Simulation and BIM in building design, commissioning and operation: a comparison with the microelectronics industry

Analogy between the Microelectronics and Building industries is explored with the focus on design, commissioning and operation processes. Some issues found in the realisation of low energy buildings are highlighted and techniques gleaned from microelectronics proposed as possible solutions. Opportunities identified include: adoption of a more integrated process, use of standard cells, inclusion of controls and operational code in the design, generation of building commissioning tests from simulation, generation of building operational control code (including self-test) from simulation, inclusion of variation and uncertainties in the design process, use of quality processes such as indices to represent design robustness and formal continuous improvement methods. The possible integration of these techniques within a building information model (BIM) flow is discussed and some examples of enabling technologies given

Precision LCVD System Design with Real Time Process Control

A Laser Chemical Vapor Deposition (LCVD) system was designed using a fixed 100 Watt C02 laser focused on a moveable substrate. Temperature and height measurement devices monitor the reaction at the point of deposition to provide feedback for controlling the process. The LCVD system will use rapid prototyping technology to directly fabricate fully threedimensional ceramic, metallic, and composite parts of arbitrary shape. Potential applications include high temperature structures, electronic/photonic devices, and orthopaedic implants.Mechanical Engineerin

Exploring Vacuum Casting Techniques for Micron and Submicron Features

A study of resolution limits in standard rapid prototyping vacuum cast molding processes and adaptation of this technique to reach submicron accuracy is proposed. Micro-fabrication technologies are used to fabricate micron and submicron high aspect-ratio patterns on the original parts. The molding of the original parts is optimized to allow replication of submicron features. In carefully exploring materials and surface treatments, cast parts are successfully replicated with submicron and high aspect ratio micron structures. These encouraging results enable the use of such processes for micro- and nano-systems applications and open the door to development and production of low cost, high resolution biochips.Mechanical Engineerin

Effect of Surface Preparation Methods on Mechanical Properties of 3D Structures Fabricated by Stereolithography and 3D Printing for Electroless Ni Plating

Stereolithography (SL) and 3D Printing (3DP) are useful technologies for three-dimensional prototyping applications, providing highly accurate and detailed part geometries with high quality surface finishes. It is desired to improve the materials performance of the existing photocurable SL and 3DP resins for rapid tooling and other functional applications by applying a nickel (Ni) coating. In this work, surface preparation methods for electroless plating of commercial photopolymer resins such as NanoFormTM15120 (NanoForm) and Objet FullCure®840 (Veroblue) were explored in order to enhance the structural integrity of RP components. This study examined different surface preparation methods (chemical etching) and their effect on the surface morphology and mechanical strength of the polymers. It was observed that surface preparation of the resins significantly affected the mechanical properties and Ni plating of the substrate polymers. This is a critical step, since the Ni film takes on the surface structure of the substrate.Mechanical Engineerin

Specification management for the cost constraint optimisation in microelectronic design

International audienceIn the preliminary design phase the integration of the economic constraints of a product is a difficult engineering task since there is a real lack of dedicated tools. This paper illustrates a specification software solution method making it possible to meet this need, applied to the microelectronics field

Towards a Scalable Hardware/Software Co-Design Platform for Real-time Pedestrian Tracking Based on a ZYNQ-7000 Device

Currently, most designers face a daunting task to research different design flows and learn the intricacies of specific software from various manufacturers in hardware/software co-design. An urgent need of creating a scalable hardware/software co-design platform has become a key strategic element for developing hardware/software integrated systems. In this paper, we propose a new design flow for building a scalable co-design platform on FPGA-based system-on-chip. We employ an integrated approach to implement a histogram oriented gradients (HOG) and a support vector machine (SVM) classification on a programmable device for pedestrian tracking. Not only was hardware resource analysis reported, but the precision and success rates of pedestrian tracking on nine open access image data sets are also analysed. Finally, our proposed design flow can be used for any real-time image processingrelated products on programmable ZYNQ-based embedded systems, which benefits from a reduced design time and provide a scalable solution for embedded image processing products

Augmenting Mask-Based Lithography with Direct Laser Writing to Increase Resolution and Speed

We present combined direct-laser-writing and UV Lithography in SU-8F and S1813 as a fast and flexible lithographic technique for the prototyping of functional polymer devices and pattern transfer applications. Direct laser writing (DLW), which is performed by focusing a laser through a microscope objective, is a useful alternative method for patterning photoresists with sub-micron resolution. DLW however, can be time consuming if the pattern density is high since it is a serial technique. Typically, dense patterns are made using conventional mask-based UV lithography, but these masks can be quite expensive if the resolution is high and the mask cannot be modified once created. Here, we combine UV lithography using inexpensive transparency masks, which have modest resolution of about 20 µm linewidths, with DLW to create smaller features. By using the laser to augment an inexpensive mask, high resolution prototypes can be created, tested, and modified quickly to optimize a design. Here we show that this Laser Augmented Microlithographic Patterning (LAMP) method works with both positive- and negative-tone photoresists, S1813 and SU-8, respectively. The laser written features can be registered to within 2.2 µm of the mask created features and we demonstrate the applicability of LAMP by fabricating an interdigitated electrode and a microfluidic device that can capture an array of dozens of silica beads or living cells