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Sensors, Volume 19, Issue 13 (July-1 2019) – 195 articles

Cover Story (view full-size image): Photoacoustic sensors have been suggested for the non-invasive measurement of glucose concentration in the interstitial fluids related to blood glucose level of diabetic patients. However, the measurements typically exhibit a weak photoacoustic signal and a corresponding poor sensitivity. Hence, T-shaped acoustic resonators are used to amplify the signal. Accurate numerical modelling of sound generation and sound propagation enables the optimization of the resonator’s geometry for signal amplification. Here, we present the amplitude mode expansion (AME) method as a very fast and computationally less demanding simulation alternative to the viscothermal acoustic model. Thus, the AME method is very well suited for numerical optimization procedures where high performance is essential. Measurement of the photoacoustic signal confirms the accuracy of the simulations. View this paper.
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15 pages, 2115 KiB  
Technical Note
Quantifying the Impact of Linear Regression Model in Deriving Bio-Optical Relationships: The Implications on Ocean Carbon Estimations
by Marco Bellacicco, Vincenzo Vellucci, Michele Scardi, Marie Barbieux, Salvatore Marullo and Fabrizio D’Ortenzio
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3032; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133032 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4497
Abstract
Linear regression is widely used in applied sciences and, in particular, in satellite optical oceanography, to relate dependent to independent variables. It is often adopted to establish empirical algorithms based on a finite set of measurements, which are later applied to observations on [...] Read more.
Linear regression is widely used in applied sciences and, in particular, in satellite optical oceanography, to relate dependent to independent variables. It is often adopted to establish empirical algorithms based on a finite set of measurements, which are later applied to observations on a larger scale from platforms such as autonomous profiling floats equipped with optical instruments (e.g., Biogeochemical Argo floats; BGC-Argo floats) and satellite ocean colour sensors (e.g., SeaWiFS, VIIRS, OLCI). However, different methods can be applied to a given pair of variables to determine the coefficients of the linear equation fitting the data, which are therefore not unique. In this work, we quantify the impact of the choice of “regression method” (i.e., either type-I or type-II) to derive bio-optical relationships, both from theoretical perspectives and by using specific examples. We have applied usual regression methods to an in situ data set of particulate organic carbon (POC), total chlorophyll-a (TChla), optical particulate backscattering coefficient (bbp), and 19 years of monthly TChla and bbp ocean colour data. Results of the regression analysis have been used to calculate phytoplankton carbon biomass (Cphyto) and POC from: i) BGC-Argo float observations; ii) oceanographic cruises, and iii) satellite data. These applications enable highlighting the differences in Cphyto and POC estimates relative to the choice of the method. An analysis of the statistical properties of the dataset and a detailed description of the hypothesis of the work drive the selection of the linear regression method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean Colour: Theory and Applications)
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12 pages, 1314 KiB  
Article
Performance Analysis of Wireless Information Surveillance in Machine-Type Communication at Finite Blocklength Regime
by Ruonan Dong, Baogang Li and Binyang Yan
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3031; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133031 - 9 Jul 2019
Viewed by 2727
Abstract
The Internet of Things (IoT) will feature pervasive sensing and control capabilities via the massive deployment of machine-type communication devices in order to greatly improve daily life. However, machine-type communications can be illegally used (e.g., by criminals or terrorists) which is difficult to [...] Read more.
The Internet of Things (IoT) will feature pervasive sensing and control capabilities via the massive deployment of machine-type communication devices in order to greatly improve daily life. However, machine-type communications can be illegally used (e.g., by criminals or terrorists) which is difficult to monitor, and thus presents new security challenges. The information exchanged in machine-type communications is usually transmitted in short packets. Thus, this paper investigates a legitimate surveillance system via proactive eavesdropping at finite blocklength regime. Under the finite blocklength regime, we analyze the channel coding rate of the eavesdropping link and the suspicious link. We find that the legitimate monitor can still eavesdrop the information sent by the suspicious transmitter as the blocklength decreases, even when the eavesdropping is failed under the Shannon capacity regime. Moreover, we define a metric called the effective eavesdropping rate and study the monotonicity. From the analysis of monotonicity, the existence of a maximum effective eavesdropping rate for a moderate or even high signal-to-noise (SNR) is verified. Finally, numerical results are provided and discussed. In the simulation, we also find that the maximum effective eavesdropping rate slowly increases with the blocklength. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Internet of Things)
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18 pages, 6823 KiB  
Article
Wearable IoT Smart-Log Patch: An Edge Computing-Based Bayesian Deep Learning Network System for Multi Access Physical Monitoring System
by Gunasekaran Manogaran, P. Mohamed Shakeel, H. Fouad, Yunyoung Nam, S. Baskar, Naveen Chilamkurti and Revathi Sundarasekar
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3030; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133030 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 171 | Viewed by 9852
Abstract
According to the survey on various health centres, smart log-based multi access physical monitoring system determines the health conditions of humans and their associated problems present in their lifestyle. At present, deficiency in significant nutrients leads to deterioration of organs, which creates various [...] Read more.
According to the survey on various health centres, smart log-based multi access physical monitoring system determines the health conditions of humans and their associated problems present in their lifestyle. At present, deficiency in significant nutrients leads to deterioration of organs, which creates various health problems, particularly for infants, children, and adults. Due to the importance of a multi access physical monitoring system, children and adolescents’ physical activities should be continuously monitored for eliminating difficulties in their life using a smart environment system. Nowadays, in real-time necessity on multi access physical monitoring systems, information requirements and the effective diagnosis of health condition is the challenging task in practice. In this research, wearable smart-log patch with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors has been designed and developed with multimedia technology. Further, the data computation in that smart-log patch has been analysed using edge computing on Bayesian deep learning network (EC-BDLN), which helps to infer and identify various physical data collected from the humans in an accurate manner to monitor their physical activities. Then, the efficiency of this wearable IoT system with multimedia technology is evaluated using experimental results and discussed in terms of accuracy, efficiency, mean residual error, delay, and less energy consumption. This state-of-the-art smart-log patch is considered as one of evolutionary research in health checking of multi access physical monitoring systems with multimedia technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobile and Embedded Devices in Multi-access Edge Computing)
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10 pages, 3630 KiB  
Article
Reducing the Effect of Positioning Errors on Kinematic Raw Doppler (RD) Velocity Estimation Using BDS-2 Precise Point Positioning
by Shunli Duan, Wei Sun, Chenhao Ouyang, Xinyu Chen and Junbo Shi
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3029; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133029 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3211
Abstract
In the traditional raw Doppler (RD) velocity estimation method, the positioning error of the pseudorange-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) single point positioning (SPP) solution affects the accuracy of the velocity estimation through the station-satellite unit cosine vector. To eliminate the effect of [...] Read more.
