Journal articles on the topic 'Custom Hardware and Software Development'
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Nemec, Radek, and Stepan Hubalovsky. "Development of System SMPSL for Bit Communication." Applied Mechanics and Materials 475-476 (December 2013): 871–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.475-476.871.
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The paper presents development of System SMPSL for binary communication. System SMPSL is computer system for measurement used in the school laboratory. The system is very cheap to assemble the hardware and available software is for free. The system consists of hardware and software parts. The communication is performed using library. The paper describes the basic connections and the source code for creating custom measurement system using a computer. Presented SMPSL system was developed based on mentioned basis.
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Grübl, Andreas, Sebastian Billaudelle, Benjamin Cramer, Vitali Karasenko, and Johannes Schemmel. "Verification and Design Methods for the BrainScaleS Neuromorphic Hardware System." Journal of Signal Processing Systems 92, no. 11 (July 9, 2020): 1277–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11265-020-01558-7.
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Abstract This paper presents verification and implementation methods that have been developed for the design of the BrainScaleS-2 65 nm ASICs. The 2nd generation BrainScaleS chips are mixed-signal devices with tight coupling between full-custom analog neuromorphic circuits and two general purpose microprocessors (PPU) with SIMD extension for on-chip learning and plasticity. Simulation methods for automated analysis and pre-tapeout calibration of the highly parameterizable analog neuron and synapse circuits and for hardware-software co-development of the digital logic and software stack are presented. Accelerated operation of neuromorphic circuits and highly-parallel digital data buses between the full-custom neuromorphic part and the PPU require custom methodologies to close the digital signal timing at the interfaces. Novel extensions to the standard digital physical implementation design flow are highlighted. We present early results from the first full-size BrainScaleS-2 ASIC containing 512 neurons and 130 K synapses, demonstrating the successful application of these methods. An application example illustrates the full functionality of the BrainScaleS-2 hybrid plasticity architecture.
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Tsai, Pang Wei, Hou Yi Chou, Mon Yen Luo, and Chu Sing Yang. "Design a Flexible Software Development Environment on NetFPGA Platform." Applied Mechanics and Materials 411-414 (September 2013): 1665–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.411-414.1665.
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Among numerous embedded platforms, NetFPGA provides developers with a freely programmable FPGA component to design custom functionalities in networking. However, most hardware projects are developed based on reference designs without embedded operating system. For hybrid developments on multi-layers, there will be some difficulties to apply. On the other hand, due to the limited resources on embedded platform, both performance and flexibility need to be concerned on implementation. And for networking processing, it is quite difficult to adjust control parameters without software environment. Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated architecture using PowerPC processor on NetFPGA and embedded Linux operating system on NetFPGA platform. This not only provides developers with an environment for software execution which added more flexibility, but also enhanced the system to provide more applied possibilities on development.
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Lazaro, Caterina, Erdal Oruklu, Mert Sevil, Kamuran Turksoy, and Ali Cinar. "Hardware and Software Implementation of an Artificial Pancreas System on a Mobile Device." International Journal of Handheld Computing Research 8, no. 1 (January 2017): 14–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijhcr.2017010102.
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In this work, an artificial pancreas (AP) system, implemented on a mobile device is described. The proposed AP platform integrates hardware (insulin pump, glucose monitor, various sensors for vital signs and physical activities) and software (closed-loop control algorithm, sensor fusion, data storage and remote server access) components via smartphone that is running a dedicated Operating System designed for AP systems. Interfacing with this OS and custom application development steps are presented. Closed loop operation is demonstrated with case studies.
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Karpik, A. P., A. V. Mareev, and D. S. Mamaev. "Free software for geodetic monitoring Moncenter." Vestnik SSUGT (Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies) 27, no. 5 (2022): 43–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.33764/2411-1759-2022-27-5-43-54.
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Software packages and open source libraries are an important element in the effective development of applied science. They are also important as components of methodological and educational support for applied sciences, together with regulatory documents and educational literature. The article is de-voted to the development of an open source project for satellite geodetic monitoring of engineering structures and the natural environment. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the algorithms implemented in the Moncenter complex, the hardware for the prototype of an autonomous and low-budget GNSS sensor. An algorithm for creating a custom single-frequency base station for geodetic monitoring is presented. The results of the first testing of the developed geodetic monitoring system are presented. The error of episodic monitoring of height stability for eight months was 11 mm.
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Kohanbash, David, George Kantor, Todd Martin, and Lauren Crawford. "Wireless Sensor Network Design for Monitoring and Irrigation Control: User-centric Hardware and Software Development." HortTechnology 23, no. 6 (December 2013): 725–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.21273/horttech.23.6.725.
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Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are increasingly becoming a critical tool for growers and researchers. We describe how the technology has advanced, starting with a commercially available WSN node and pushing the technology to make the data more meaningful, actionable and to add advanced irrigation control functionality. User features such as spatial views, custom charts, real-time data access, remote access, irrigation control, alerts, and plant models help create an advanced WSN system that is user centric. Growers and researchers were involved in the design process by directly communicating with the design engineers, and continuously using and testing new features, resulting in a user-centric design and experience. The results of this research are being rolled into a new line of commercial products and is continuously evolving based on user feedback and interaction.
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BERENBACH, BRAIN A., PETER R. SPOOL, and DIETER BITTERLE. "THE APPLICATION OF MODERN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PRACTICES TO CONTROL ENGINEERING." Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Systems 02, no. 01 (June 2003): 127–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0219686703000265.
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Over the years, control systems have become increasingly dependent on custom software. As hardware has gotten cheaper, attention has focused on improving the processes associated with developing control system software by using approaches such as the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (CMM),1,2 and enabling reuse and long term cost reduction with component-based software development. This paper discusses the application of the CMM to the software process used in control engineering and the use of component based software development. We also discuss some advanced features of the Siemens SIMATIC STEP 7 Universal Development Environment that provides the tools to plan, configure, evelop, test, troubleshoot, document and support not only PLC programs, but also entire auto, ation projects. STEP 7 also enables and support process improvement and component-based software development.
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Manor, Erez, Avrech Ben-David, and Shlomo Greenberg. "CORDIC Hardware Acceleration Using DMA-Based ISA Extension." Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications 12, no. 1 (January 15, 2022): 4. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jlpea12010004.
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The use of RISC-based embedded processors aimed at low cost and low power is becoming an increasingly popular ecosystem for both hardware and software development. High-performance yet low-power embedded processors may be attained via the use of hardware acceleration and Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) extension. Recent publications of AI have demonstrated the use of Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer (CORDIC) as a dedicated low-power solution for solving nonlinear equations applied to Neural Networks (NN). This paper proposes ISA extension to support floating-point CORDIC, providing efficient hardware acceleration for mathematical functions. A new DMA-based ISA extension approach integrated with a pipeline CORDIC accelerator is proposed. The CORDIC ISA extension is directly interfaced with a standard processor data path, allowing efficient implementation of new trigonometric ALU-based custom instructions. The proposed DMA-based CORDIC accelerator can also be used to perform repeated array calculations, offering a significant speedup over software implementations. The proposed accelerator is evaluated on Intel Cyclone-IV FPGA as an extension to Nios processor. Experimental results show a significant speedup of over three orders of magnitude compared with software implementation, while applied to trigonometric arrays, and outperforms the existing commercial CORDIC hardware accelerator.
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Russell, Craig T., and Michael Shaw. "mmSIM: an open toolbox for accessible structured illumination microscopy." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 379, no. 2199 (April 26, 2021): 20200353. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0353.
