Cartridge firing device designed for attachment, release and ejection of a satellite

The device functions were performed by a one-piece unit with resulting performances which were of interest regarding the satellite attachment and the accuracies of the path and velocity during separation and ejection. A gain in weight may be obtained relative to the conventional device used, i.e. maintenance belt, belt unlocking device, pusher spring, and cartridge fired pusher

Optimizing the Use of an Artificial Tongue-Placed Tactile Biofeedback for Improving Ankle Joint Position Sense in Humans

The performance of an artificial tongue-placed tactile biofeedback device for improving ankle joint position sense was assessed in 12 young healthy adults using an active matching task. The underlying principle of this system consists of supplying individuals with supplementary information about the position of the matching ankle relative to the reference ankle position through a tongue-placed tactile output device generating electrotactile stimulation on a 36-point (6 X 6) matrix held against the surface of the tongue dorsum. Precisely, (1) no electrodes were activated when both ankles were in a similar angular position within a predetermined "angular dead zone" (ADZ); (2) 12 electrodes (2 X 6) of the anterior and posterior zones of the matrix were activated (corresponding to the stimulation of the front and rear portion of the tongue) when the matching ankle was in a too plantarflexed and dorsiflexed position relative to the reference ankle, respectively. Two ADZ values of 0.5 degrees and 1.5 degrees were evaluated. Results showed (1) more accurate and more consistent matching performances with than without biofeedback and (2) more accurate and more consistent ankle joint matching performances when using the biofeedback device with the smaller ADZ valu

Interpretable deep learning for guided structure-property explorations in photovoltaics

The performance of an organic photovoltaic device is intricately connected to its active layer morphology. This connection between the active layer and device performance is very expensive to evaluate, either experimentally or computationally. Hence, designing morphologies to achieve higher performances is non-trivial and often intractable. To solve this, we first introduce a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture that can serve as a fast and robust surrogate for the complex structure-property map. Several tests were performed to gain trust in this trained model. Then, we utilize this fast framework to perform robust microstructural design to enhance device performance.Comment: Workshop on Machine Learning for Molecules and Materials (MLMM), Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) 2018, Montreal, Canad

Adaptive Importance Sampling in General Mixture Classes

In this paper, we propose an adaptive algorithm that iteratively updates both the weights and component parameters of a mixture importance sampling density so as to optimise the importance sampling performances, as measured by an entropy criterion. The method is shown to be applicable to a wide class of importance sampling densities, which includes in particular mixtures of multivariate Student t distributions. The performances of the proposed scheme are studied on both artificial and real examples, highlighting in particular the benefit of a novel Rao-Blackwellisation device which can be easily incorporated in the updating scheme.Comment: Removed misleading comment in Section

Current Amplification with Vertical Josephson Interferometers

It has long been recognized that a control current $I_a$ injected into the section of a two-junction superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is able to produce a change of its critical current $I_c$, so that a current gain $g=|dI_c/dI_a|$ can be identified. We investigate the circumstances under which large gains can be achieved by using vertical Josephson interferometers which are characterized by small loop inductances. We discuss the theory of operation of such a novel device, its performances and its advantages with respect to planar interferometers used in the previous works. Two potential applications are addressed.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Space optical instruments optimisation thanks to CMOS image sensor technology

Today, both CCD and CMOS sensors can be envisaged for nearly all visible sensors and instruments designed for space needs. Indeed, detectors built with both technologies allow excellent electro-optics performances to be reached, the selection of the most adequate device being driven by their functional and technological features and limits. The first part of the paper presents electro-optics characterisation results of CMOS Image Sensors (CIS) built with an optimised CMOS process, demonstrating the large improvements of CIS electro-optics performances. The second part reviews the advantages of CMOS technology for space applications, illustrated by examples of CIS developments performed by EADS Astrium and Supaéro/CIMI for current and short term coming space programs

Fiber-top atomic force microscope

We present the implementation of an atomic force microscope (AFM) based on fiber-top design. Our results demonstrate that the performances of fiber-top AFMs in contact mode are comparable to those of similar commercially available instruments. Our device thus represents an interesting\ud alternative to existing AFMs, particularly for applications outside specialized research laboratories, where a compact, user-friendly, and versatile tool might often be preferred

Optimization of a pseudoelastic absorber for vibration mitigation

Damic vibration absorbers (DVAs) have received special attention in recent years due to their capability to reduce structural vibrations of a primary structure. In this work, a DVA of the Tuned Mass Damper type based on a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) element with pseudoelastic behavior is considered. Owing to their rich thermomechanical response, SMAs can exhibit hysteresis loops with rather different features in terms of overall energy dissipation and of pseudoelastic stiffness. As a first step towards the comprehensive evaluation of the performances of such a device, the optimization of a TMD based on SMA devices with different features is studied. Numerical simulations show that the size and the shape of the pseudoelastic loops can influence in a significant way the performances of the DVA

Vibration control in plates by uniformly distributed PZT actuators interconnected via electric networks

In this paper a novel device aimed at controlling the mechanical vibrations of plates by means of a set of electrically-interconnected piezoelectric actuators is described. The actuators are embedded uniformly in the plate wherein they connect every node of an electric network to ground, thus playing the two-fold role of capacitive element in the electric network and of couple suppliers. A mathematical model is introduced to describe the propagation of electro-mechanical waves in the device; its validity is restricted to the case of wave-forms with wave-length greater than the dimension of the piezoelectric actuators used. A self-resonance criterion is established which assures the possibility of electro-mechanical energy exchange. Finally the problem of vibration control in simply supported and clamped plates is addressed; the optimal net-impedance is determined. The results indicate that the proposed device can improve the performances of piezoelectric actuationComment: 22 page