In the traditional raw Doppler (RD) velocity estimation method, the positioning error of the pseudorange-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) single point positioning (SPP) solution affects the accuracy of the velocity estimation through the station-satellite unit cosine vector. To eliminate the effect of positioning errors, this paper proposes a carrier-phase-based second generation of the BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS-2) precise point positioning (PPP) RD velocity estimation method. Compared with the SPP positioning accuracy of tens of meters, the BDS-2 kinematic PPP positioning accuracy is significantly improved to the dm level. In order to verify the reliability and applicability of the developed method, three dedicated tests, the vehicle-borne, ship-borne and air-borne platforms, were conducted. In the vehicle-borne experiment, the GNSS and inertial navigation system (INS)-integrated velocity solution was chosen as the reference. The velocity accuracy of the BDS-2 PPP RD method was better than that of SPP RD by 28.4%, 27.1% and 26.1% in the east, north and up directions, respectively. In the ship-borne and air-borne experiments, the BDS-2 PPP RD velocity accuracy was improved by 17.4%, 21.4%, 17.8%, and 38.1%, 17.6%, 17.5% in the same three directions, respectively, compared with the BDS-2 SPP RD solutions. The reference in these two tests is the real-time kinematic (RTK) Position Derivation (PD)-based velocity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise Point Positioning with Multiple GNSS)
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22 pages, 2972 KiB  
Article
A Secure Charging System for Electric Vehicles Based on Blockchain
by MyeongHyun Kim, KiSung Park, SungJin Yu, JoonYoung Lee, YoungHo Park, Sang-Woo Lee and BoHeung Chung
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3028; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133028 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 59 | Viewed by 9177
Abstract
Smart grids incorporating internet-of-things are emerging solutions to provide a reliable, sustainable and efficient electricity supply, and electric vehicle drivers can access efficient charging services in the smart grid. However, traditional electric vehicle charging systems are vulnerable to distributed denial of service and [...] Read more.
Smart grids incorporating internet-of-things are emerging solutions to provide a reliable, sustainable and efficient electricity supply, and electric vehicle drivers can access efficient charging services in the smart grid. However, traditional electric vehicle charging systems are vulnerable to distributed denial of service and privileged insider attacks when the central charging server is attacked. The blockchain-based charging systems have been proposed to resolve these problems. In 2018, Huang et al. proposed the electric vehicle charging system using lightning network and smart contract. However, their system has an inefficient charging mechanism and does not guarantee security of key. We propose a secure charging system for electric vehicles based on blockchain to resolve these security flaws. Our charging system ensures the security of key, secure mutual authentication, anonymity, and perfect forward secrecy, and also provides efficient charging. We demonstrate that our proposed system provides secure mutual authentication using Burrows–Abadi–Needham logic and prevents replay and man-in-the-middle attacks using automated validation of internet security protocols and applications simulation tool. Furthermore, we compare computation and communication costs with previous schemes. Therefore, the proposed charging system efficiently applies to practical charging systems for electric vehicles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Internet of Things)
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11 pages, 9789 KiB  
Article
Stress-Insensitive Resonant Graphene Mass Sensing via Frequency Ratio
by Xing Xiao, Shang-Chun Fan, Cheng Li and Wei-Wei Xing
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3027; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133027 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3996
Abstract
Herein, a peripherally clamped stretched square monolayer graphene sheet with a side length of 10 nm was demonstrated as a resonator for atomic-scale mass sensing via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Then, a novel method of mass determination using the first three resonant modes [...] Read more.
Herein, a peripherally clamped stretched square monolayer graphene sheet with a side length of 10 nm was demonstrated as a resonator for atomic-scale mass sensing via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Then, a novel method of mass determination using the first three resonant modes (mode11, mode21 and mode22) was developed to avoid the disturbance of stress fluctuation in graphene. MD simulation results indicate that improving the prestress in stretched graphene increases the sensitivity significantly. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the mass accurately by the stress-reliant fundamental frequency shift. However, the absorbed mass in the middle of graphene sheets decreases the resonant frequency of mode11 dramatically while having negligible effect on that of mode21 and mode22, which implies that the latter two frequency modes are appropriate for compensating the stress-induced frequency shift of mode11. Hence, the absorbed mass, with a resolution of 3.3 × 10−22 g, is found using the frequency ratio of mode11 to mode21 or mode22, despite the unstable prestress ranging from 32 GPa to 47 GPa. This stress insensitivity contributes to the applicability of the graphene-based resonant mass sensor in real applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Graphene-Based Materials in Sensors)
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26 pages, 4148 KiB  
Article
Single-Board-Computer Clusters for Cloudlet Computing in Internet of Things
by Damián Fernández-Cerero, Jorge Yago Fernández-Rodríguez, Juan A. Álvarez-García, Luis M. Soria-Morillo and Alejandro Fernández-Montes
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3026; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133026 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5085
Abstract
The number of connected sensors and devices is expected to increase to billions in the near future. However, centralised cloud-computing data centres present various challenges to meet the requirements inherent to Internet of Things (IoT) workloads, such as low latency, high throughput and [...] Read more.
