A Novel Capacitive Pressure Sensor

A novel capacitive pressure sensor is presented, whose sensing structure is a solid-state capacitor consisting of three square membranes with Al/SiO2/n-type silicon. It was fabricated using pn junction self-stop etching combined with adhesive bonding,and only three masks were used during the process. Sensors with side lengths of 1000,1200,and 1400μm were fabricated,showing sensitivity of 1.8,2.3, and 3.6fF/hPa over the range of 410～ 1010hPa, respectively. The sensi- tivity of the sensor with a side length of 1500μm is 4. 6fF/hPa,the nonlinearity is 6. 4% ,and the max hysteresis is 3.6%. The results show that permittivity change plays an important part in the capacitance change.

An Accurate 1.08GHz CMOS LC Voltage-Controlled Oscillator

An accurate 1.08GHz CMOS LC voltage-controlled oscillator is implemented in a 0.35μm standard 2P4M CMOS process.A new convenient method of calculating oscillator period is presented.With this period calculation technique,the frequency tuning curves agree well with the experiment.At a 3.3V supply,the LC-VCO measures a phase noise of -82.2dBc/Hz at a 10kHz frequency offset while dissipating 3.1mA current.The chip size is 0.86mm×0.82mm.

Active Vibration Control and Stability Analysis of Cantilever Plate

Active vibration control and stability analysis of cantilever plate are discussed. Based on the analysis of characteristic equation of the closed loop control system, it is shown that such an active control may increase damping properties of the system, meanwhile it may result in instability of the system. It is stable when the feedback only occurs between the collocated sensors and actuators, but it may be unstable when there exists the feedback between sensors and actuators, which mainly depends on the property of the gain matrix of feedback. If the gain matrix is symmetric and definitely positive, the system is stable.

Test on Sensor Effect of Cement Matrix Piezoelectric Composite

A novel cement matrix smart piezoelectric composite and its application as sensing element are presented.A cement matrix smart piezoelectric composite piece encapsulated in a cement mortar formed a practical sensor, and it was tested on material test system with cyclic loading.According to the theoretical analysis, the function of the cement matrix piezoelectric sensor output voltage was expressed in terms of the magnitude of the input cyclic loading amplitude and frequency.The curve fitting of gain function that is defined as sensor′s gain factor under different frequencies of input loading was carried out. From the results of curve fitting, it is found that the cement matrix smart piezoelectric composite has a simple relationship between input loading and output voltage.Therefore the cement matrix piezoelectric composite sensor is suitable to be applied in structural health monitoring.

A 1.1GHz LC VCO with Automatic Amplitude Control for Tuner Applications

This paper presents an LC VCO with auto-amplitude control （AAC）, in which pMOS FETs are used,and the varactors are directly connected to ground to widen the linear range of Kvco. The AAC circuitry adds little noise to the VCO but provides it with robust performance over a wide temperature and carrier frequency range.The VCO is fabricated in a chartered 50GHz 0.35μm SiGe BiCMOS process. The measurements show that it has - 127. 27dBc/Hz phase noise at 1MHz offset and a linear gain of 32.4MHz/V between 990MHz and 1.14GHz.The whole circuit draws 6. 6mA current from 5V supply.

Design and analysis of singal conditioning circuit for vibration sensor

A piezoelectric sensor charge/voltage conversion circuit is designed based on the principle that piezoelectric sensor can convert the vibration or shock acceleration into the charge proportionally.Effect of temperature characteristic of feedback capacitor on the switching circuit output is analyzed based on the acquisition and measurement system in this paper.The characteristics of different filters are analyzed,and the corresponding filter circuit is configured according to the actual sensor bandwidth.Experiments show that the circuit can effectively filter out noises among the vibration signal and obtain vibration signal accurately.

Transparent Electronic Skin Device Based on Microstructured Silver Nanowire Electrode

Transparent, flexible electronic skin holds a wide range of applications in robotics, humanmachine interfaces, artificial intelligence, prosthetics, and health monitoring. Silver nanowire are mechanically flexible and robust, which exhibit great potential in transparent and electricconducting thin film. Herein, we report on a silver-nanowire spray-coating and electrodemicrostructure replicating strategy to construct a transparent, flexible, and sensitive electronic skin device. The electronic skin device shows highly sensitive piezo-capacitance response to pressure. It is found that micropatterning the surface of dielectric layer polyurethane elastomer by replicating from microstructures of natural-existing surfaces such as lotus leaf, silk, and frosted glass can greatly enhance the piezo-capacitance performance of the device. The microstructured pressure sensors based on silver nanowire exhibit good transparency, excellent flexibility, wide pressure detection range （0-150 kPa）, and high sensitivity （1.28 kPa-1）.

