ANISMA: A Prototyping Toolkit to Explore Haptic Skin Deformation Applications Using Shape-Memory Alloys

We present ANISMA, a software and hardware toolkit to prototype on-skin haptic devices that generate skin deformation stimuli like pressure, stretch, and motion using shape-memory alloys (SMAs). Our toolkit embeds expert knowledge that makes SMA spring actuators more accessible to human–computer interaction (HCI) researchers. Using our software tool, users can design different actuator layouts, program their spatio-temporal actuation and preview the resulting deformation behavior to verify a design at an early stage. Our toolkit allows exporting the actuator layout and 3D printing it directly on skin adhesive. To test different actuation sequences on the skin, a user can connect the SMA actuators to our customized driver board and reprogram them using our visual programming interface. We report a technical analysis, verify the perceptibility of essential ANISMA skin deformation devices with 8 participants, and evaluate ANISMA regarding its usability and supported creativity with 12 HCI researchers in a creative design task.

TLB-pilot: Mitigating TLB Contention Attack on GPUs with Microarchitecture-Aware Scheduling

Co-running GPU kernels on a single GPU can provide high system throughput and improve hardware utilization, but this raises concerns on application security. We reveal that translation lookaside buffer (TLB) attack, one of the common attacks on CPU, can happen on GPU when multiple GPU kernels co-run. We investigate conditions or principles under which a TLB attack can take effect, including the awareness of GPU TLB microarchitecture, being lightweight, and bypassing existing software and hardware mechanisms. This TLB-based attack can be leveraged to conduct Denial-of-Service (or Degradation-of-Service) attacks. Furthermore, we propose a solution to mitigate TLB attacks. In particular, based on the microarchitecture properties of GPU, we introduce a software-based system, TLB-pilot, that binds thread blocks of different kernels to different groups of streaming multiprocessors by considering hardware isolation of last-level TLBs and the application’s resource requirement. TLB-pilot employs lightweight online profiling to collect kernel information before kernel launches. By coordinating software- and hardware-based scheduling and employing a kernel splitting scheme to reduce load imbalance, TLB-pilot effectively mitigates TLB attacks. The result shows that when under TLB attack, TLB-pilot mitigates the attack and provides on average 56.2% and 60.6% improvement in average normalized turnaround times and overall system throughput, respectively, compared to the traditional Multi-Process Service based co-running solution. When under TLB attack, TLB-pilot also provides up to 47.3% and 64.3% improvement (41% and 42.9% on average) in average normalized turnaround times and overall system throughput, respectively, compared to a state-of-the-art co-running solution for efficiently scheduling of thread blocks.

Computing Graph Neural Networks: A Survey from Algorithms to Accelerators

Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have exploded onto the machine learning scene in recent years owing to their capability to model and learn from graph-structured data. Such an ability has strong implications in a wide variety of fields whose data are inherently relational, for which conventional neural networks do not perform well. Indeed, as recent reviews can attest, research in the area of GNNs has grown rapidly and has lead to the development of a variety of GNN algorithm variants as well as to the exploration of ground-breaking applications in chemistry, neurology, electronics, or communication networks, among others. At the current stage research, however, the efficient processing of GNNs is still an open challenge for several reasons. Besides of their novelty, GNNs are hard to compute due to their dependence on the input graph, their combination of dense and very sparse operations, or the need to scale to huge graphs in some applications. In this context, this article aims to make two main contributions. On the one hand, a review of the field of GNNs is presented from the perspective of computing. This includes a brief tutorial on the GNN fundamentals, an overview of the evolution of the field in the last decade, and a summary of operations carried out in the multiple phases of different GNN algorithm variants. On the other hand, an in-depth analysis of current software and hardware acceleration schemes is provided, from which a hardware-software, graph-aware, and communication-centric vision for GNN accelerators is distilled.

DEVELOPMENT OF A DISTRIBUTED INFORMATION AND COMPUTING CONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE NUCLEAR UNIT AT NOVOVORONEZH NPP