The number of connected sensors and devices is expected to increase to billions in the near future. However, centralised cloud-computing data centres present various challenges to meet the requirements inherent to Internet of Things (IoT) workloads, such as low latency, high throughput and bandwidth constraints. Edge computing is becoming the standard computing paradigm for latency-sensitive real-time IoT workloads, since it addresses the aforementioned limitations related to centralised cloud-computing models. Such a paradigm relies on bringing computation close to the source of data, which presents serious operational challenges for large-scale cloud-computing providers. In this work, we present an architecture composed of low-cost Single-Board-Computer clusters near to data sources, and centralised cloud-computing data centres. The proposed cost-efficient model may be employed as an alternative to fog computing to meet real-time IoT workload requirements while keeping scalability. We include an extensive empirical analysis to assess the suitability of single-board-computer clusters as cost-effective edge-computing micro data centres. Additionally, we compare the proposed architecture with traditional cloudlet and cloud architectures, and evaluate them through extensive simulation. We finally show that acquisition costs can be drastically reduced while keeping performance levels in data-intensive IoT use cases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Internet of Things)
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12 pages, 9249 KiB  
Article
The Investigation of a SAW Oxygen Gas Sensor Operated at Room Temperature, Based on Nanostructured ZnxFeyO Films
by Lin Shu, Tao Jiang, Yudong Xia, Xuemin Wang, Dawei Yan and Weidong Wu
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3025; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133025 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4391
Abstract
In this paper, we report a wireless gas sensor based on surface acoustic waves (SAW). For room temperature detection of oxygen gas, a novel nanostructured ZnxFeyO gas-sensitive film was deposited on the surface of a SAW resonator by an [...] Read more.
In this paper, we report a wireless gas sensor based on surface acoustic waves (SAW). For room temperature detection of oxygen gas, a novel nanostructured ZnxFeyO gas-sensitive film was deposited on the surface of a SAW resonator by an oblique magnetron co-sputtering method. The measurements of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that the crystal phase composition and the microstructures of ZnxFeyO films were significantly affected by the content of Fe. The experimental results showed that the sensors had a good response to O2 at room temperature. The max frequency shift of the sensors reached 258 kHz as the O2 partial pressure was 20%. Moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was performed to analyze the role of Fe in the sensitization process of the ZnxFeyO film. In addition, the internal relationship between the Fe content of the film and the sensitivity of the sensor was presented and discussed. The research indicates that the nanostructured ZnxFeyO film has a good potential for room temperature O2 gas detection applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Collection Gas Sensors)
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13 pages, 2339 KiB  
Article
Accuracy Analysis in Sensor Networks for Asynchronous Positioning Methods
by Rubén Álvarez, Javier Díez-González, Efrén Alonso, Laura Fernández-Robles, Manuel Castejón-Limas and Hilde Perez
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3024; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133024 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 4684
Abstract
The accuracy requirements for sensor network positioning have grown over the last few years due to the high precision demanded in activities related with vehicles and robots. Such systems involve a wide range of specifications which must be met through positioning devices based [...] Read more.
The accuracy requirements for sensor network positioning have grown over the last few years due to the high precision demanded in activities related with vehicles and robots. Such systems involve a wide range of specifications which must be met through positioning devices based on time measurement. These systems have been traditionally designed with the synchronization of their sensors in order to compute the position estimation. However, this synchronization introduces an error in the time determination which can be avoided through the centralization of the measurements in a single clock in a coordinate sensor. This can be found in typical architectures such as Asynchronous Time Difference of Arrival (A-TDOA) and Difference-Time Difference of Arrival (D-TDOA) systems. In this paper, a study of the suitability of these new systems based on a Cramér-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) evaluation was performed for the first time under different 3D real environments for multiple sensor locations. The analysis was carried out through a new heteroscedastic noise variance modelling with a distance-dependent Log-normal path loss propagation model. Results showed that A-TDOA provided less uncertainty in the root mean square error (RMSE) in the positioning, while D-TDOA reduced the standard deviation and increased stability all over the domain. Full article
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13 pages, 3170 KiB  
Article
Multi-Fidelity Local Surrogate Model for Computationally Efficient Microwave Component Design Optimization
by Yiran Song, Qingsha S. Cheng and Slawomir Koziel
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3023; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133023 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3680
Abstract
In order to minimize the number of evaluations of high-fidelity (“fine”) model in the optimization process, to increase the optimization speed, and to improve optimal solution accuracy, a robust and computational-efficient multi-fidelity local surrogate-model optimization method is proposed. Based on the principle of [...] Read more.
In order to minimize the number of evaluations of high-fidelity (“fine”) model in the optimization process, to increase the optimization speed, and to improve optimal solution accuracy, a robust and computational-efficient multi-fidelity local surrogate-model optimization method is proposed. Based on the principle of response surface approximation, the proposed method exploits the multi-fidelity coarse models and polynomial interpolation to construct a series of local surrogate models. In the optimization process, local region modeling and optimization are performed iteratively. A judgment factor is introduced to provide information for local region size update. The last local surrogate model is refined by space mapping techniques to obtain the optimal design with high accuracy. The operation and efficiency of the approach are demonstrated through design of a bandpass filter and a compact ultra-wide-band (UWB) multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO) antenna. The response of the optimized design of the fine model meet the design specification. The proposed method not only has better convergence compared to an existing local surrogate method, but also reduces the computational cost substantially. Full article
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37 pages, 11251 KiB  
Article
Location Privacy Protection in Distributed IoT Environments Based on Dynamic Sensor Node Clustering
by Konstantinos Dimitriou and Ioanna Roussaki
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3022; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133022 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4145
Abstract
One of the most significant challenges in Internet of Things (IoT) environments is the protection of privacy. Failing to guarantee the privacy of sensitive data collected and shared over IoT infrastructures is a critical barrier that delays the wide penetration of IoT technologies [...] Read more.
