Dynamic inductive power transfer lane design for e-bikes

This paper presents the concept and initial test results of an inductive lane design capable of dynamic and wirelessly transfer power to electric bicycles (e-bikes). On the lane side, a sequence of oblong primary coils embedded underneath ground surface, along the vehicle path, can be independently excited by high frequency alternating current. The oscillating magnetic field of each primary coil is individually enabled when a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag on board of the e-bike is detected and authenticated by an auxiliary coil laying close to that primary coil. On the e-bike, energy for the powertrain is harvested from the lane by a secondary coil that is installed around its rear wheel. When the e-bike is moving over inter-coil gaps, or anywhere away from the inductive lane, on-board power is sustained with the excess energy stored during transits over energized coils. Preliminary results from a prototyped module demonstrate the feasibility of the system, which could also be used by similarly adapted lightweight electric vehicles, such as rickshaws, electric wheel chairs and other electric personal mobility devices, favoring a new, low cost, sustainable urban modal variant.Research partially supported by grant SFRH/BD/52349/2013 from FCT, the Portuguese funding agency supporting science, technology and innovation, under the scope of the MIT-Portugal Program. L. A. Lisboa Cardoso and J. L. Afonso are with the Centro ALGORITMI, Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal (tel. 351-253-510183; e-mails: [email protected], [email protected]). M. Comesaña Martinez and A. A. Nogueiras Meléndez, are with the Department of Electronics Technology, University of Vigo, Vigo, Pontevedra 36310, Spain (e-mail: [email protected])

Wireless communication and management system for E-Bike dynamic inductive power transfer lanes

This paper presents the design, implementation, and testing of a wireless communication system for automatic identification of e-bikes and management of their battery charging in the context of dynamic inductive wireless power transfer (DIWPT) lanes. The proposed system checks if an e-bike, uniquely identified by its RFID tag, is authorized to receive energy from the lane coils and acts accordingly. An authentication mechanism was developed based on the use of embedded Wi-Fi boards attached to the coils and communicating with a central HTTP server with a MySQL database. The developed management system also provides other features, such as the recording of the number of lane coils used by each e-bike for billing purposes. The results from experimental tests on a laboratory prototype were used to validate the developed functionalities and assess the quality of service provided by the proposed system.This work was supported by FCT national funds, under the national support to R&D units grant,through the reference project UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020

Design of an intrinsically safe series-series compensation WPT system for automotive LiDAR

The earliest and simplest impedance compensation technique used in inductive wireless power transfer (WPT) design is the series-series (SS) compensation circuit, which uses capacitors in series with both primary and secondary coils of an air-gapped transformer. Despite of its simplicity at the resonant condition, this configuration exhibits a major sensitivity to variations of the load attached to the secondary, especially when higher coupling coefficients are used in the design. In the extreme situation that the secondary coil is left at open circuit, the current at the primary coil may increase above the safety limits for either the power converter driving the primary coil or the components in the primary circuit, including the coil itself. An approach often used to minimize this problem is detuning, but this also reduces the electrical efficiency of the power transfer. In low power, fixed-distance stationary WPT, a fair trade-off between efficiency and safety must be verified. This paper aims to consolidate a simple design procedure for such a SS-compensation, exemplifying its use in the prototype of a WPT system for automotive light detection and ranging (LiDAR) equipment. The guidelines herein provided should equally apply to other low power applications.This work has been supported by national funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019, and also 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]

Vehicle Occurrence-based Parking Space Detection

Smart-parking solutions use sensors, cameras, and data analysis to improve parking efficiency and reduce traffic congestion. Computer vision-based methods have been used extensively in recent years to tackle the problem of parking lot management, but most of the works assume that the parking spots are manually labeled, impacting the cost and feasibility of deployment. To fill this gap, this work presents an automatic parking space detection method, which receives a sequence of images of a parking lot and returns a list of coordinates identifying the detected parking spaces. The proposed method employs instance segmentation to identify cars and, using vehicle occurrence, generate a heat map of parking spaces. The results using twelve different subsets from the PKLot and CNRPark-EXT parking lot datasets show that the method achieved an AP25 score up to 95.60\% and AP50 score up to 79.90\%.Comment: Accepted for presentation at the 2023 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC 2023

Vehicle electrification: technologies, challenges and a global perspective for smart grids

