scholarly journals A Low-Cost Terahertz Camera

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 2531 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Blanchard ◽  
Joel Edouard Nkeck ◽  
Dominique Matte ◽  
Riad Nechache ◽  
David G. Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Waves ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Night Vision ◽  
Thz Imaging ◽  
Dynamic Background ◽  
Imaging Device ◽  
Simple Modification ◽  
Wide Range

Cost effective imaging is required for a wide range of scientific and engineering applications. For electromagnetic waves in the terahertz (THz) frequency range, a key missing element that has prevented widespread applications in this spectral range is an inexpensive and efficient imaging device. In recent years, vanadium oxide based thermal sensors have rapidly entered the market for night vision capability. At the same time, sensors based on this technology have been applied to the THz domain, but with two orders of magnitude larger pricing range. Here we show that, with a simple modification, a commercially available thermal imaging camera can function as a THz imaging device. By comparing a commercially available THz camera and this low-cost device, we identify the main sensitivity difference is not attributed to anything intrinsic to the devices, but rather to the analog-to-digital converter and dynamic background subtraction capability. This demonstration of a low-cost THz camera may aid in the rapid development of affordable THz imaging solutions for industrial and scientific applications.

scholarly journals A Novel Adaptive Pixels Segmentation Algorithm for Pavement Crack Detection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nima Safaei ◽  
Omar Smadi ◽  
Babak Safaei ◽  
Arezoo Masoud
Keyword(s):  
Crack Detection ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Segmentation Algorithm ◽  
Pavement Maintenance ◽  
Detection Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
Pavement Crack Detection

<p>Cracks considerably reduce the life span of pavement surfaces. Currently, there is a need for the development of robust automated distress evaluation systems that comprise a low-cost crack detection method for performing fast and cost-effective roadway health monitoring practices. Most of the current methods are costly and have labor-intensive learning processes, so they are not suitable for small local-level projects with limited resources or are only usable for specific pavement types.</p> <p>This paper proposes a new method that uses an improved version of the weighted neighborhood pixels segmentation algorithm to detect cracks in 2-D pavement images. This method uses the Gaussian cumulative density function as the adaptive threshold to overcome the drawback of fixed thresholds in noisy environments. The proposed algorithm was tested on 300 images containing a wide range of noise representative of different noise conditions. This method proved to be time and cost-efficient as it took less than 3.15 seconds per 320 × 480 pixels image for a Xeon (R) 3.70 GHz CPU processor to determine the detection results. This makes the model a perfect choice for county-level pavement maintenance projects requiring cost-effective pavement crack detection systems. The validation results were promising for the detection of low to severe-level cracks (Accuracy = 97.3%, Precision = 79.21%, Recall= 89.18% and F<sub>1</sub> score = 83.9%).</p>

LZER0: GNSS cost-effective real-time positioning applied to landslide monitoring

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavinia Tunini ◽  
David Zuliani ◽  
Paolo Fabris ◽  
Marco Severin
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Single Frequency ◽  
Landslide Monitoring ◽  
Natural Risk ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Landslide Event ◽  
Wide Range

&lt;p&gt;The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide a globally extended dataset of primordial importance for a wide range of applications, such as crustal deformation, topographic measurements, or near surface processes studies. However, the high costs of GNSS receivers and the supporting software can represent a strong limitation for the applicability to landslide monitoring. Low-cost tools and techniques are strongly required to face the plausible risk of losing the equipment during a landslide event.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Centro di Ricerche Sismologiche (CRS) of Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale OGS in collaboration with SoluTOP, in the last years, has developed a cost-effective GNSS device, called LZER0, both for post-processing and real-time applications. The aim is to satisfy the needs of both scientific and professional communities which require low-cost equipment to increase and improve the measurements on structures at risk, such as landslides or buildings, without losing precision.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The landslide monitoring system implements single-frequency GNSS devices and open source software packages for GNSS positioning, dialoguing through Linux shell scripts. Furthermore a front-end web page has been developed to show real-time tracks. The system allows measuring real-time surface displacements with a centimetre precision and with a cost ten times minor than a standard RTK GPS operational system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This monitoring system has been tested and now applied to two landslides in NE- Italy: one near Tolmezzo municipality and one near Brugnera village. Part of the device development has been included inside the project CLARA 'CLoud plAtform and smart underground imaging for natural Risk Assessment' funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR).&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Impresión 3D como Herramienta Didáctica para la Enseñanza de Algunos Conceptos de Ingeniería y Diseño

