This volume contains the Proceedings of the First International Conference of IFToMM Italy (IFIT2016), held at the University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy, on December 1-2, 2016. The book contains contributions on the latest advances on Mechanism and Machine Science. The fifty-nine papers deal with such topics as biomechanical engineering, history of mechanism and machine science, linkages and mechanical controls, multi-body dynamics, reliability, robotics and mechatronics, transportation machinery, tribology, and vibrations.

This thesis provides a systematic and integral answer to an open problem concerning the universality of dynamic fuzzy controllers. It presents a number of novel ideas and approaches to various issues including universal function approximation, universal fuzzy models, universal fuzzy stabilization controllers, and universal fuzzy integral sliding mode controllers. The proposed control design criteria can be conveniently verified using the MATLAB toolbox. Moreover, the thesis provides a new, easy-to-use form of fuzzy variable structure control. Emphasis is given to the point that, in the context of deterministic/stochastic systems in general, the authors are in fact discussing non-affine nonlinear systems using a class of generalized T-S fuzzy models, which offer considerable potential in a wide range of applications.

This book deals with the challenge of exploiting ambient vibrational energy which can be used to power small and low-power electronic devices, e.g. wireless sensor nodes. Generally, particularly for low voltage amplitudes, low-loss rectification is required to achieve high conversion efficiency. In the special case of piezoelectric energy harvesting, pulsed charge extraction has the potential to extract more power compared to a single rectifier. For this purpose, a fully autonomous CMOS integrated interface circuit for piezoelectric generators which fulfills these requirements is presented. Due to these key properties enabling universal usage, other CMOS designers working in the field of energy harvesting will be encouraged to use some of the shown structures for their own implementations. The book is unique in the sense that it highlights the design process from scratch to the final chip. Hence, it gives the designer a comprehensive guide of how to (i) setup an appropriate harvester model to get realistic simulation results, (ii) design the integrated circuits for low power operation, (iii) setup a laboratory measurement environment in order to extensively characterize the chip in combination with the real harvester and finally, (iv) interpret the simulation/measurement results in order to improve the chip performance. Since the dimensions of all devices (transistors, resistors etc.) are given, readers and other designers can easily re-use the presented circuit concepts.

This book covers the state-of-the-art technologies in dynamic balancing of mechanisms with minimum increase of mass and inertia. The synthesis of parallel robots based on the Decomposition and Integration concept is also covered in detail. The latest advances are described, including different balancing principles, design of reactionless mechanisms with minimum increase of mass and inertia, and synthesizing parallel robots. This is an ideal book for mechanical engineering students and researchers who are interested in the dynamic balancing of mechanisms and synthesizing of parallel robots. This book also: * Broadens reader understanding of the synthesis of parallel robots based on the Decomposition and Integration concept * Reinforces basic principles with detailed coverage of different balancing principles, including input torque balancing mechanisms * Reviews exhaustively the key recent research into the design of reactionless mechanisms with minimum increase of mass and inertia, such as the design of reactionless mechanisms with auxiliary parallelograms, the design of reactionless mechanisms with flywheels, and the design of reactionless mechanisms by symmetrical structure design.

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology provides a means of communication that allows individuals with severely impaired movement to communicate with assistive devices using the electroencephalogram (EEG) or other brain signals. The practicality of a BCI has been possible due to advances in multi-disciplinary areas of research related to cognitive neuroscience, brain-imaging techniques and human-computer interfaces. However, two major challenges remain in making BCI for assistive robotics practical for day-to-day use: the inherent lower bandwidth of BCI, and how to best handle the unknown embedded noise within the raw EEG. Brain-Computer Interfacing for Assistive Robotics is a result of research focusing on these important aspects of BCI for real-time assistive robotic application. It details the fundamental issues related to non-stationary EEG signal processing (filtering) and the need of an alternative approach for the same. Additionally, the book also discusses techniques for overcoming lower bandwidth of BCIs by designing novel use-centric graphical user interfaces. A detailed investigation into both these approaches is discussed.