Nowadays, due to economic and climate concerns, the private transportation sector is shifting for the vehicle electrification, mainly supported by electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles. For this new reality, new challenges about operation modes are emerging, demanding a cooperative and dynamic operation with the electrical power grid, guaranteeing a stable integration without omitting the power quality for the grid-side and for the vehicle-side. Besides the operation modes, new attractive and complementary technologies are offered by the vehicle electrification in the context of smart grids, which are valid for both on-board and off-board systems. In this perspective, this book chapter presents a global perspective and deals with challenges for the vehicle electrification, covering the key technologies toward a sustainable future. Among others, the flowing topics are covered: (1) Overview of power electronics structures for battery charging systems, including on-board and off-board systems; (2) State-of-the-art of communication technologies for application in the context of vehicular electrification, smart grids and smart homes; (3) Challenges and opportunities concerning wireless power transfer with bidirectional interface to the electrical grid; (4) Future perspectives about bidirectional power transfer between electric vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle operation mode); (5) Unified technologies, allowing to combine functionalities of a bidirectional interface with the electrical grid and motor driver based on a single system; and (6) Smart grids and smart homes scenarios and accessible opportunities about operation modes.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT

A jazida de bentonita de Bañado de Medina, Melo, Uruguai. Geologia, mineralogia e utilização tecnológica

The bentonite deposit found in the region of Bañado de Medina, 18 km southwest of the locality of Melo, in Uruguay, is the first one of commercial potential in that region. The aim of this work is to present mineralogy, chemical composition, types of contaminants and factors that control the deposits and technological properties of the bentonite. A promising exploration block was defined based on 31 boreholes, resulting in the delimitation of a bentonite bed that is locally 6.6 m thick. Field studies and borehole analysis have enabled the recognition of a bentonite deposit enclosed by sandstone beds in the sedimentary sequence of the Rio do Rasto Formation (Upper Permian of Paraná Basin). Such deposit was protected against subsequent erosion in tectonically depressed blocks, defined regionally by old basement, NE- and NW-trending tectonic structures. The reserve measured in the 9.5 ha area of the prospected block was estimated to be 580,000 tons, formed by a continuous bentonite bed with 1.60 m to 11.60 m thick sandstone/siltstone cover. The Bañado de Medina bentonite represents the final events of the Serrinha Member from the Rio do Rasto Formation (Vila Viñoles Member from the Yaguari Formation, in the equivalent Uruguayan nomenclature). According to texture, sedimentary structures and color criteria, the bentonite bed was divided in four units. Mineralogy evaluated by X-ray diffraction shows the predominance of dioctahedral calcium smectite followed by quartz and feldspar, sometimes as trace minerals. The chemical analyses indicate a smectite of low Fe3+ content and 76% of interfoliar charge, mainly associated to octahedral replacement of Al3+ by Mg2+, classified as Al-montmorillonite. The cation exchange capacity (measured values between 101 and 116 meq/100g) was evaluated in relation to 2EG, 1EG and 0EG domains. The montmorillonite is predominantly of the low charge type (2EG). Technological uses for foundry and drilling fluid were tested. The results indicate adequate thermal stability, good swelling properties and green strength when the bentonite is treated with 5% sodium carbonate.O depósito de bentonita da região de Bañado de Medina, situado 18 km a sudoeste da localidade de Melo, no Uruguai, constitui a primeira ocorrência na região com potencial para exploração comercial. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar dados referentes à mineralogia, composição química, tipos de contaminantes e fatores de controle dos depósitos, bem como algumas propriedades tecnológicas deste material. Com base em 31 furos de sondagem, foi possível a delimitação de uma camada de bentonita que localizadamente possui uma espessura de até 6,6m. A descrição dos furos, juntamente com trabalhos de campo, permitiu estabelecer um depósito de bentonita limitado inferior e superiormente por camadas de arenito dentro da Formação Rio do Rasto (Permiano Superior da Bacia do Paraná). O depósito foi protegido dos processos erosivos posteriores num bloco tectonicamente rebaixado, definido regionalmente por estruturas tectônicas antigas do embasamento com direções NE e NW. A reserva medida nos 9,5 ha de área prospectados é de 580.000 t, sendo formada por uma camada contínua de bentonita com cobertura de arenito/siltito da ordem de 1,60m até 11,60m de espessura. A bentonita Bañado de Medina resulta dos eventos finais do Membro Serrinha da Formação Rio do Rasto (Membro Vila Viñoles da Formação Yaguari, na nomenclatura uruguaia). De acordo com a textura, estruturas sedimentares e cor, a camada de bentonita foi dividida em quatro unidades. A determinação da mineralogia por difratometria de Raios-X mostra a predominância de esmectita dioctaédrica cálcica seguida de quartzo e feldspato, por vezes como minerais traços. Os resultados químicos indicam uma esmectita com baixo teor em Fe3+ e com cerca de 76% da carga interfoliar proveniente da substituição em nível octaédrico de Al3+ por Mg2+, classificando-se como uma Al-montmorilonita. Foi avaliada a capacidade de troca de cátions (valores medidos entre 101 e 116 meq/100g) e sua relação com domínios 2EG, 1EG e 0EG. A montmorilonita com grande predominância é a do tipo baixa carga (2EG). Seu uso tecnológico foi testado para aplicação em moldes de fundição e como fluido de perfuração. Os resultados apontaram índices adequados de estabilidade térmica, inchamento e resistência à tração a úmido, quando ativada com 5% de carbonato de sódi