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Since the first practical super-resolution structured illumination fluorescence microscopes (SIM) were demonstrated more than two decades ago, the method has become increasingly popular for a wide range of bioimaging applications. The high cost and relative inflexibility of commercial systems, coupled with the conceptual simplicity of the approach and the desire to exploit and customize existing hardware, have led to the development of a large number of home-built systems. Several detailed hardware designs are available in the scientific literature, complemented by open-source software tools for SIM image validation and reconstruction. However, there remains a lack of simple open-source software to control these systems and manage the synchronization between hardware components, which is critical for effective SIM imaging. This article describes a new suite of software tools based on the popular Micro-Manager package, which enable the keen microscopist to develop and run a SIM system. We use the software to control two custom-built, high-speed, spatial light modulator-based SIM systems, evaluating their performance by imaging a range of fluorescent samples. By simplifying the process of SIM hardware development, we aim to support wider adoption of the technique. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Super-resolution structured illumination microscopy (part 1)’.
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Kosar, Tomaž, Zhenli Lu, Marjan Mernik, Marjan Horvat, and Matej Črepinšek. "A Case Study on the Design and Implementation of a Platform for Hand Rehabilitation." Applied Sciences 11, no. 1 (January 3, 2021): 389. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app11010389.
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Rehabilitation aids help people with temporal or permanent disabilities during the rehabilitation process. However, these solutions are usually expensive and, consequently, inaccessible outside of professional medical institutions. Rapid advances in software development, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and additive manufacturing open up a way to affordable rehabilitation solutions, even to the general population. Imagine a rehabilitation aid constructed from accessible software and hardware with local production. Many obstacles exist to using such technology, starting with the development of unified software for custom-made devices. In this paper, we address open issues in designing rehabilitation aids by proposing an extensive rehabilitation platform. To demonstrate our concept, we developed a unique platform, RehabHand. The main idea is to use domain-specific language and code generation techniques to enable loosely coupled software and hardware solutions. The main advantage of such separation is support for modular and a higher abstraction level by enabling therapists to write rehabilitation exercises in natural, domain-specific terminology and share them with patients. The same platform provides a hardware-independent part that facilitates the integration of new rehabilitation devices. Experience in implementing RehabHand with three different rehabilitation devices confirms that such rehabilitation technology can be developed, and shows that implementing a hardware-independent rehabilitation platform might not be as challenging as expected.
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Waliszkiewicz, Michał, Konrad Wojtowicz, Zdzisław Rochala, and Eulalia Balestrieri. "The Design and Implementation of a Custom Platform for the Experimental Tuning of a Quadcopter Controller." Sensors 20, no. 7 (March 30, 2020): 1940. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20071940.
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This paper describes the development process of the quadcopter-based unmanned flying platform, designed for testing and experimentation purposes. The project features custom-made hardware, which includes the prototype quadcopter frame and the flight controller, and software solutions, such as control loop setup. The article specifies the controller tuning used for the initialization of the flight stabilization system and presents the final results of the quadcopter performance evaluation.
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Bueno, Mike R., Carlos Estrela, Brunno C. Azevedo, and Anibal Diogenes. "Development of a New Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Software for Endodontic Diagnosis." Brazilian Dental Journal 29, no. 6 (December 2018): 517–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0103-6440201802455.
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Abstract Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has promoted changes in approaches in Endodontics, and enhanced decision-making in complex clinical cases. Despite the technological advancements in CBCT hardware, the interpretation of the acquired images is still compromised by viewing software packages that often have limited navigational tools and lack adequate filters to overcome some challenges of the CBCT technology such as artefacts. This study reviews the current limitations of CBCT and the potential of a new CBCT software package (e-Vol DX, CDT- Brazil) to overcome these aspects and support diagnosing, planning and managing of endodontic cases. This imaging method provide high resolution images due to submillimeter voxel sizes, dynamic multi-plane imaging navigation and ability to change the volume parameters such as slice thickness and slice intervals and data correction applying imaging filters and manipulating brightness and contrast. The main differences between e-Vol DX and other software packages are: compatibility with all current CBCT scanners with the capacity to export DICOM Data, a more comprehensive brightness and contrast library, as other applications, in which adjustments are limited, do not usually support all the DICOM dynamic range features; Custom slice thickness adjustment, often limited and pre-defined in other applications; Custom Sharpening adjustment, often limited in other applications; advanced noise reduction algorithm that enhances image quality; preset imaging filters, dedicated endodontic volume rendering filters with the ability to zoom the image over 1000x (3D reconstructions) without loss of resolution and automatic imaging parameters customization for better standardization and opportunities for research; capture screen resolution of 192 dpi, with a 384 dpi option, in contrast to the 96 dpi of most similar applications. This new CBCT software package may support decision-making for the treatment of complex endodontic cases and improve diagnosis and treatment results. Effective improvement of image quality favors the rational prescription and interpretation of CBCT scans.
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Lin, Feng, Kevin Z. Y. Ang, Fei Wang, Ben M. Chen, Tong H. Lee, Beiqing Yang, Miaobo Dong, et al. "Development of an Unmanned Coaxial Rotorcraft for the DARPA UAVForge Challenge." Unmanned Systems 01, no. 02 (October 2013): 211–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s2301385013400049.
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In this paper, we present a comprehensive design for a fully functional unmanned rotorcraft system: GremLion. GremLion is a new small-scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) concept using two contra-rotating rotors and one cyclic swash-plate. It can fit within a rucksack and be easily carried by a single person. GremLion is developed with all necessary avionics and a ground control station. It has been employed to participate in the 2012 UAVForge competition. The proposed design of GremLion consists of hardware construction, software development, dynamics modeling and flight control design, as well as mission algorithm investigation. A novel computer-aided technique is presented to optimize the hardware construction of GremLion to realize robust and efficient flight behavior. Based on the above hardware platform, a real-time flight control software and a ground control station (GCS) software have been developed to achieve the onboard processing capability and the ground monitoring capability respectively. A GremLion mathematical model has been derived for hover and near hover flight conditions and identified from experimental data collected in flight tests. We have combined H∞ technique, a robust and perfect tracking (RPT) approach, and custom-defined flight scheduling to design a comprehensive nonlinear flight control law for GremLion and successfully realized the automatic control which includes take-off, hovering, and a variety of essential flight motions. In addition, advanced mission algorithms have been presented in the paper, including obstacle detection and avoidance, as well as target following. Both ground and flight experiments of the complete system have been conducted including autonomous hovering, waypoint flight, etc. The test results have been presented in this paper to verify the proposed design methodology.
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LaRoque, Benjamin. "High-availability on-site deployment to heterogeneous architectures for Project 8 and ADMX." EPJ Web of Conferences 245 (2020): 07029. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202024507029.
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Project 8 is applying a novel spectroscopy technique to make a precision measurement of the tritium beta-decay spectrum, resulting in either a measurement of or further constraint on the effective mass of the electron antineutrino. ADMX is operating an axion haloscope to scan the mass-coupling parameter space in search of dark matter axions. Both collaborations are executing medium-scale experiments, where stable operations last for three to nine months and the same system is used for development and testing between periods of operation. It is also increasingly common to use low-cost computing elements, such as the Raspberry Pi, to integrate computing and control with custom instrumentation and hardware. This leads to situations where it is necessary to support software deployment to heterogeneous architectures on rapid development cycles while maintaining high availability. Here we present the use of docker containers to standardize packaging and execution of control software for both experiments and the use of kubernetes for management and monitoring of container deployment in an active research and development environment. We also discuss the advantages over more traditional approaches employed by experiments at this scale, such as detached user execution or custom control shell scripts.
