Development of Qube: A Low-Cost Internet of Things Device for On-Site and Regional Earthquake Warning

Earthquakes are a major global risk. The current earthquake early warning systems based on public seismic stations face challenges such as high cost, low density, high latency, no alert zone, and difficulty in predicting ground motions at the location of the user. This article pursues an alternative consumer-based approach. An Internet of Things consumer device, called a “Qube,” was built for a cost below $100 and is about the size of a Rubik’s cube. The Qube successfully detected earthquakes and issued earthquake warnings through sounding the onboard alarm for on-site warning and sending text messages to local subscribers for regional warning. The Qube is highly sensitive. During nine months of testing from September 2020 to May 2021, it detected all earthquakes over M 3.0 magnitude around Los Angeles, as well as nearby earthquakes down to M 2.3. The Qube uses a geophone for ground-motion velocity sensing and captures earthquake waveforms consistent with a nearby broadband seismometer in the Southern California Seismic Network. By analyzing data of the earthquakes detected by the Qube, an empirical logarithmic formula that is used to estimate local earthquake magnitude based on detected ground-motion amplitude in digital counts was developed. Although the Qube’s response in digital counts to ground-motion velocity in μm/s has not been determined, the empirical formula between Qube’s output and local earthquake magnitude suggests the Qube’s consistency in ground-motion measurement. The Qube has Wi-Fi connectivity and is controllable via a smartphone or computer. The combination of low cost, high sensitivity, and integrated alarm function of the Qube is intended to enable a consumer-based approach with the potential for mass adoption and use in dense networks, creating new opportunities for seismic network, earthquake warning, and educational applications.

Minimum Disturbance Attitude Control Algorithm for DFFSR

Aiming at the attitude disturbance problem of Dual-arm Free Flying Space Robot(DFFSR), firstly, the kinematics equation of DFFSR has been established by using the geometric relationship of each link of DFFSR, the characteristic equation of manipulator, and the linear momentum and angular momentum conservation law of the system in microgravity environment; Secondly, based on the established Generalized Jacobian Matrix(GJM) describing the relationship between the end-effector motion velocity of DFFSR manipulator and the motion velocity of each joint, the relationship between the motion velocity of each joint of DFFSR manipulator and the angular velocity of satellite base has been derived, and the attitude interference model of DFFSR has been established; Finally, the Minimum Attitude Disturbance Map(MADM) algorithm for calculating the DFFSR manipulator has been established, and the attitude control algorithm based on MADM has been proposed. The attitude control method can ensure that the attitude of the satellite base of DFFSR remains unchanged during the movement of the manipulator.

A Novel Factor Graph and Cubature Kalman Filter Integrated Algorithm for Single-Transponder-Aided Cooperative Localization

Cooperative localization (CL) of underwater multi-AUVs is vital for numerous underwater operations. Single-transponder-aided cooperative localization (STCL) is regarded as a promising scheme for multi-AUVs CL, benefiting from the fact that an accurate reference is adopted. To improve the positioning accuracy and robustness of STCL, a novel Factor Graph and Cubature Kalman Filter (FGCKF)-integrated algorithm is proposed in this paper. In the proposed FGCKF, historical information can be efficiently used in measurement updating to overcome uncertain observation environments, which greatly helps to improve the performance of filtering progress. Furthermore, Adaptive CKF, sum product, and Maximum Correntropy Criterion (MCC) methods are designed to deal with outliers of acoustic transmission delay, sound velocity, and motion velocity, respectively. Simulations and experiments are conducted, and it is verified that the proposed FGCKF algorithm can improve positioning accuracy and robustness greatly than traditional filtering methods.

Adiabatic Brownian motor with a stepwise potential perturbed by a dichotomous harmonic sygnal

We obtained an analytical expression for the average motion velocity of an adiabatic Brownian motor (ratchet), which operates due to small dichotomous spatially harmonic fluctuations of a stepwise potential. The symmetry properties of the average velocity as a functional of the stationary and fluctuating components of the nanoparticle potential energy are revealed, and the ranges of values of the system parameters that ensure the rightward and leftward motion of the motor are determined. We showed that the average motor velocity is a non-monotonic function of the stepwise potential height. For a singular (infinitely high and narrow) potential barrier, the average velocity depends non-monotonically on the «power» of this barrier (the barrier width multiplied by the exponent of the ratio of the barrier height to the thermal energy). The article continues the further development of theoretical methods of symmetry analysis by applying the general approaches proposed by the authors to specific motor systems.

Spin-Polarized Current-Driven Ferromagnetic Domain Wall Motion with a Skyrmion-Like Building Block

The purpose of the research is the construction of an analytic model for the description of a spin-polarized current-driven ferromagnetic domain wall motion with a skyrmion-like building block. The motion velocity of the ferromagnetic domain wall with a skyrmion-like building block is found as a function of the driving torques and an external magnetic field strength.

Cross-belt sorter - a model and analysis of selected mechanical loads

This article presents the results of numerical research on operational mechanical loads, carried out for the main structural elements of a cross-belt sorter: tracks and trolleys with trays. The goal of the research was to collect data required at the stage of designing new solutions of the sorters. A novelty is an analytical model that allows to determine the influence of the motion velocity of trolleys, frictional properties and mass of sorted objects on the forces transmitted from the trolleys to the track, the sorting efficiency and power required by the drive systems.