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An Error-Detection and Self-Repairing Method for Dynamically and Partially Reconfigurable Systems
No full textReconfigurable systems are gaining an increasing interest in the domain of safety-critical applications, for example in the space and avionic domains. In fact, the capability of reconfiguring the system during run-time execution and the high computational power of modern Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) make these devices suitable for intensive data processing tasks. Moreover, such systems must also guarantee the abilities of self-awareness, self-diagnosis and self-repair in order to cope with errors due to the harsh conditions typically existing in some environments. In this paper we propose a selfrepairing method for partially and dynamically reconfigurable systems applied at a fine-grain granularity level. Our method is able to detect, correct and recover errors using the run-time capabilities offered by modern SRAM-based FPGAs. Fault injection campaigns have been executed on a dynamically reconfigurable system embedding a number of benchmark circuits. Experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves full detection of single and multiple errors, while significantly improving the system availability with respect to traditional error detection and correction methods
Experimentally based design of a manually operated baler for straw bale construction
No full textStraw bale construction is considered an appropriate technique for improving housing condition in developing Countries and for rebuilding in emergency condition. However, balers suitable for this purpose are not available nowadays. This paper presents a method for functional design of a human powered baler for straw bale building, based on the straw mechanical characteristic, experimentally measured. A prototype has been realized and tested
Monitoring and managing of a micro-smart grid for renewable sources exploitation in an agro-industrial site
No full textThe development of smart grids is a strategic goal at both national and international levels and has been funded by many research programs. At the same time, an increasing interest is rising about local energy systems using renewable energy sources (RES). In this paper, the creation of a monitoring and managing procedure of an electricity micro-smart grid in a small agro-food enterprise is presented. Scopes of the procedure are both the minimization of the energy exchange between the local grid and the public utility grid and the optimization of the exploitation of renewable sources. To achieve that, it was necessary to match energy demand and supply in as short as possible time steps, trying to create a self-sufficient small district. The two objectives above can also generate financial savings due to the reduction of the electricity purchase from the grid. The agro-industrial test site is a prosumer (both a producer and a consumer of energy) and it was equipped with wireless networks of smart meters and devices, monitoring generators and loads, a data acquisition tool and a user interface that shows the monitoring results and suggests the optimization strategies of the smart grid to be undertaken
Application of the compartmental model to the gas-liquid precipitation of CO2-Ca(OH)2 aqueous system in a stirred tank
No full textA compartmental model is formulated to assess the influence of fluid dynamics on the gas-liquid precipitation of CO2(g)-Ca(OH)2(aq) system in a stirred tank reactor. The model combines the description of the flow field with several sub-models, namely gas to liquid mass transfer, chemical reaction, precipitation, and population balance for both gas bubbles and solid crystals. The modeling predictions, including the average volumetric mass transfer coefficient, the concentration of calcium ions, the pH of the solution and the Sauter mean diameter of the final crystal products are eventually compared with measurements carried out on a pilot-scale stirred tank. The results show that the local volumetric mass transfer rate and the final particle sizes distribution of the crystals are significantly affected by high local turbulence near the impeller. The local information simulated by the compartmental model, such as mass transfer rate, gas hold up and particle size of crystals and bubbles are important for the design and scaling of gas-liquid precipitators, with a computational time which is of several orders of magnitude faster than a full CFD computation
Graphene-based polymer nanocomposites: recent advances and still open challenges
No full textFrom its appearance in the scientific literature, graphene has received much interest, first from the scientific community and then, after the scale-up of the methods suitable for its production, from the industrial world. Nowadays, this nanofiller has to be considered as one of the most promising and performing materials ever discovered: in fact, it is deserving application in different fields, including nanoelectronics, quantum physics, catalysis, energy research and engineering of nanocomposites and biomaterials. The remarkable growth in science, graphene underwent during the last 15 years, is strictly connected to its peculiarities, such as high Young's modulus, high fracture strength, remarkable thermal and electrical conductivity, large specific surface area, high charge carrier mobility and also biocompatibility. At present, one of application fields where graphene is gaining a lot of success refers to the fabrication of polymer composites on a commercial scale and low/affordable cost, including both thermoplastic and thermosetting host matrices. These composites do exploit the homogeneous dispersion level of the nanofiller within the polymer matrix, mainly for enhancing the electrical and thermal conductivity of this latter, as well as its mechanical properties, in a remarkable way, even in the presence of very low graphene loadings. In addition, the obtained nanocomposites usually show higher thermal stability with respect to the unfilled polymer matrix. At present, there are about six main areas related to emerging applications for this nanofiller, including displays/screens, biomedical devices, memory chips, fuel cells/batteries, inks, coatings and, from an overall point of view, new smart materials. This paper aims at reviewing the current state of the art about the use of graphene as a nanofiller in both thermoplastics and thermosets, highlighting the current limitations and providing an overall point of view on its possible applications/further developments in the next future
Damage scenario-driven strategies for the seismic monitoring of XX century spatial structures with application to Pier Luigi Nervi's Turin Exhibition Centre
No full textDamage and stiffness degradation in non-structural elements are known to strongly affect the global dynamic response of buildings subject to seismic excitation. This is particularly true for complex structural schemes, such as those characterizing XX century shell and spatial architectures. Moreover, degrading behaviours will strongly influence the design of seismic monitoring systems, which are deemed to be a non-invasive protection strategy for cultural heritage. This paper concerns the optimal sensor placement for vibration-based monitoring of one of the vaulted structures realized by Pier Luigi Nervi in the Turin Exhibition Centre. Based on finite element numerical models and optimization algorithms, the sensor placement in such peculiar structures should also take into account the possible effects of non-structural elements. The objective function used for optimizing sensor placement has been modified in order to account for the progressive damage in infill walls. The final scope of this work was, thus, to propose a damage scenario-driven sensor placement strategy accounting for concurrent damage scenarios, as those affecting spatial architectures
Serendipitous Recommendations through Ontology-based Contextual Pre-filtering
No full textContext-aware Recommender Systems aim to provide users with better recommendations for their current situation. Although evaluations of recommender systems often focus on accuracy, it is not the only important aspect. Often recommendations are overspecialized, i.e. all of the same kind. To deal with this problem, other properties can be considered, such as serendipity. In this paper, we study how an ontology-based and context-aware pre-filtering technique which can be combined with existing recommendation algorithm performs in ranking tasks. We also investigate the impact of our method on the serendipity of the recommendations. We evaluated our approach through an offline study which showed that when used with well-known recommendation algorithms it can improve the accuracy and serendipity
Surface Engineering of Nanostructured ZnO Surfaces
No full textZinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructures represent promising substrate materials for numerous applications, ranging from new generation solar cells, to bio- and chemical sensors. This interest is due to particular physical and chemical properties and highly active surface areas. Despite showing promising perspectives, the performances of ZnO nanomaterials are affected by several drawbacks, including a poor chemical stability against reaction solutions and intrinsic defects that are still preventing their integration into product applications. To overcome some of these limitations, different functionalization strategies have been introduced to engineer the ZnO surface properties. The synthetic methods used for surface functionalization are here discussed and analyzed with respect to the morphology of the agent to be anchored and to the functionalization approach. These approaches range from continuous coatings, to low-dimensional ligands like nanoparticles, photosensible dyes, quantum dots and organic compounds