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Moon, Jiwon, Sangkyu Lim, Hakjun Lee, Seungbum Yu, and Ki-Baek Lee. "Smart Count System Based on Object Detection Using Deep Learning." Remote Sensing 14, no. 15 (August 5, 2022): 3761. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14153761.
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Object counting is an indispensable task in manufacturing and management. Recently, the development of image-processing techniques and deep learning object detection has achieved excellent performance in object-counting tasks. Accordingly, we propose a novel small-size smart counting system composed of a low-cost hardware device and a cloud-based object-counting software server to implement an accurate counting function and overcome the trade-off presented by the computing power of local hardware. The cloud-based object-counting software consists of a model adapted to the object-counting task through a novel DBC-NMS (our own technique) and hyperparameter tuning of deep-learning-based object-detection methods. With the power of DBC-NMS and hyperparameter tuning, the performance of the cloud-based object-counting software is competitive over commonly used public datasets (CARPK and SKU110K) and our custom dataset of small pills. Our cloud-based object-counting software achieves an mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.03 and a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 1.20 on the Pill dataset. These results demonstrate that the proposed smart counting system accurately detects and counts densely distributed object scenes. In addition, the proposed system shows a reasonable and efficient cost–performance ratio by converging low-cost hardware and cloud-based software.
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Jean, Jong Hann, Chia Hong Chen, Tyng Bin Huang, and Sheng Hong Tsai. "Development of an Automatic Optical Inspection System and its Application to Defect Examination." Applied Mechanics and Materials 479-480 (December 2013): 636–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.479-480.636.
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In this paper, we have designed and integrated an automatic optical inspection system, emphasizing on software implementation of the image processing, measurement and analysis utilities. As for the hardware equipments, we design an LED illumination unit and the custom-tailored machinery. By comparing the support functions of several main import brands of the optical inspection machine, we propose an optical inspecting procedure. By using the Windows-based user interface, we implement nine inspecting software tools, namely, the average gray level tool, the thresholding tool, the positioning tool, the edge detection tool, the binary large object (BLOB) tool, the template building tool, the smart matching tool, the inspection sequence tool, and the platform operation tool. All these tools can be used in an inspection with single operation and can also be arranged in a proper sequence of operations to fulfill a complicated inspection procedure. We use several part sample images with defects provided by the supplier to verify our fulfilled system.
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Tony, Lima, Shuvrangshu Jana, Varun V. P., Aashay Bhise, Aruul Varman S, Vidyadhara B. V., Mohitvishnu Gadde, Raghu Krishnapuram, and Debasish Ghose. "Autonomous Cooperative Multi-Vehicle System for Interception of Aerial and Stationary Targets." Field Robotics 2, no. 1 (March 10, 2022): 107–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.55417/fr.2022005.
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This paper presents the design, development, and testing of hardware-software systems by the IISc-TCS team for Challenge 1 of the Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge 2020. The goal of Challenge 1 was to grab a ball suspended from a maneuvering UAV and pop balloons anchored to the ground, using suitable manipulators. The important tasks carried out to address this challenge include the design and development of a hardware system with efficient grabbing and popping mechanisms, considering the restrictions in volume and payload, design of accurate target interception algorithms using visual information suitable for outdoor environments, and development of a software architecture for dynamic, multi-agent, aerial systems performing complex tasks. In this paper, we discuss the design of a custom end-effector mounted on a single degree of freedom manipulator, and robust algorithms for the interception of targets in an uncertain environment. Vision-based guidance and tracking strategies are developed based on the concept of pursuit engagement and artificial potential function. The software architecture presented in this work develops an Operation Management System (OMS) architecture that allocates static and dynamic tasks collaboratively among multiple UAVs to perform any given task. An important aspect of this work is that all the systems developed were designed to operate in completely autonomous mode. A detailed description of the architecture along with simulations of complete challenge in the Gazebo environment and field experiment results are also included in this work. The developed hardware-software system is useful for counter-UAV systems and can be used for other applications.
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Martin, Jon, David Cantero, Maite González, Andrea Cabrera, Mikel Larrañaga, Evangelos Maltezos, Panagiotis Lioupis, et al. "Embedded Vision Intelligence for the Safety of Smart Cities." Journal of Imaging 8, no. 12 (December 14, 2022): 326. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jimaging8120326.
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Advances in Artificial intelligence (AI) and embedded systems have resulted on a recent increase in use of image processing applications for smart cities’ safety. This enables a cost-adequate scale of automated video surveillance, increasing the data available and releasing human intervention. At the same time, although deep learning is a very intensive task in terms of computing resources, hardware and software improvements have emerged, allowing embedded systems to implement sophisticated machine learning algorithms at the edge. Additionally, new lightweight open-source middleware for constrained resource devices, such as EdgeX Foundry, have appeared to facilitate the collection and processing of data at sensor level, with communication capabilities to exchange data with a cloud enterprise application. The objective of this work is to show and describe the development of two Edge Smart Camera Systems for safety of Smart cities within S4AllCities H2020 project. Hence, the work presents hardware and software modules developed within the project, including a custom hardware platform specifically developed for the deployment of deep learning models based on the I.MX8 Plus from NXP, which considerably reduces processing and inference times; a custom Video Analytics Edge Computing (VAEC) system deployed on a commercial NVIDIA Jetson TX2 platform, which provides high level results on person detection processes; and an edge computing framework for the management of those two edge devices, namely Distributed Edge Computing framework, DECIoT. To verify the utility and functionality of the systems, extended experiments were performed. The results highlight their potential to provide enhanced situational awareness and demonstrate the suitability for edge machine vision applications for safety in smart cities.
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Ma, Xiao Cong, Guang Hui Cai, Hong Chao Sun, and Hong Ye Li. "Design and Implementation of an Encryption/Decryption System Based on FPGA." Advanced Materials Research 1022 (August 2014): 368–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1022.368.
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This paper designs an encryption and decryption system based on the FPGA. The system uses AES algorithm to encrypt and decrypt data. A pipeline IP core is designed with the reconfigurable technology complying with the Avalon bus interface specification. The IP core is applied to be a custom component on Nios II architecture so that the encryption and decryption processes through hardware can be controlled by software. Finally, the program is downloaded to the Altera DE2 development board and completes the testing of encryption and decryption processes. The system can be widely implemented in the field of data security.
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Di Capua, Francesco, Alberto Aloisio, Fabrizio Ameli, Antonio Anastasio, Paolo Branchini, Raffaele Giordano, Vincenzo Izzo, and Gennaro Tortone. "Open-Hardware and Application Specific Design for the Monitoring System of the Belle II Forward/Backward Electromagnetic Calorimeter." EPJ Web of Conferences 214 (2019): 01016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201921401016.
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Control and monitoring of experimental facilities as well as laboratory equipment requires handling a blend of different tasks. Often in industrial or scientific fields there are standards or form factor to comply with and electronic interfaces or custom busses to adopt. With such tight boundary conditions, the integration of an off-the-shelf Single Board Computer (SBC) is not always a possible or viable alternative. The availability of electronic schematics and PCBs with open-source Hardware license for various SBCs overcomes such integration problems, making feasible the implementation of a custom architecture composed by a central core inherited from a vendor reference design (most likely the microprocessor, static RAM and flash memory) augmented with application-specific integrated circuits and hardware resources, in order to handle the requirements of the specific environment. The user is then able to exploit most of the supported tools and software provided by opensource community, fulfilling all the constraints enforced by his environment. We have used such an approach for the design and development of the monitoring system of the endcap electromagnetic calorimeter of the Belle II experiment, presently running at KEK Laboratory (Tsukuba, Japan). Here we present and discuss the main aspects of the hardware architectures and noise performances tailored on the needs of a detector designed around CsI crystal scintillators.
