β-decay half-lives and β-delayed neutron emission probabilities for several isotopes of Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi, beyond N = 126

Background: There have been measurements on roughly 230 nuclei that are β-delayed neutron emitters. They range from 8 He up to 150La. Apart from 210Tl, with a branching ratio of only 0.007%, no other neutron emitter has been measured beyond A = 150. Therefore, new data are needed, particularly in the region of heavy nuclei around N = 126, in order to guide theoretical models and help understand the formation of the third r-process peak at A ∼ 195. Purpose: To measure both β-decay half-lives and neutron branching ratios of several neutron-rich Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi isotopes beyond N = 126. Method: Ions of interest were produced by fragmentation of a 238U beam, selected and identified via the GSI-FRS fragment separator. A stack of segmented silicon detectors (SIMBA) was used to measure ion implants and β decays. An array of 30 3 He tubes embedded in a polyethylene matrix (BELEN) was used to detect neutrons with high efficiency and selectivity. A self-triggered digital system is employed to acquire data and to enable time correlations. The latter were analyzed with an analytical model and results for the half-lives and neutron-branching ratios were derived by using the binned maximum-likelihood method. Results: Twenty new β-decay half-lives are reported for 204−206Au, 208–211Hg, 211–216Tl, 215–218Pb, and 218–220Bi, nine of them for the first time. Neutron emission probabilities are reported for 210,211Hg and 211–216Tl. Conclusions: The new β-decay half-lives are in good agreement with previous measurements on nuclei in this region. The measured neutron emission probabilities are comparable to or smaller than values predicted by global models such as relativistic Hartree Bogoliubov plus the relativistic quasi-particle random phase approximation (RHB + RQRPA).Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-FPA2011- 28770-C03-03, FPA2008-04972-C03-3, AIC-D2011-0705, FPA2011-24553, FPA2008-6419, FPA2010-17142, FPA2014-52823-C2-1-P, FPA2014- 52823-C2-2-P, and CPAN CSD-2007-00042 (Ingenio2010)Program Severo Ochoa-SEV-2014-0398German Helmholtz Association (Young Investigators)-VH-NG 627 (LISA-Lifetime Spectroscopy for Astrophysics)Nuclear Astrophysics Virtual Institute-VH-VI-417German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung-06MT7178 / 05P12WOFNFSpanish Nuclear Security Council (CSN)-Catedra ArgosUK Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)-ST/F012012/

A novel vision-based multi-functional sensor for normality and position measurements in precise robotic manufacturing

Cobots play an essential role in the fourth industrial revolution and the automation of complex manufacturing processes. However, cobots still face challenges in achieving high precision, which obstructs their usage in precise applications such as the aerospace industry. Nonetheless, advances in perception systems unlock new cobot manufacturing capabilities. This paper presents a novel multi-functional sensor that combines visual and tactile feedback using a single optical sensor, featuring a moving gate mechanism. This work also marks the first integration of Vision-Based Tactile Sensing (VBTS) into a robotic machining end-effector. The sensor provides vision-based tactile perception capabilities for precise normality control and exteroceptive perception for robot localization and positioning. Its performance is experimentally demonstrated in a precise robotic deburring application, where the sensor achieves the high-precision requirements of the aerospace industry with a mean normality error of 0.13° and a mean positioning error of 0.2 mm. These results open a new paradigm for using vision-based sensing for precise robotic manufacturing, which surpasses conventional approaches in terms of precision, weight, size, and cost-effectiveness

Elastomer-based visuotactile sensor for normality of robotic manufacturing systems

