The M1: A Custom Mechatronics Platform for Robotics Education

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Fiene
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
Flash Memory ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Embedded Computing ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
Analog To Digital Conversion ◽  
Computing Module ◽  
And Robotics

This paper presents the details of a compact embedded-computing module designed to meet a variety of pedagogical objectives within mechatronics, controls, and robotics. Built around an ATmega32U4 microcontroller, the 1.8 × 4.0 centimeter module has flash memory for program and data storage, 25 general-purpose input/output lines, four timer/counters, 12 channels of 10-bit analog-to-digital conversion, and support for a variety of serial communications protocols, including USB. The unit adapts easily to a solderless breadboard for quick prototyping, and requires only an external 5-volt power source for operation. Furthermore, it can be programmed directly over a USB connection to a computer, thereby eliminating the need for a separate programming device. As a member of the AVR family of microcontrollers, the development tools for the processor are freely available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. When assembled in sufficient quantity, the part cost for each module is approaching $10US, making it a low-cost solution for a variety of tasks. To enable students and professors to explore both the module and the host of application principles, we have chosen to post the design files and documentation on a publicly-accessible wiki, leaving room for collaborative improvements and the sharing of technology with other educational institutions.

scholarly journals Laser Driver and Analysis Circuitry Development for Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy of NO2 for IoT Purpose

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (13) ◽  
pp. 1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Kerschhofer ◽  
Philipp Breitegger ◽  
Alexander Bergmann
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Wave ◽  
Photoacoustic Spectroscopy ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Quartz Tuning Fork ◽  
Electrical Signal ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
Laboratory Setup ◽  
Analog To Digital Conversion ◽  
Laser Driver ◽  
First Results

The rising effort to track local air pollution measurements require low-cost air quality sensors that provide good accuracy, long-term stability and possibly Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. To provide such a solution and avoid cost-intensive equipment the development of a low-cost environmental sensor system was started. To measure the pollutant NO2, a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) setup was established. A pulsed 450 nm laser diode excites NO2 molecules due to its strong absorption at this wavelength and causes a vibrational-translational relaxation, which results in an acoustic wave. The acoustic wave is detected by a quartz tuning fork (QTF) which generates a weak electrical signal proportional to the NO2 concentration. To realize this at low cost, a laser driver and an analysis circuit including a lock-in amplifier and analog-to-digital conversion were developed. We present first results, which proof the functionality of the circuitry compared to a more expensive laboratory setup.

Low-cost logarithmic CMOS image sensing by nonlinear analog-to-digital conversion

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 1212-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying-Chieh Chuang ◽  
Shih-Fang Chen ◽  
Shi-Yu Huang ◽  
Ya-Chin King
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Digital Conversion ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
Image Sensing ◽  
Analog To Digital Conversion ◽  
Nonlinear Analog

scholarly journals A Low-Power GPIO-Based Size Sensor to Monitor the Imbibition of Corn Seeds Beneath Soil

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 2423
Author(s):  
Ehab A. Hamed ◽  
Jordan Athas ◽  
Xincheng Zhang ◽  
Noah Ashenden ◽  
Inhee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Low Power ◽  
Circuit Design ◽  
Supply Voltage ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Commercial Off The Shelf ◽  
A New Technique

Seed imbibition, absorption of water by a dry seed, is an essential process in which embryo hydration and root establishment occur. In natural environments, this process occurs beneath the soil, making it difficult to observe preliminary growth of seeds. This paper presents a new technique for tracking the imbibition of corn seeds. The proposed system is designed to measure imbibition through seed expansion and wirelessly transmit data, permitting the system to remain beneath the soil with the subject seed. The system consists of low-cost commercial off-the-shelf components and 3D-printed probes. The proposed system is optimized to measure the size of multiple seeds with a single Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) pin by utilizing the General-Purpose Input Output (GPIO) pins of the microcontroller, to reconfigure connections to supply voltage or ground. The circuit design of the system shows low power consumption compared to other conventional circuits and utilizes fewer components by taking advantage of the microcontroller GPIOs. Additionally, the proposed circuit design shows less error and insensitivity to the supply voltage variations.

scholarly journals Design of a Linear Voltage to Frequency Converter for Digital Audio Applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 4458-4464
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Frequency Converter ◽  
Digital Audio ◽  
Output Frequency ◽  
Digital Conversion ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
Frequency Converters ◽  
Analog To Digital Conversion ◽  
Frequency Counter ◽  
Audio Interfaces

Voltage to frequency converters are used in various types of analog to digital converters in suitable digital audio applications. One of the applications is the Audio Interface which has been considered. The Voltage to frequency converter (VFC) thus plays a major role in the analog to digital conversion. This paper proposes a low power VFC designed in 0.18 µm technology which in turn is used to design a low cost and a high-resolution analog to digital converter (ADC). The analog signal is given to the V-F converter and the VFC output is given to the frequency counter using a suitable link. This counter gives the digital output. The design is implemented in PSoC and the performance is analysed with the previous technologies. Parameters such as sensitivity, output frequency and power consumption are analysed. This V-F converter and ADC are used in the digital audio interface which is used for audio applications. With the proposed VFC and ADC, the interface produced a good SNR compared to the conventional audio interfaces.

