scholarly journals Efficiency Analysis of SMA-Based Actuators: Possibilities of Configuration according to’ the Application

Actuators ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Janeth Arias Guadalupe ◽  
Dorin Copaci ◽  
David Serrano del Cerro ◽  
Luis Moreno ◽  
Dolores Blanco

Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators have recently demonstrated their potential for various applications in fields such as robotics, medicine, aerospace, and automotive. Its features, such as low weight and high force, simplicity, noiseless operation, and low cost compared with other conventional actuator, are only a few advantages of this actuator, which is receiving increasing interest among researchers. However, the use of these actuators is still limited by some of their characteristics: high position error in the cooling stage when the actuator works at frequencies that exceed the necessary cooling time and high electrical energy consumption. Different actuator configurations can help minimize these disadvantages through modifying the length, the number of cables, or the sheath used in the actuator, which modify the characteristics of the complete system. In this work, we developed different configurations of SMA actuators and tested their performance in terms of efficiency and the position error in the cooling stage. The findings demonstrate that over-dimensioned actuators are more energetically efficient and present a faster initial form recovery. The multi-wires actuator configuration produce a better response in terms of position but are less energy efficient. These conclusions allow for the selection of the most appropriate configuration based on the requirements of each particular application.

Author(s):  
Kelly S. Moreira ◽  
Diana Lermen ◽  
Leandra P. dos Santos ◽  
Fernando Galembeck ◽  
Thiago A. L. Burgo

Converting humidity into useful electrical energy was only recently demonstrated and the improvements presented in this work are not only highly energy efficient, but also contributes to the development of scalable, real-world applications.


10.14311/754 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Kaňovský ◽  
L. Smrcek ◽  
C. Goodchild

The study described in this paper deals with the issue of a design tool for the autopilot of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and the selection of the airdata and inertial system sensors. This project was processed in cooperation with VTUL a PVO o.z. [1]. The feature that distinguishes the autopilot requirements of a UAV (Figs. 1, 7, 8) from the flight systems of conventional manned aircraft is the paradox of controlling a high bandwidth dynamical system using sensors that are in harmony with the low cost low weight objectives that UAV designs are often expected to achieve. The principal function of the autopilot is flight stability, which establishes the UAV as a stable airborne platform that can operate at a precisely defined height. The main sensor for providing this height information is a barometric altimeter. The solution to the UAV autopilot design was realised with simulations using the facilities of Matlab® and in particular Simulink®[2]. 


2011 ◽  
Vol 347-353 ◽  
pp. 3985-3988
Author(s):  
Song Liu ◽  
Lian Zhi Jiang

This paper introduces a voltage regulator controll technology using AC–chopping method (AC-PWM), and applies it to the design of energy-efficient lighting controller. The power circuit, principle, control scheme and how to design of the lighting controller are described. The lighting controller proved to be low cost, low weight, low volume, high precision of output voltage, high rate of electric energy- efficient and its output wave be sinusoid approximately.


2014 ◽  
Vol 134 (12) ◽  
pp. 1022-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoyuki Ogawa ◽  
Kazumasa Kumazawa ◽  
Noriaki Sugita ◽  
Yoichi Imamura ◽  
Shingo Minobe ◽  
...  

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 917
Author(s):  
Ickjin Son ◽  
Grace Firsta Lukman ◽  
Mazahir Hussain Shah ◽  
Kwang-Il Jeong ◽  
Jin-Woo Ahn

Switched reluctance motors (SRMs) are simple in structure, easy to manufacture, magnet-less, brushless, and highly robust compared to other AC motors which makes them a good option for applications that operate in harsh environment. However, the motor has non-linear magnetic characteristics, and it comes with various pole-phase combinations and circuit topologies that causes many difficulties in deciding on which type to choose. In this paper, the viability of SRM as a low-cost, rugged machine for vehicle radiator cooling fan is considered. First, necessary design considerations are presented, then three commonly use types of SRM are analyzed: A 3-phase 6/4, 3-phase 12/8, and a 4-phase 8/6 to find their static and dynamic characteristics so the most suitable type can be selected. Simulation results show that the 8/6 SRM produces the highest efficiency with less phase current which reduces the converter burden. However, with asymmetric half bridge converter, eight power switches are required for 8/6 SRM and thus put a burden on the overall drive cost. As a solution, the Miller converter with only six switches for four phase SRM. To verify the proposed idea, the 8/6 SRM was manufactured and tested. The results show that Miller converter can be used for the proposed SRM with slightly reduced efficiency at 80.4%.