Modern aircrafts require the assembly of thousands of components with high accuracy and reliability. The normality of drilled holes is a critical geometrical tolerance that is required to be achieved in order to realize an efficient assembly process. Failure to achieve the required tolerance leads to structures prone to fatigue problems and assembly errors. Elastomer-based tactile sensors have been used to support robots in acquiring useful physical interaction information with the environments. However, current tactile sensors have not yet been developed to support robotic machining in achieving the tight tolerances of aerospace structures. In this paper, a novel elastomer-based tactile sensor was developed for cobot machining. Three commercial silicon-based elastomer materials were characterised using mechanical testing in order to select a material with the best deformability. A Finite element model was developed to simulate the deformation of the tactile sensor upon interacting with surfaces with different normalities. Additive manufacturing was employed to fabricate the tactile sensor mould, which was chemically etched to improve the surface quality. The tactile sensor was obtained by directly casting and curing the optimum elastomer material onto the additively manufactured mould. A machine learning approach was used to train the simulated and experimental data obtained from the sensor. The capability of the developed vision tactile sensor was evaluated using real-world experiments with various inclination angles, and achieved a mean perpendicularity tolerance of 0.34°. The developed sensor opens a new perspective on low-cost precision cobot machining

Investigating neutron-proton pairing in sd -shell nuclei via (p, He 3) and (He 3,p) transfer reactions

Neutron-proton pairing correlations are investigated in detail via np transfer reactions in N = Z sd-shell nuclei. In particular, we study the cross-section ratio of the lowest 0+ and 1+ states as an observable to quantify the interplay between T = 0 (isoscalar) and T = 1 (isovector) pairing strengths. The experimental results are compared to second-order distorted-wave Born approximation calculations with proton-neutron amplitudes obtained in the shell-model formalism using the universal sd-shell interaction B. Our results suggest underestimation of the nonneglible isoscalar pairing strength in the shell-model descriptions at the expense of the isovector channel.Séptimo Programa Marco de la Comisión Europea-FP7/2007-2013 00376National Science Foundation (NSF) de los Estados Unidos-PHY-1404442US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics-DE-AC02-05CH1123

Simulations and analysis tools for charge-exchange (d,2He)(d,{}^{2}\text{He}) reactions in inverse kinematics with the AT-TPC

Charge-exchange $(d,{}^{2}\text{He})$ reactions in inverse kinematics at intermediate energies are a very promising method to investigate the Gamow-Teller transition strength in unstable nuclei. A simulation and analysis software based on the $\rm{\scriptsize ATTPCROOT}$ package was developed to study these type of reactions with the active-target time projection chamber (AT-TPC). The simulation routines provide a realistic detector response that can be used to understand and benchmark experimental data. Analysis tools and correction routines can be developed and tested from simulations in $\rm{\scriptsize ATTPCROOT}$, because they are processed in the same way as the real data. In particular, we study the feasibility of using coincidences with beam-like particles to unambiguously identify the $(d,{}^{2}\text{He})$ reaction channel, and to develop a kinematic fitting routine for future applications. More technically, the impact of space-charge effects in the track reconstruction, and a possible correction method are investigated in detail. This analysis and simulation package constitutes an essential part of the software development for the fast-beams program with the AT-TPC

Neutron quadrupole transition strength in 10^{10}C deduced from the 10^{10}C(α,α′)(\alpha,\alpha') measurement with the MAIKo active target

Elastic and inelastic alpha scatterings on $^{10}$C were measured using a 68-MeV/u radioactive $^{10}$C beam incident on the recently developed MAIKo active target system. The phenomenological effective $\alpha$-$N$ interaction and the point-nucleon density distribution in the ground state were determined from the elastic scattering data. The cross sections of the inelastic alpha scattering were calculated using this interaction and density distribution and were compared with the experiment to determine the neutron quadrupole transition matrix element $M_{n}$ between the ground state and the $2_{1}^{+}$ state at $E_{x} = 3.35$ MeV in $^{10}$C. The deduced neutron transition matrix element is $M_{n} = 6.9\, \pm0.7\, \mathrm{(fit)}\, \pm1.2\, \mathrm{(sys)}$ fm$^{2}$. The ratio of the neutron transition strength to proton transition strength was determined as $M_{n}/M_{p} = 1.05\, \pm0.11\, \mathrm{(fit)}\, \pm0.17\, \mathrm{(sys)}$, which indicates that the quadrupole transition between the ground state and the $2_{1}^{+}$ state in $^{10}$C is less neutron dominant compared to that in $^{16}$C.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables. The title and conclusion have changed from the previous versio