One of the most significant challenges in Internet of Things (IoT) environments is the protection of privacy. Failing to guarantee the privacy of sensitive data collected and shared over IoT infrastructures is a critical barrier that delays the wide penetration of IoT technologies in several user-centric application domains. Location information is the most common dynamic information monitored and lies among the most sensitive ones from a privacy perspective. This article introduces a novel mechanism that aims to protect the privacy of location information across Data Centric Sensor Networks (DCSNs) that monitor the location of mobile objects in IoT systems. The respective data dissemination protocols proposed enhance the security of DCSNs rendering them less vulnerable to intruders interested in obtaining the location information monitored. In this respect, a dynamic clustering algorithm is that clusters the DCSN nodes not only based on the network topology, but also considering the current location of the objects monitored. The proposed techniques do not focus on the prevention of attacks, but on enhancing the privacy of sensitive location information once IoT nodes have been compromised. They have been extensively assessed via series of experiments conducted over the IoT infrastructure of FIT IoT-LAB and the respective evaluation results indicate that the dynamic clustering algorithm proposed significantly outperforms existing solutions focusing on enhancing the privacy of location information in IoT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Algorithm and Distributed Computing for the Internet of Things)
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16 pages, 1404 KiB  
Article
Deep ECG-Respiration Network (DeepER Net) for Recognizing Mental Stress
by Wonju Seo, Namho Kim, Sehyeon Kim, Chanhee Lee and Sung-Min Park
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3021; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133021 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 7604
Abstract
Unmanaged long-term mental stress in the workplace can lead to serious health problems and reduced productivity. To prevent this, it is important to recognize and relieve mental stress in a timely manner. Here, we propose a novel stress detection algorithm based on end-to-end [...] Read more.
Unmanaged long-term mental stress in the workplace can lead to serious health problems and reduced productivity. To prevent this, it is important to recognize and relieve mental stress in a timely manner. Here, we propose a novel stress detection algorithm based on end-to-end deep learning using multiple physiological signals, such as electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiration (RESP) signal. To mimic workplace stress in our experiments, we used Stroop and math tasks as stressors, with each stressor being followed by a relaxation task. Herein, we recruited 18 subjects and measured both ECG and RESP signals using Zephyr BioHarness 3.0. After five-fold cross validation, the proposed network performed well, with an average accuracy of 83.9%, an average F1 score of 0.81, and an average area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.92, demonstrating its superiority over conventional machine learning models. Furthermore, by visualizing the activation of the trained network’s neurons, we found that they were activated by specific ECG and RESP patterns. In conclusion, we successfully validated the feasibility of end-to-end deep learning using multiple physiological signals for recognition of mental stress in the workplace. We believe that this is a promising approach that will help to improve the quality of life of people suffering from long-term work-related mental stress. Full article
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19 pages, 1123 KiB  
Article
Performance Analysis of Time Synchronization Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks
by Linh-An Phan, Taejoon Kim, Taehong Kim, JaeSeang Lee and Jae-Hyun Ham
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3020; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133020 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5105
Abstract
The time synchronization protocol is indispensable in various applications of wireless sensor networks, such as scheduling, monitoring, and tracking. Numerous protocols and algorithms have been proposed in recent decades, and many of them provide micro-scale resolutions. However, designing and implementing a time synchronization [...] Read more.
The time synchronization protocol is indispensable in various applications of wireless sensor networks, such as scheduling, monitoring, and tracking. Numerous protocols and algorithms have been proposed in recent decades, and many of them provide micro-scale resolutions. However, designing and implementing a time synchronization protocol in a practical wireless network is very challenging compared to implementation in a wired network; this is because its performance can be deteriorated significantly by many factors, including hardware quality, message delay jitter, ambient environment, and network topology. In this study, we measure the performance of the Flooding Time Synchronization Protocol (FTSP) and Gradient Time Synchronization Protocol (GTSP) in terms of practical network conditions, such as message delay jitter, synchronization period, network topology, and packet loss. This study provides insights into the operation and optimization of time synchronization protocols. In addition, the performance evaluation identifies that FTSP is highly affected by message delay jitter due to error accumulation over multi-hops. We demonstrate that the proposed extended version of the FTSP (E-FTSP) alleviates the effect of message delay jitter and enhances the overall performance of FTSP in terms of error, time, and other factors. Full article
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15 pages, 4622 KiB  
Article
Pure SH1 Guided-Wave Generation Method with Dual Periodic-Permanent-Magnet Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers for Plates Inspection
by Gongzhe Qiu, Xiaochun Song, Xu Zhang, Jun Tu and Tao Chen
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3019; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133019 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3358
Abstract
High frequency guided-waves offer a trade-off between the high sensitivity of local bulk ultrasonic thickness measurements and the large area scanning of lower frequency guided-waves, so it has been a growing interest for corrosion inspection with the dispersive SH1 mode. However, according to [...] Read more.
High frequency guided-waves offer a trade-off between the high sensitivity of local bulk ultrasonic thickness measurements and the large area scanning of lower frequency guided-waves, so it has been a growing interest for corrosion inspection with the dispersive SH1 mode. However, according to the dispersive curve, it is hard to generate the pure SH1 mode since the non-dispersive SH0 mode will be excited simultaneously. Thus, this paper investigates a transducer design method to generate a pure SH1 guided-wave, where the dual periodic-permanent-magnet electromagnetic acoustic transducers (PPM EMATs) are placed on exactly opposite positions either side of the plate symmetrically. The suppression effect for SH0 and the enhancement effect for SH1 of the dual PPM EMATs are mainly discussed by theoretical analysis and simulation analysis, and the influence of positioning errors of PPM EMATs placed on opposite sides of the plate on its performances are analyzed. Employing the proposed dual PPM EMATs, some experiments are performed to verify the reliability of finite element simulation. The results indicate that the dual PPM EMATs can suppress the SH0 mode and generate the pure SH1 mode effectively. Moreover, the longitudinal and lateral positioning errors can affect the dual PPM EMATs performances significantly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)
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17 pages, 3993 KiB  
Article
Exploring GNSS Crowdsourcing Feasibility: Combinations of Measurements for Modeling Smartphone and Higher End GNSS Receiver Performance
by Ville V. Lehtola, Stefan Söderholm, Michelle Koivisto and Leslie Montloin
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3018; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133018 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4350
Abstract
GNSS receiver data crowdsourcing is of interest for multiple applications, e.g., weather monitoring. The bottleneck in this technology is the quality of the GNSS receivers. Therefore, we lay out in an introductory manner the steps to estimate the performance of an arbitrary GNSS [...] Read more.