Smart Cities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 919-937
Author(s):  
Nikos Papadakis ◽  
Nikos Koukoulas ◽  
Ioannis Christakis ◽  
Ilias Stavrakas ◽  
Dionisis Kandris

The risk of theft of goods is certainly an important source of negative influence in human psychology. This article focuses on the development of a scheme that, despite its low cost, acts as a smart antitheft system that achieves small property detection. Specifically, an Internet of Things (IoT)-based participatory platform was developed in order to allow asset-tracking tasks to be crowd-sourced to a community. Stolen objects are traced by using a prototype Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based system, which sends signals, thus becoming a beacon. Once such an item (e.g., a bicycle) is stolen, the owner informs the authorities, which, in turn, broadcast an alert signal to activate the BLE sensor. To trace the asset with the antitheft tag, participants use their GPS-enabled smart phones to scan BLE tags through a specific smartphone client application and report the location of the asset to an operation center so that owners can locate their assets. A stolen item tracking simulator was created to support and optimize the aforementioned tracking process and to produce the best possible outcome, evaluating the impact of different parameters and strategies regarding the selection of how many and which users to activate when searching for a stolen item within a given area.


Nanoscale ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianyun Peng ◽  
Junrong Hou ◽  
Yuying Mi ◽  
Jiaqiang Sun ◽  
Gaocan Qi ◽  
...  

Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for H2 production is essential for future renewable and clean energy technology. Screening energy-saving, low-cost, and highly active catalysts efficiently, however, is still a grand...


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingle Tao ◽  
Qiangqiang Li ◽  
Qiannan Wu ◽  
Haiqing Li

Localized eddy current heating delivered by metal foam embedded in a MOF monolith provides a novel, low-cost, and energy efficient way to overcome the thermal insulation nature of MOF monoliths and realize their highly efficient regenerations.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 459
Author(s):  
Ignacio Cazcarro ◽  
Albert E. Steenge

This article originates from the theoretical and empirical characterization of factors in the World Trade Model (WTM). It first illustrates the usefulness of this type of model for water research to address policy questions related to virtual water trade, water constraints and water scarcity. It also illustrates the importance of certain key decisions regarding the heterogeneity of water and its relation to the technologies being employed and the prices obtained. With regard to WTM, the global economic input–output model in which multiple technologies can produce a “homogeneous output”, it was recently shown that two different mechanisms should be distinguished by which multiple technologies can arise, i.e., from “technology-specific” or from “shared” factors, which implies a mechanism-specific set of prices, quantities and rents. We discuss and extend these characterizations, notably in relation to the real-world characterization of water as a factor (for which we use the terms technology specific, fully shared and “mixed”). We propose that the presence of these separate mechanisms results in the models being sensitive to relatively small variations in specific numerical values. To address this sensitivity, we suggest a specific role for specific (sub)models or key choices to counter unrealistic model outcomes. To support our proposal we present a selection of simulations for aggregated world regions, and show how key results concerning quantities, prices and rents can be subject to considerable change depending on the precise definitions of resource endowments and the technology-specificity of the factors. For instance, depending on the adopted water heterogeneity level, outcomes can vary from relatively low-cost solutions to higher cost ones and can even reach infeasibility. In the main model discussed here (WTM) factor prices are exogenous, which also contributes to the overall numerical sensitivity of the model. All this affects to a large extent our interpretation of the water challenges, which preferably need to be assessed in integrated frameworks, to account for the main socioeconomic variables, technologies and resources.


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