Metrology and Measurement Systems

Fault detection and location are important and front-end tasks in assuring the reliability of power electronic circuits. In essence, both tasks can be considered as the classification problem. This paper presents a fast fault classification method for power electronic circuits by using the support vector machine (SVM) as a classifier and the wavelet transform as a feature extraction technique. Using one-against-rest SVM and one-against-one SVM are two general approaches to fault classification in power electronic circuits. However, these methods have a high computational complexity, therefore in this design we employ a directed acyclic graph (DAG) SVM to implement the fault classification. The DAG SVM is close to the one-against-one SVM regarding its classification performance, but it is much faster. Moreover, in the presented approach, the DAG SVM is improved by introducing the method of Knearest neighbours to reduce some computations, so that the classification time can be further reduced. A rectifier and an inverter are demonstrated to prove effectiveness of the presented design.

The article presents state of work in technology of free-space optical communications (Free Space Optics − FSO). Both commercially available optical data links and their further development are described. The main elements and operation limiting factors of FSO systems have been identified. Additionally, analyses of FSO/RF hybrid systems application are included. The main aspects of LasBITer project related to such hybrid technology for security and defence applications are presented.

Basic gesture sensors can play a significant role as input units in mobile smart devices. However, they have to handle a wide variety of gestures while preserving the advantages of basic sensors. In this paper a user-determined approach to the design of a sparse optical gesture sensor is proposed. The statistical research on a study group of individuals includes the measurement of user-related parameters like the speed of a performed swipe (dynamic gesture) and the morphology of fingers. The obtained results, as well as other a priori requirements for an optical gesture sensor were further used in the design process. Several properties were examined using simulations or experimental verification. It was shown that the designed optical gesture sensor provides accurate localization of fingers, and recognizes a set of static and dynamic hand gestures using a relatively low level of power consumption.

The paper deals with evaluation of a 3D scanning method elaborated by the authors, by applying it to the analysis of the wear of forging tools. The 3D scanning method in the first place consists in the application of scanning to the analysis of changes in geometry of a forging tool by way of comparing the images of a worn tool with a CAD model or an image of a new tool. The method was evaluated in the context of the important measurement problems resulting from the extreme conditions present during the industrial hot forging processes. The method was used to evaluate wear of tools with an increasing wear degree, which made it possible to determine the wear characteristics in a function of the number of produced forgings. The following stage was the use it for a direct control of the quality and geometry changes of forging tools (without their disassembly) by way of a direct measurement of the geometry of periodically collected forgings (indirect method based on forgings). The final part of the study points to the advantages and disadvantages of the elaborated method as well as the potential directions of its further development.

Bluetooth beacons are becoming increasingly popular for various applications such as marketing or indoor navigation. However, designing a proper beacon installation requires knowledge of the possible sources of interference in the target environment. While theoretically beacon signal strength should decay linearly with log distance, on-site measurements usually reveal that noise from objects such as Wi-Fi networks operating in the vicinity significantly alters the expected signal range. The paper presents a novel mobile Geographic Information System for measurement, mapping and local as well as online storage of Bluetooth beacon signal strength in semireal time. For the purpose of on-site geovisual analysis of the signal, the application integrates a dedicated interpolation algorithm optimized for low-power devices. The paper discusses the performance and quality of the mapping algorithms in several different test environments.

The paper presents a method of adaptation of the original second order Prony’s method for applications in lowcost digital measurement systems with low computing performance. The presented method can be used in measuring systems where it is important to obtain in real time the values of amplitude, frequency, initial phase and damping coefficient of a single sinusoidal component of an analysed signal. The paper presents optimized, in terms of the number of mathematical operations, implementation of the method in selected embedded devices as well as the calculation times of the method for each platform.

Detection of leakages in pipelines is a matter of continuous research because of the basic importance for a waterworks system is finding the point of the pipeline where a leak is located and − in some cases − a nature of the leak. There are specific difficulties in finding leaks by using spectral analysis techniques like FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), STFT (Short Term Fourier Transform), etc. These difficulties arise especially in complicated pipeline configurations, e.g. a zigzag one. This research focuses on the results of a new algorithm based on FFT and comparing them with a developed STFT technique. Even if other techniques are used, they are costly and difficult to be managed. Moreover, a constraint in the leak detection is the pipeline diameter because it influences accuracy of the adopted algorithm. FFT and STFT are not fully adequate for complex configurations dealt with in this paper, since they produce ill-posed problems with an increasing uncertainty. Therefore, an improved Tikhonov technique has been implemented to reinforce FFT and STFT for complex configurations of pipelines. Hence, the proposed algorithm overcomes the aforementioned difficulties due to applying a linear algebraic approach.