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Mansfield, John F. "The Teaching SEM - An Example of Real-Time Remote Control SEM." Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America 54 (August 11, 1996): 394–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s042482010016443x.
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To introduce engineering undergraduates to one of the most widely used microstructural characterization tool, namely the scanning electron microscope (SEM), the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MS&E) at The University of Michigan has developed the Teaching SEM. This instrument is located in the department’s undergraduate teaching laboratory, however, it may be controlled from a lecture theater or classroom virtually anywhere on the University campus, or indeed, anywhere within the reach of the campus computing network and cable television network. The Teaching SEM allows MS&E to incorporate live SEM demos in the large service courses it teaches to engineering students and to show entire classes of MS&E majors how to control the microscope that tfiey subsequently use in their laboratory practicals.The Teaching SEM has been developed with hardware and software that is readily available, and there has been no custom software development or manufacture of specialized hardware. In addition to being a novel teaching tool, it also demonstrates the ease with which it is possible to do “Telepresence Microscopy”.
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Kalapothas, Stavros, Georgios Flamis, and Paris Kitsos. "Efficient Edge-AI Application Deployment for FPGAs." Information 13, no. 6 (May 28, 2022): 279. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/info13060279.
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Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) accelerators have been widely adopted for artificial intelligence (AI) applications on edge devices (Edge-AI) utilizing Deep Neural Networks (DNN) architectures. FPGAs have gained their reputation due to the greater energy efficiency and high parallelism than microcontrollers (MCU) and graphical processing units (GPU), while they are easier to develop and more reconfigurable than the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The development and building of AI applications on resource constraint devices such as FPGAs remains a challenge, however, due to the co-design approach, which requires a valuable expertise in low-level hardware design and in software development. This paper explores the efficacy and the dynamic deployment of hardware accelerated applications on the Kria KV260 development platform based on the Xilinx Kria K26 system-on-module (SoM), which includes a Zynq multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC). The platform supports the Python-based PYNQ framework and maintains a high level of versatility with the support of custom bitstreams (overlays). The demonstration proved the reconfigurabibilty and the overall ease of implementation with low-footprint machine learning (ML) algorithms.
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Lucas, Alex, Franziska Schroeder, and Miguel Ortiz. "Enabling Communities of Practice Surrounding the Design and Use of Custom Accessible Music Technology." Computer Music Journal 44, no. 2-3 (2020): 9–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/comj_a_00567.
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Abstract In this article, the research group Performance without Barriers reflect on the process of collaboratively designing a custom guitar-inspired instrument with Eoin Fitzpatrick, a physically disabled musician from the Drake Music Project, Northern Ireland. As part of a longitudinal ethnographic case study designed to uncover factors that contribute to the longevity of custom assistive music technology, the authors monitored Fitzpatrick using this instrument over two months. The findings of this study inform a reflection on the social, technical, and environmental factors that the provision of such technology a reality. The authors make suggestions for ways to achieve long-term, sustained use. Custom technologies, seemingly unique on the surface, may well utilize similar underlying hardware and software components. Those involved in its design, fabrication, facilitation, and use could benefit from a concerted effort to share resources, knowledge, and skill as a mobilized community of practitioners. In such a pursuit, the authors recommend that practitioners consider strategies for managing the inherent complexity of digital technology. Fostering shared mental models within open-source communities can result in improved efficiency in the development of accessible music technology.
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Díaz-Pérez, Lucía, Marta Torralba, José Antonio Albajez, and José Antonio Yagüe-Fabra. "2D Positioning Control System for the Planar Motion of a Nanopositioning Platform." Applied Sciences 9, no. 22 (November 13, 2019): 4860. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app9224860.
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A novel nanopositioning platform (referred as NanoPla) in development has been designed to achieve nanometre resolution in a large working range of 50 mm × 50 mm. Two-dimensional (2D) movement is performed by four custom-made Halbach linear motors, and a 2D laser system provides positioning feedback, while the moving part of the platform is levitating and unguided. For control hardware, this work proposes the use of a commercial generic solution, in contrast to other systems where the control hardware and software are specifically designed for that purpose. In a previous paper based on this research, the control system of one linear motor implemented in selected commercial hardware was presented. In this study, the developed control system is extended to the four motors of the nanopositioning platform to generate 2D planar movement in the whole working range of the nanopositioning platform. In addition, the positioning uncertainty of the control system is assessed. The obtained results satisfy the working requirements of the NanoPla, achieving a positioning uncertainty of ±0.5 µm along the whole working range.
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Salcic, Zoran. "ISDE—an integrated systems development environment for custom-computing machines implemented in FPLDs." Microprocessors and Microsystems 25, no. 9-10 (January 2002): 427–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0141-9331(01)00136-3.
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Adam, George K., Nikos Petrellis, Georgia Garani, and Tilemachos Stylianos. "COTS-Based Architectural Framework for Reliable Real-Time Control Applications in Manufacturing." Applied Sciences 10, no. 9 (May 6, 2020): 3228. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app10093228.
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The challenge of keeping the development and implementation of real-time control systems reliable and efficient and at the same time, low-cost and low-energy, is getting harder. This is because system designers and developers are faced with the dependability, inflexibility and often high-cost of specialized or custom-built hardware and software components. This research attempts to tackle issues such as the reliability and efficiency of real-time control systems and advance further the current state-of-the-art. For this purpose, a strong emphasis is placed on finding novel efficient solutions based on standardized and commercially available off-the-shelf hardware/software components. In this direction, this research applies credible and feasible methodologies (e.g., model-based design, component-based design, formal verification, real-time scheduling, prototyping, and validation) in an innovative enhanced way. As an important outcome, a versatile integrative design approach and architectural framework (VIDAF) is proposed, which supports the development and implementation of reliable real-time control systems and applications using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed system’s architecture are evaluated and validated through a system application in embedded real-time control in manufacturing. The research outcomes are expected to have a positive impact on emerging areas such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
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Boesch, R., Y. Bühler, M. Marty, and C. Ginzler. "COMPARISON OF DIGITAL SURFACE MODELS FOR SNOW DEPTH MAPPING WITH UAV AND AERIAL CAMERAS." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLI-B8 (June 23, 2016): 453–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-xli-b8-453-2016.
Full textAbstract:
Photogrammetric workflows for aerial images have improved over the last years in a typically black-box fashion. Most parameters for building dense point cloud are either excessive or not explained and often the progress between software releases is poorly documented. On the other hand, development of better camera sensors and positional accuracy of image acquisition is significant by comparing product specifications. This study shows, that hardware evolutions over the last years have a much stronger impact on height measurements than photogrammetric software releases. <br><br> Snow height measurements with airborne sensors like the ADS100 and UAV-based DSLR cameras can achieve accuracies close to GSD * 2 in comparison with ground-based GNSS reference measurements. Using a custom notch filter on the UAV camera sensor during image acquisition does not yield better height accuracies. UAV based digital surface models are very robust. Different workflow parameter variations for ADS100 and UAV camera workflows seem to have only random effects.
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Boesch, R., Y. Bühler, M. Marty, and C. Ginzler. "COMPARISON OF DIGITAL SURFACE MODELS FOR SNOW DEPTH MAPPING WITH UAV AND AERIAL CAMERAS." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLI-B8 (June 23, 2016): 453–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprsarchives-xli-b8-453-2016.
