarrolla una nueva metodología para el diagnóstico de máquinas de inducción de rotor de jaula y rotor bobinado operando en condiciones no estacionarias, basada en el análisis de las componentes de falta de las corrientes en el plano deslizamiento frecuencia. La técnica es aplicada al diagnóstico de asimetrías estatóricas, rotóricas y también para la falta de excentricidad mixta. El diagnóstico de las máquinas eléctricas en el dominio deslizamiento-frecuencia confiere un carácter universal a la metodología ya que puede diagnosticar máquinas eléctricas independientemente de sus características, del modo en el que la velocidad de la máquina varía y de su modo de funcionamiento (motor o generador). El desarrollo de la metodología conlleva las siguientes etapas: (i) Caracterización de las evoluciones de las componentes de falta de asimetría estatórica, rotórica y excentricidad mixta para las máquinas de inducción de rotores de jaula y bobinados en función de la velocidad (deslizamiento) y la frecuencia de alimentación de la red a la que está conectada la máquina. (ii) Debido a la importancia del procesado de la señal, se realiza una introducción a los conceptos básicos del procesado de señal antes de centrarse en las técnicas actuales de procesado de señal para el diagnóstico de máquinas eléctricas. (iii) La extracción de las componentes de falta se lleva a cabo a través de tres técnicas de filtrado diferentes: filtros basados en la Transformada Discreta Wavelet, en la Transformada Wavelet Packet y con una nueva técnica de filtrado propuesta en esta tesis, el Filtrado Espectral. Las dos primeras técnicas de filtrado extraen las componentes de falta en el dominio del tiempo mientras que la nueva técnica de filtrado realiza la extracción en el dominio de la frecuencia. (iv) La extracción de las componentes de falta, en algunos casos, conlleva el desplazamiento de la frecuencia de las componentes de falta. El desplazamiento de la frecuencia se realiza a través de dos técnicas: el Teorema del Desplazamiento de la Frecuencia y la Transformada Hilbert. (v) A diferencia de otras técnicas ya desarrolladas, la metodología propuesta no se basa exclusivamente en el cálculo de la energía de la componente de falta sino que también estudia la evolución de la frecuencia instantánea de ellas, calculándola a través de dos técnicas diferentes (la Transformada Hilbert y el operador Teager-Kaiser), frente al deslizamiento. La representación de la frecuencia instantánea frente al deslizamiento elimina la posibilidad de diagnósticos falsos positivos mejorando la precisión y la calidad del diagnóstico. Además, la representación de la frecuencia instantánea frente al deslizamiento permite realizar diagnósticos cualitativos que son rápidos y requieren bajos requisitos computacionales. (vi) Finalmente, debido a la importancia de la automatización de los procesos industriales y para evitar la posible divergencia presente en el diagnóstico cualitativo, tres parámetros objetivos de diagnóstico son desarrollados: el parámetro de la energía, el coeficiente de similitud y los parámetros de regresión. El parámetro de la energía cuantifica la severidad de la falta según su valor y es calculado en el dominio del tiempo y en el dominio de la frecuencia (consecuencia de la extracción de las componentes de falta en el dominio de la frecuencia). El coeficiente de similitud y los parámetros de regresión son parámetros objetivos que permiten descartar diagnósticos falsos positivos aumentando la robustez de la metodología propuesta. La metodología de diagnóstico propuesta se valida experimentalmente para las faltas de asimetría estatórica y rotórica y para el fallo de excentricidad mixta en máquinas de inducción de rotor de jaula y rotor bobinado alimentadas desde la red eléctrica y desde convertidores de frecuencia en condiciones no estacionarias estocásticas.Vedreño Santos, FJ. (2013). Diagnosis of electric induction machines in non-stationary regimes working in randomly changing conditions [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/34177TESI

Time-domain Compressive Beamforming for Medical Ultrasound Imaging

Over the past 10 years, Compressive Sensing has gained a lot of visibility from the medical imaging research community. The most compelling feature for the use of Compressive Sensing is its ability to perform perfect reconstructions of under-sampled signals using l1-minimization. Of course, that counter-intuitive feature has a cost. The lacking information is compensated for by a priori knowledge of the signal under certain mathematical conditions. This technology is currently used in some commercial MRI scanners to increase the acquisition rate hence decreasing discomfort for the patient while increasing patient turnover. For echography, the applications could go from fast 3D echocardiography to simplified, cheaper echography systems. Real-time ultrasound imaging scanners have been available for nearly 50 years. During these 50 years of existence, much has changed in their architecture, electronics, and technologies. However one component remains present: the beamformer. From analog beamformers to software beamformers, the technology has evolved and brought much diversity to the world of beam formation. Currently, most commercial scanners use several focalized ultrasonic pulses to probe tissue. The time between two consecutive focalized pulses is not compressible, limiting the frame rate. Indeed, one must wait for a pulse to propagate back and forth from the probe to the deepest point imaged before firing a new pulse. In this work, we propose to outline the development of a novel software beamforming technique that uses Compressive Sensing. Time-domain Compressive Beamforming (t-CBF) uses computational models and regularization to reconstruct de-cluttered ultrasound images. One of the main features of t-CBF is its use of only one transmit wave to insonify the tissue. Single-wave imaging brings high frame rates to the modality, for example allowing a physician to see precisely the movements of the heart walls or valves during a heart cycle. t-CBF takes into account the geometry of the probe as well as its physical parameters to improve resolution and attenuate artifacts commonly seen in single-wave imaging such as side lobes. In this thesis, we define a mathematical framework for the beamforming of ultrasonic data compatible with Compressive Sensing. Then, we investigate its capabilities on simple simulations in terms of resolution and super-resolution. Finally, we adapt t-CBF to real-life ultrasonic data. In particular, we reconstruct 2D cardiac images at a frame rate 100-fold higher than typical values

Wavelet Theory

The wavelet is a powerful mathematical tool that plays an important role in science and technology. This book looks at some of the most creative and popular applications of wavelets including biomedical signal processing, image processing, communication signal processing, Internet of Things (IoT), acoustical signal processing, financial market data analysis, energy and power management, and COVID-19 pandemic measurements and calculations. The editor’s personal interest is the application of wavelet transform to identify time domain changes on signals and corresponding frequency components and in improving power amplifier behavior