GNSS receiver data crowdsourcing is of interest for multiple applications, e.g., weather monitoring. The bottleneck in this technology is the quality of the GNSS receivers. Therefore, we lay out in an introductory manner the steps to estimate the performance of an arbitrary GNSS receiver via the measurement errors related to its instrumentation. Specifically, we do not need to know the position of the receiver antenna, which allows also for the assessment of smartphone GNSS receivers having integrated antennas. Moreover, the method is independent of atmospheric errors so that no ionospheric or tropospheric correction services provided by base stations are needed. Error models for performance evaluation can be calculated from receiver RINEX (receiver independent exchange format)data using only ephemeris corrections. For the results, we present the quality of different receiver grades through parametrized error models that are likely to be helpful in stochastic modeling, e.g., for Kalman filters, and in assessing GNSS receiver qualities for crowdsourcing applications. Currently, the typical positioning precision for the latest smartphone receivers is around the decimeter level, while for a professional-grade receiver, it is within a few millimeters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensors)
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14 pages, 4413 KiB  
Article
A Method for Energy Balance and Data Transmission Optimal Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks
by Xuesong Liu and Jie Wu
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3017; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133017 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 56 | Viewed by 6025
Abstract
Wireless sensor networks are widely used in many fields. Nodes in the network are typically powered by batteries. Because the energy consumption of wireless communication is related to the transmission distance, the energy consumption of nodes in different locations is different, resulting in [...] Read more.
Wireless sensor networks are widely used in many fields. Nodes in the network are typically powered by batteries. Because the energy consumption of wireless communication is related to the transmission distance, the energy consumption of nodes in different locations is different, resulting in uneven energy distribution of nodes. In some special applications, all nodes are required to work at the same time, and the uneven energy distribution makes the effective working time of the system subject to the node with the largest energy consumption. The commonly used clustering protocol can play a role in balancing energy consumption, but it does not achieve optimal energy consumption. This paper proposes to use the power supply line to connect the nodes to fully balance the energy. The connection scheme with the shortest power line length is also proposed. On the basis of energy balance, the method of transmitting data with the best hop count is proposed, which fully reduces the power consumption of the data transmission. The simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively reduce the energy consumption and prolong the lifetime of wireless sensor networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Sensor Networks)
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22 pages, 14352 KiB  
Article
STAM-CCF: Suspicious Tracking Across Multiple Camera Based on Correlation Filters
by Ruey-Kai Sheu, Mayuresh Pardeshi, Lun-Chi Chen and Shyan-Ming Yuan
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3016; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133016 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6467
Abstract
There is strong demand for real-time suspicious tracking across multiple cameras in intelligent video surveillance for public areas, such as universities, airports and factories. Most criminal events show that the nature of suspicious behavior are carried out by un-known people who try to [...] Read more.
There is strong demand for real-time suspicious tracking across multiple cameras in intelligent video surveillance for public areas, such as universities, airports and factories. Most criminal events show that the nature of suspicious behavior are carried out by un-known people who try to hide themselves as much as possible. Previous learning-based studies collected a large volume data set to train a learning model to detect humans across multiple cameras but failed to recognize newcomers. There are also several feature-based studies aimed to identify humans within-camera tracking. It would be very difficult for those methods to get necessary feature information in multi-camera scenarios and scenes. It is the purpose of this study to design and implement a suspicious tracking mechanism across multiple cameras based on correlation filters, called suspicious tracking across multiple cameras based on correlation filters (STAM-CCF). By leveraging the geographical information of cameras and YOLO object detection framework, STAM-CCF adjusts human identification and prevents errors caused by information loss in case of object occlusion and overlapping for within-camera tracking cases. STAM-CCF also introduces a camera correlation model and a two-stage gait recognition strategy to deal with problems of re-identification across multiple cameras. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs well with highly acceptable accuracy. The evidences also show that the proposed STAM-CCF method can continuously recognize suspicious behavior within-camera tracking and re-identify it successfully across multiple cameras. Full article
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20 pages, 3005 KiB  
Article
Barrier Access Control Using Sensors Platform and Vehicle License Plate Characters Recognition
by Farman Ullah, Hafeez Anwar, Iram Shahzadi, Ata Ur Rehman, Shizra Mehmood, Sania Niaz, Khalid Mahmood Awan, Ajmal Khan and Daehan Kwak
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3015; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133015 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 7082
Abstract
The paper proposes a sensors platform to control a barrier that is installed for vehicles entrance. This platform is automatized by image-based license plate recognition of the vehicle. However, in situations where standardized license plates are not used, such image-based recognition becomes non-trivial [...] Read more.
The paper proposes a sensors platform to control a barrier that is installed for vehicles entrance. This platform is automatized by image-based license plate recognition of the vehicle. However, in situations where standardized license plates are not used, such image-based recognition becomes non-trivial and challenging due to the variations in license plate background, fonts and deformations. The proposed method first detects the approaching vehicle via ultrasonic sensors and, at the same time, captures its image via a camera installed along with the barrier. From this image, the license plate is automatically extracted and further processed to segment the license plate characters. Finally, these characters are recognized with the help of a standard optical character recognition (OCR) pipeline. The evaluation of the proposed system shows an accuracy of 98% for license plates extraction, 96% for character segmentation and 93% for character recognition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vehicular Sensor Networks: Applications, Advances and Challenges)
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15 pages, 8304 KiB  
Article
Fault Detection in Power Equipment via an Unmanned Aerial System Using Multi Modal Data
by Bushra Jalil, Giuseppe Riccardo Leone, Massimo Martinelli, Davide Moroni, Maria Antonietta Pascali and Andrea Berton
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3014; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133014 - 9 Jul 2019
Cited by 89 | Viewed by 11041
Abstract
The power transmission lines are the link between power plants and the points of consumption, through substations. Most importantly, the assessment of damaged aerial power lines and rusted conductors is of extreme importance for public safety; hence, power lines and associated components must [...] Read more.
