An electrochemical microactuator: principle and first results

A novel electrochemical microactuator made with the use of silicon micromachining techniques, and its feasibility, are presented. Gas pressure is generated by electrolysis of an aqueous electrolyte solution. The pressure built up is used to change the deflection of a membrane. The actuator has three states: the electrolysis state, in which the pressure is built up; the passive state, in which the circuit is open and the pressure is maintained; and the pressure reduction state, in which the electrodes are short-circuited in order to reverse the electrolysis reaction. The advantage of this type of actuation is a relatively large pressure generation with low energy consumption. Power is required only for pressure build-up and for changing the states. Therefore, this type of actuation has promising applications in pumps or active valves     

Electroplated cadmium chalcogenide layers: Characterization and use in photoelectrochemical solar cells

CdSe and Cd(Se, Te) alloy layers were electroplated onto titanium substrates from both acid and alkaline baths. When annealed, these layers show good photoelectrode behaviour in a polysulphide electrolyte with high quantum efficiencies and stability. Donor densities are found to be in the range of 10¹⁴–10¹⁵ cm^-3. Scanning electron microscopy studies show the layers to have a very irregular morphology and generally to be composed of elongated spherical particles. Annealing conditions can be chosen such that the layers are of cubic or hexagonal structure.     

Job shop scheduling optimization in real-time production control

An optimization algorithm using simulation as an evaluation procedure of the criterion to obtain an optimal schedule of jobs within a workshop is presented. The algorithm, which is recommended for middle-size problems, is embedded in a dedicated minicomputer-based practical system meant for real time production control in a discrete part manufacturing system environment.