Automatic chip testing system

In this paper, we implement an automatic chip testing system which can be applied on various types of chip packages. The conventional systems, such as manual chip testing systems, often repeat the same steps for input conditions; or high-cost testing systems are designed to be highly optimized, but the installation and operating costs are very expensive. This makes these systems difficult to be applied in education, research or small companies. The automatic chip testing system overcomes the above two weaknesses. The proposed system not only meets the requirement of a basic chip testing process, but also operates automatically and reduces the cost. Users only need to provide input data via a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which is built using C# programming language, then the system will automatically operate and return the corresponding output data to the software to synthesize and compare with the user’s expected data. The hardware is built on the TR4 FPGA Development Kit which helps save the cost of hardware design and its resources. The software and hardware withcommunicate to each other via Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) protocol. The proposed system is automatic, optimized and low-cost so that it can be applied both in IC design education and industry.

Download Full-text

Advance Protection for Three Phase Induction Motor using Microcontroller Atmega32

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering ◽

10.23956/ijarcsse.v8i1.566 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 172

Author(s):

Karan S Belsare ◽

Gajanan D Patil

Keyword(s):

Induction Motor ◽

Low Cost ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Cost Factor ◽

Protection Scheme ◽

Three Phase ◽

The Cost

A low cost and reliable protection scheme has been designed for a three phase induction motor against unbalance voltages, under voltage, over voltage, short circuit and overheating protection. Taking the cost factor into consideration the design has been proposed using microcontroller Atmega32, MOSFETs, relays, small CTs and PTs. However the sensitivity of the protection scheme has been not compromised. The design has been tested online in the laboratory for small motors and the same can be implemented for larger motors by replacing the i-v converters and relays of suitable ratings.

Download Full-text

Janus – A New Approach to Air Combat Pilot Training

Transactions on Aerospace Research ◽

10.2478/tar-2019-0019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 (4) ◽

pp. 7-22

Author(s):

Georges Bridel ◽

Zdobyslaw Goraj ◽

Lukasz Kiszkowiak ◽

Jean-Georges Brévot ◽

Jean-Pierre Devaux ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Cost ◽

Cost Effective ◽

High Energy ◽

Training System ◽

Embedded Sensors ◽

Pilot Training ◽

New Approach ◽

Combat Aircraft ◽

Air Combat ◽

The Cost

Abstract Advanced jet training still relies on old concepts and solutions that are no longer efficient when considering the current and forthcoming changes in air combat. The cost of those old solutions to develop and maintain combat pilot skills are important, adding even more constraints to the training limitations. The requirement of having a trainer aircraft able to perform also light combat aircraft operational mission is adding unnecessary complexity and cost without any real operational advantages to air combat mission training. Thanks to emerging technologies, the JANUS project will study the feasibility of a brand-new concept of agile manoeuvrable training aircraft and an integrated training system, able to provide a live, virtual and constructive environment. The JANUS concept is based on a lightweight, low-cost, high energy aircraft associated to a ground based Integrated Training System providing simulated and emulated signals, simulated and real opponents, combined with real-time feedback on pilot’s physiological characteristics: traditionally embedded sensors are replaced with emulated signals, simulated opponents are proposed to the pilot, enabling out of sight engagement. JANUS is also providing new cost effective and more realistic solutions for “Red air aircraft” missions, organised in so-called “Aggressor Squadrons”.

Download Full-text

Virtualizing AI at the Distributed Edge Towards Intelligent IoT Applications

Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks ◽

10.3390/jsan10010013 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 13

Author(s):

Claudia Campolo ◽

Giacomo Genovese ◽

Antonio Iera ◽

Antonella Molinaro

Keyword(s):