Full textAbstract:
Photogrammetric workflows for aerial images have improved over the last years in a typically black-box fashion. Most parameters for building dense point cloud are either excessive or not explained and often the progress between software releases is poorly documented. On the other hand, development of better camera sensors and positional accuracy of image acquisition is significant by comparing product specifications. This study shows, that hardware evolutions over the last years have a much stronger impact on height measurements than photogrammetric software releases. <br><br> Snow height measurements with airborne sensors like the ADS100 and UAV-based DSLR cameras can achieve accuracies close to GSD * 2 in comparison with ground-based GNSS reference measurements. Using a custom notch filter on the UAV camera sensor during image acquisition does not yield better height accuracies. UAV based digital surface models are very robust. Different workflow parameter variations for ADS100 and UAV camera workflows seem to have only random effects.
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Ode, Oludotun, Lara Orlandic, and Omer T. Inan. "Towards Continuous and Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring: Methods for Efficient Data Acquisition for Pulse Transit Time Estimation." Sensors 20, no. 24 (December 11, 2020): 7106. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20247106.
Full textAbstract:
We developed a prototype for measuring physiological data for pulse transit time (PTT) estimation that will be used for ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring. The device is comprised of an embedded system with multimodal sensors that streams high-throughput data to a custom Android application. The primary focus of this paper is on the hardware–software codesign that we developed to address the challenges associated with reliably recording data over Bluetooth on a resource-constrained platform. In particular, we developed a lossless compression algorithm that is based on optimally selective Huffman coding and Huffman prefixed coding, which yields virtually identical compression ratios to the standard algorithm, but with a 67–99% reduction in the size of the compression tables. In addition, we developed a hybrid software–hardware flow control method to eliminate microcontroller (MCU) interrupt-latency related data loss when multi-byte packets are sent from the phone to the embedded system via a Bluetooth module at baud rates exceeding 115,200 bit/s. The empirical error rate obtained with the proposed method with the baud rate set to 460,800 bit/s was identically equal to 0%. Our robust and computationally efficient physiological data acquisition system will enable field experiments that will drive the development of novel algorithms for PTT-based continuous BP monitoring.
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FERLIN, EDSON PEDRO, HEITOR SILVÉRIO LOPES, CARLOS R. ERIG LIMA, and MAURÍCIO PERRETTO. "A FPGA-BASED RECONFIGURABLE PARALLEL ARCHITECTURE FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE NUMERICAL COMPUTATION." Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers 20, no. 05 (August 2011): 849–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218126611007645.
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Many real-world engineering problems require high computational power, especially regarding the processing time. Current parallel processing techniques play an important role in reducing the processing time. Recently, reconfigurable computation has gained large attention thanks to its ability to combine hardware performance and software flexibility. Also, the availability of high-density Field Programmable Gate Array devices and corresponding development systems allowed the popularization of reconfigurable computation, encouraging the development of very complex, compact, and powerful systems for custom applications. This work presents an architecture for parallel reconfigurable computation based on the dataflow concept. This architecture allows reconfigurability of the system for many problems and, particularly, for numerical computation. Several experiments were done analyzing the scalability of the architecture, as well as comparing its performance with other approaches. Overall results are relevant and promising. The developed architecture has performance and scalability suited for engineering problems that demand intensive numerical computation.
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Wölfle, David, Manuel Lösch, and Hartmut Schmeck. "BEMCom." ACM SIGEnergy Energy Informatics Review 2, no. 1 (February 2022): 20–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3527579.3527581.
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This note aims at supporting research on Building Energy Management (BEM), which addresses the active optimization of energy consumption patterns of buildings. For the practical evaluation of BEM algorithms, communication with devices in the building is required. Therefore, it is common to set up a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), i.e. a software that is able to interact with the devices, but also provides a unified interface for external components like optimization algorithms. However, implementing HAL applications often causes a significant effort using state of the art software, especially if the encountered devices make it necessary to develop custom software components to establish communication. In this paper we present the BEMCom framework as an alternative. BEMCom leverages a service oriented architecture (SOA) which enables the creation of applications with minimal effort by simple combination of services. This also allows the efficient development of new services that can reuse arbitrary existing software components. Furthermore, the SOA approach makes the created HAL applications easy to comprehend and supports stable operation. Alongside this paper, we release our implementation of BEMCom as open source, providing extensive documentation and ready-to-use services for the efficient creation of HALs.
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Falta, Jan, Petr Zlámal, and Marcel Adorna. "INSTRUMENTATION OF SPLIT HOPKINSON PRESSURE BAR FOR TESTING OF CELLULAR METALLIC MATERIALS." Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings 18 (October 23, 2018): 10. http://dx.doi.org/10.14311/app.2018.18.0010.
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This paper presents an overview of the custom design instrumentation of a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar modified for dynamic testing of materials with low mechanical impedance, particularly for cellular metallic materials (e. g. metal foams, laser sintered structures). Design and implementation of the components related to the strain wave measurement based on strain gauges (i.e. strain-gauge measurement unit, power supply unit, filtration) and the components used for the control and synchronization of the experiment, such as module of laser trough-beam photoelectric sensor are summarized in the paper. Aside from the design of the hardware components, the contribution deals also with development of a control software with graphical user interference using LabView (National Instruments, USA) programming environment, that allows selection of parameters of the dynamic tests and their storage for the evaluation of experiments.
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Burda, Ioan. "Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Impedance Analysis Based on Virtual Instruments: Experimental Study." Sensors 22, no. 4 (February 15, 2022): 1506. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22041506.
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The impedance quartz crystal microbalance (QCMI) is a versatile and simple method for making accurate measurements of the QCM sensor electrical parameters. The QCM sensor provides access to the physical parameters of the sample beyond the mass per unit area by measuring the dissipation factor, or another equivalent, ensuring a detailed analysis of the surface. By establishing a cooperative relationship between custom software and modular configurable hardware we obtain a user-defined measurement system that is called a virtual instrument. This paper aims primarily to improve and adapt existing concepts to new electronics technologies to obtain a fast and accurate virtual impedance analyzer (VIA). The second is the implementation of a VIA by software to cover a wide range of measurements for the impedance of the QCM sensor, followed by the calculation of the value of lumped electrical elements in real time. A method for software compensation of the parallel and stray capacitance is also described. The development of a compact VIA with a decent measurement rate (192 frequency points per second) aims, in the next development steps, to create an accurate impedance analyzer for QCM sensors. The experimental results show the good working capacity of QCMI based on VIA.
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Alshattnawi, Sawsan. "Building Tour Plan and Navigation System in Art Museum using Dijkstra Algorithm based on Geo-coded QR codes and Cloud Computing." International Journal of Advanced Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing 6, no. 2 (April 2014): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijapuc.2014040101.
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Several technologies have been proposed to support the indoor positioning and navigation. Some of these technologies are combined together to achieve a correct and accurate positioning. The used technologies for indoor navigation such as the RFID and the infrared combined with Wi-Fi have many problems; all these technologies need hardware installation which is costly and restrict, sometimes, the user to have additional hardware on his smartphone. In this paper, we will use Geo-coded QR codes because it is free cost technology for user's positioning. The QR codes have many benefits and it will be used to detect the user's location. A custom tour plan is built according to user preferences. The graph represents the environment and the navigation is provided to the user according to this plan and using only the QR codes. In addition, the cloud infrastructure will be used to store the data and to build the plan, data downloading is done according to user's location and plan. When the graph is dense and the number of nodes is very huge then the telephone may have a problem in processing and search the graph to build the plan. No additional hardware will be installed, the software development process will be easier and the cloud will support the limited mobile resources.
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Fayçal, Radjah, Ziet Lahcene, and Benoudjit Nabil. "ISODATA SOPC-FPGA implementation of image segmentation using NIOS-II processor." Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science 22, no. 2 (May 1, 2021): 818. http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijeecs.v22.i2.pp818-825.