A novel voltage output integrated circuit temperature sensor

The novel integrated circuit (IC) temperature sensor presented in this paper works similarly as a two terminal Zener, has breakdown voltage directly proportional to Kelvin temperature at 10 mV/℃, with typical error of less than ±1.0℃ over a temperature range from -50℃ to +125℃. In addition to all the features that conventional IC temperature sensors have, the new device also has very low static power dissipation ( 0.5 mW ) , low output impedance ( less than 1Ω), excellent stability, high reproducibility, and high precision. The sensor's circuit design and layout are discussed in detail. Applications of the sensor include almost any type of temperature sensing over the range of -50℃-+125℃. The low impedance and linear output of the device make interfacing the readout or control circuitry especially easy. Due to the excellent performance and low cost of this sensor, more applications of the sensor over wide temperature range are expected.

Edge-Weighted Centroidal Voronoi Tessellations

Most existing applications of centroidal Voronoi tessellations(CVTs) lack consideration of the length of the cluster boundaries.In this paper we propose a new model and algorithms to produce segmentations which would minimize the total energy—a sum of the classic CVT energy and the weighted length of cluster boundaries.To distinguish it with the classic CVTs,we call it an Edge-Weighted CVT(EWCVT).The concept of EWCVT is expected to build a mathematical base for all CVT related data classifications with requirement of smoothness of the cluster boundaries.The EWCVT method is easy in implementation,fast in computation,and natural for any number of clusters.

A MEMS stronglink with multi-try function used for PC startup in authentication system

The stronglink with muhi-try function based on MEMS technology and the PC startup in authentication system have been designed and fabricated. The generation principle and structure of UQS code are introduced, which consists of two groups of metal counter-meshing gears, two pawl/ratchet mechanisms, two driving micromotors and two resetting micromotors. The energy-coupling element is a photoelectric sensor with a circular and notched plate. It is fabricated using the UV-LiGA process and precision mechanical engineering. The PC startup authentication system is controlled by BIOS program, which is written into the chip according with special format. The program in BIOS output signals controls the running of stronglink to finish the process of authentication. The device can run more than 10000 times before a stop. The driving voltage is 12 V, and the normal decoding time is 3 s.

Failure Prediction Modeling of Lithium Ion Battery toward Distributed Parameter Estimation

Lithium ion battery has typical character of distributed parameter system, and can be described precisely by partial differential equations and multi-physics theory because lithium ion battery is a complicated electrochemical energy storage system. A novel failure prediction modeling method of lithium ion battery based on distributed parameter estimation and single particle model is proposed in this work. Lithium ion concentration in the anode of lithium ion battery is an unmeasurable distributed variable. Failure prediction system can estimate lithium ion concentration online, track the failure residual which is the difference between the estimated value and the ideal value. The precaution signal will be triggered when the failure residual is beyond the predefined failure precaution threshold, and the failure countdown prediction module will be activated. The remaining time of the severe failure threshold can be estimated by the failure countdown prediction module according to the changing rate of the failure residual. A simulation example verifies that lithium ion concentration in the anode of lithium ion battery can be estimated exactly and effectively by the failure prediction model. The precaution signal can be triggered reliably, and the remaining time of the severe failure can be forecasted accurately by the failure countdown prediction module.

Impact of Sensor Technology for Line Protection Performance

The paper has presented the impact on the line protection performance with the introduction of MUs （merging units） in the process bus level. The paper begins with the introduction on modem digital substation structure and process bus. Then, the paper describes the performances of different sensors such as CTs （current transformers）, CVTs （capacitive voltage transformers）, FOCS （fiber optical current transducers） and FOVS （fiber optical voltage transducers）. With the use of above transducers together with MUs, the performance of distance protection function and line differential protection function have been investigated and presented. Finally, conclusions based on the study are presented in the paper.

Non-inverting buck-boost DC-DC converter based on constant inductor current control

The hysteresis control combined with PWM control non-inverting buck-boost was proposed to improve the light load efficiency and power density.The constant inductor current control(CICC)was established to mitigate the dependence on the external components and device variation and make smooth transition between hysteresis control loop and pulse width modulation(PWM)control loop.The small signal model was deduced for the buck and boost operation mode.The inductor current slope control(ICSC)was proposed to implement the automatic mode transition between buck and boost mode in one switching cycle.The results show that the converter prototype has good dynamic response capability,achieving 94%efficiency and 95%peak efficiency at full 10 A load current.

