• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 2013

The exoskeleton robot to assist walking of hemiplegia patients or disabled persons has been studied in this paper. The exoskeleton robot with degrees of freedom of 2 axis has been developed and tested for joint motion. The obtained EMG signal from normal person was analyzed and the control signal was extracted from it for convenient and automotive performance of assistance robot to help hemiplegia patient walks as normal person does. the purpose of using FES(Functional Electrical Stimulation) for hemiplegia patient's walk is to restore damaged body function by this, but this could give fatal electrical shock to patients by wrong use or cause quick fatigue in muscle by continuous stimulation. The convenient movement of hemiplegia patients with minimum muscle fatigue was looked possibly by operation of assistance robot exoskeleton using control signal. and the walking assistance exoskeleton robot seemed works more efficiently than using FES stimulator. The experiment in this study was performed based on usual motion in our life like walking, standing-up, sitting-down, and particularly feedback control system using Piezo sensor along with button switch was applied for smooth swing motion in walking. The experiment also shows that hemiplegia patients can move conveniently by using electromyogram signal of healthy leg for the operation signal of assistance robot system attached at damaged symmetrical leg.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.107-114
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• 2019

In this paper, the P-wave multiple detection system for the fast and accurate earthquake early warning nearby the epicenter was developed. The developed systems were installed in five selected public buildings for the validation. During the monitoring, a magnitude 2.3 earthquake occurred in Pohang on 26 September 2019. P-wave initial detection algorithms were operated in three out of four systems installed in Pohang area and recorded as seismic events. At the nearest station, 5.5 km from the epicenter, P-wave signal was detected 1.2 seconds after the earthquake, and S-wave was reached 1.02 seconds after the P-wave reached, providing some alarm time. The maximum accelerations recorded in three different stations were 6.28 gal, 6.1 gal, and 5.3 gal, respectively. The alarm algorithm did not work, due to the high threshold of the maximum ground acceleration (25.1 gal) to operate it. If continuous monitoring and analysis are to be carried out in the future, the developed system could use a highly effective earthquake warning system suitable for the domestic situation.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.342-349
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• 2002

New formation technique of metal oxide sensing film was proposed m this paper. Silicon wafer with Pt electrodes was used as a substrate for depositing metal Sn film. Metal Sn was deposited in the state of not continuous film but only island state. The samples were prepared to obtain the optimal condition of metal Sn deposition. The resistances of deposited Sn onto Pt electrodes amounted to $1\;k{\Omega}$, $5\;k{\Omega}$, $10\;k{\Omega}$ and $50\;k{\Omega}$, respectively. Also The sample with $1,500\;{\AA}$ thickness of Sn was prepared m order to compare sensing properties between conventional type and proposing type. After deposition of metal Sn, $SnO_2$ was formed by thermal oxidation method for 3 hrs. in $O_2$ ambient at $700^{\circ}C$. Surface morphology, crystal structure and surface roughness of oxidized-sensing film were examined by SEM, XRD, and AFM, respectively. From the results of these analyses, the optimal deposition condition of Sn was that the Pt electrode resistance became $10\;k{\Omega}(300\;{\AA})$. Also, the sensing characteristics of fabricated sensing film for various concentrations of butane, propane and carbon monoxide gases were measured at he operating temperatures of $250^{\circ}C$, $300^{\circ}C$ and $350^{\circ}C$, respectively. Although catalyst as not added to the sensing film, it has exhibited the high sensitivity to all the test gases.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.7
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• pp.1009-1013
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• 2013

In this study, we developed a fiber-optic goniometer for the continuous measurement of knee joint angle which provides important medical information on Alzheimer's disease. The fiber-optic goniometer is composed of a light-emitting diode (LED), a plastic optical fiber (POF), and a voltage output photodiode (PD). As a sensing part of the fiber-optic goniometer, a unclad fiber with regular intervals of 1 mm was fabricated to improve efficiency of bending loss according to the angle variation of knee joint. The emitting light with a center wavelength of 470 nm from a LED is guided by a POF to the PD, the transmitted light is then attenuated by the bending loss inside the bent POF. The intensity variation of the light transmitted from the POF gives rise to a change in output voltage in the fiber-optic goniometer. Therefore, we measured the real-time output voltage of the proposed fiber-optic goniometer using the unclad fiber according to the knee joint angle. Through the repeated experiments, the fiber-optic goniometer shows that it has a reversibility and a wide measurable angle range.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.851-860
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• 2020