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<p>This paper presents an FPGA image segmentation-binarization system based on<em> </em>Iterative Self Organizing DATA <em>(ISODATA)</em> threshold using histogram analysis for embedded systems. The histogram module computes pixels levels statistics which are used by the ISODATA algorithm module to determine the segmentation threshold. In our case, this threshold binarizes a gray-scale image into two values 0 or 255. The prototype of the complete system uses an ALTERA CYCLONE-II DE2 kit with a lot of component and interfaces, such as the SD-CARD reader or a camera to read the image to be segmented, the FPGA which will implement the intellectual property (IP) core calculation with the NIOS processor, the VGA interface to view the results, and possibly of the ETHERNET interface for data transfer via internet. The use of FPGA contains the ISODATA, histogram, NIOS processor and others custom altera IPs hardware modules greatly improves processing speed and allows the binarization application to be embedded on a single chip. For the project elaboration, we have used QUARTUS-II software for the hardware development part with VHDL description, SOPC-builder or QSYS for the integration of NIOS-system, and NIOS-II-STB-ECLIPSE for the software program with eclipse c++ langage.</p><p> </p>
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Vansteenwegen, Dieter, Kevin Ruddick, André Cattrijsse, Quinten Vanhellemont, and Matthew Beck. "The Pan-and-Tilt Hyperspectral Radiometer System (PANTHYR) for Autonomous Satellite Validation Measurements—Prototype Design and Testing." Remote Sensing 11, no. 11 (June 6, 2019): 1360. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11111360.
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This paper describes a system, named “pan-and-tilt hyperspectral radiometer system” (PANTHYR) that is designed for autonomous measurement of hyperspectral water reflectance. The system is suitable for deployment in diverse locations (including offshore platforms) for the validation of water reflectance derived from any satellite mission with visible and/or near-infrared spectral bands (400–900 nm). Key user requirements include reliable autonomous operation at remote sites without grid power or cabled internet and only limited maintenance (1–2 times per year), flexible zenith and azimuth pointing, modularity to adapt to future evolution of components and different sites (power, data transmission, and mounting possibilities), and moderate hardware acquisition cost. PANTHYR consists of two commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hyperspectral radiometers, mounted on a COTS pan-and-tilt pointing system, controlled by a single-board-computer and associated custom-designed electronics which provide power, pointing instructions, and data archiving and transmission. The variable zenith pointing improves protection of sensors which are parked downward when not measuring, and it allows for use of a single radiance sensor for both sky and water viewing. The latter gives cost reduction for radiometer purchase, as well as reduction of uncertainties associated with radiometer spectral and radiometric differences for comparable two-radiance-sensor systems. The system is designed so that hardware and software upgrades or changes are easy to implement. In this paper, the system design requirements and choices are described, including details of the electronics, hardware, and software. A prototype test on the Acqua Alta Oceanographic Tower (near Venice, Italy) is described, including comparison of the PANTHYR system data with two other established systems: the multispectral autonomous AERONET-OC data and a manually deployed three-sensor hyperspectral system. The test established that high-quality hyperspectral data for water reflectance can be acquired autonomously with this system. Lessons learned from the prototype testing are described, and the future perspectives for the hardware and software development are outlined.
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Arumugam, Arunkumar, Cole Markham, Saurabh S. Aykar, Barbara Van Der Pol, Paula Dixon, Michelle Wu, and Season Wong. "PrintrLab incubator: A portable and low-cost CO2 incubator based on an open-source 3D printer architecture." PLOS ONE 16, no. 6 (June 2, 2021): e0251812. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251812.
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Growth in open-source hardware designs combined with the decreasing cost of high-quality 3D printers have supported a resurgence of in-house custom lab equipment development. Herein, we describe a low-cost (< $400), open-source CO2 incubator. The system is comprised of a Raspberry Pi computer connected to a 3D printer controller board that has controls for a CO2 sensor, solenoid valve, heater, and thermistors. CO2 is supplied through the sublimation of dry ice stored inside a thermos to create a sustained 5% CO2 supply. The unit is controlled via G-Code commands sent by the Raspberry Pi to the controller board. In addition, we built a custom software application for remote control and used the open-source Grafana dashboard for remote monitoring. Our data show that we can maintain consistent CO2 and temperature levels for over three days without manual interruption. The results from our culture plates and real-time PCR indicate that our incubator performed equally well when compared to a much more expensive commercial CO2 incubator. We have also demonstrated that the antibiotic susceptibility assay can be performed in this low-cost CO2 incubator. Our work also indicates that the system can be connected to incubator chambers of various chamber volumes.
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De Pascali, Chiara, Luca Francioso, Lucia Giampetruzzi, Gabriele Rescio, Maria Assunta Signore, Alessandro Leone, and Pietro Siciliano. "Modeling, Fabrication and Integration of Wearable Smart Sensors in a Monitoring Platform for Diabetic Patients." Sensors 21, no. 5 (March 6, 2021): 1847. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s21051847.
Full textAbstract:
The monitoring of some parameters, such as pressure loads, temperature, and glucose level in sweat on the plantar surface, is one of the most promising approaches for evaluating the health state of the diabetic foot and for preventing the onset of inflammatory events later degenerating in ulcerative lesions. This work presents the results of sensors microfabrication, experimental characterization and FEA-based thermal analysis of a 3D foot-insole model, aimed to advance in the development of a fully custom smart multisensory hardware–software monitoring platform for the diabetic foot. In this system, the simultaneous detection of temperature-, pressure- and sweat-based glucose level by means of full custom microfabricated sensors distributed on eight reading points of a smart insole will be possible, and the unit for data acquisition and wireless transmission will be fully integrated into the platform. Finite element analysis simulations, based on an accurate bioheat transfer model of the metabolic response of the foot tissue, demonstrated that subcutaneous inflamed lesions located up to the muscle layer, and ischemic damage located not below the reticular/fat layer, can be successfully detected. The microfabrication processes and preliminary results of functional characterization of flexible piezoelectric pressure sensors and glucose sensors are presented. Full custom pressure sensors generate an electric charge in the range 0–20 pC, proportional to the applied load in the range 0–4 N, with a figure of merit of 4.7 ± 1 GPa. The disposable glucose sensors exhibit a 0–6 mM (0–108 mg/dL) glucose concentration optimized linear response (for sweat-sensing), with a LOD of 3.27 µM (0.058 mg/dL) and a sensitivity of 21 µA/mM cm2 in the PBS solution. The technical prerequisites and experimental sensing performances were assessed, as preliminary step before future integration into a second prototype, based on a full custom smart insole with enhanced sensing functionalities.
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Zhao, Zhigang, Ru Wang, Jianheng Huang, Jinchuan Guo, and Hanben Niu. "Implementation of a Data Acquisition System for 2×2 Fiber Optic Taper Array Coupled Digital X-ray Detector." Open Electrical & Electronic Engineering Journal 8, no. 1 (December 31, 2014): 152–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874129001408010152.
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Fiber optic taper (FOP) array coupled digital x-ray detector can be an ideal choice for large area high resolution x-ray imaging, but its data acquisition system is a challenge, for the reasons such as restrictions of hardware design due to the shape of the FOP array, long distance control requirement in x-ray environment, and arrangement of data transmission sequence among multiple CCD/CMOS image sensors. A FPGA and ARM based data acquisition system for 2×2 FOP array coupled x-ray detector was implemented in this paper. We have finished all the procedures involving the data acquisition system, including hardware and PCB design, FPGA design, ARM and PC software development, and so on. The data acquisition process operates in parallel during parameters setting, 4 CMOS image sensors (LUPA-4000) timing driving, and DDR2 SDRAM data buffering, while it works in series when sending data from each FPGA to ARM and from ARM to PC. Experimental results showed that the data acquisition system worked steadily, and whole images of a custom-built calibration plate were achieved by butting images of the four individual CMOS image sensors’ in visible light test environment. This work could be a valuable foundation for realization of all kinds of FOP array coupled digital x-ray detectors.