Ingeniería ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Blasnilo Rua Ramirez ◽  
Fernando Jimenez Diaz ◽  
German Andres Gutierrez Arias ◽  
Nelson Iván Villamizar
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
3D Printer ◽  
Course Grades ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Technical Specifications ◽  
Future Work

Context: 3D printing can be used for a wide range of tasks such as the design and testing of prototypes and finished products in a shorter time. In mechanical engineering, prototype designs are continuously generated in academic class activities and final coursework projects by students and teachers. However, students show limitations while understanding the abstract concepts represented with such designs.Method: Firstly, a large scale 3D printer with improved technical specifications compared to traditional market options and similar price, was fabricated. By means of free software and hardware tools and easy-to-obtain alternative manufacturing materials, it was possible to decrease its manufacturing and operating costs. Then a set of study cases utilising the 3D printer in three different subject classes were designed and tested with two cohorts of students of Mechanical Engineering programme.Results: It was feasible to fabricate a cost-effective and practical 3D printer for constructing prototypes and pieces that benefit teaching and learning concepts in engineering and design areas. The experiments carried out in three subjects of engineering courses with second-year students, showed a similar trend of improving the average course grades, as it was observed in two cohorts in different terms.Conclusions: This type of low cost 3D printer obtained academic advantages as a didactic tool for the learning process in engineering and design subjects. Future work will consider applying this tool to other courses and subjects to further evaluate its convenience and effectivity.

scholarly journals Precision as a metric for acoustic survey design using occupancy or spatial capture-recapture

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Juodakis ◽  
Isabel Castro ◽  
Stephen Marsland
Keyword(s):  
Survey Design ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Occupancy Modelling ◽  
Call Recognition ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Capture Recapture

AbstractPassive acoustic surveys provide a convenient and cost-effective way to monitor animal populations. Methods for conducting and analysing such surveys, especially for performing automated call recognition from sound recordings, are undergoing rapid development. However, no standard metric exists to evaluate the proposed changes. Furthermore, most metrics that are currently used are specific to a single stage of the survey workflow, and therefore may not reflect the overall effects of a design choice.Here, we attempt to define and evaluate the effectiveness of surveys conducted in two common frameworks of population inference – occupancy modelling and spatially explicit capture-recapture (SCR). Specifically, we investigate precision (standard error of the final estimate) as a possible metric of survey performance, but we show that it does not lead to generally optimal designs in occupancy modelling. In contrast, precision of the SCR density estimate can be optimised with fewer experiment-specific parameters. We illustrate these issues using simulations.We further demonstrate how SCR precision can be used to evaluate design choices on a field survey of little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii). We show that precision correctly measures tradeoffs involving sampling effort. As a case study, we compare automated call recognition software with human annotations. The proposed metric captured the tradeoff between missed calls (8% loss of precision when using the software) and faster data through-put (60% gain), while common metrics based on per-second agreement failed to identify optimal improvements and could be inflated by deleting data.Due to the flexibility of SCR framework, the approach presented here can be applied to a wide range of different survey designs. As the precision is directly related to the power of detecting temporal trends or other effects in the subsequent inference, this metric evaluates design choices at the application level, and can capture tradeoffs that are missed by stage-specific metrics, thus enabling reliable comparison between different experimental designs and analysis methods.

Light Rail Lite or Cost-Effective Improvements to Bus Service?

