Fast full search motion estimation algorithm using early detection of impossible candidate vectors

To reduce the amount of computations for a full search (FS) algorithm for fast motion estimation, we propose a new and fast FS motion estimation algorithm. The computational reduction of our FS motion estimation algorithm comes from fast elimination of impossible motion vectors. We obtain faster elimination of inappropriate motion vectors using efficient matching units from localization of a complex area in image data. In this paper, we show three properties in block matching of motion estimation. We suggest two fast matching scan algorithms: one from adaptive matching scan and the other from fixed dithering order. Experimentally, we remove the unnecessary computations by about 30% with our proposed algorithm compared with the conventional fast FS algorithms.     

A 2-Gbaud 0.7-V swing voltage-mode driver and on-chip terminatorfor high-speed NRZ data transmission

A large-swing, voltage-mode driver and an on-chip termination circuit are presented for high-speed nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) data transmission through a copper cable. The proposed driver with active pull-up and pull-down can generate a 700-mV signal to deliver a 2 Gbaud serial NRZ data stream. Low output impedance offered by simple negative-feedback resistors alleviates the detrimental effect of the parasitic capacitance by supplying fast current impulses. A proposed on-chip termination circuit provides termination impedance to a mid-supply termination voltage with the benefit of reduced parasitic capacitance and better termination characteristics compared with off-chip termination. The driver and termination circuits have been incorporated in a 2 Gbaud transceiver chip and fabricated in 0.35 μm CMOS technology. Measurements show a 1.4 V differential swing with a slew rate of 2.5 V/ns at the receiver output and a 65% reduction of reflection by the on-chip termination circuit with power consumption of 191 mW at 3.3 V supply     

Force control for hydraulic load simulator using self-tuning grey predictor – fuzzy PID

Hydraulic systems play an important role in modern industry for the reason that hydraulic actuator systems have many advantages over other technologies with electric motors, as they possess high durability and the ability to produce large forces at high speeds. Therefore, the hydraulic actuator has a wide range of application fields such as hydraulic punching, riveting, pressing machines, and molding technology, where controlled forces or pressures with high accuracy and fast response are the most significant demands. Consequently, many hybrid actuator models have been developed for studying how to control forces or pressures with best results.This paper presents a kind of hydraulic load simulator for conducting performance and stability testing related to the force control problem of hydraulic hybrid systems. In the dynamic loading process, perturbation decreases control performance such as stability, frequency response, and loading sensitivity decreasing or bad. In order to improve the control quality of the loading system while eliminating or reducing the disturbance, a grey prediction model combined with a fuzzy PID controller is suggested. Furthermore, fuzzy controllers and a tuning algorithm are used to change the grey step size in order to improve the control quality. The grey prediction compensator can improve the system settle time and overshoot problems. Simulations and experiments on the hydraulic load simulator are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed control method when applied to hydraulic systems with various external disturbances encountered in real working conditions.     

Broadcasting System Compliant with MPEG‐2/4 IPMPX

In this paper, we present an intellectual property management and protection (IPMP) system in a broadcasting environment to provide mechanisms for copyright and contents protection that are compliant with the MPEG‐2 and MPEG‐4 IPMP Extension (IPMPX) specifications. The technology for processing IPMP related information was exploited, and a terminal model has been successfully designed and implemented. In addition, interoperability, which is the main objective of MPEG‐2/4 IPMPX, has been addressed in detail. The experimental results show that the implemented system performs the IPMP process well, meeting the requirements of a broadcasting environment.     

Enhanced Performance of I2‐Free Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells with Conductive Polymer up to 6.8%

An iodine‐free solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cell (ssDSSC) is reported here, with 6.8% energy conversion efficiency—one of the highest yet reported for N719 dye—as a result of enhanced light harvesting from the increased transmittance of an organized mesoporous TiO₂ interfacial layer and the good hole conductivity of the solid‐state‐polymerized material. The organized mesoporous TiO₂ (OM‐TiO₂) interfacial layer is prepared on large‐area substrates by a sol‐gel process, and is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and grazing incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS). A 550‐nm‐thick OM‐TiO₂ film coated on fluorine‐doped tin oxide (FTO) glass is highly transparent, resulting in transmittance increases of 8 and 4% compared to those of the bare FTO and conventional compact TiO₂ film on FTO, respectively. The high cell performance is achieved through careful control of the electrode/hole transport material (HTM) and nanocrystalline TiO₂/conductive glass interfaces, which affect the interfacial resistance of the cell. Furthermore, the transparent OM‐TiO₂ film, with its high porosity and good connectivity, exhibits improved cell performance due to increased transmittance in the visible light region, decreased interfacial resistance ( Ω ), and enhanced electron lifetime ( τ ). The cell performance also depends on the conductivity of HTMs, which indicates that both highly conductive HTM and the transparent OM‐TiO₂ film interface are crucial for obtaining high‐energy conversion efficiencies in I₂‐free ssDSSCs.     