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Mudza, Zbigniew, and Rafał Kiełbik. "Mapping Processing Elements of Custom Virtual CGRAs onto Reconfigurable Partitions." Electronics 11, no. 8 (April 16, 2022): 1261. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics11081261.
Full textAbstract:
FPGAs can provide application-specific acceleration for computationally demanding tasks. However, they are rarely considered general-purpose platforms due to low productivity of software development and long reconfiguration time. These problems can be mitigated by implementing a coarser overlay atop the FPGA fabric. Combining this approach with partial reconfiguration allows for the modification of individual processing elements (PEs) of the virtual architecture without altering the rest of the system. Module relocation can be used to share implementation details between functionally equivalent PEs that use identical sets of resources, thus eliminating redundant placement and routing runs. Proper floorplanning is crucial for virtual Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRAs) with relocatable PEs considering their tendency to use nearest-neighbor connection patterns. It requires solving two problems—finding identical regions in the FPGA fabric and assigning individual partitions to certain locations. This article presents minor improvements of a state-of-the-art solution for the first and proposes a novel technique for solving the other. The proposed automated floorplanner uses modified breadth-first search with direction-based penalties to create initial floorplan consistent with geometry of logical array, then improves the result with 2-opt local optimization. Compared to simulated annealing solutions, the proposed approach allows for the reduction in the floorplanning time by two to three orders of magnitude without compromising the quality of the results.
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Cavalcanti, João, Luis FC Figueredo, João Y. Ishihara, Mariana C. Bernardes, Pedro HRQA Santana, Alessandro N. Vargas, and Geovany A. Borges. "A real-time web-based networked control system education platform." International Journal of Electrical Engineering & Education 55, no. 2 (February 20, 2018): 130–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020720917750952.
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Networked control systems have recently experienced a surge in fundamental theoretical results ignited by numerous advantages of introducing shared multipurpose communication networks in control systems. Regarding developments on the practical side, however, a networked control system is still wanting when it comes to experimental platforms suitable for research and educational purposes, which contributes to most of networked control system theory being validated by means of numerical examples and simulations. This paper addresses this issue by presenting a low-cost real-time networked control system platform, based on custom hardware and software solutions that can be readily explored with the sole use of a web browser connected to the Internet. The technical decisions made during development represent a fundamentally novel take on networked control system experimental platforms that can potentially be reproduced by several universities. The platform provides the user with multiple controller and input reference options, network configurations, delay statistics, and even a downloadable file containing advanced experiment data. A survey conducted with students located over 1200 km away from the platform who used it during laboratory assignments highlight the system’s usability and interactivity, and supports the platform is suitable for educational purposes.
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Cutter, George R., Laurent Berger, and David A. Demer. "A comparison of bathymetry mapped with the Simrad ME70 multibeam echosounder operated in bathymetric and fisheries modes." ICES Journal of Marine Science 67, no. 6 (March 23, 2010): 1301–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsq012.
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Abstract Cutter, G. R. Jr, Berger, L., and Demer, D. A. 2010. A comparison of bathymetry mapped with the Simrad ME70 multibeam echosounder operated in bathymetric and fisheries modes. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1301–1309. The Simrad ME70 multibeam echosounder was designed for quantitative fisheries research and is currently installed on Ifremer's fishery survey vessel (FSV) “Thalassa” and each of the new, quiet, NOAA FSVs. The ME70 has configurable beams and transmits in the range 70–120 kHz to provide calibrated, acoustic-backscattering data throughout the detection range (fisheries mode, FM). With optional hardware and software, the ME70 can also collect soundings that potentially meet International Hydrographic Organization's S–44 Order 1 standards (bathymetric mode, BM). Furthermore, with custom algorithms and software, bathymetric data can be obtained from the ME70 operating in FM, and volume backscatter can be sampled from the ME70 operating in BM. This flexibility allows data to be concurrently collected on fish and their seabed habitat. A method is described for processing the echo amplitude and phase data from multiple split-beams formed in FM to estimate seabed range, slope, and roughness. The resulting bathymetry is compared with that collected with the ME70 operating in BM in the same area of the Bay of Biscay. A proposal is made for software development to facilitate dual-use data processing.
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Bravo-Zanoguera, Miguel, Daniel Cuevas-González, Juan P. García-Vázquez, Roberto L. Avitia, and M. A. Reyna. "Portable ECG System Design Using the AD8232 Microchip and Open-Source Platform." Proceedings 42, no. 1 (November 14, 2019): 49. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ecsa-6-06584.
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This paper presents the design of a portable electrocardiograph (ECG) device using the AD8232 microchip as the analog front-end (AFE). Starting with the manufacturer’s evaluation board of the AFE chip for testing circuit configurations, open-source hardware and software components were integrated into a breadboard prototype. Ultimately, a custom printed circuit board (PCB) was produced. The prototype required to accommodate the microchip on a SMD-to-DIP adapter for testing with the breadboard-friendly Arduino microcontroller alongside a data logger and a Bluetooth breakout board. The analog ECG signal from the AFE output was digitized using one channel of the 10-bit analog-to-digital Converter (ADC) of the ATmega328 microcontroller contained in the Arduino Nano board. The digitized ECG signal can be transmitted not only by serial cable using the Arduino functions, but also via Bluetooth to a PC or to an Android smartphone system when the HC-06 shield is used. The data logging shield provides gigabytes of storage, and the signal is recorded to a micro SD card adapter along with the date and time stamp data of the sample capture (real-time clock provided). In addition to hardware and software development, a simulation was used in the analog circuit design with SPICE Multisim software and the related macromodel library to assess system stability. Besides the analog filters in the AFE stage, digital filtering by means of simple difference equations was investigated. A menu was incorporated to choose from the several modes of operation of the device. The ECG test signals were obtained from a patient simulator (SimCube) and real patients. A portable ECG system for monitoring applications that complies with electrical safety regulations and medical equipment design was realized.
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Comunità, Marco, Andrea Gerino, Veranika Lim, and Lorenzo Picinali. "Design and Evaluation of a Web- and Mobile-Based Binaural Audio Platform for Cultural Heritage." Applied Sciences 11, no. 4 (February 8, 2021): 1540. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app11041540.
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PlugSonic is a suite of web- and mobile-based applications for the curation and experience of 3D interactive soundscapes and sonic narratives in the cultural heritage context. It was developed as part of the PLUGGY EU project (Pluggable Social Platform for Heritage Awareness and Participation) and consists of two main applications: PlugSonic Sample, to edit and apply audio effects, and PlugSonic Soundscape, to create and experience 3D soundscapes for headphones playback. The audio processing within PlugSonic is based on the Web Audio API and the 3D Tune-In Toolkit, while the mobile exploration of soundscapes in a physical space is obtained using Apple’s ARKit. The main goal of PlugSonic is technology democratisation; PlugSonic users—whether cultural institutions or citizens—are all given the instruments needed to create, process and experience 3D soundscapes and sonic narratives; without the need for specific devices, external tools (software and/or hardware), specialised knowledge or custom development. The aims of this paper are to present the design and development choices, the user involvement processes as well as a final evaluation conducted with inexperienced users on three tasks (creation, curation and experience), demonstrating how PlugSonic is indeed a simple, effective, yet powerful tool.
