Real-time geophysical applications with Android GNSS raw measurements

The number of Android devices enabling access to raw GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) measurements is rapidly increasing, thanks to the dedicated Google APIs. In this study, the Xiaomi Mi8, the first GNSS dual-frequency smartphone embedded with the Broadcom BCM47755 GNSS chipset, was employed by leveraging the features of L5/E5a observations in addition to the traditional L1/E1 observations. The aim of this paper is to present two different smartphone applications in Geoscience, both based on the variometric approach and able to work in real time. In particular, tests using both VADASE (Variometric Approach for Displacement Analysis Stand-alone Engine) to retrieve the 3D velocity of a stand-alone receiver in real-time, and VARION (Variometric Approach for Real-Time Ionosphere Observations) algorithms, able to reconstruct real-time sTEC (slant total electron content) variations, were carried out. The results demonstrate the contribution that mass-market devices can offer to the geosciences. In detail, the noise level obtained with VADASE in a static scenario-few mm/s for the horizontal components and around 1 cm/s for the vertical component-underlines the possibility, confirmed from kinematic tests, of detecting fast movements such as periodic oscillations caused by earthquakes. VARION results indicate that the noise level can be brought back to that of geodetic receivers, making the Xiaomi Mi8 suitable for real-time ionosphere monitoring

Production and characterization of ZnO/Graphene devices for energy harvesting

In this thesis, different types of innovative highly performing piezoelectric nanomaterials and nanocomposites have been synthesized and characterized for energy harvesting application. In order to evaluate the piezoelectric properties of the produced materials, a novel approach to quantitatively evaluate the effective piezoelectric coefficient d33, trough Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM), has been developed. PFM is one of the most widely used techniques for the characterization of piezoelectric materials at nanoscale, since it enables the measurement of the piezo-displacement with picometer resolution. PFM is a non-invasive and easy to use test method; it requires only a bottom electrode (no need of a top-electrode deposition over the material under test), thus considerably simplifying the test structure preparation. In particular, in order to have a quantitative information on the d33 a calibration protocol was developed. To get a macroscale characterization of the piezoelectric coefficient, the PFM signal is averaged over different areas of the sample. The proposed method allows to precisely evaluate the piezoelectric coefficient enabling a proper comparison among the different materials analysed. Two different classes of piezoelectric materials have been synthesized and characterized: zinc oxide nanostructures, in particular zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO-NRs) and zinc oxide nanowalls (ZnO-NWs), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanocomposites films. The produced piezoelectric materials were fabricated using process which are cost-effective, time-consuming and easy to scale-up. The ZnO nanostuctures were grown by chemical bath deposition (CBD), that guarantees high deposition rate on a wide variety of substrates. PVDF nanocomposite films were produced with a simple solution casting method, without the need of subsequent electrical poling step. To enhance the piezoelectric properties of PVDF films we investigated different PVDF nanocomposite films: PVDF filled with Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) or with ZnO-NRs; PVDF filled with different types of hexahydrate metal-salts (HMS); PVDF filled with HMS in combination with nanofillers, like GNPs or ZnO-NRs. We found that the piezoelectric coefficient of the ZnO-NRs is (7.01±0.33) pm/V and (2.63±0.49) pm/V for ZnO-NWs. The higher piezoelectric response of ZnO-NRs is believed to be due to a better crystallinity and a less defectiveness of the ZnO-NRs if compared to the ZnO-NWs, as it has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra and by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) measurements. The neat PVDF show a d33 limited to 4.65 pm/V; when the nanofillers are added the d33 increases up to 6 pm/V. This value reaches 8.8 pm/V when a specific hexahydrate metal-salts: [Mg(NO3)2∙6H2O] is dispersed in the PVDF polymer matrix. From the comparative analysis of the synthesized materials we found that the sample produced using the dissolution of HMS in PVDF shows the best piezoelectric response (8.8 pm/V) and the most attractive structural and mechanical properties to fabricate a flexible nanogenerators. Therefore, a porous piezoelectric HMS-PVDF nanocomposite film has been used as active material to fabricate flexible nanogenerator. To build such a device, graphene-gold flexible top electrodes were developed. The bilayer electrode structure avoids short circuits between top and bottom electrodes, observed in the absence of graphene interlayer. The nanogenerator was tested using a commercial mini-shaker and operated successfully. The piezoelectric coefficient determined from the electromechanical tests was 9.00 pm/V, which is in good agreement with the one (8.88±3.14) pm/V measured through PFM on the same PVDF film without top electrode. We also measured the piezoelectric coefficient of PVDF using PFM with and without top electrode and both values were found to be in close agreement. This finding suggests that the local characterization using PFM is also a good representation of the global piezoelectric properties of the samples. The progress on advanced piezoelectric materials reported in this work opens new opportunities to fabricate energy harvesters and sensors for wearable and smart clothing applications