Ядерные блоки атомных электростанций имеют длительный срок эксплуатации, что приводит к ситуации, когда в процессе эксплуатации технические и программные средства систем управления перестают отвечать текущим современным требованиям в плане надежности и безопасности их использования. В результате для продления срока действия ядерного блока требуется обязательное проведение модернизации информационно-вычислительной системы (ИВС) управления. Приводятся результаты такой работы, проведенной на 4 блоке Нововоронежской АЭС. При выборе оборудования для создания новой ИВС модернизируемого энергоблока был реализован принцип унификации. Программное обеспечение всех компонентов программно-технического комплекса ИВС, включая функции систем предоставления параметров безопасности и внутриреакторного контроля, реализовано на единых программных средствах. Представленные значения параметров сигналов на всех рабочих станциях программно-технического комплекса информационной системы, интерфейсы взаимодействия, человеко-машинный интерфейс и навигация по видеокадрам идентичны, что учитывает требования по оптимальному взаимодействию системы «человек-машина». Система удовлетворяет требованиям по обеспечению надёжности на основе резервирования, независимости, разнообразия, с учётом отказов по общей причине. Для этого ИВС была реализована в виде двухканальной информационной системы. Основной и дублирующий каналы измерения и обработки данных в программно-техническом комплексе ИВС функционируют одновременно в полном объеме. Разработанная информационно-вычислительная система позволила продлить срок эксплуатации 4 энергоблока Нововоронежской АЭС на 15 лет Nuclear units of nuclear power plants have a long service life, which leads to a situation when, during the operation, the technical and software tools of control systems no longer meet the current modern requirements in terms of reliability and safety of their use. As a result, in order to extend the validity period of the nuclear unit, mandatory modernization of the information and computing system (ICS) of management is required. This article presents the results of such work carried out at Unit 4 of the Novovoronezh NPP. When choosing the equipment to create a new ICS of the upgraded power unit, we implemented the principle of unification. The software of all components of the ICS software and hardware complex, including the functions of systems for providing security parameters and in-reactor control, is implemented on unified software tools. The representation of signal parameter values at all workstations of the software and hardware complex of the information system, the interfaces of human-machine interface interaction and navigation through video frames are identical, which takes into account the requirements for optimal interaction of the man-machine system. The system meets the requirements for ensuring reliability based on redundancy, independence, diversity, taking into account failures for a common reason. For this purpose, we implemented the ICS in the form of a two-channel information system. The main and backup channels of measurement and data processing in the ICS software and hardware complex function simultaneously in full. The developed information and computing system made it possible to extend the service life of 4 power units of the Novovoronezh NPP for 15 years

DEVELOPMENT OF CALIBRATION MODULES FOR A COMPLEX OF ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE ON ELECTRONIC DEVICES

В современном мире при стремлении человечества к миниатюризации электротехнической и радиоэлектронной продукции без потери технических характеристик устройств, наряду с их расширением одной из значимых проблем является влияние электромагнитных помех на стабильное функционирование устройств. Представлены модули калибровки, используемые в программно-аппаратном комплексе (ПАК), который позволяет произвести оценку влияния электромагнитных помех (ЭМП) на электронные средства. Практическое искажение сигналов неизбежно, так как причиной помех может стать взаимное влияние элементов печатной платы (ПП) друг на друга, а также конфигурация самого рисунка дорожек ПП и её топологии. Рассматриваются модули, позволяющие выявить ряд ошибок по ранее полученным результатам и обеспечить калибровку комплекса с целью повышения точности оценки влияния самоиндукции и импеданса линии передач на вносимые искажения сигнала при различных конфигурациях трассировки печатной платы. Применение данного программно-аппаратного комплекса позволяет значительно сократить время, необходимое на разработку устройства и комплекс испытаний, что, в свою очередь, снижает финансовую нагрузку на выпуск единицы продукции, поскольку позволяет выявить недостатки устройств на стадии макетирования электротехнической продукции In the modern world, with the desire of all mankind to miniaturize electrical products without loss of power, one of the significant problems is the influence of electromagnetic interference on the stable functioning of devices. This article presents the calibration modules used in the software and hardware complex (SHC), which allows one to assess the influence of electromagnetic interference (EMI) on electronic means. The practical distortion of signals is inevitable since the cause of interference can be their mutual influence on each other, as well as the configuration of the printed circuit board pattern itself. The paper considers modules that allow identifying a number of errors based on previously obtained results and providing calibration of the complex in order to increase the accuracy of estimating the effect of self-induction and transmission line impedance on the introduced signal distortion in various configurations of the PCB trace. The use of this software and hardware complex can significantly reduce the development time and conduct tests that require financial costs since it allows one to conduct a number of experiments at the stage of prototyping electrical products

Steering a Robotic Wheelchair Based on Voice Recognition System Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Many wheelchair people depend on others to control the movement of their wheelchairs, which significantly influences their independence and quality of life. Smart wheelchairs offer a degree of self-dependence and freedom to drive their own vehicles. In this work, we designed and implemented a low-cost software and hardware method to steer a robotic wheelchair. Moreover, from our method, we developed our own Android mobile app based on Flutter software. A convolutional neural network (CNN)-based network-in-network (NIN) structure approach integrated with a voice recognition model was also developed and configured to build the mobile app. The technique was also implemented and configured using an offline Wi-Fi network hotspot between software and hardware components. Five voice commands (yes, no, left, right, and stop) guided and controlled the wheelchair through the Raspberry Pi and DC motor drives. The overall system was evaluated based on a trained and validated English speech corpus by Arabic native speakers for isolated words to assess the performance of the Android OS application. The maneuverability performance of indoor and outdoor navigation was also evaluated in terms of accuracy. The results indicated a degree of accuracy of approximately 87.2% of the accurate prediction of some of the five voice commands. Additionally, in the real-time performance test, the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) values between the planned and actual nodes for indoor/outdoor maneuvering were 1.721 × 10−5 and 1.743 × 10−5, respectively.