Resource Constraints ◽

Smart Cities ◽

Traditional Approach ◽

Low Cost ◽

Iot Applications ◽

Software And Hardware ◽

Iot Devices ◽

Consumer Devices ◽

Hardware Platforms ◽

Smart Factories

Several Internet of Things (IoT) applications are booming which rely on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and, in particular, machine learning (ML) algorithms to assist the users and make decisions on their behalf in a large variety of contexts, such as smart homes, smart cities, smart factories. Although the traditional approach is to deploy such compute-intensive algorithms into the centralized cloud, the recent proliferation of low-cost, AI-powered microcontrollers and consumer devices paves the way for having the intelligence pervasively spread along the cloud-to-things continuum. The take off of such a promising vision may be hurdled by the resource constraints of IoT devices and by the heterogeneity of (mostly proprietary) AI-embedded software and hardware platforms. In this paper, we propose a solution for the AI distributed deployment at the deep edge, which lays its foundation in the IoT virtualization concept. We design a virtualization layer hosted at the network edge that is in charge of the semantic description of AI-embedded IoT devices, and, hence, it can expose as well as augment their cognitive capabilities in order to feed intelligent IoT applications. The proposal has been mainly devised with the twofold aim of (i) relieving the pressure on constrained devices that are solicited by multiple parties interested in accessing their generated data and inference, and (ii) and targeting interoperability among AI-powered platforms. A Proof-of-Concept (PoC) is provided to showcase the viability and advantages of the proposed solution.

Download Full-text

New Omnidirectional Sensor Based on Open-Source Software and Hardware for Tracking and Backtracking of Dual-Axis Solar Trackers in Photovoltaic Plants

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21030726 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 726

Author(s):

Francisco J. Gómez-Uceda ◽

José Ramirez-Faz ◽

Marta Varo-Martinez ◽

Luis Manuel Fernández-Ahumada

Keyword(s):

Open Source Software ◽

Energy Production ◽

Scientific Community ◽

Radiative Capture ◽

Low Cost ◽

Free Software ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Software And Hardware ◽

Celestial Sphere ◽

Photovoltaic Plants

In this work, an omnidirectional sensor that enables identification of the direction of the celestial sphere with maximum solar irradiance is presented. The sensor, based on instantaneous measurements, functions as a position server for dual-axis solar trackers in photovoltaic plants. The proposed device has been developed with free software and hardware, which makes it a pioneering solution because it is open and accessible as well as capable of being improved by the scientific community, thereby contributing to the rapid advancement of technology. In addition, the device includes an algorithm developed ex professo that makes it possible to predetermine the regions of the celestial sphere for which, according to the geometric characteristics of the PV plant, there would be shading between the panels. In this way, solar trackers do not have to locate the Sun’s position at all times according to astronomical models, while taking into account factors such as shadows or cloudiness that also affect levels of incident irradiance on solar collectors. Therefore, with this device, it is possible to provide photovoltaic plants with dual-axis solar tracking with a low-cost device that helps to optimise the trajectory of the trackers and, consequently, their radiative capture and energy production.

Download Full-text

A rapid, accurate, scalable, and portable testing system for COVID-19 diagnosis

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-23185-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Guanhua Xun ◽

Stephan Thomas Lane ◽

Vassily Andrew Petrov ◽

Brandon Elliott Pepa ◽

Huimin Zhao

Keyword(s):

Limit Of Detection ◽

Low Cost ◽

High Volume ◽

N Gene ◽

Testing System ◽

Target Sequence ◽

One Pot ◽

Sequence Detection ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Speed Accuracy

AbstractThe need for rapid, accurate, and scalable testing systems for COVID-19 diagnosis is clear and urgent. Here, we report a rapid Scalable and Portable Testing (SPOT) system consisting of a rapid, highly sensitive, and accurate assay and a battery-powered portable device for COVID-19 diagnosis. The SPOT assay comprises a one-pot reverse transcriptase-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) followed by PfAgo-based target sequence detection. It is capable of detecting the N gene and E gene in a multiplexed reaction with the limit of detection (LoD) of 0.44 copies/μL and 1.09 copies/μL, respectively, in SARS-CoV-2 virus-spiked saliva samples within 30 min. Moreover, the SPOT system is used to analyze 104 clinical saliva samples and identified 28/30 (93.3% sensitivity) SARS-CoV-2 positive samples (100% sensitivity if LoD is considered) and 73/74 (98.6% specificity) SARS-CoV-2 negative samples. This combination of speed, accuracy, sensitivity, and portability will enable high-volume, low-cost access to areas in need of urgent COVID-19 testing capabilities.