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Spyropoulos, B., and M. Maragkos. "A Low Cost Ionizing Radiation Monitoring System." HNPS Proceedings 7 (December 5, 2019): 221. http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/hnps.2421.
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It was aim of this project the development of a low - cost system, managing signals coming - out of several detectors (ionization chambers, Nal - detectors, Geiger - Mueller etc.) installed in different areas, monitoring radiation levels. The output of such detectors is a spike - like waveform, that may be introduced to a Schmitt - trigger, producing equal frequency quadratic pulses, that are counted. Alternatively, the output may be introduced to an amplified waveform V(t), corresponding to the monitored rate, will be digitized through a PCL - 812PG A/D I/O card and introduced to a PC (at least 486 DX, 33MHz, 8 MB RAM). Custom - made (Pascal 7.0) software enables the display of the signal, threshold and alarm settings, as well as , hardware parameter settings (amplification, set – off voltage, sampling rate etc.). The system has been tested experimentally. Up to 5 detectors may be mounted to the card but the software supports up to 16. Up to 10000 cpm may be registered, because of the limits of the 400Hz antializing filter, the ADC speed and the MUX PCLD - 889 characteristics. The system may be used as a simple low - cost signal monitoring device, enabling the telemetrie transmission of the signals, if required.
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Hintsa, Juha, Toni Männistö, Luca Urciuoli, and Mikael Granqvist. "Future Development of e-Customs." International Journal of Electronic Government Research 8, no. 4 (October 2012): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jegr.2012100101.
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By means of a survey, this paper explores the current state of play regarding cross-border trade and logistics operations in Switzerland and thereafter it highlights possible future developments and potential benefits. In particular, the survey aims: (1) To identify how customs declarations are filed, (2) To understand the companies’ knowledge about compliance costs, (3) To understand future developments expected by companies, and (4) To determine the potential benefits of e-Customs platforms. This study will ultimately bring to light concrete functionalities to be included in future e-Customs platforms. The results unveil the importance of interactive and user friendly e-Customs services. In addition, design and implementation of e-Customs services need to be driven by tangible benefits for the private sector, including facilitating export procedures, improving flexibility, reducing the need to re-enter any customs data during the declaration processes, and enabling a seamless flow of data between the parties involved.
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Baillargeon, Pierre, Justin Shumate, Shurong Hou, Virneliz Fernandez-Vega, Nicholas Marques, Glauco Souza, Jan Seldin, Timothy P. Spicer, and Louis Scampavia. "Automating a Magnetic 3D Spheroid Model Technology for High-Throughput Screening." SLAS TECHNOLOGY: Translating Life Sciences Innovation 24, no. 4 (June 21, 2019): 420–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2472630319854337.
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Affordable and physiologically relevant three-dimensional (3D) cell-based assays used in high-throughput screening (HTS) are on the rise in early drug discovery. These technologies have been aided by the recent adaptation of novel microplate treatments and spheroid culturing techniques. One such technology involves the use of nanoparticle (NanoShuttle-PL) labeled cells and custom magnetic drives to assist in cell aggregation to ensure rapid 3D structure formation after the cells have been dispensed into microtiter plates. Transitioning this technology from a low-throughput manual benchtop application, as previously published by our lab, into a robotically enabled format achieves orders of magnitude greater throughput but required the development of specialized support hardware. This effort included in-house development, fabrication, and testing of ancillary devices that assist robotic handing and high-precision placement of microtiter plates into an incubator embedded with magnetic drives. Utilizing a “rapid prototyping” approach facilitated by cloud-based computer-aided design software, we built the necessary components using hobby-grade 3D printers with turnaround times that rival those of traditional manufacturing/development practices at a substantially reduced cost. This approach culminated in a first-in-class HTS-compatible 3D system in which we have coupled 3D bioprinting to a fully automated HTS robotic platform utilizing our novel magnetic incubator shelf assemblies.
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Matsushita, Kojiro, Hiroshi Yokoi, and Tamio Arai. "Plastic-Bottle-Based Robots in Educational Robotics Courses – Understanding Embodied Artificial Intelligence –." Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics 19, no. 2 (April 20, 2007): 212–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2007.p0212.
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In this paper, we introduce an educational robotics approach featuring a unique robotic development kit - hardware, software, and instructions - that concretely encourages student interest in and curiosity about science and technology. The kit was developed based on practical policies: easy construction, low cost, creative activity, and enjoyable education. It uses common materials such as plastic bottles, RC servomotors, and hot glue, and provides three different controllers with instructions - a sensor-motor controller, an electromyography (EMG) interface controller, and a teaching-playback controller. The kit thus offers more custom access to both robot structure and control architecture than similar kits and encourages students to become engaged creatively. The three robotics courses for undergraduates and graduates we have conducted thus far to provide an understanding of robotics and embodied artificial intelligence (AI) have confirmed that some of locomotive robots explicitly exploit their own dynamics - also known as “morph-functionality” - an embodied AI concept. An evaluation of this approach for course hours, task achievement, student interest, and the influence of assistance confirmed conclusively that students experienced creativity in such robotics courses.
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Lee, W., M. Yoon, and M. Sunwoo. "A cost- and time-effective hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform for automotive engine control systems." Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering 217, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 41–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1243/095440703762702969.
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A new PC-based hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) platform is developed for designing an automotive engine control system. The HILS equipment consists of a widely used PC and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) I/O boards instead of a powerful computing system and custom-made I/O boards. These features make the HILS equipment more cost effective and flexible. The HILS uses an automatic code generation extension, REAL-TIME WORKSHOP® of the MATLAB® tool-chain, which is one of the standard tools for modelling and off-line simulation in the area of controller design. This helps the control system developers to handle the controlled-object model more easily and to test the control system more comfortably and time effectively. The mean value engine model, which is used in the control design phase, is imported in this HILS. The engine model is supplemented with some I/O subsystems and I/O boards to interface actual input and output signals in real time. The I/O subsystems are designed to synchronize the status of the engine model with the control system as well as to convert the raw data of the I/O boards to the appropriate forms for proper interfaces. To prove the feasibilities of the proposed environment, a pilot project for the development of an air-to-fuel ratio control system is carried out. The HILS environment is proved to be an efficient tool to develop various control functions and to validate the software and hardware of the engine control system.
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Macías, José A., and Alma L. Culén. "Enhancing decision-making in user-centered web development: a methodology for card-sorting analysis." World Wide Web 24, no. 6 (October 7, 2021): 2099–137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11280-021-00950-y.
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AbstractThe World Wide Web has become a common platform for interactive software development. Most web applications feature custom user interfaces used by millions of people every day. Information architecture addresses the structural design of information to build quality web applications with improved usability of content, navigation, and findability. One of the most frequently utilized information architecture methods is card sorting—an affordable, user-centered approach for eliciting and evaluating categories and navigable items. Card sorting facilitates decision-making during the development process based on users’ mental models of a given application domain. However, although the qualitative analysis of card sorts has become common practice in information architecture, the quantitative analysis of card sorting is less widely applied. The reason for this gap is that quantitative analysis often requires the use of customized techniques to extract meaningful information for decision-making. To facilitate this process and support the structuring of information, we propose a methodology for the quantitative analysis of card-sorting results in this paper. The suggested approach can be systematically applied to provide clues and support for decisions. These might significantly impact the design and, thus, the final quality of the web application. Therefore, the approach includes proper goodness values that enable comparisons among the results of the methods and techniques used and ensure the suitability of the analyses performed. Two publicly available datasets were used to demonstrate the key issues related to the interpretation of card sorting results and the overall suitability and validity of the proposed methodology.