Low Voltage Battery Management System With Internal Adaptive Charger and Fuzzy Logic Controller

Lithium ion (Li-Ion) and lithium polymer (Li-Po) batteries need to be used within certain voltage/current limits. Failure to observe these limits may result in damage to the battery. In this work, we propose a low voltage battery management system (LV-BMS) that balances the processes of the battery cells in the battery pack and the activating-deactivating of cells by guaranteeing that the operation is within these limits. The system operates autonomously and provides energy from the internal battery. It has a modular structure and the software is designed to control the charging and discharging of eight battery cells at most. A STM32F103 microcontroller is used for system control. The fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is used to set the discharge voltage limit to prevent damage to the battery cells, shorten the settlement time and create a specialized design for charge control. The proposed structure enables solar panel or power supplies with di erent voltage values between 5 V and 8 V to be used for charging. The experimental results show there was a 42% increase in usage time and the voltage di erence between the batteries was limited to a maximum of 65 mV. Moreover, the charge current settles at about 20 ms, which is a much faster response when compared to a PID controller

Conoscopic interferometry for optimal acoustic pulse detection in ultrafast acoustics

Conoscopic interferometry is a promising detection technique for ultrafast acoustics. By focusing a probe beam through a birefringent crystal before passing it through a polarizer, conoscopic interferences sculpt the spatial profile of the beam. The use of these patterns for acoustic wave detection revealed a higher detection sensitivity over existing techniques, such as reflectometry and beam distortion detection. However, the physical origin of the increased sensitivity is unknown. In this work, we present a model, describing the sensitivity behaviour of conoscopic interferometry with respect to the quarter-wave plate orientation and the diaphragm aperture, which is validated experimentally. Using the model, we optimize the detection sensitivity of conoscopic interferometry. We obtain a maximal sensitivity of detection when placing the diaphragm edge on the dark fringes of the conoscopic interference patterns. In the configurations studied in this work, conoscopic interferometry can be 8x more sensitive to acoustic waves than beam distortion detection

How does disease location affect acute phase reactants in ulcerative colitis?

Background: We aimed to evaluate erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), platelet (PLT) counts and albumin levels according to disease location in ulcerative colitis.Methods: The ESR, CRP, WBC, PLT counts and albumin levels of 206 ulcerative colitis patients with endoscopic activity were retrospectively evaluated. Endoscopic activity had been assessed using Rachmilewitz endoscopic activity index. Patients were grouped according to the extent of disease by Montreal classification, and they were evaluated regarding the location and severity of disease according to the laboratory test results.Results: Among 206 patients, 88 (42.7%) had extensive colitis, 89 (43.2%) of them had left sided colitis and 29 (14%) patients had proctitis. According to the endoscopic activity index, 32.04% of the patients had mild activity, 39.32% moderate activity and 28.64% had severe activity. As the disease extent progressed from the distal to the proximal intestine, CRP, ESR, WBC and PLT counts showed a significant increase while albumin levels showed a significant decrease. In our study, the test that yielded the best results in the assessment of disease activity was CRP, which was found to be high in 80% of patients with extensive colitis, followed by ESR, PLT and WBC counts. As the involved intestine shortened, the rate of patients with abnormal laboratory tests significantly decreasedConclusion: CRP, ESR, WBC, PLT counts and albumin levels are of limited value in determining disease activity in ulcerative colitis patients, especially in those with proctiti