Download Full-text

A low-cost wireless endoscope camera: a preliminary report

African Journal of Urology ◽

10.1186/s12301-021-00127-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

Author(s):

J. M. Lazarus ◽

M. Ncube

Keyword(s):

Minimally Invasive Surgery ◽

Minimally Invasive ◽

Video Transmission ◽

Low Cost ◽

Battery Life ◽

Resource Constrained ◽

High Definition ◽

Industry Standard ◽

Constrained Environments ◽

The Cost

Abstract Background Technology currently used for surgical endoscopy was developed and is manufactured in high-income economies. The cost of this equipment makes technology transfer to resource constrained environments difficult. We aimed to design an affordable wireless endoscope to aid visualisation during rigid endoscopy and minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The initial prototype aimed to replicate a 4-mm lens used in rigid cystoscopy. Methods Focus was placed on using open-source resources to develop the wireless endoscope to significantly lower the cost and make the device accessible for resource-constrained settings. An off the shelf miniature single-board computer module was used because of its low cost (US$10) and its ability to handle high-definition (720p) video. Open-source Linux software made monitor mode (“hotspot”) wireless video transmission possible. A 1280 × 720 pixel high-definition tube camera was used to generate the video signal. Video is transmitted to a standard laptop computer for display. Bench testing included latency of wireless digital video transmission. Comparison to industry standard wired cameras was made including weight and cost. The battery life was also assessed. Results In comparison with industry standard cystoscope lens, wired camera, video processing unit and light source, the prototype costs substantially less. (US$ 230 vs 28 000). The prototype is light weight (184 g), has no cables tethering and has acceptable battery life (of over 2 h, using a 1200 mAh battery). The camera transmits video wirelessly in near real time with only imperceptible latency of < 200 ms. Image quality is high definition at 30 frames per second. Colour rendering is good, and white balancing is possible. Limitations include the lack of a zoom. Conclusion The novel wireless endoscope camera described here offers equivalent high-definition video at a markedly reduced cost to contemporary industry wired units and could contribute to making minimally invasive surgery possible in resource-constrained environments.

Download Full-text

Multi-Blockchain-Based IoT Data Processing Techniques to Ensure the Integrity of IoT Data in AIoT Edge Computing Environments

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21103515 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (10) ◽

pp. 3515

Author(s):

Sung-Ho Sim ◽

Yoon-Su Jeong

Keyword(s):

Low Cost ◽

Third Party ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

Constant Size ◽

Computing Environments ◽

Iot Devices ◽

Cloud Servers ◽

The Cost ◽

Processing Techniques ◽

And Control

As the development of IoT technologies has progressed rapidly recently, most IoT data are focused on monitoring and control to process IoT data, but the cost of collecting and linking various IoT data increases, requiring the ability to proactively integrate and analyze collected IoT data so that cloud servers (data centers) can process smartly. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based IoT big data integrity verification technique to ensure the safety of the Third Party Auditor (TPA), which has a role in auditing the integrity of AIoT data. The proposed technique aims to minimize IoT information loss by multiple blockchain groupings of information and signature keys from IoT devices. The proposed technique allows IoT information to be effectively guaranteed the integrity of AIoT data by linking hash values designated as arbitrary, constant-size blocks with previous blocks in hierarchical chains. The proposed technique performs synchronization using location information between the central server and IoT devices to manage the cost of the integrity of IoT information at low cost. In order to easily control a large number of locations of IoT devices, we perform cross-distributed and blockchain linkage processing under constant rules to improve the load and throughput generated by IoT devices.

Download Full-text

Design and Adoption of Low-Cost Point-of-Care Diagnostic Devices: Syrian Case

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12080882 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 882

Author(s):

M. Munzer Alseed ◽

Hamzah Syed ◽

Mehmet Cengiz Onbasli ◽

Ali K. Yetisen ◽

Savas Tasoglu

Keyword(s):

Civil Wars ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

New Technologies ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Low Cost ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

Efficient Solutions ◽

Humanitarian Crises ◽

Technology Experience ◽

The Cost

Civil wars produce immense humanitarian crises, causing millions of individuals to seek refuge in other countries. The rate of disease prevalence has inclined among the refugees, increasing the cost of healthcare. Complex medical conditions and high numbers of patients at healthcare centers overwhelm the healthcare system and delay diagnosis and treatment. Point-of-care (PoC) testing can provide efficient solutions to high equipment cost, late diagnosis, and low accessibility of healthcare services. However, the development of PoC devices in developing countries is challenged by several barriers. Such PoC devices may not be adopted due to prejudices about new technologies and the need for special training to use some of these devices. Here, we investigated the concerns of end users regarding PoC devices by surveying healthcare workers and doctors. The tendency to adopt PoC device changes is based on demographic factors such as work sector, education, and technology experience. The most apparent concern about PoC devices was issues regarding low accuracy, according to the surveyed clinicians.