Self-powered systems by nanogenerators and smart MEMS by piezotronics

Developing wireless nanodevices and nanosystems is of critical importance for sensing, medical science, environmental/infrastructure monitoring, defense technology and even personal electronics. It is highly desirable for wireless devices to be self-powered without using battery, without which most of the sensor network may be impossible. The pie- zoelectric nanogenerators have the potential to serve as self-sufficient power sources for micro/nano systems. For wurtzite structures that have non-central symmetry, such as ZnO, GaN and InN, a piezoelectric potential （piezopotential） is created in the crystal by applying a strain. The nanogenerator is invented by using the piezopotential as the driving force for electrons to flow in respond to a dynamic straining of piezoelectric nanowires. A gentle straining can produce an output voltage of up to 20 - 50 V from an integrated nanogenerator. Furthermore, piezopotential in the wurtzite structure can serve as gate voltage that can effectively tune/control the charge transport across an interface/junction; electronics fabricated based on such a mechanism is coined as piezotronics, with applications in force/pressure triggercd/controlled electronic devices, sensors, logic units and memory. By using the piezotronic effect, it is showed that the optoelectronic devices fabricated using wurtzite materials can have superior performance as solar cell, photon detector and light emitting diode. Piezotronie is likely to serve as ＂mechanosensation＂ for directly interfacing biomechanieal action with silicon based technology and active flexible electronics. The paper gives a brief review about the basis of nanogenertors and piezotronics and their potential applications in smart MEMS （micro-electro-mechanical systems）.

Sensor Hall Effect on Analyses Mechanical Stress

Measuring the magnetic field is a common practice in industrial processes. We can cite the voltage measurements through PTs （potential transformers）. This is a classic example of inductive field measuring, predicting to be measured quantity is of oscillatory nature, with the circuit instrumentation scaled and calibrated for a typical frequency of 50/60 Hz. For a long time, only the binary information： ＂this field＂ and ＂missing field＂ is needed. For example, only with this information can we identify the frequency of the rotating shaft. Currently, new technologies employ magnetic sensors for measuring positions （distances, angles, etc.） from the intensity of the magnetic field. Inductive sensors are inefficient on measurements of static fields, such as magnets, opening spaces for new linear Hall effect sensors, and static which deal with these situations without difficulty. The present study examines the behavior of the Hall sensor, making the measurement of the intensity of the static magnetic field of the rotating magnet and the same, verifying the effect of the speed at which the magnet passes the sensor in some way alter the measurement. The results are favorable manda and the versatility of these sensors in many different applications.

High Voltage Breaker Current Monitoring and FaultDiagnosis System Based on Fiber Current Sensor

Abstract: The current measuring principle, the hardware structure and the software functions of a high voltage breaker current monitoring and fault diagnosis system are introduced. A simple algorithm for calculating the current effective value is given. The cut - off characteristics of the breaker are classified. This system can provide a foundation for reasonably determining the breaker service period.

Piezoresistive Sensors Based on Carbon Nanotube Films

Piezoresistive effect of carbon nanotube films was investigated by athree-point bending test. Carbon nanotubes were synthesized by hot filament chemical vapordeposition. The experimental results showed that the carbon nanotubes have a striking piezoresistiveeffect. The relative resistance was changed from 0 to 10.5 X 10^(-2) and 3. 25 X 10^(-2) for dopedand undoped films respectively at room temperature when the microstrain under stress from 0 to 500.The gauge factors for doped and undoped carbon nanotube films under 500 microstrain were about 220and 67 at room temperature, respectively, exceeding that of polycrystalline silicon (30) at 35℃.The origin of the resistance changes in the films may be attributed to a strain-induced change inthe band gap for the doped tubes and the defects for the undoped tubes.

Brushless Doubly-Fed Induction Machine as a Variable Frequency Transformer

VFT （variable frequency transformer） has been recently used as art alternative to HVDC （high voltage direct current） to control power flow between asynchronous networks. VFT consumes less reactive power than a back-to-back HVDC system, provides faster initial transient recovery, and has better natural damping capability. VFT is simply a DFIM （doubly-fed induction machine） where the machine torque controls the power flow from stator to rotor and vice versa. The main disadvantage of this VFT is the slip rings and brushes required for the rotor circuit, especially in bulk power transmission. The BDFM （brushless doubly-fed machine） with nested cage rotor machine is proved to be a comparable alternative to conventional DFIM in many applications with the advantage that all windings being in the stator frame with fixed output terminals. In this paper, the BDFM is used as a BVFT （brushless variable frequency transformer）. A prototype machine is designed and simulated to verify the system validity.

Review on Partial Discharge Detection Techniques Related to High Voltage Power Equipment Using Different Sensors

When operating an equipment or a power system at the high voltage, problems associated with partial discharge （PD） can be tracked down to electromagnetic emission, acoustic emission or chemical reactions such as the formation of ozone and nitrous oxide gases. The high voltage equipment and high voltage installation owners have come to terms with the need for conditions monitoring the^process of PD in the equipments such as power transformers, gas insulated substations （GIS）, and cable installations. This paper reviews the available PD detection methods （involving high voltage equipment） such as electrical detection, chemical detection, acoustic detection, and optical detection. Advantages and disadvantages of each method have been explored and compared. The review suggests that optical detection techniques provide many advantages in the consideration of accuracy and suitability for the applications when compared to other techniques.