2005 ◽  
Vol 1927 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Hess ◽  
Brian D. Taylor ◽  
Allison C. Yoh
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Light Rail ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Service Characteristics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bus Service ◽  
The Cost

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is growing rapidly in popularity because it is viewed widely as an efficient and effective means to improve both transit service and patronage. This paper argues that two distinct views of BRT are emerging: ( a) BRT as a new form of high-speed, rubber-tired, rail-like rapid transit and ( b) BRT as a cost-effective way to upgrade both the quality and image of traditional fixed-route bus service. These two views carry different price tags because the cost of planning, constructing, and operating BRT depends on the complexity of new service features and on rises for BRT that offer service characteristics approaching those of light rail. This study fills a gap in the literature on the costs of BRT by examining in detail component costs–-actual costs for recently implemented services and projected costs for planned new services–-for a sample of BRT systems in North American cities. The study examined BRT costs of 14 planned and recently opened BRT systems to determine how the wide range of BRT service and technology configurations affect costs. The study found that although some of the most successful and popular new BRT systems are high-quality services operating in mixed traffic and implemented at relatively low cost, most BRT projects on the drawing boards are more elaborate, more expensive systems than many currently in service. Most new BRT projects emphasize elaborate LRT-type improvements to lines and stations in one or a few corridors rather than less splashy improvements (such as next-bus monitors, signal preemption, queue-jump lanes, and so forth) affecting more lines and modes in local transit networks. Among the 14 systems examined here, most could be characterized as light rail lite.

scholarly journals Novel Cost-Effective Microfluidic Chip Based on Hybrid Fabrication and Its Comprehensive Characterization

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja P. Kojic ◽  
Goran M. Stojanovic ◽  
Vasa Radonic
Keyword(s):  
High Reliability ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Middle Layer ◽  
Microfluidic Chips ◽  
Fabrication Technology ◽  
Rapid Fabrication ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Good Potential

Microfluidics, one of the most attractive and fastest developed areas of modern science and technology, has found a number of applications in medicine, biology and chemistry. To address advanced designing challenges of the microfluidic devices, the research is mainly focused on development of efficient, low-cost and rapid fabrication technology with the wide range of applications. For the first time, this paper presents fabrication of microfluidic chips using hybrid fabrication technology—a grouping of the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) foils and the LTCC (Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics) Ceram Tape using a combination of a cost-effective xurography technique and a laser micromachining process. Optical and dielectric properties were determined for the fabricated microfluidic chips. A mechanical characterization of the Ceram Tape, as a middle layer in its non-baked condition, has been performed and Young’s modulus and hardness were determined. The obtained results confirm a good potential of the proposed technology for rapid fabrication of low-cost microfluidic chips with high reliability and reproducibility. The conducted microfluidic tests demonstrated that presented microfluidic chips can resist 3000 times higher flow rates than the chips manufactured using standard xurography technique.

A cost-effective programmable SoC for network security using Xilinx Spartan 3AN FPGA

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-291
Author(s):  
Wael M. El-Medany
Keyword(s):  
Network Security ◽  
Hardware Implementation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
Logic Gates ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Low Complexity ◽  
Data Encryption ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – With the rapid development in wired and wireless networks, the demand for network security system is rising rapidly due to more and more new applications introduced. The main factors that rate the encryption algorithms are its ability to secure and protect data against attacks, its speed and efficiency. In this paper, a reconfigurable network security design using multi-mode data encryption standard (DES) algorithm has been implemented with low complexity and low cost, which will also reduce the speed. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The design can be easily reconfigured to 3DES (triple DES) which is more secure and more powerful in encryption and decryption, as one of the trick in designing 3DES is to reuse three instances of DES. The design can be used for wired and wireless network applications, and it has been described using VHDL and implemented in a reconfigurable Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC). The hardware implementation has targeted Xilinx Spartan XC3S700-AN FPGA device. Findings – The main idea of reducing the complexity for the hardware implementation is by optimizing the number of logic gates and LUTs of the design. The number of logic gates can be decreased by changing the way of writing the VHDL code and by optimizing the size of the chip. Originality/value – The design has been tested in simulation and hardware levels, and the simulation results and performance are discussed.

scholarly journals A Novel Adaptive Pixels Segmentation Algorithm for Pavement Crack Detection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nima Safaei ◽  
Omar Smadi ◽  
Babak Safaei ◽  
Arezoo Masoud
Keyword(s):  
Crack Detection ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Segmentation Algorithm ◽  
Pavement Maintenance ◽  
Detection Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
Pavement Crack Detection