This is a guide to the design and application of elliptical dielectric waveguides and fibers. Written by one of the pioneers of optical fiber technology, it shows the theoretical basis of the technology, demonstrates the practical uses for elliptical fibers, guides the reader through design criteria and trade-offs, and gives immediate access to collected data and references on the topic. "Elliptical Fiber Waveguides" begins with an historical overview, and then provides detailed coverage of specific waveguide and fiber modes, including all relevant specifications and data currently available. The book examines the use of elliptical fibers for a wide variety of recent applications, including sensors, rare-earth-doped fiber sources, and amplifiers. With its 278 equations, 161 figures, and nearly 200 references to the literature, "Elliptical Fiber Waveguides" brings together in one source the complete body of information currently available on this promising technology.

This book is intended for systems engineers, hybrid and monolithic power amplifier designers, engineers involved in the development of CAD programs, academics, and industrial and goverment researchers. The book is devoted exclusively to high power GaAs FET amplifier design, covering the subject comprehensively, including FET design, circuit design, thermal and reliability analysis, and systems applications.

Information technologies play a significant role in modern information-driven societies, making a comprehensive understanding of digital media a fundamental requisite to success. Cases on Usability Engineering: Design and Development of Digital Products provides readers with case studies and real-life examples on usability methods and techniques to test the design and development of digital products, such as web pages, video games, and mobile computer applications. Students, lecturers, and academics concentrating in computer science can use these cases to investigate how and why usability can improve the design of digital technology, offering diverse technological solutions that many academics have largely failed to disseminate. This book is part of the Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology series collection.

This book presents an investigative approach to globalization-driving technologies that efficiently deliver ubiquitous, last-mile, broadband internet access to emerging markets and rural areas. Research has shown that ubiquitous internet access boosts socio-economic growth through innovations in science and technology, and has a positive effect on the lives of individuals. Last-mile internet access in developing countries is not only intended to provide areas with stable, efficient, and cost-effective broadband capabilities, but also to encourage the use of connectivity for human capacity development. The book offers an overview of the principles of various technologies, such as light fidelity and millimeter-wave backhaul, as last-mile internet solutions and describes these potential solutions from a signal propagation perspective. It also provides readers with the notional context needed to understand their operation, benefits, and limitations, and enables them to investigate feasible and tailored solutions to ensure sustainable infrastructures that are expandable and maintainable.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are characterized as a combination of physical (physical plant, process, network) and cyber (software, algorithm, computation) components whose operations are monitored, controlled, coordinated, and integrated by a computing and communicating core. The interaction between both physical and cyber components requires tools allowing analyzing and modeling both the discrete and continuous dynamics. Therefore, many CPS can be modeled as hybrid dynamic systems in order to take into account both discrete and continuous behaviors as well as the interactions between them. Guaranteeing the security and safety of CPS is a challenging task because of the inherent interconnected and heterogeneous combination of behaviors (cyber/physical, discrete/continuous) in these systems. This book presents recent and advanced approaches and tech-niques that address the complex problem of analyzing the diagnosability property of cyber physical systems and ensuring their security and safety against faults and attacks. The CPS are modeled as hybrid dynamic systems using different model-based and data-driven approaches in different application domains (electric transmission networks, wireless communication networks, intrusions in industrial control systems, intrusions in production systems, wind farms etc.). These approaches handle the problem of ensuring the security of CPS in presence of attacks and verifying their diagnosability in presence of different kinds of uncertainty (uncertainty related to the event occurrences, to their order of occurrence, to their value etc.).

Based on a detailed analysis of the signal model of the moving target, this thesis focuses on the theories and applications of ground moving target indicator (GMTI) and ground moving target imaging (GMTIm) algorithms in synthetic aperture radar/ ground moving target indicator (SAR/GMTI mode), wide-area surveillance ground moving target indication (WAS-GMTI) mode and frequency modulated continuous wave synthetic aperture radar (FMCW SAR) systems. The proposed algorithms can not only indicate and image fast-moving targets, but are also effective in the context of slow-moving target processing. The system design scheme combines the mechanical scanning mode and the airborne SAR system, while the azimuth moving target indication algorithm employs the additional range walk migration induced by FMCW SAR systems. In addition, the non-ideal errors that deteriorate the performance of GMTIm algorithms in real SAR data processing are discussed, and suitable compensation methods are provided.>

This book is devoted to theoretical methods used in the extreme circumstances of very strong electromagnetic fields. The development of high power lasers, ultrafast processes, manipulation of electromagnetic fields and the use of very fast charged particles interacting with other charges requires an adequate theoretical description. Because of the very strong electromagnetic field, traditional theoretical approaches, which have primarily a perturbative character, have to be replaced by descriptions going beyond them. In the book an extension of the semi-classical radiation theory and classical dynamics for particles is performed to analyze single charged atoms and dipoles submitted to electromagnetic pulses. Special attention is given to the important problem of field reaction and controlling dynamics of charges by an electromagnetic field.