A flexible and highly sensitive pressure sensor based on a PDMS foam coated with graphene nanoplatelets

The demand for high performance multifunctional wearable devices is more and more pushing towards the development of novel low-cost, soft and flexible sensors with high sensitivity. In the present work, we describe the fabrication process and the properties of new polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) foams loaded with multilayer graphene nanoplatelets (MLGs) for application as high sensitive piezoresistive pressure sensors. The effective DC conductivity of the produced foams is measured as a function of MLG loading. The piezoresistive response of the MLG-PDMS foam-based sensor at different strain rates is assessed through quasi-static pressure tests. The results of the experimental investigations demonstrated that sensor loaded with 0.96 wt.% of MLGs is characterized by a highly repeatable pressure-dependent conductance after a few stabilization cycles and it is suitable for detecting compressive stresses as low as 10 kPa, with a sensitivity of 0.23 kPa−1, corresponding to an applied pressure of 70 kPa. Moreover, it is estimated that the sensor is able to detect pressure variations of ~1 Pa. Therefore, the new graphene-PDMS composite foam is a lightweight cost-effective material, suitable for sensing applications in the subtle or low and medium pressure ranges

The Covid-19 outbreak has exposed deep-rooted weaknesses in the EU's institutions

The Covid-19 outbreak could push the EU to the brink again, write Piergiuseppe Fortunato and Marco Pecoraro. But the EU's inability to stage a united response to the pandemic is simply a symptom of a much deeper problem that began with the erosion of public trust following the financial crisis

Secure Platform Over Wireless Sensor Networks

Life sciences: general issue

A Comprehensive Framework for Performance Analysis of Cooperative Multi-Hop Wireless Systems over Log-Normal Fading Channels

International audienceIn this paper, we propose a comprehensive framework for performance analysis of multi–hop multi–branch wireless communication systems over Log–Normal fading channels. The framework allows to estimate the performance of Amplify and Forward (AF) relay methods for both Channel State Information (CSI–) assisted relays, and fixed–gain relays. In particular, the contribution of this paper is twofold: i) first of all, by relying on the Gauss Quadrature Rule (GQR) representation of the Moment Generation Function (MGF) for a Log–Normal distribution, we develop accurate formulas for important performance indexes whose accuracy can be estimated a priori and just depends on GQR numerical integration errors; ii) then, in order to simplify the computational burden of the former framework for some system setups, we propose various approximations, which are based on the Improved Schwartz–Yeh (I–SY) method. We show with numerical and simulation results that the proposed approximations provide a good trade–off between accuracy and complexity for both Selection Combining (SC) and Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) cooperative diversity methods

FLAMINGO – Fulfilling enhanced location accuracy in the mass-market through initial GalileO services

