Impact of Lithium Battery Recycling and Second-Life Application on Minimizing Environmental Waste

In the prospect of greener transportation means and global emission limitations for the protection of the environment, the electric vehicles’ market share is constantly increasing. It is expected that 32% of new vehicles sold in 2030 will be pure electric or plug-in hybrids. As all electric vehicles utilize lithium batteries to power the powertrain, the need for rare earth materials, like lithium or nickel, exceeds the planet’s ability to provide the required capacities. Additionally, even though lithium-ion batteries provide high energy density, they have some disadvantages like a limited range and durability at high-temperature operation. This issue can be improved greatly with the implementation of a hybrid energy storage system consisting of batteries and ultracapacitors. In this paper, the power efficiency of this storage system will be analyzed. Finally, when the cells reach below a specific capacity threshold, they can be removed from the vehicle to be installed in renewable energy plants for storing surplus energy production. Therefore, environmental waste is minimized while simultaneously assisting grid power demands, before being recycled to recover a portion of the rare metals used

LEDWIRE: A Versatile Networking Platform for Smart LED Lighting Applications Using LIN-Bus and WSNs

In this paper, the architecture of a versatile networking and control platform for Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lighting applications is presented, based on embedded wireless and wired networking technologies. All the possible power and control signals distribution topologies of the lighting fixtures are examined with particular focus on dynamic lighting applications with design metrics as the cost, the required wiring installation expenses and maintenance complexity. The proposed platform is optimized for applications where the grouping of LED-based lighting fictures clusters is essential, as well as their synchronization. With such an approach, the distributed control and synchronization of LED lighting fixtures' clusters is performed through a versatile network that uses the single wire Local Interconnect Network (LIN) bus. The proposed networking platform is presented in terms of its physical layer architecture, its data protocol configuration, and its functionality for smart control. As a proof of concept, the design of a LED lighting fixture together with a LIN-to-IEEE802.15.4/ZigBee data gateway is presented

Advanced Manufacturing Design of an Emergency Mechanical Ventilator via 3D Printing—Effective Crisis Response

Nowadays, there is a market need that is pushing manufacturers to support more sustainable product designs regardless of any crisis. Two important lessons that society inferred from the COVID-19 pandemic are that the industry needs an improved collaboration efficiency that can handle such emergencies and improve its resource conservation to avoid having shortages. Additive manufacturing technologies use 3D object scanners to direct hardware to deposit material, layer upon layer, in precise geometric shapes, and are positioned to provide a disruptive transformation in how products are designed and manufactured. They can provide for the planet in fighting against crisis from a materials and applications perspective. In this context, the optimization and production of emergency ventilators in health systems were investigated with plans for 3D printing received from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. An evaluation of the printability of CAD files and a partial redesign to limit dimensional variability, acceptable surface finish, and a more efficient printing process were performed. Six parts of the design were redesigned to make printing easier, faster, and less expensive. In the case of the O2 inlet attachment, the necessary supports were difficult to remove due to the part’s geometry, leading to redesign. The modulator top and bottom part, the patient tee, the manometer body, and the pop-off valve cap were also redesigned in order to avoid dimensional variability and possible rough surfaces. Metallic and thermoplastic composite ventilators were produced and then tested in real operating conditions, such as in a hospital setting with a realistic oxygen supply. The preliminary findings are promising compared to the initial design, both in terms of construction quality and performance such as exhalation rate adjustment and emergency valve operation. Also, a combination of manufacturing technologies was evaluated. The modifications allowed optimal casting (injection molding) of the parts and therefore faster production, instead of printing each part, when high output is required

Advanced Manufacturing Design of an Emergency Mechanical Ventilator via 3D Printing—Effective Crisis Response

Nowadays, there is a market need that is pushing manufacturers to support more sustainable product designs regardless of any crisis. Two important lessons that society inferred from the COVID-19 pandemic are that the industry needs an improved collaboration efficiency that can handle such emergencies and improve its resource conservation to avoid having shortages. Additive manufacturing technologies use 3D object scanners to direct hardware to deposit material, layer upon layer, in precise geometric shapes, and are positioned to provide a disruptive transformation in how products are designed and manufactured. They can provide for the planet in fighting against crisis from a materials and applications perspective. In this context, the optimization and production of emergency ventilators in health systems were investigated with plans for 3D printing received from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. An evaluation of the printability of CAD files and a partial redesign to limit dimensional variability, acceptable surface finish, and a more efficient printing process were performed. Six parts of the design were redesigned to make printing easier, faster, and less expensive. In the case of the O2 inlet attachment, the necessary supports were difficult to remove due to the part’s geometry, leading to redesign. The modulator top and bottom part, the patient tee, the manometer body, and the pop-off valve cap were also redesigned in order to avoid dimensional variability and possible rough surfaces. Metallic and thermoplastic composite ventilators were produced and then tested in real operating conditions, such as in a hospital setting with a realistic oxygen supply. The preliminary findings are promising compared to the initial design, both in terms of construction quality and performance such as exhalation rate adjustment and emergency valve operation. Also, a combination of manufacturing technologies was evaluated. The modifications allowed optimal casting (injection molding) of the parts and therefore faster production, instead of printing each part, when high output is required

Portable gait analysis sensor model for Parkinson's disease

As part of a research project, a small gait analysis device is being developed that will be used outside of home by the patients themselves. Its main purpose will be to record accurate gait measurements in patients with Parkinson's Disease and proceed with in-depth analysis of the gait characteristics. A key feature of the device will be its small size, which creates specific requirements in terms of device consumption restrictions due to the small size of the battery and the need for autonomous operation for more than ten hours. This research work describes, on the one hand, the firmware of the device with an emphasis on the functions that will be implemented; and, on the other, the device software which will support the process that will be adopted for reading and processing data from the devices placed on patients' feet to record the gait characteristics of patients on a continuous basis. Using these computational approaches, we developed and carried out an experiment with a 1.60 m tall experimental female subject. We strapped a device to the subject's right ankle and instructed her to take five steps with her right foot, turn 180 degrees, and repeat with the same foot. © 202

Investigating the Effectiveness of an IMU Portable Gait Analysis Device: An Application for Parkinson’s Disease Management

As part of two research projects, a small gait analysis device was developed for use inside and outside the home by patients themselves. The project PARMODE aims to record accurate gait measurements in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and proceed with an in-depth analysis of the gait characteristics, while the project CPWATCHER aims to assess the quality of hand movement in cerebral palsy patients. The device was mainly developed to serve the first project with additional offline processing, including machine learning algorithms that could potentially be used for the second aim. A key feature of the device is its small size (36 mm × 46 mm × 16 mm, weight: 14 g), which was designed to meet specific requirements in terms of device consumption restrictions due to the small size of the battery and the need for autonomous operation for more than ten hours. This research work describes, on the one hand, the new device with an emphasis on its functions, and on the other hand, its connection with a web platform for reading and processing data from the devices placed on patients’ feet to record the gait characteristics of patients on a continuous basis