Effect of Immunosuppression on T-Helper 2 and B-Cell Responses to Influenza Vaccination

Background. Influenza vaccine immunogenicity is suboptimal in immunocompromised patients. However, there are limited data on the interplay of T- and B- cell responses to vaccination with simultaneous immunosuppression. Methods. We collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells from transplant recipients before and 1 month after seasonal influenza vaccination. Before and after vaccination, H1N1-specific T- and B-cell activation were quantified with flow cytometry. We also developed a mathematical model using T- and B-cell markers and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) dosage. Results. In the 47 patients analyzed, seroconversion to H1N1 antigen was demonstrated in 34%. H1N1-specific interleukin 4 (IL-4)-producing CD4+ T-cell frequencies increased significantly after vaccination in 53% of patients. Prevaccine expression of H1N1-induced HLA-DR and CD86 on B cells was high in patients who seroconverted. Seroconversion against H1N1 was strongly associated with HLA-DR expression on B cells, which was dependent on the increase between prevaccine and postvaccine H1N1-specific IL-4+CD4+ T cells (R2 = 0.35). High doses of MMF (≥2 g/d) led to lower seroconversion rates, smaller increase in H1N1-specific IL-4+CD4+ T cells, and reduced HLA-DR expression on B cells. The mathematical model incorporating a MMF-inhibited positive feedback loop between H1N1-specific IL-4+CD4+ T cells and HLA-DR expression on B cells captured seroconversion with high specificity. Conclusions. Seroconversion is associated with influenza-specific T-helper 2 and B-cell activation and seems to be modulated by MM

Detailed energy analysis of a sheet-metal-forming press from electrical measurements

This paper presents a methodology that allows for the detection of the state of a sheet-metal-forming press, the parts being produced, their cadence, and the energy demand for each unit produced. For this purpose, only electrical measurements are used. The proposed analysis is conducted at the level of the press subsystems: main motor, transfer module, cushion, and auxiliary systems, and is intended to count, classify, and monitor the production of pressed parts. The power data are collected every 20 ms and show cyclic behavior, which is the basis for the presented methodology. A neural network (NN) based on heuristic rules is developed to estimate the press states. Then, the production period is determined from the power data using a least squares method to obtain normalized harmonic coefficients. These are the basis for a second NN dedicated to identifying the parts in production. The global error in estimating the parts being produced is under 1%. The resulting information could be handy in determining relevant information regarding the press behavior, such as energy per part, which is necessary in order to evaluate the energy performance of the press under different production conditions.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. IN854A 2020/0

Efficiency comparison of different DC-DC converter architectures for a power supply of a LiDAR system

LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is a technology used to meas-ure distances to objects. Internally, a LiDAR system is constituted by several components, including a power supply, which is responsible to provide the dis-tinct voltage levels necessary for all the components. In this context, this paper presents an efficiency comparison of three different DC-DC converter architec-tures for a LiDAR system, each one composed of three DC-DC converters: in parallel; in cascade; and hybrid (mix of parallel and cascade). The topology of the adopted integrated DC-DC converters is the synchronous buck Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS), which is a modified version of the basic buck SMPS topology. Three distinct SMPSs were considered: LM5146-Q1, LM5116, and TPS548A20RVER. These SMPSs were selected according to the require-ments of voltage levels, namely, 12 V, 5 V, and 3.3 V. Along the paper, the prin-ciple of operation of the SMPSs is presented, as well as the evaluation results obtained for different operating powers, allowing to establish a comprehensive efficiency comparison.This work has been supported by national funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020, and also 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]