With an increase in the aging population and a rising social interest in health and welfare, studies to improve healthcare in the elderly are being actively conducted. This study attempted to improve the current design and manufacture of elevating electric wheelchairs to enhance user safety and convenience. Seat design based on the user's body shape, convenience while boarding or alighting, caster turning radius and, safety and stability features that prevent shaking when the user gets up or sits down were improved. A driving experiment was conducted to evaluate the operation of the indoor electric wheelchair designed and manufactured with these additional functionalities. During the test, the performance parameters evaluated were continuous driving time, turning radius, maximum lifting and lowering load, maximum lifting height, noise level, minimum distance sensing by the driving auxiliary sensor, ability to interact with server and app programs, and the duty cycle maximum error rate. The test confirmed that this improved electric wheelchair successfully met target parameters. In a future study, we will evaluate this improved electric wheelchair from a user's perspective for its usability parameters, such as satisfaction, convenience and stability.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 2008

Respiration is induced by muscular contraction of the chest and abdomen, resulting in the abdominal volume change. Thus, continuous measurement of the abdominal dimension enables to monitor breathing activity. Conductive rubber cord has been previously introduced and tested to develop wearable application for respiratory measurements. The present study implemented wireless wearable respiratory monitoring system with the conductive rubber cord in the patient's pants. Signal extraction circuitry was developed to obtain the abdominal circumference changes reflecting the lung volume variation caused by respiratory activity. Wireless transmission was followed based on the zigbee communication protocol in a size of 65mm${\times}$105mm easily put in pocket. Successful wireless monitoring of respiration was performed in that breathing frequency was accurately estimated as well as different breathing patterns were easily recognized from the abdominal signal. $CO_2$ inhalation experiment was additionally performed in purpose of quantitative estimation of tidal volume. Air mixed with $0{\sim}5%\;CO_2$was inhaled by 4 normal males and the respiratory air flow rate, abdominal dimension change, and end tidal $CO_2$ concentration were simultaneously measured in steady state. $CO_2$ inhalation increased the tidal volume in normal physiological state with a correlation coefficient of 0.90 between the tidal volume and the end tidal $CO_2$ concentration. The tidal volume estimated from the abdominal signal linearly correlated with the accurate tidal volume measured by pneumotachometer with a correlation coefficient of 0.88 with mean relative error of approximately 8%. Therefore, the tidal volume was accurately estimated by measuring the abdominal dimension change.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.299-306
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• 2016

Body temperature (BT) monitoring in cattle could be used to early detect fever from infectious disease or physiological events. Various ways to measure BT have been applied at different locations on cattle including rectum, reticulum, milk, subcutis and ear canal. In other to evaluate the temperature stability and reliability of subcutaneous temperature (ST) in highly fluctuating field conditions for continuous BT monitoring, long term ST profiles were collected and analyzed from cattle in autumn/winter and summer season by surgically implanted thermo-logger devices. Purposes of this study were to assess ST in the field condition as a reference BT and to determine any location effect of implantation on ST profile. In results, ST profile in cattle showed a clear circadian rhythm with daily lowest at 05:00 to 07:00 AM and highest around midnight and rather stable temperature readings (mean${\pm}$standard deviation [SD], $37.1^{\circ}C$ to $37.36^{\circ}C{\pm}0.91^{\circ}C$ to $1.02^{\circ}C$). STs are $1.39^{\circ}C$ to $1.65^{\circ}C$ lower than the rectal temperature and sometimes showed an irregular temperature drop below the normal physiologic one: 19.4% or 36.4% of 54,192 readings were below $36.5^{\circ}C$ or $37^{\circ}C$, respectively. Thus, for BT monitoring purposes in a fever-alarming-system, a correction algorithm is necessary to remove the influences of ambient temperature and animal resting behavior especially in winter time. One way to do this is simply discard outlier readings below $36.5^{\circ}C$ or $37^{\circ}C$ resulting in a much improved mean${\pm}$SD of $37.6^{\circ}C{\pm}0.64^{\circ}C$ or $37.8^{\circ}C{\pm}0.55^{\circ}C$, respectively. For location the upper scapula region seems the most reliable and convenient site for implantation of a thermo-sensor tag in terms of relatively low influence by ambient temperature and easy insertion compared to lower scapula or lateral neck.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2020