The power transmission lines are the link between power plants and the points of consumption, through substations. Most importantly, the assessment of damaged aerial power lines and rusted conductors is of extreme importance for public safety; hence, power lines and associated components must be periodically inspected to ensure a continuous supply and to identify any fault and defect. To achieve these objectives, recently, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been widely used; in fact, they provide a safe way to bring sensors close to the power transmission lines and their associated components without halting the equipment during the inspection, and reducing operational cost and risk. In this work, a drone, equipped with multi-modal sensors, captures images in the visible and infrared domain and transmits them to the ground station. We used state-of-the-art computer vision methods to highlight expected faults (i.e., hot spots) or damaged components of the electrical infrastructure (i.e., damaged insulators). Infrared imaging, which is invariant to large scale and illumination changes in the real operating environment, supported the identification of faults in power transmission lines; while a neural network is adapted and trained to detect and classify insulators from an optical video stream. We demonstrate our approach on data captured by a drone in Parma, Italy. Full article
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15 pages, 4831 KiB  
Article
A Novel Chiller Sensors Fault Diagnosis Method Based on Virtual Sensors
by Long Gao, Donghui Li, Ding Li, Lele Yao, Limei Liang and Yanan Gao
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3013; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133013 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5175
Abstract
Sensor fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) has great significance for ensuring the energy saving and normal operation of the air conditioning system. Chiller systems serving as an important part of central air conditioning systems are the major energy consumer in commercial and industrial [...] Read more.
Sensor fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) has great significance for ensuring the energy saving and normal operation of the air conditioning system. Chiller systems serving as an important part of central air conditioning systems are the major energy consumer in commercial and industrial buildings. In order to ensure the normal operation of the chiller system, virtual sensors have been proposed to detect and diagnose sensor faults. However, the performance of virtual sensors could be easily impacted by abnormal data. To solve this problem, virtual sensors combined with the maximal information coefficient (MIC) and a long short-term memory (LSTM) network is proposed for chiller sensor fault diagnosis. Firstly, MIC, which has the ability to quantify the degree of relevance in a data set, is applied to examine all potentially interesting relationships between sensors. Subsequently, sensors with high correlation are divided into several groups by the grouping thresholds. Two virtual sensors, which are constructed in each group by LSTM with different input sensors and corresponding to the same physical sensor, could have the ability to predict the value of physical sensors. High correlation sensors in each group improve the fitting effect of virtual sensors. Finally, sensor faults can be diagnosed by the absolute deviation which is generated by comparing the virtual sensors’ output with the actual value measured from the air-cooled chiller. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated by using a real data set. Experimental results indicate that virtual sensors can be well constructed and the proposed method achieves a significant performance along with a low false alarm rate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)
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14 pages, 4149 KiB  
Article
Decoupled Six-Axis Force–Moment Sensor with a Novel Strain Gauge Arrangement and Error Reduction Techniques
by Getnet Ayele Kebede, Anton Royanto Ahmad, Shao-Chun Lee and Chyi-Yeu Lin
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3012; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133012 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 5270
Abstract
In this study, a novel strain gauge arrangement and error reduction techniques were proposed to minimize crosstalk reading and simultaneously increase sensitivity on a decoupled six-axis force–moment (F/M) sensor. The calibration process that comprises the least squares method and error reduction techniques was [...] Read more.
In this study, a novel strain gauge arrangement and error reduction techniques were proposed to minimize crosstalk reading and simultaneously increase sensitivity on a decoupled six-axis force–moment (F/M) sensor. The calibration process that comprises the least squares method and error reduction techniques was implemented to obtain a robust decoupling matrix. A decoupling matrix is very crucial for minimizing error and crosstalk. A novel strain gauge arrangement that comprised double parallel strain gauges in the decoupled six-axis force–moment sensor was implemented to obtain high sensitivity. The experimental results revealed that the maximum calibration error, F/M sensor measurement error, and crosstalk readings were reduced to 3.91%, 1.78%, and 4.78%, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Intelligent Sensors)
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19 pages, 5977 KiB  
Article
E-Knitted Textile with Polymer Optical Fibers for Friction and Pressure Monitoring in Socks
by Claire Guignier, Brigitte Camillieri, Michel Schmid, René M. Rossi and Marie-Ange Bueno
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3011; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133011 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 5535
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to study the ability of polymer optical fiber (POF) to be inserted in a knitted fabric and to measure both pressure and friction when walking. Firstly, POF, marketed and in development, have been compared in terms of [...] Read more.
The objective of this paper is to study the ability of polymer optical fiber (POF) to be inserted in a knitted fabric and to measure both pressure and friction when walking. Firstly, POF, marketed and in development, have been compared in terms of the required mechanical properties for the insertion of the fiber directly into a knitted fabric on an industrial scale, i.e. elongation, bending rigidity, and minimum bending radius before plastic deformation. Secondly, the chosen optical fiber was inserted inside several types of knitted fabric and was shown to be sensitive to friction and compression. The knitted structure with the highest sensitivity has been chosen for sock prototype manufacturing. Finally, a feasibility study with an instrumented sock showed that it is possible to detect the different phases of walking in terms of compression and friction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Biosensors)
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28 pages, 13614 KiB  
Article
RF Energy Harvesting Wireless Communications: RF Environment, Device Hardware and Practical Issues
by Yu Luo, Lina Pu, Guodong Wang and Yanxiao Zhao
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3010; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133010 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 73 | Viewed by 11001
Abstract
Radio frequency (RF) based wireless power transfer provides an attractive solution to extend the lifetime of power-constrained wireless sensor networks. Through harvesting RF energy from surrounding environments or dedicated energy sources, low-power wireless devices can be self-sustaining and environment-friendly. These features make the [...] Read more.