Influence of pad shape on self-alignment in electronic packaging

Anisotropic self-alignment of the noncircular pads is investigated to reduce the misalignment in electronic packaging, and the effects of the direction and length ratio of the noncircular pads are analyzed. The restoring forces of circular and noncircular pads are calculated numerically using the surface evolver and are compared with the experimental data. The restoring force in the minor-axis direction of the noncircular pad becomes largest followed by the circular pad and the major-axis direction of the noncircular pad. Directionality increases with the length ratio, which implies that more accurate alignment can be achieved in the specific direction.     

Fabrication of laser-annealed poly-TFT by forming aSi1-xGex thermal barrier

Germanium is ion-implanted deeply into the bottom of a Si film before excimer laser annealing begins. During the solidification step, the implanted Ges form a high thermal resistive Si_1-xGe_x alloy, which reduces the thermal extraction rate of laser energy and the grain growth rate. Laterally larger but double-stacked grains were achieved with a higher Ge implant dose and a slower grain growth. The performance of fabricated poly-TFTs has been enhanced with a Ge 5×10¹⁵/cm² at 80 keV implant but deteriorated at a higher dose. We attribute this enhancement to a laterally enlarged grain and show that the performance of TFT is deteriorated more dominantly by other Ge-related factors than by surface roughening and Ge-induced defect creation     

A moving-actuator type electromechanical total artificial heart.II. Circular type and animal experiment

A new type of electromechanical total artificial heart (TAH) based on circular rolling-cylinder mechanism was developed to overcome critical problems in motor-driven artificial hearts such as large size and difficulties in fitting the heart to atrial remnants and arterial vessels. Its performance and reliability were evaluated in mock circulation and in an animal implant experiment. The total weight and volume of the pump is 650 g and 600 mL, respectively. This new pump was implanted in a calf for total heart replacement and 96 h of survival was achieved. The whole system, including pump, controller, and control algorithm performed well enough to improve the prospect of eventual clinical application of our TAH system.     

Disposable smart lab on a chip for point-of-care clinical diagnostics

This paper presents the development of a disposable plastic biochip incorporating smart passive microfluidics with embedded on-chip power sources and integrated biosensor array for applications in clinical diagnostics and point-of-care testing. The fully integrated disposable biochip is capable of precise volume control with smart microfluidic manipulation without costly on-chip microfluidic components. The biochip has a unique power source using on-chip pressurized air reservoirs, for microfluidic manipulation, avoiding the need for complex microfluidic pumps. In addition, the disposable plastic biochip has successfully been tested for the measurements of partial oxygen concentration, glucose, and lactate level in human blood using an integrated biosensor array. This paper presents details of the smart passive microfluidic system, the on-chip power source, and the biosensor array together with a detailed discussion of the plastic micromachining techniques used for chip fabrication. A handheld analyzer capable of multiparameter detection of clinically relevant parameters has also been developed to detect the signals from the cartridge type disposable biochip. The handheld analyzer developed in this work is currently the smallest analyzer capable of multiparameter detection for point-of-care testing.     

Synchronization controller for a 3-R planar parallel pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) robot using modified ANFIS algorithm

Parallel manipulator is a closed-kinematic chain mechanism in which performance of its end effector – moving platform is contributed by its independent actuators. In traditional designs, each elemental actuator has its own controller as well as reference input, and it works independently without gathering information from its neighbors. Consequently, as one of the actuators cannot keep up with the others, the platform performance is easily deteriorated due to the lack of coherence between these actuators. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to design a 3-R planar parallel robot and develop a proper synchronization controller for its tracking control task. Adaptive Network Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) algorithm was modified and applied as the main strategy of this synchronization controller. The controller is then able to compensate errors between the actuators and enforce them to cooperate harmonically with each other regardless external disturbances caused by the outside environment or geometrical constraints of the closed-loop structure. Simulations and practical experiments on a scaled parallel robot were carried out to evaluate the designed controller. The results showed that by applying the proposed control technique, the working errors of the component actuators converged quickly to zero almost at the same time. As a result, the tracking performance of the common platform was significantly improved in comparison with the performance when applying a non-synchronization controller. The proposed method is effective in controlling systems which require collaborations between the sub-agents.