An optical televiewer is a geophysical logging device that produces continuous high-resolution full-azimuth images of a borehole wall using a light-emitting-diode and a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image sensor to provide valuable information on subsurface discontinuities. Recently, borehole imaging logging has been applied in many fields, including ground subsidence monitoring, rock mass integrity evaluation, stress-induced fracture detection, and glacial annual-layer measurements in polar regions. Widely used commercial borehole imaging logging systems typically have limitations depending on equipment specifications, meaning that it is necessary to clearly verify the scope of applications while maintaining appropriate quality control for various borehole conditions. However, it is difficult to directly check the accuracy, implementation, and reliability for outcomes, as images derived from an optical televiewer constitute in situ data. In this study, we designed and constructed a modular fractured borehole model having similar conditions to a borehole environment to report unprecedented results regarding reliable data acquisition and processing. We investigate sonde magnetometer accuracy, color realization, and fracture resolution, and suggest data processing methods to obtain accurate aperture measurements. The experiment involving the fractured borehole model should enhance not only measurement quality but also interpretations of high-resolution and reliable optical imaging logs.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1167-1174
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• 2009

In the monitoring of a patient in a sickroom, not only the physiologic and environmental data of the patient, which is automatically measured, but also the clinical data(clinical chart)of the patient, which is drew up by a doctor or nurse, are recognized as important data. However, since in the current environment of a sickroom, clinical data is collected being divided from the data that is automatically measured, the two data are used without an effective integration. This is because the integration of the two data is difficult due to their different collection times, which leads the reconstruction of clinical data to be remarkably uncertain. In order to solve these problems, a method to synchronize the continuous environmental data of a sickroom and clinical data is appearing as an important measure. In addition, the increase of use of small machines and the development of solutions based on wireless communications provide a communication platform to the developers of health care. Thus, this paper realizes a remote system for taking care of patients based on a web that uses mobile phones. That is, clinical data made by a nurse or doctor and the environmental data of a sick room comes to be collected by a collection module through a wireless sensor network. An observer can see clinical data and the environmental data of a sickroom through his/her mobile phone, integrating and storing his/her data into the database. Families of a patient can see clinical data made by hospital and the environment of the sick room of the patent through their computers or mobile phones outside the hospital. Through the system,hospital can provide better medical services to patients and their families.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.263-272
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• 2016

Purpose: Pulse crop damage due to wild birds is a serious problem, to the extent that the rate of damage during the period of time between seeding and the stage of cotyledon reaches 45.4% on average. This study investigated a method of fundamentally blocking birds from eating crops by conducting vinyl mulching after seeding and identifying the growing locations for beans to perform punching. Methods: Infrared (IR) sensors that could measure the temperature without contact were used to recognize the locations of soybean cotyledons below vinyl mulch. To expand the measurable range, 10 IR sensors were arranged in a linear array. A sliding mechanical device was used to reconstruct the two-dimensional spatial variance information of targets. Spatial interpolation was applied to the two-dimensional temperature distribution information measured in real time to improve the resolution of the bean coleoptile locations. The temperature distributions above the vinyl mulch for five species of soybeans over a period of six days from the appearance of the cotyledon stage were analyzed. Results: During the experimental period, cases where bean cotyledons did and did not come into contact with the bottom of the vinyl mulch were both observed, and depended on the degree of growth of the bean cotyledons. Although the locations of bean cotyledons could be estimated through temperature distribution analyses in cases where they came into contact with the bottom of the vinyl mulch, this estimation showed somewhat large errors according to the time that had passed after the cotyledon stage. The detection results were similar for similar types of crops. Thus, this method could be applied to crops with similar growth patterns. According to the results of 360 experiments that were conducted (five species of bean ${\times}$ six days ${\times}$ four speed levels ${\times}$ three repetitions), the location detection performance had an accuracy of 36.9%, and the range of location errors was 0-4.9 cm (RMSE = 3.1 cm). During a period of 3-5 days after the cotyledon stage, the location detection performance had an accuracy of 59% (RMSE = 3.9 cm). Conclusions: In the present study, to fundamentally solve the problem of damage to beans from birds in the early stage after seeding, a working method was proposed in which punching is carried out after seeding, thereby breaking away from the existing method in which seeding is carried out after punching. Methods for the accurate detection of soybean growing locations were studied to allow punching to promote the continuous growth of soybeans that had reached the cotyledon stage. Through experiments using multiple IR sensors and a sliding mechanical device, it was found that the locations of the crop could be partially identified 3-5 days after reaching the cotyledon stage regardless of the kind of pulse crop. It can be concluded that additional studies of robust detection methods considering environmental factors and factors for crop growth are necessary.