Characterization and comparative evaluation of novel planar electromagnetic sensors

The characterization of three types of novel planar electromagnetic sensors: 1) meander; 2) mesh; and 3) interdigital configuration, has been studied and their comparative performance has been evaluated based on their areas of applications. All of them are suitable for inspection and evaluation of system properties without destroying them. The experiments on fabricated sensors have been conducted and the results are presented here. The target application is to use a mixture of different types of sensors to detect plasti

A low-cost sensing system for quality monitoring of dairy products

The dairy industry is in need of a cost-effective, highly reliable, very accurate, and fast measurement system to monitor the quality of dairy products. This paper describes the design and fabrication works undertaken to develop such a system. The techniques used center around planar electromagnetic sensors operating with radio frequency excitation. Computer-aided computation, being fast, facilitates on-line monitoring of the quality. The sensor technology proposed has the ability to perform volumetric penetrative measurements to measure properties throughout the bulk of the product

Structural studies of phosphorus induced dimers on Si(001)

Renewed focus on the P-Si system due to its potential application in quantum computing and self-directed growth of molecular wires, has led us to study structural changes induced by P upon placement on Si(001)-$p(2\times 1)$. Using first-principles density functional theory (DFT) based pseudopotential method, we have performed calculations for P-Si(001) system, starting from an isolated P atom on the surface, and systematically increasing the coverage up to a full monolayer. An isolated P atom can favorably be placed on an {\bf M} site between two atoms of adjacent Si dimers belonging to the same Si dimer row. But being incorporated in the surface is even more energetically beneficial due to the participation of the {\bf M} site as a receptor for the ejected Si. Our calculations show that up to 1/8 monolayer coverage, hetero-dimer structure resulting from replacement of surface Si atoms with P is energetically favorable. Recently observed zig-zag features in STM are found to be consistent with this replacement process. As coverage increases, the hetero-dimers give way to P-P ortho-dimers on the Si dimer rows. This behavior is similar to that of Si-Si d-dimers but are to be contrasted with the Al-Al dimers, which are found between adjacent Si dimers rows and in a para-dimer arrangement. Unlike Al-Si system P-Si does not show any para to ortho transition. For both systems, the surface reconstruction is lifted at about one monolayer coverage. These calculations help us in understanding the experimental data obtained using scanning tunneling microscope.Comment: To appear in PR

A Tool for Downscaling Weather Data from Large-grid Reanalysis Products to Finer Spatial Scales for Distributed Hydrological Applications

A downscaling tool was developed to provide sub-daily high spatial resolution surfaces of weather variables for distributed hydrologic modeling from NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications reanalysis products. The tool uses spatial interpolation and physically based relationships between the weather variables and elevation to provide inputs at the scale of a gridded hydrologic model, typically smaller (∼100 m) than the scale of weather reanalysis data (∼20–200 km). Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) measures greater than 0.70 were obtained for direct tests of downscaled daily temperature and monthly precipitation at 173 SNOTEL sites. In an integrated test driving the Utah Energy Balance (UEB) snowmelt model, 80% of these sites gave NSE \u3e 0.6 for snow water equivalent. These findings motivate use of this tool in data sparse regions where ground based observations are not available and downscaled global reanalysis products may be the only option for model inputs

Automated Camera Calibration for Robot Soccer

Non

Fabrication of a repulsive-type magnetic bearing using a novel arrangement of permanent magnets for vertical-rotor suspension

A repulsive-type magnetic bearing system has been fabricated in which the rotor of a vertical-shaft-type motor is levitated due to the repulsive force between two sets of permanent magnets. A novel arrangement of permanent magnets has been reported here, which has made the suspension of the rotor possible. The system is planned to be applied for pumping milks and other related products in the New Zealand dairy industry