This book presents breakthroughs in the design of Wireless Energy Harvesting (WEH) networks. It bridges the gap between WEH through radio waves communications and power transfer, which have largely been designed separately. The authors present an overview of the RF-EHNs including system architecture and RF energy harvesting techniques and existing applications. They also cover the idea of WEH in novel discoveries of information, the theoretical bounds in WEH, wireless sensor networks, usage of modern channel coding together with WEH, energy efficient resource allocation mechanisms, distributed self-organized energy efficient designs, delay-energy trade-off, specific protocols for energy efficient communication designs, D2D communication and energy efficiency, cooperative wireless networks, and cognitive networks.

A guide to the emerging technologies now being considered for use in tomorrow's fibre subscriber loop systems, this book provides a rundown on what the technologies are, describes how they work, and then shows how to apply them to increase system performance, cut design time and lower costs. "Optical Transmission for the Subscriber Loop": presents basic concepts and technologies of network topology, multiplexing methods, access methods and transfer modes; describes the most important components for optical transmission - including optical fibres, cables, splices, connectors, laser diodes, photodiodes, fibre couplers, wavelength division multiplex (WDM), and subcarrier multiplex (SCM) devices; offers comprehensive coverage of fibre connections in fibre communications engineering; covers bidirectional transmission systems and presents several approaches for economical transceivers that can be used in these systems; and explains WDM- and SCM-based multi-chanel systems.

This book introduces state-of-the-art verification techniques for real-time embedded systems, based on the inverse method for parametric timed automata. It reviews popular formalisms for the specification and verification of timed concurrent systems and, in particular, timed automata as well as several extensions such as timed automata equipped with stopwatches, linear hybrid automata and affine hybrid automata.The inverse method is introduced, and its benefits for guaranteeing robustness in real-time systems are shown. Then, it is shown how an iteration of the inverse method can solve the good parameters problem for parametric timed automata by computing a behavioral cartography of the system. Different extensions are proposed particularly for hybrid systems and applications to scheduling problems using timed automata with stopwatches. Various examples, both from the literature and industry, illustrate the techniques throughout the book.Various parametric verifications are performed, in particular of abstractions of a memory circuit sold by the chipset manufacturer ST-Microelectronics, as well as of the prospective flight control system of the next generation of spacecraft designed by ASTRIUM Space Transportation.

Contents:

1. Parametric Timed Automata.2. The Inverse Method for Parametric Timed Automata.3. The Inverse Method in Practice: Application to Case Studies.4. Behavioral Cartography of Timed Automata.5. Parameter Synthesis for Hybrid Automata.6. Application to the Robustness Analysis of Scheduling Problems.7. Conclusion and Perspectives.

About the Authors

etienne Andre is Associate Professor in the Laboratoire d'Informatique de Paris Nord, in the University of Paris 13 (Sorbonne Paris Cite) in France. His current research interests focus on the verification of real-time systems.Romain Soulat is currently completing his PhD at the LSV laboratory at ENS-Cachan in France, focusing on the modeling and verification of hybrid temporal systems.

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics" merges two long-running serials--A"dvances in Electronics and Electron Physics" and "Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy." This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
Contributions from leading authoritiesInforms and updates on all the latest developments in the field

"Equitable Solutions for Retaining a Robust STEM Workforce" offers strategies and proven recommendations to accommodate work/life satisfaction for those in the STEM fields. Using real-life case studies, this book discusses universal issues such as dual careers and strategic decision making, childcare/dependent care in professional contexts, promoting family-friendly policies, as well as mentoring and networking.