This paper discusses FLAMINGO, an initiative that will provide a high accuracy positioning service to be used by mass market applications. The status and future for the initiative are discussed, the required accuracies and other location parameters are described, and the target applications are identified. Finally, the currently achieved accuracies from today’s Smartphones are assessed and presented. FLAMINGO (Fulfilling enhanced Location Accuracy in the Mass-market through Initial GalileO services), part funded through the European GNSS Agency, is a collaborative venture comprising NSL (as lead organization), Telespazio France, University of Nottingham, Rokubun, Thales Alenia Space France, VVA, BQ, ECLEXYS and Blue Dot Solutions. The initiative is developing the infrastructure, solutions and services to enable the use of accurate and precise GNSS within the mass-market, thereby operating predominantly in an urban environment. Whilst mass-market receivers are yet to achieve accuracies below one metre for standard positioning, the introduction of Android raw GNSS measurements and the Broadcom dual frequency chipset (BCM47755), has presented the devices such an opportunity. FLAMINGO will enable and demonstrate the future of high accuracy positioning and navigation information on mass-market devices such as smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) devices by producing a service delivering accuracies of 50cm (at 95%) and better, employing multi-constellation, PPP and RTK mechanisms, power consumption optimisation techniques. Whereas the Galileo High Accuracy Service targets 10cm precision within professional markets, FLAMINGO targets 30-50cm precision in the mass-market consumer markets. By targeting accuracies of a few decimetres, a range of improved and new applications in diverse market sectors are introduced. These sectors include, but are not limited to, mapping and GIS, autonomous vehicles, AR environments, mobile-location based gaming and people tracking. To obtain such high accuracies with mass market devices, FLAMINGO must overcome several challenges which are technical, operational and environmental. This includes the hardware capabilities of most mass-market devices, where components such as antennas and processors are prioritised for other purposes. We demonstrate that, despite these challenges, FLAMINGO has the potential to meet the accuracy required. Tests with the current Smartphones that provide access to multi-constellation raw measurements (the dual frequency Xiaomi Mi 8 and single frequency Samsung S8 and Huawei P10) demonstrate significant improvements to the PVT solution when processing using both RTK and PPP techniques

An analysis of multi-GNSS observations tracked by recent Android smartphones and smartphone-only relative positioning results

In this study we assess the quality of multi-GNSS observations of recent Android smartphones. The results reveal a significant drop of smartphone carrier-to-noise density ratio (C/N0) with respect to geodetic receivers, and discernible differences among constellations and frequency bands. We show that the higher the elevation of the satellite, the larger discrepancy in C/N0 between the geodetic receivers and smartphones. Thus we show that a C/N0 weighting scheme may be superior to the elevation dependent one usually adopted for GNSS observations. We also discover that smartphone code pseudoranges are noisier by about one order of magnitude as compared to geodetic receivers, and that the code signals on L5 and E5a outperform those on L1 and E1, respectively. It is shown that smartphone phase observations are contaminated by the effects that can destroy the integer property and time-constancy of the ambiguities. There are long term drifts detected for GPS L5, Galileo E1, E5a and BDS B1 phase observations of Huawei P30. We highlight competitive phase noise characteristics for the Xiaomi Mi 8 when compared to the geodetic receivers. We also reveal a poor quality of other than GPS L1 phase signals for the Huawei P30 smartphones related to the unexpected drifts of the observations. Finally, the positioning experiment proves that it is feasible to obtain a precise cm-level solution of a smartphone to smartphone relative positioning with fixed integer ambiguities

Piezoelectric effect and electroactive phase nucleation in self-standing films of unpoled PVDF nanocomposite films

Novel polymer-based piezoelectric nanocomposites with enhanced electromechanical properties open new opportunities for the development of wearable energy harvesters and sensors. This paper investigates how the dissolution of different types of hexahydrate metal salts affects β-phase content and piezoelectric response (d33) at nano-and macroscales of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanocomposite films. The strongest enhancement of the piezoresponse is observed in PVDF nanocomposites processed with Mg(NO3)2·6H2O. The increased piezoresponse is attributed to the synergistic effect of the dipole moment associated with the nucleation of the electroactive phase and with the electrostatic interaction between the CF2group of PVDF and the dissolved salt through hydrogen bonding. The combination of nanofillers like graphene nanoplatelets or zinc oxide nanorods with the hexahydrate salt dissolution in PVDF results in a dramatic reduction of d33, because the nanofiller assumes a competitive role with respect to H-bond formation between PVDF and the dissolved metal salt. The measured peak value of d33reaches the local value of 13.49 pm/V, with an average of 8.88 pm/V over an area of 1 cm2. The proposed selection of metal salt enables low-cost production of piezoelectric PVDF nanocomposite films, without electrical poling or mechanical stretching, offering new opportunities for the development of devices for energy harvesting and wearable sensors