11,916 research outputs found
Developing an AI IoT application with open software on a RISC-V SoC
RISC-V is an emergent architecture that is gaining strength in low-power IoT applications. The stabilization of the architectural extensions and the start of commercialization of RISC-V based SOCs, like the Kendryte K210, raises the question of whether this open standard will facilitate the development of applications in specific markets or not.In this paper we evaluate the development environments, the toolchain, the debugging processes related to the Sipeed MAIX Go development board, as well as the standalone SDK and the Micropython port for the Kendryte K210. The training pipeline for the built-in convolutional neural network accelerator, with support for Tiny YOLO v2, has also been studied. In order to evaluate all the above aspects in depth, two low-cost, low-power, IoT edge applications based on AI have been developed. The first one is capable of recognizing movement in a house and autonomously identify whether it was caused by a human or by a house pet, like for example a dog or a cat. In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the second application is capable of labeling whether a pedestrian is wearing a face mask or not, doing real-time object recognition at a mean rate of 13 FPS. Throughout the process, we can conclude that, despite the potential of the hardware and its excellent performance/cost ratio, the documentation for developers is scarce, the development environments are in low maturity levels, and the debugging processes are sometimes nonexistent
The 2015 outburst of the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17511-3057 as seen by INTEGRAL, Swift and XMM-Newton
We report on INTEGRAL, Swift and XMM-Newton observations of IGR J17511-3057
performed during the outburst that occurred between March 23 and April 25,
2015. The source reached a peak flux of 0.7(2)E-9 erg/cm/s and decayed to
quiescence in approximately a month. The X-ray spectrum was dominated by a
power-law with photon index between 1.6 and 1.8, which we interpreted as
thermal Comptonization in an electron cloud with temperature > 20 keV . A broad
({\sigma} ~ 1 keV) emission line was detected at an energy (E =
6.9 keV) compatible with the K{\alpha} transition of ionized
Fe, suggesting an origin in the inner regions of the accretion disk. The
outburst flux and spectral properties shown during this outburst were
remarkably similar to those observed during the previous accretion event
detected from the source in 2009. Coherent pulsations at the pulsar spin period
were detected in the XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL data, at a frequency compatible
with the value observed in 2009. Assuming that the source spun up during the
2015 outburst at the same rate observed during the previous outburst, we derive
a conservative upper limit on the spin down rate during quiescence of 3.5E-15
Hz/s. Interpreting this value in terms of electromagnetic spin down yields an
upper limit of 3.6E26 G/cm to the pulsar magnetic dipole (assuming a
magnetic inclination angle of 30{\deg}). We also report on the detection of
five type-I X-ray bursts (three in the XMM-Newton data, two in the INTEGRAL
data), none of which indicated photospheric radius expansion.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The Puzzling Stability of Monatomic Gold Wires
We have examined theoretically the spontaneous thinning process of
tip-suspended nanowires, and subsequently studied the structure and stability
of the monatomic gold wires recently observed by Transmission Electron
Microscopy (TEM). The methods used include thermodynamics, classical many-body
force simulations, Local Density (LDA) and Generalized Gradient (GGA)
electronic structure calculations as well as ab-initio simulations including
the two tips. The wire thinning is well explained in terms of a thermodynamic
tip suction driving migration of surface atoms from the wire to the tips. For
the same reason the monatomic wire becomes progressively stretched.