"Equitable Solutions for Retaining a Robust STEM Workforce" provides data and tools to drive successful programs relaying proactive solutions that STEM employers, academic institutions, policy-makers, and individuals can utilize.
Distills and leverages best practices and internationally transportable policies to support and accommodate STEM work/life satisfactionServes as an action plan to help STEM employers, policy makers and academic institutions identify and create systemic changeIncludes case studies and practical tools sections to highlight effective integration strategiesAddresses a variety of work/life challenges, including supporting travel for dual-career couples, making strategic choices around work/life issues, and overcoming implicit bias
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"Eco- and Renewable Energy Materials" provides a survey of the current topics and the major developmental trends in the rapidly growing research area of clean energy materials. This book covers, but is not limited to, photochemical materials (fuels from light), fuel cells (electricity from fuels), batteries (electricity storage), and hydrogen production and storage. This book is intended as a vehicle for the dissemination of research results on energy-based material science in the form of commissioned reviews and commentaries. This book is for scientists and engineers interested in energy-related materials, compounds and electronic devices. Prof. Yong Zhou is currently serving as a full professor at the Eco-Materials and Renewable Energy Research Center (ERERC), Nanjing University, China.

This book presents a number of aspects to be considered in the development of disassembly automation, including the mechanical system, vision system and intelligent planner. The implementation of cognitive robotics increases the flexibility and degree of autonomy of the disassembly system. Disassembly, as a step in the treatment of end-of-life products, can allow the recovery of embodied value left within disposed products, as well as the appropriate separation of potentially-hazardous components. In the end-of-life treatment industry, disassembly has largely been limited to manual labor, which is expensive in developed countries. Automation is one possible solution for economic feasibility. The target audience primarily comprises researchers and experts in the field, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

Beyond enabling new capabilities, plasma-based techniques, characterized by quantum radicals of feed gases, hold the potential to enhance and improve many processes and applications. Following in the tradition of its popular predecessor, Plasma Electronics, Second Edition: Applications in Microelectronic Device Fabrication explains the fundamental physics and numerical methods required to bring these technologies from the laboratory to the factory. Emphasizing computational algorithms and techniques, this updated edition of a popular monograph supplies a complete and up-to-date picture of plasma physics, computational methods, applications, and processing techniques. Reflecting the growing importance of computer-aided approaches to plasma analysis and synthesis, it showcases recent advances in fabrication from micro- and nano-electronics, MEMS/NEMS, and the biological sciences. A helpful resource for anyone learning about collisional plasma structure, function, and applications, this edition reflects the latest progress in the quantitative understanding of non-equilibrium low-temperature plasma, surface processing, and predictive modeling of the plasma and the process. Filled with new figures, tables, problems, and exercises, it includes a new chapter on the development of atmospheric-pressure plasma, in particular microcell plasma, with a discussion of its practical application to improve surface efficiency. The book provides an up-to-date discussion of MEMS fabrication and phase transition between capacitive and inductive modes in an inductively coupled plasma. In addition to new sections on the phase transition between the capacitive and inductive modes in an ICP and MOS-transistor and MEMS fabrications, the book presents a new discussion of heat transfer and heating of the media and the reactor. Integrating physics, numerical methods, and practical applications, this book equips you with the up-to-date understanding required to scale up lab breakthroughs into industrial innovations.

This book analyzes energy and reliability as major challenges faced by designers of computing frameworks in the nanometer technology regime. The authors describe the existing solutions to address these challenges and then reveal a new reconfigurable computing platform, which leverages high-density nanoscale memory for both data storage and computation to maximize the energy-efficiency and reliability. The energy and reliability benefits of this new paradigm are illustrated and the design challenges are discussed. Various hardware and software aspects of this exciting computing paradigm are described, particularly with respect to hardware-software co-designed frameworks, where the hardware unit can be reconfigured to mimic diverse application behavior. Finally, the energy-efficiency of the paradigm described is compared with other, well-known reconfigurable computing platforms.

In this monograph the authors solve the modern scientific problems connected with A.C. motors and generators, based first on the detailed consideration of their physical phenomena. The authors describe the theory and investigative methods they developed and applied in practice, which are considered to be of essential interest for specialists in the field of the electrical engineering industry in European countries, the USA, Argentina, and Brazil, as well as in such countries as India, China, and Iran. This book will be of interest to engineers specialized in the field of the manufacture, operation, and repair of A.C. machines (motors and generators) as well as electric drives; to professors, lecturers, and post-graduate students of technical universities, who are specializing in the field of electric machine engineering and electric drives; and to students who are engaged in the field of high current techniques, electric drives, and electric machine engineering.