Radio frequency (RF) based wireless power transfer provides an attractive solution to extend the lifetime of power-constrained wireless sensor networks. Through harvesting RF energy from surrounding environments or dedicated energy sources, low-power wireless devices can be self-sustaining and environment-friendly. These features make the RF energy harvesting wireless communication (RF-EHWC) technique attractive to a wide range of applications. The objective of this article is to investigate the latest research activities on the practical RF-EHWC design. The distribution of RF energy in the real environment, the hardware design of RF-EHWC devices and the practical issues in the implementation of RF-EHWC networks are discussed. At the end of this article, we introduce several interesting applications that exploit the RF-EHWC technology to provide smart healthcare services for animals, wirelessly charge the wearable devices, and implement 5G-assisted RF-EHWC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Sensor Networks)
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21 pages, 3944 KiB  
Article
SIFSpec: Measuring Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Observations for Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis
by Shanshan Du, Liangyun Liu, Xinjie Liu, Jian Guo, Jiaochan Hu, Shaoqiang Wang and Yongguang Zhang
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3009; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133009 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 53 | Viewed by 6764
Abstract
Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is regarded as a proxy for photosynthesis in terrestrial vegetation. Tower-based long-term observations of SIF are very important for gaining further insight into the ecosystem-specific seasonal dynamics of photosynthetic activity, including gross primary production (GPP). Here, we present the [...] Read more.
Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is regarded as a proxy for photosynthesis in terrestrial vegetation. Tower-based long-term observations of SIF are very important for gaining further insight into the ecosystem-specific seasonal dynamics of photosynthetic activity, including gross primary production (GPP). Here, we present the design and operation of the tower-based automated SIF measurement (SIFSpec) system. This system was developed with the aim of obtaining synchronous SIF observations and flux measurements across different terrestrial ecosystems, as well as to validate the increasing number of satellite SIF products using in situ measurements. Details of the system components, instrument installation, calibration, data collection, and processing are introduced. Atmospheric correction is also included in the data processing chain, which is important, but usually ignored for tower-based SIF measurements. Continuous measurements made across two growing cycles over maize at a Daman (DM) flux site (in Gansu province, China) demonstrate the reliable performance of SIF as an indicator for tracking the diurnal variations in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and seasonal variations in GPP. For the O2–A band in particular, a high correlation coefficient value of 0.81 is found between the SIF and seasonal variations of GPP. It is thus concluded that, in coordination with continuous eddy covariance (EC) flux measurements, automated and continuous SIF observations can provide a reliable approach for understanding the photosynthetic activity of the terrestrial ecosystem, and are also able to bridge the link between ground-based optical measurements and airborne or satellite remote sensing data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Quantitative Remote Sensing: Past, Present and Future)
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14 pages, 8236 KiB  
Article
Calibration of the Relative Orientation between Multiple Depth Cameras Based on a Three-Dimensional Target
by Zhe Liu, Zhaozong Meng, Nan Gao and Zonghua Zhang
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3008; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133008 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4320
Abstract
Depth cameras play a vital role in three-dimensional (3D) shape reconstruction, machine vision, augmented/virtual reality and other visual information-related fields. However, a single depth camera cannot obtain complete information about an object by itself due to the limitation of the camera’s field of [...] Read more.
Depth cameras play a vital role in three-dimensional (3D) shape reconstruction, machine vision, augmented/virtual reality and other visual information-related fields. However, a single depth camera cannot obtain complete information about an object by itself due to the limitation of the camera’s field of view. Multiple depth cameras can solve this problem by acquiring depth information from different viewpoints. In order to do so, they need to be calibrated to be able to accurately obtain the complete 3D information. However, traditional chessboard-based planar targets are not well suited for calibrating the relative orientations between multiple depth cameras, because the coordinates of different depth cameras need to be unified into a single coordinate system, and the multiple camera systems with a specific angle have a very small overlapping field of view. In this paper, we propose a 3D target-based multiple depth camera calibration method. Each plane of the 3D target is used to calibrate an independent depth camera. All planes of the 3D target are unified into a single coordinate system, which means the feature points on the calibration plane are also in one unified coordinate system. Using this 3D target, multiple depth cameras can be calibrated simultaneously. In this paper, a method of precise calibration using lidar is proposed. This method is not only applicable to the 3D target designed for the purposes of this paper, but it can also be applied to all 3D calibration objects consisting of planar chessboards. This method can significantly reduce the calibration error compared with traditional camera calibration methods. In addition, in order to reduce the influence of the infrared transmitter of the depth camera and improve its calibration accuracy, the calibration process of the depth camera is optimized. A series of calibration experiments were carried out, and the experimental results demonstrated the reliability and effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Optical Sensors)
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15 pages, 5316 KiB  
Article
Ternary Gas Mixture Quantification Using Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS)
by Yasufumi Yokoshiki and Takamichi Nakamoto
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3007; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133007 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3627
Abstract
Gas mixture quantification is essential for the recording and reproducing odors, because an odor consists of multiple chemical compounds. Gas mixture quantification using field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) was studied. Acetone, ethanol, and diethyl ether were selected as components of a ternary [...] Read more.
Gas mixture quantification is essential for the recording and reproducing odors, because an odor consists of multiple chemical compounds. Gas mixture quantification using field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) was studied. Acetone, ethanol, and diethyl ether were selected as components of a ternary gas mixture sample as representatives of the ketone, alcohol, and ether chemical classes, respectively. One hundred and twenty-five points with different concentrations were measured. The results were evaluated by error hypersurface, variance, and the coefficient of variation. The error hypersurface showed that it is possible to reach the target composition by following the error-hypersurface gradient. Successful convergence was achieved with the gradient descent method in a simulation based on the measurement data. This result verified the feasibility of the quantification of a gas mixture using FAIMS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Chemical Sensors)
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13 pages, 8641 KiB  
Article
A Blood Flow Volume Linear Inversion Model Based on Electromagnetic Sensor for Predicting the Rate of Arterial Stenosis
by Dan Yang, Yan-jun Liu, Bin Xu and Yun-hui Duo
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3006; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133006 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3818
Abstract
This paper presents a mathematical model of measuring blood flow based on electromagnetic induction for predicting the rate of arterial stenosis. Firstly, an electrode sensor was used to collect the induced potential differences from human skin surface in a uniform magnetic field. Then, [...] Read more.