Surprisingly, however, all calculations so far indicate that the stretched
monatomic gold wire should be unstable against breaking, contrary to the
apparent experimental stability. The possible reasons for the observed
stability are discussed.Comment: 4 figure
An XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL view on the hard state of EXO 1745-248 during its 2015 outburst
CONTEXT - Transient low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) often show outbursts
lasting typically a few-weeks and characterized by a high X-ray luminosity
( erg/sec), while for most of the time they are
found in X-ray quiescence ( erg/sec). EXO 1745-248
is one of them. AIMS - The broad-band coverage, and the sensitivity of
instrument on board of {\xmm} and {\igr}, offers the opportunity to
characterize the hard X-ray spectrum during {\exo} outburst. METHODS - In this
paper we report on quasi-simultaneous {\xmm} and {\igr} observations of the
X-ray transient {\exo} located in the globular cluster Terzan 5, performed ten
days after the beginning of the outburst (on 2015 March 16th) shown by the
source between March and June 2015. The source was caught in a hard state,
emitting a 0.8-100 keV luminosity of ~{\lumcgs}. RESULTS - The
spectral continuum was dominated by thermal Comptonization of seed photons with
temperature keV, by a cloud with moderate optical depth
and electron temperature keV. A weaker soft
thermal component at temperature --0.7 keV and compatible
with a fraction of the neutron star radius was also detected. A rich emission
line spectrum was observed by the EPIC-pn on-board {\xmm}; features at energies
compatible with K- transitions of ionized sulfur, argon, calcium and
iron were detected, with a broadness compatible with either thermal Compton
broadening or Doppler broadening in the inner parts of an accretion disk
truncated at gravitational radii from the neutron star. Strikingly, at
least one narrow emission line ascribed to neutral or mildly ionized iron is
needed to model the prominent emission complex detected between 5.5 and 7.5
keV. (Abridged)Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure, 2 tables. Accepted for publication on A&A
(21/03/2017
An analog integrated circuit design laboratory
We present the structure of an analog integrated circuit design laboratory to instruct at both, senior undergraduate and entry graduate levels. The teaching material includes: a laboratory manual with analog circuit design theory, pre-laboratory exercises and circuit design specifications; a reference web page with step by step instructions and examples; the use of mathematical tools for automation and analysis; and state of the art CAD design tools in use by industry. Upon completion of the course, the students have skills for an entry level analog designer position
Thermal and phase transformations analysis in a PREMOMET® steel
Thermal analysis in a PREMOMET® steel has been performed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and highresolution dilatometry. The phase transformation temperatures (Ac1, Ac3, Ms and Mf) of this steel were obtained by the two methods at different heating rates showing good agreement between both techniques. The enthalpy of α-γ transformation for this steel was measured using the thermograms acquired by DSC and microstructure was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that this steel retained a martensitic structure for all conditions
Thermal and phase transformations analysis in a PREMOMET® steel
Thermal analysis in a PREMOMET® steel has been performed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and highresolution dilatometry. The phase transformation temperatures (Ac1, Ac3, Ms and Mf) of this steel were obtained by the two methods at different heating rates showing good agreement between both techniques. The enthalpy of α-γ transformation for this steel was measured using the thermograms acquired by DSC and microstructure was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that this steel retained a martensitic structure for all conditions
The Low Redshift survey at Calar Alto (LoRCA)
The Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) feature in the power spectrum of
galaxies provides a standard ruler to measure the accelerated expansion of the
Universe. To extract all available information about dark energy, it is
necessary to measure a standard ruler in the local, z<0.2, universe where dark
energy dominates most the energy density of the Universe. Though the volume
available in the local universe is limited, it is just big enough to measure
accurately the long 100 Mpc/h wave-mode of the BAO. Using cosmological N-body
simulations and approximate methods based on Lagrangian perturbation theory, we
construct a suite of a thousand light-cones to evaluate the precision at which
one can measure the BAO standard ruler in the local universe. We find that
using the most massive galaxies on the full sky (34,000 sq. deg.), i.e. a
K(2MASS)<14 magnitude-limited sample, one can measure the BAO scale up to a
precision of 4\% and 1.2\% using reconstruction). We also find that such a
survey would help to detect the dynamics of dark energy.Therefore, we propose a
3-year long observational project, named the Low Redshift survey at Calar Alto
(LoRCA), to observe spectroscopically about 200,000 galaxies in the northern
sky to contribute to the construction of aforementioned galaxy sample. The
suite of light-cones is made available to the public.Comment: 15 pages. Accepted in MNRAS. Please visit our website:
http://lorca-survey.ft.uam.es
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