• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.681-692
• /
• 2020

Conventional Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters (CPEH) have been extensively studied for maximizing their electrical output through material selection, geometric and structural optimization, and adoption of efficient interface circuits. In this paper, the performance of Stepped Piezoelectric Energy Harvester (SPEH) under harmonic base excitation is studied analytically, numerically and experimentally. The motivation is to compare the energy harvesting performance of CPEH and SPEHs with the same characteristics (resonant frequency). The results of this study challenge the notion of achieving higher voltage and power output through incorporation of geometric discontinuities such as step sections in the harvester beams. A CPEH consists of substrate material with a patch of piezoelectric material bonded over it and a tip mass at the free end to tune the resonant frequency. A SPEH is designed by introducing a step section near the root of substrate beam to induce higher dynamic strain for maximizing the electrical output. The incorporation of step section reduces the stiffness and consequently, a lower tip mass is used with SPEH to match the resonant frequency to that of CPEH. Moreover, the electromechanical coupling coefficient, forcing function and damping are significantly influenced because of the inclusion of step section, which consequently affects harvester's output. Three different configurations of SPEHs characterized by the same resonant frequency as that of CPEH are designed and analyzed using linear electromechanical model and their performances are compared. The variation of strain on the harvester beams is obtained using finite element analysis. The prototypes of CPEH and SPEHs are fabricated and experimentally tested. It is shown that the power output from SPEHs is lower than the CPEH. When the prototypes with resonant frequencies in the range of 56-56.5 Hz are tested at 1 m/s2, three SPEHs generate power output of 482 μW, 424 μW and 228 μW when compared with 674 μW from CPEH. It is concluded that the advantage of increasing dynamic strain using step section is negated by increase in damping and decrease in forcing function. However, SPEHs show slightly better performance in terms of specific power and thus making them suitable for practical scenarios where the ratio of power to system mass is critical.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.10 no.9
• /
• pp.4405-4418
• /
• 2016

Automatic image completion techniques have difficulty processing images in which the target region has multiple planes or is non-facade. Here, we propose a new image completion method that uses belief propagation based on planar priorities. We first calculate planar information, which includes planar projection parameters, plane segments, and repetitive regularity extractions within the plane. Next, we convert this planar information into planar guide knowledge using the prior probabilities of patch transforms and offsets. Using the energy of the discrete Markov Random Field (MRF), we then define an objective function for image completion that uses the planar guide knowledge. Finally, in order to effectively optimize the MRF, we propose a new optimization scheme, termed Planar Priority-belief propagation that includes message-scheduling-based planar priority and dynamic label cropping. The results of experiment show that our approach exhibits advanced performance compared with existing approaches.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.409-412
• /
• 2005

Just as the vibration modes of a beam are dependent on its end constraints or boundary conditions. Vibration modes of a tire are dependent on its patch and spindle constraints. This dependence is key to understanding the dynamic properties of a tire and is apparent in various analytical and experimental investigations in the literature. One of the main task in a modal analysis is the measurement of the Frequency Response Function (FRFs). Because all the subsequent analysis is based on these FRFs, their quality is critically important in obtaining accurate modal parameter estimates. In rotating systems, FRFs are frequently contaminated by harmonic peaks related to such factors as imbalance, misalignment. This harmonic peaks appear in the FRFs as sharp spikes, which can be erroneously treated in modal curve-fitting procedures as structural modes. The harmonic peaks removal method is demonstrated by application to modal analysis on rotating tires. The results show substantial improvement in FRF quality.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
• /
• v.1994 no.05
• /
• pp.142-145
• /
• 1994

Calcium(Ca) ion plays an important role to trigger the secretion of important neurotransmitters. Since Ca ion flows into the cell thru the ion selective channel, the conductance of which depends on the transmembrane potential, the voltage-dependent characteristic of Ca ion channel is crucial to elucidate the stimulus-secretion coupling of exocytosis. The present study measured the Ca ion currents thru a whole-cell configuration patch at the transmembrane potential clamped at various desired levels in the rat chromaffin cell. The resultant current-voltage relationship was differentiated to obtain dynamic conductance at each clamped voltage. Based on these measured data, five numerical parameters were extracted to reveal electrical properties of Ca ion inflow process thru the voltage-gated channel. The present study can be applied to comparing the electrical characteristics of Ca channel under different experimental conditions. Also, further study is warranted to model the conformational changes of the channel molecules.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.113-118
• /
• 2006

A new last design approach based on the Limb line FFD (LFFD) and Scale factor FFD (SFFD) is presented in this paper. The proposed last design method utilizes the dynamic trimmed parametric patches for the measured foot 3D data and last 3D data. Furthermore, the proposed last data generation system utilizes cross sectional data extracted obtained from the measured 3D foot data. First, the last design rule of the LFFD is constructed on the FFD lattice based on foot last shape analysis. Secondly, SFFD is constructed on the LFFD new lattice based on scale factor deformation. The scale factor is constructed on the boundary edges of polygonized patch and the cross section last data boundary edge of the polygon object. Suppose the two boundary curves have been preprocessed so that they run in the same direction and they forms the SF(Scale Factor). In addition, the control points of FFD lattice are derived with cross. sectional data interpolation methods from a finite set of 3D foot data.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.19-43
• /
• 2016