Polymer-based capacitive humidity sensors emerged around 40 years ago; nevertheless, they currently constitute large part of sensors’ market within a range of medium (climatic and industrial) humidity 20−80%RH due to their linearity, stability and cost-effectiveness. However, for low humidity values (0−20%RH) that type of sensor exhibits increasingly nonlinear characteristics with decreasing of humidity values. This paper presents the results of some experimental trials of CMOS polymer-based capacitive humidity sensors, as well as of modelling the behaviour of that type of sensor. A logarithmic functional relationship between the relative humidity and the change of sensor output value at low humidity is suggested.

A developed method and measurement setup for measurement of noise generated in a supercapacitor is presented. The requirements for noise data recording are considered and correlated with working modes of supercapacitors. An example of results of low-frequency noise measurements in commercially available supercapacitors are presented. The ability of flicker noise measurements suggests that they can be used to assess quality of tested supercapacitors.

A complex model of mechanically ventilated ARDS lungs is proposed in the paper. This analogue is based on a combination of four components that describe breathing mechanics: morphology, mechanical properties of surfactant, tissue and chest wall characteristics. Physical-mathematical formulas attained from experimental data have been translated into their electrical equivalents and implemented in MultiSim software. To examine the adequacy of the forward model to the properties and behaviour of mechanically ventilated lungs in patients with ARDS symptoms, several computer simulations have been performed and reported in the paper. Inhomogeneous characteristics observed in the physical properties of ARDS lungs were mapped in a multi-lobe model and the measured outputs were compared with the data from physiological reports. In this way clinicians and scientists can obtain the knowledge on the moment of airway zone reopening/closure expressed as a function of pressure, volume or even time. In the paper, these trends were assessed for inhomogeneous distributions (proper for ARDS) of surfactant properties and airway geometry in consecutive lung lobes. The proposed model enables monitoring of temporal alveolar dynamics in successive lobes as well as those occurring at a higher level of lung structure organization, i.e. in a point P0 which can be used for collection of respiratory data during indirect management of recruitment/de-recruitment processes in ARDS lungs. The complex model and synthetic data generated for various parametrization scenarios make possible prospective studies on designing an indirect mode of alveolar zone management, i.e. with

Graphene is a very promising material for potential applications in many fields. Since manufacturing technologies of graphene are still at the developing stage, low-frequency noise measurements as a tool for evaluating their quality is proposed. In this work, noise properties of polymer thick-film resistors with graphene nano-platelets as a functional phase are reported. The measurements were carried out in room temperature. 1/f noise caused by resistance fluctuations has been found to be the main component in the specimens. The parameter values describing noise intensity of the polymer thick-film specimens have been calculated and compared with the values obtained for other thick-film resistors and layers used in microelectronics. The studied polymer thick-film specimens exhibit rather poor noise properties, especially for the layers with a low content of the functional phase.

The paper reports on a long-wave infrared (cut-off wavelength ~ 9 μm) HgCdTe detector operating under nbiased condition and room temperature (300 K) for both short response time and high detectivity operation. The ptimal structure in terms of the response time and detectivity versus device architecture was shown. The response time of the long-wave (active layer Cd composition, xCd = 0.19) HgCdTe detector for 300 K was calculated at a level of τs ~ 1 ns for zero bias condition, while the detectivity − at a level of D* ~ 109 cmHz1/2/W assuming immersion. It was presented that parameters of the active layer and P+ barrier layer play a critical role in order to reach τs ≤ 1 ns. An extra series resistance related to the processing (RS+ in a range 5−10 Ω) increased the response time more than two times (τs ~ 2.3 ns).

In the age of digital media, delivering broadcast content to customers at an acceptable level of quality is one of the most challenging tasks. The most important factor is the efficient use of available resources, including bandwidth. An appropriate way of managing the digital multiplex is essential for both the economic and technical issues. In this paper we describe transmission quality measurements in the DAB+ broadcast system. We provide a methodology for analysing parameters and factors related with the efficiency and reliability of a digital radio link. We describe a laboratory stand that can be used for transmission quality assessment on a regional and national level.