This paper presents a mathematical model of measuring blood flow based on electromagnetic induction for predicting the rate of arterial stenosis. Firstly, an electrode sensor was used to collect the induced potential differences from human skin surface in a uniform magnetic field. Then, the inversion matrix was constructed by the weight function theory and finite element method. Next, the blood flow volume inversion model was constructed by combining the induction potential differences and inversion matrix. Finally, the rate of arterial stenosis was predicted based on mathematical relationship between blood flow and the area of arterial stenosis. To verify the accuracy of the model, a uniform magnetic field distribution of Helmholtz coil and a 3D geometric model of the ulnar artery of the forearm with different rates of stenosis were established in COMSOL, a finite element analysis software. Simulation results showed that the inversion model had high accuracy in the measurement of blood flow and the prediction of rate of stenosis, and is of great significance for the early diagnosis of arterial stenosis and other vessel diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electromagnetic Sensors for Biomedical Applications)
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17 pages, 45097 KiB  
Article
Monitoring Surface Defects Deformations and Displacements in Hot Steel Using Magnetic Induction Tomography
by Fang Li, Stefano Spagnul, Victor Odedo and Manuchehr Soleimani
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3005; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133005 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3587
Abstract
Magnetic Induction Tomography (MIT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that has been widely applied for imaging materials with high electrical conductivity contrasts. Steel production is among an increasing number of applications that require a contactless method for monitoring the casting process due to [...] Read more.
Magnetic Induction Tomography (MIT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that has been widely applied for imaging materials with high electrical conductivity contrasts. Steel production is among an increasing number of applications that require a contactless method for monitoring the casting process due to the high temperature of hot steel. In this paper, an MIT technique is proposed for detecting defects and deformations in the external surfaces of metal, which has the potential to be used to monitor the external surface of hot steel during the continuous casting process. The Total Variation (TV) reconstruction algorithm was developed to image the conductivity distributions. Nonetheless, the reconstructed image of the deformed square metal obtained using the TV algorithm directly does not yield resonable images of the surface deformation. However, differential images obtained by subtracting the image of a perfect square metal with no deformations from the image obtained for a deformed square metal does provide accurate and repeatable deformation information. It is possible to obtain a more precise image of surface deformation by thresholding the differential image. This TV-based threshold-differencing method has been analysed and verified from both simulation and experimental tests. The simulation results reported that 0.92 % of the image region can be detected, and the experimental results indicated a 0.57 % detectability. Use of the proposed method was demonstareted in a MIT device which was used in continuous casting set up. The paper shows results from computer simulation, lab based cold tests, and real life data from continoeus cating demonstating the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article
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11 pages, 2553 KiB  
Article
The Analysis of the Urea Biosensors Using Different Sensing Matrices via Wireless Measurement System & Microfluidic Measurement System
by Jung-Chuan Chou, Cian-Yi Wu, Si-Hong Lin, Po-Yu Kuo, Chih-Hsien Lai, Yu-Hsun Nien, You-Xiang Wu and Tsu-Yang Lai
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3004; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133004 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5600
Abstract
Two types of urea biosensors were integrated with a wireless measurement system and microfluidic measurement system. The two biosensors used were (i) a magnetic beads (MBs)-urease/graphene oxide (GO)/titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based biosensor and (ii) an MBs-urease/GO/ nickel oxide (NiO)-based biosensor, respectively. The [...] Read more.
Two types of urea biosensors were integrated with a wireless measurement system and microfluidic measurement system. The two biosensors used were (i) a magnetic beads (MBs)-urease/graphene oxide (GO)/titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based biosensor and (ii) an MBs-urease/GO/ nickel oxide (NiO)-based biosensor, respectively. The wireless measurement system work exhibited the feasibility for the remote detection of urea, but it will require refinement and modification to improve stability and precision. The microchannel fluidic system showed the measurement reliability. The sensing properties of urea biosensors at different flow rates were investigated. From the measurement results, the decay of average sensitivity may be attributed to the induced vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) at the high flow rate. In the aspect of wireless monitoring, the average sensitivity of the urea biosensor based on MBs-urease/GO/NiO was 4.780 mV/(mg/dl) and with the linearity of 0.938. In the aspect of measurement under dynamic conditions, the average sensitivity of the urea biosensor based on MBs-urease/GO/NiO were 5.582 mV/(mg/dl) and with the linearity of 0.959. Both measurements performed NiO was better than TiO2 according to the comparisons. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Potentiometric Bio/Chemical Sensing)
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13 pages, 7334 KiB  
Article
Resonant Grating without a Planar Waveguide Layer as a Refractive Index Sensor
by Sivan Isaacs, Ansar Hajoj, Mohammad Abutoama, Alexander Kozlovsky, Erez Golan and Ibrahim Abdulhalim
Sensors 2019, 19(13), 3003; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19133003 - 8 Jul 2019
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 7002
Abstract
Dielectric grating-based sensors are usually based on the guided mode resonance (GMR) obtained using a thin planar waveguide layer (PWL) adjacent to a thin subwavelength grating layer. In this work, we present a detailed investigation of thick subwavelength dielectric grating structures that exhibit [...] Read more.
Dielectric grating-based sensors are usually based on the guided mode resonance (GMR) obtained using a thin planar waveguide layer (PWL) adjacent to a thin subwavelength grating layer. In this work, we present a detailed investigation of thick subwavelength dielectric grating structures that exhibit reflection resonances above a certain thickness without the need for the waveguide layer, showing great potential for applications in biosensing and tunable filtering. Analytic and numerical results are thoroughly discussed, as well as an experimental demonstration of the structure as a chemical sensor in the SWIR (short wave infrared) spectral range (1200–1800 nm). In comparison to the GMR structure with PWL, the thick grating structure has several unique properties: (i) It gives higher sensitivity when the spaces are filled, with the analyte peaking at certain space values due to an increase in the interaction volume between the analyte and the evanescent optical field between the grating lines; (ii) the TM (transverse magnetic) resonance, in certain cases, provides a better figure of merit; (iii) the sensitivity increases as the grating height increases; (iv) the prediction of the resonance locations based on the effective medium approximation does not give satisfactory results when the grating height is larger than a certain value, and the invalidity becomes more severe as the period increases; (v) a sudden increase in the Q-factor of the resonance occurs at a specific height value accompanied by the high local field enhancement (~103) characteristic of a nano-antenna type pattern. Rigorous numerical simulations of the field distribution are presented to explain the different observed phenomena. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waveguide-Based Sensors)
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