Modeling and Optimization of Directly Modulated Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers

The present work details a novel approach to increase the transmitting sensitivity of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer arrays and performing the direct modulation of digital information on the same device. The direct modulation system can reach 3× higher signal-to-noise ratio level and 3× higher communication range (from 6.2 cm boosted to 18.6 cm) when compared to more traditional continuous wave drive at the same energy consumption levels. When compared for the same transmission performance, the direct modulation consumes 80% less energy compared to the continues wave. The increased performance is achieved with a switching circuit that allows to generate a short high-AC voltage on the ultrasonic array, by using an LC tank and a bipolar junction transistor, starting with a low-DC voltage, making it CMOS-compatible. Since the modulation signal can directly be formed by the transmitted bits (on/off keying encoding) this also serve as the modulation for the data itself, hence direct modulation. The working principle of the circuit is described, optimization is performed relative to several circuital parameters and a high-performance experimental application is demonstrated.

Optimization and simulation analysis of structure parameters of OPCM ultrasonic longitudinal wave actuating element

The force-electric coupling relationship of the mechanical and electrical properties of piezoelectric composites has been the main factor in the research and development of piezoelectric composites in practical application. A novel orthotropic piezoelectric composite material (OPCM) element is studied in this paper. The properties of the piezoelectric phase and the polymer phase and the influence of the geometrical dimensions of the OPCM on the longitudinal wave drive element are analyzed from the perspective of mechanics and electric power, respectively, and the structural design is optimized. This provides a theoretical basis for the development of OPCM and of new longitudinal ultrasonic phased array actuators.

A design of HDPE flexible spline of harmonics gear

In a design of a small robot, selecting a servo-motor is the most important method in designing process. Common miniature servo motors for small robots normally use conventional gear train set or planetary gear set. Gear train and planetary gear give very low gear ratio whereas its weight is too heavy. On the other hand, Harmonic gear system, which is developed from strain wave drive gearing, gives better the highest gear ratio per weight than those two gear systems. In this paper, a plastic flexible spline gear is presented in order to replace a thin metal spline. The plastic flexible spline gear is designed under gear physical requirement and servo-motor properties. The spline thicknesses are varied in a range of 1 to 4 millimetre and simulations on strength, fatigue, and torque requirement are made to verify the designs.

WASP family proteins and formins compete in pseudopod- and bleb-based migration

Actin pseudopods induced by SCAR/WAVE drive normal migration and chemotaxis in eukaryotic cells. Cells can also migrate using blebs, in which the edge is driven forward by hydrostatic pressure instead of actin. In Dictyostelium discoideum, loss of SCAR is compensated by WASP moving to the leading edge to generate morphologically normal pseudopods. Here we use an inducible double knockout to show that cells lacking both SCAR and WASP are unable to grow, make pseudopods or, unexpectedly, migrate using blebs. Remarkably, amounts and dynamics of actin polymerization are normal. Pseudopods are replaced in double SCAR/WASP mutants by aberrant filopods, induced by the formin dDia2. Further disruption of the gene for dDia2 restores cells’ ability to initiate blebs and thus migrate, though pseudopods are still lost. Triple knockout cells still contain near-normal F-actin levels. This work shows that SCAR, WASP, and dDia2 compete for actin. Loss of SCAR and WASP causes excessive dDia2 activity, maintaining F-actin levels but blocking pseudopod and bleb formation and migration.