In the present study, a new methodology is presented to study the ride comfort and bridge responses of a long-span bridge-traffic-wind coupled vibration system considering stochastic characteristics of traffic flow and bridge surface progressive deterioration. A three-dimensional vehicle model with 24 degrees-of-freedoms (DOFs) including a three-dimensional non-linear suspension seat model and the longitudinal vibration of the vehicle is firstly presented to study the ride comfort. An improved cellular automaton (CA) model considering the influence of the next-nearest neighbor vehicles and a progressive deterioration model for bridge surface roughness are firstly introduced. Based on the equivalent dynamic vehicle model approach, the bridge-traffic-wind coupled equations are established by combining the equations of motion of both the bridge and vehicles in traffic using the displacement relationship and interaction force relationship at the patch contact. The numerical simulations show that the proposed method can simulate rationally the ride comfort and bridge responses of the bridge-traffic-wind coupled system; and the vertical, lateral, and longitudinal vibrations of the driver seat model can affect significantly the driver's comfort, as expected.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.420-426
• /
• 2012

In this study, we prepared polymer micelles containing quercetin and rutin, known as antioxidants, using poly(${\varepsilon}$-caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene glycol), and evaluated in vitro skin permeation of the active materials. Quercetin and rutin loaded micelles were characterized by DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) and DLS (dynamic light scattering) measurements. The particle size of the polymer micelles increased in a concentration dependent manner (0.5~2.0% PCL-b-PEG). The Zeta potential of quercetin and rutin loaded micelles remained constant. To evaluate the skin penetration of PCL-b-PEG micelles, Franz diffusion cell experiment was performed. The aqueous solutions of quercetin and rutin were used as the control groups. Quercetin and rutin loaded PCL-b-PEG micelles showed more efficient skin permeation than the control groups. Safety assessment (patch test) of quercetin and rutin loaded PCL-b-PEG micelles on skin was performed to test application possibility of the polymer micelles to cosmetics. Any adverse symptoms were not observed.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.265-270
• /
• 2017

Background: Endotracheal intubation during anesthesia induction may increase airway resistance ($R_{aw}$) and decrease dynamic lung compliance ($C_{dyn}$). We hypothesized that prophylactic treatment with a transdermal ${\beta}2$-agonist tulobuterol patch (TP) would help to reduce the risk of bronchospasm after placement of the endotracheal tube. Methods: Eighty-two American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) category I or II adult patients showing obstructive patterns were divided randomly into a control and a TP group (n = 41 each). The night before surgery, a 2-mg TP was applied to patients in the TP group. Standard monitors were recorded, and target controlled infusion (TCI) with propofol and remifentanil was used for anesthesia induction and maintenance. Simultaneously, end-tidal carbon dioxide, $R_{aw}$, and $C_{dyn}$ were determined at 5, 10, and 15 min intervals after endotracheal intubation. Results: There was no significant difference in demographic data between the two groups. The TP group was associated with a lower $R_{aw}$ and a higher $C_{dyn}$, as compared to the control group. $R_{aw}$ was significantly lower at 10 min (P < 0.05) and 15 min (P < 0.01), and $C_{dyn}$ was significantly higher at 5 min (P < 0.05) and 15 min (P < 0.01) in the TP group. A trend towards a lower $R_{aw}$ was observed showing a statistically significant difference 5 min after endotracheal intubation (P < 0.01) in each group. Conclusions: Prophylactic treatment with TP showed a bronchodilatory effect through suppressing an increase in $R_{aw}$ and a decrease in $C_{dyn}$ after anesthesia induction without severe adverse effects.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.37-48
• /
• 2011

Sensor networks monitor the environment, collect sensed data, and relay the data back to a collection point. Although sensor nodes have very limited hardware resources, they require an operating system that can provide efficient resource management and various application environments. In addition, the wireless sensor networks require the code update previously deployed to patch bugs in program and to improve performance of kernel service routines and application programs. This paper presents EPRCU (Easy to Perform Remote Code Update), a new operating system for wireless sensor nodes, which has enhanced functionalities to perform remote code update. To achieve an efficient code update, the EPRCU provides dynamic memory allocation and program memory management. It supports the event-driven kernel, which uses priority-based scheduling with the application of aging techniques. Therefore, the proposed operating system is not only easy to perform wireless communication with the remote code update but also suitable for various sensor network applications.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.29-37
• /
• 1999

Murakami and Cavanagh (1998a,b, 1999) reported a jitter aftereffect in a static random noise after a period of adaptation to a patch of dynamic random noise. To a account for this phenomenon. they proposed the retinal slip caused by a small eye movements in the unadapted area, which is usually compensated by the visual system to stabilize images but is unsuppressed due to the adaptation. We tested this hypothesis with new experimental method and stimuli that were supposed to nullify or reduce the effect. However. the aftereffect was still observed even under these stimuls conditions More importantly, the perceived aftereffect was rather different from Murakami and Cavanagh's. After adaptation to a counterphase flickering cosine grating, the adjacent unadapted region seems to move away from the observer during the test period instead of jittering in the frontoparallel plane. We proposed a possible explanation for this new phenomenon noting the severe contrast reduction of the adapted region during flickering period. The aftereffect might be due to the flicker-inducing contrast reduction during adaptation that produces different depth planes for the adapted and unadapted region and its restoration during the test period.