The Diagnostics of the rotor misalignment of a permanent magnet motor

A mathematical model of the magnetic field in the working gap of a brushless motor is considered in a case of rotor misalignment arising during manufacture, for example, due to defects in end shields, or in operation due to bearing wear. a gap in a uniform (circular ring). The stator gearing is taken into account on average using the Carter coefficient, the magnetic field in the inhomogeneous air gap, created by the rotor magnets and the stator winding current, is assumed to be plane-parallel, having a two-dimensional character. It was found that the rotor misalignment associated with the rotational movement of the eccentricity causes nonsinusoidality of the idle EMF and pulsation of the electromagnetic moment with a frequency 3p times higher than the rotor speed. When the eccentricity is stationary, a variable EMF is induced along the rotor shaft, causing an alternating current in the circuit: shaft-bearings-bearing shields-stator housing. To clarify the nature of the defect in order to identify the actual misalignment of the rotor, it is recommended to control currents and voltages using specialized software and hardware complexes for spectrum analysis.

E-Totem, Digital Locative Media to Support E-Participation in Cities

The relationship between governments and their citizens has changed with the rise of ICTs. Even if these changes can strengthen the active role of society in the control and participation of public administration, there is a risk that this process can increase exclusion especially in developing countries, mainly because a large part of the population does not have access at all times to the facilities and services provided by ICTs. This article describes e-Totem, a software and hardware platform produced to support inclusive e-participation in large cities. It is also described three popular participation initiatives implemented using the platform, from which hundreds of thousands of citizen interactions were obtained from the platform. e-Totem is customized to be inclusive and suitable for use in such a wide variety of scenarios as well as being used by such a significant volume of people.

Quingo: A Programming Framework for Heterogeneous Quantum-Classical Computing with NISQ Features

The increasing control complexity of Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) systems underlines the necessity of integrating quantum hardware with quantum software. While mapping heterogeneous quantum-classical computing (HQCC) algorithms to NISQ hardware for execution, we observed a few dissatisfactions in quantum programming languages (QPLs), including difficult mapping to hardware, limited expressiveness, and counter-intuitive code. In addition, noisy qubits require repeatedly performed quantum experiments, which explicitly operate low-level configurations, such as pulses and timing of operations. This requirement is beyond the scope or capability of most existing QPLs. We summarize three execution models to depict the quantum-classical interaction of existing QPLs. Based on the refined HQCC model, we propose the Quingo framework to integrate and manage quantum-classical software and hardware to provide the programmability over HQCC applications and map them to NISQ hardware. We propose a six-phase quantum program life-cycle model matching the refined HQCC model, which is implemented by a runtime system. We also propose the Quingo programming language, an external domain-specific language highlighting timer-based timing control and opaque operation definition, which can be used to describe quantum experiments. We believe the Quingo framework could contribute to the clarification of key techniques in the design of future HQCC systems.

The "freight frame" model as a method of freight transport traffic urban organization

The paper justifies the use of the "freight frame" as a method of organizing the movement of freight vehicle in large metropolitan areas on the example of Samara city district. The study presents the characteristics of the "freight frame" of major European cities, Kazan and Moscow. A comparative analysis of approaches to the organization of the movement of freight vehicle on the basis of the "freight frame" of Russian cities and cities of foreign countries is carried out. Based on the use of the Yandex.Traffic service, an analysis of the congestion of the main transport highways of the city was carried out, a map of the transport accessibility of the city of Samara was compiled with the calculation of the transport accessibility indices of its districts. To analyze the load of freight transport in the Samara region and the city of Samara, the intensity and composition of the traffic of freight transport on the major streets of the city were calculated using the NETVISION Traffic software and hardware complex, differentiated by months and day time. The result of the analysis allowed to identify the most significant problems of traffic management. On the basis of the used methods of freight traffic analysis, the necessity of implementing the "freight frame" model in the city of Samara was justified. A set of sequential measures is proposed to ensure the step-by-step formation of the freight frame model.