Download Full-text

Longevity of Raw and Lyophilized Crude Urease Extracts

Sustainable Chemistry ◽

10.3390/suschem2020018 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 325-334

Author(s):

Neda Javadi ◽

Hamed Khodadadi Tirkolaei ◽

Nasser Hamdan ◽

Edward Kavazanjian

Keyword(s):

Crude Extract ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Low Cost ◽

Extraction Process ◽

Crude Extracts ◽

Simple Extraction ◽

Commercial Applications ◽

Stable Source ◽

The Stability ◽

The Cost

The stability (longevity of activity) of three crude urease extracts was evaluated in a laboratory study as part of an effort to reduce the cost of urease for applications that do not require high purity enzyme. A low-cost, stable source of urease will greatly facilitate engineering applications of urease such as biocementation of soil. Inexpensive crude extracts of urease have been shown to be effective at hydrolyzing urea for carbonate precipitation. However, some studies have suggested that the activity of a crude extract may decrease with time, limiting the potential for its mass production for commercial applications. The stability of crude urease extracts shown to be effective for biocementation was studied. The crude extracts were obtained from jack beans via a simple extraction process, stored at room temperature and at 4 ℃, and periodically tested to evaluate their stability. To facilitate storage and transportation of the extracted enzyme, the longevity of the enzyme following freeze drying (lyophilization) to reduce the crude extract to a powder and subsequent re-hydration into an aqueous solution was evaluated. In an attempt to improve the shelf life of the lyophilized extract, dextran and sucrose were added during lyophilization. The stability of purified commercial urease following rehydration was also investigated. Results of the laboratory tests showed that the lyophilized crude extract maintained its activity during storage more effectively than either the crude extract solution or the rehydrated commercial urease. While incorporating 2% dextran (w/v) prior to lyophilization of the crude extract increased the overall enzymatic activity, it did not enhance the stability of the urease during storage.

Download Full-text

Low-Cost Calibration of Matching Error between Lidar and Motor for a Rotating 2D Lidar

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11030913 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 913

Author(s):

Chang Yuan ◽

Shusheng Bi ◽

Jun Cheng ◽

Dongsheng Yang ◽

Wei Wang

Keyword(s):

Point Cloud ◽

Low Cost ◽

Shape Error ◽

3D Point Cloud ◽

Motor Shaft ◽

Matching Error ◽

Triangular Plate ◽

Attitude Error ◽

Shaft Angle ◽

The Cost

For a rotating 2D lidar, the inaccurate matching between the 2D lidar and the motor is an important error resource of the 3D point cloud, where the error is shown both in shape and attitude. Existing methods need to measure the angle position of the motor shaft in real time to synchronize the 2D lidar data and the motor shaft angle. However, the sensor used for measurement is usually expensive, which can increase the cost. Therefore, we propose a low-cost method to calibrate the matching error between the 2D lidar and the motor, without using an angular sensor. First, the sequence between the motor and the 2D lidar is optimized to eliminate the shape error of the 3D point cloud. Next, we eliminate the attitude error with uncertainty of the 3D point cloud by installing a triangular plate on the prototype. Finally, the Levenberg–Marquardt method is used to calibrate the installation error of the triangular plate. Experiments verified that the accuracy of our method can meet the requirements of the 3D mapping of indoor autonomous mobile robots. While we use a 2D lidar Hokuyo UST-10LX with an accuracy of ±40 mm in our prototype, we can limit the mapping error within ±50 mm when the distance is no more than 2.2996 m for a 1 s scan (mode 1), and we can limit the mapping error within ±50 mm at the measuring range 10 m for a 16 s scan (mode 7). Our method can reduce the cost while the accuracy is ensured, which can make a rotating 2D lidar cheaper.

Download Full-text