Cracks considerably reduce the life span of pavement surfaces. Currently, there is a need for the development of robust automated distress evaluation systems that comprise a low-cost crack detection method for performing fast and cost-effective roadway health monitoring practices. Most of the current methods are costly and have labor-intensive learning processes, so they are not suitable for small local-level projects with limited resources or are only usable for specific pavement types.This paper proposes a new method that uses an improved version of the weighted neighborhood pixels segmentation algorithm to detect cracks in 2-D pavement images. This method uses the Gaussian cumulative density function as the adaptive threshold to overcome the drawback of fixed thresholds in noisy environments. The proposed algorithm was tested on 300 images containing a wide range of noise representative of different noise conditions. This method proved to be time and cost-efficient as it took less than 3.15 seconds per 320 × 480 pixels image for a Xeon (R) 3.70 GHz CPU processor to determine the detection results. This makes the model a perfect choice for county-level pavement maintenance projects requiring cost-effective pavement crack detection systems. The validation results were promising for the detection of low to severe-level cracks (Accuracy = 97.3%, Precision = 79.21%, Recall= 89.18% and F1 score = 83.9%).

scholarly journals Characterization of a novel, low-cost, scalable vaporized hydrogen peroxide system for sterilization of N95 respirators and other COVID-19 related personal protective equipment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikhil Dave ◽  
Katie Sue Pascavis ◽  
John Patterson ◽  
David Wallace ◽  
Abhik Chowdhury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Fluid Resistance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Cost ◽  
N95 Respirators

AbstractDue to the virulence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen responsible for the respiratory disease termed COVID-19, there has been a significant increase in demand for surgical masks and N95 respirators in medical clinics as well as within communities operating during the COVID-19 epidemic. Thus, community members, business owners, and even medical personnel have resorted to alternative methods for sterilizing face coverings and N95 respirators for reuse. While significant work has shown that vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) can be used to sterilize N95 respirators, the cost and installation time for these sterilization systems limit their accessibility. To this end, we have designed and constructed a novel, cost-effective, and scalable VHP system that can be used to sterilize N95 respirators and other face coverings for clinical and community applications. N95 respirators inoculated with P22 bacteriophage showed a greater than 6-log10 reduction in viral load when sterilized in the VHP system for one 60-minute cycle. Further, N95 respirators treated with 20 cycles in this VHP system showed comparable filtration efficiency to untreated N95 respirators in a 50 to 200 nanometer particulate challenge filtration test. While a 23% average increase in water droplet roll-off time was observed for N95 respirators treated with 5 cycles in the sterilization, no breakdown in fluid resistance was detected. These data suggest that our VHP system is effective in sterilizing N95 respirators and other polypropylene masks for reuse. Relating to the present epidemic, deployment of this system reduces the risk of COVID-19 community transmission while conserving monetary resources otherwise spent on the continuous purchase of disposable N95 respirators and other face coverings. In summary, this novel, scientifically validated sterilization system can be easily built at a low cost and implemented in a wide range of settings.

Lightweight Nanocomposites Polymers for Shielding Application

2021 ◽  
pp. 554-575
Author(s):  
Mohamed Darwish
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Waves ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Radiation Shielding ◽  
Multiple Reflections ◽  
Absorption Frequency ◽  
Aerospace Applications ◽  
Absorber Material ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Conductive Fillers

Electromagnetic waves can have serious effects on human health by long-term exposure. Developing lightweight materials with good electromagnetic radiation shielding (EMS) that could prevent interference is a high desire for protection. Nanocomposites polymers have a wide range of potential applications and offers suggested solutions in environmental and aerospace applications. This chapter will cover the current challenge in the reduction of electromagnetic wave by developing lightweight absorber material with a wide absorption frequency. A wide range of different nanocomposites polymers contain conductive fillers such as metal or magnetic nanoparticles and carbon-based materials will be discussed. In addition, EMS mechanisms of reflection, absorption, and multiple reflections will be discussed. The unique of the chemical and physical properties of nanocomposites polymers are promising for shielding with low-cost environmentally friendly material.

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