Advanced Analog-to-Digital Conversion Using Voltage-to-Frequency Converters for Remote Sensors

2008 ◽  
Vol 381-382 ◽  
pp. 623-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Y. Yurish
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Frequency Conversion ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Frequency Converter ◽  
Charge Balance ◽  
Digital Conversion ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
Remote Sensors ◽  
Analog To Digital Conversion

This paper presents an advanced analog-to-digital conversion technique based on a voltage-to-frequency-to-digital conversion that is suitable for remote sensors, telemetry applications and multichannel data acquisition systems. A voltage-to-frequency conversion part can be based, for example, on high performance, charge-balance voltage-to-frequency converter (VFC), where monostable is replaced by a bistable, driven by an external clock, or other existing high performance VFCs. The frequency-to-digital converter “bottleneck” problem in such promised ADC scheme was solved due to proposed advanced method of the dependent count for frequency-to-digital conversion. This ADC technique lets receive many advantages such as high accuracy, relatively low power consumption, low cost solution, wide dynamic range, great stability and faster conversion time in comparison with existing VFC-based techniques. The conversion rate (6.25 µs to 6.25 ms) in such ADC scheme is programmable, non-redundant, shorter than for pulse counting technique and comparable with successive-approximation and Σ- ADC.

Long-term recording of electromyographic activity from multiple muscles to monitor physical activity of participants with or without a neurological disorder

2017 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Gant ◽  
Jorge Bohorquez ◽  
Christine K. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Flash Memory ◽  
Surface Emg ◽  
Modular System ◽  
Analog Filters ◽  
Electromyographic Activity ◽  
Data Logger ◽  
Analog To Digital Conversion ◽  
Portable Monitors

AbstractVarious portable monitors have been used to quantify physical activity but most rely on detecting limb movement with a sensor rather than measuring muscle activity. Our first goal was to design and validate a portable system for recording surface electromyographic activity (EMG) from eight muscles over 24 h. The modular system includes: (1) preamplifiers that filter and amplify signals; (2) a preprocessor unit for further filtering and amplification, signal offset and power supply modification; (3) a data-logger for analog-to-digital conversion; a flash memory card for data storage and (4) a rechargeable battery. The equipment samples EMG at 1000 Hz, has a resolution of 2.6 μV and records signals up to 10 mV. The built-in analog filters create a bandwidth appropriate for surface EMG. Our second aim was to test the system biologically by recording EMG from able-bodied and spinal cord injured participants. Modifications were made to electrodes for remote preamplifier placement, and to the battery connection after pilot testing. Thereafter, 31 consecutive 24-h EMG recordings were successful. Both the engineering and biological validation of this system establishes it as a valuable tool for measuring physical activity from different muscles in real-world environments whether individuals have an intact or damaged nervous system.

Creating a standard method of controlling digital microscopes: the microscope access protocol (map)

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 16-17
Author(s):  
T. A. Dodson ◽  
E. Völkl ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
T. A. Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
Storage Systems ◽  
Digital Systems ◽  
Data Networks ◽  
Digital Microscopy ◽  
Command Language ◽  
Access Protocol ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
Basic Physics ◽  
Scanning Electron

The process of moving to a fully digital microscopy laboratory requires changes in instrumentation, computing hardware, computing software, data storage systems, and data networks, as well as in the operating procedures of each facility. Moving from analog to digital systems in the microscopy laboratory is similar to the instrumentation projects being undertaken in many scientific labs. A central problem of any of these projects is to create the best combination of hardware and software to effectively control the parameters of data collection and then to actually acquire data from the instrument. This problem is particularly acute for the microscopist who wishes to "digitize" the operation of a transmission or scanning electron microscope. Although the basic physics of each type of instrument and the type of data (images & spectra) generated by each are very similar, each manufacturer approaches automation differently. The communications interfaces vary as well as the command language used to control the instrument.

Energy Harvesting via Analog-to-Digital Conversion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Jain ◽  
Nir Shlezinger ◽  
Yonina C. Eldar ◽  
Anubha Gupta ◽  
Vivek Ashok Bohara
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Digital Conversion ◽  
Analog To Digital ◽  
Analog To Digital Conversion

AISI 1030

Alloy Digest ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Corrosion Resistance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Heat Treating ◽  
Plain Carbon Steel ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Steel Mills ◽  
Medium Strength ◽  
Hot Rolled

Abstract AISI 1030 is a plain carbon steel containing nominally 0.30% carbon. It is used in the hot-rolled, normalized, oil-quenched-and-tempered or water-quenched-and-tempered conditions for general-purpose engineering and construction. It provides medium strength and toughness at low cost. Among its many uses are axles, bolts, gears and building sections. All data are on a single heat of fine-grain steel. This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, hardness, elasticity, and tensile properties as well as fracture toughness. It also includes information on corrosion resistance as well as forming, heat treating, machining, joining, and surface treatment. Filing Code: CS-94. Producer or source: Carbon and alloy steel mills.

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