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Advanced sensing presents the prerequisite for realizing intelligent manufacturing. Sensors monitor production operations in real-time, often in harsh environments, provide input for diagnosing the root cause of quality degradation and fault progression such that subsequent corrective measures can be formulated and executed online to control a machine’s deviation from its optimal state. With the increasing convergence among measurement science, information technology, wireless communication, and system miniaturization, sensing has continually expanded the contribution of mechatronics to intelligent manufacturing, enabling functionalities that were not feasible before in terms of in-situ state monitoring and process control. New sensors not only acquire higher resolution data at faster rates but also provide local computing resources for autonomously analyzing the acquired data for intelligent decision support.
This talk presents research on advanced sensing for improved observability in manufacturing process monitoring, using polymer injection molding and sheet metal micro rolling as two examples. The design, characterization, and realization of multivariate sensing and acoustic-based wireless data transmission techniques in RF-shielded environment are first introduced. Next, computational methods for solving an ill-posed problem in data reconstruction are described. The talk highlights the significance of advanced sensing and data analytics for advancing the science base and state-of-the-technology to fully realize the potential of intelligent manufacturing.
Optical sensors and photonic devices have technically matured to the point that they are increasingly considered as alternatives for their electronic counterparts in numerous applications across the industry. In particular, the utilization of optical sensors has been considered for harsh, high-voltage or explosive environments where conventional transducers are difficult to deploy or where their operation is compromised by electromagnetic interference.
This prospective talk will explain the motivation for research on fiber-optic sensors, highlight the basic theories underlying their operation, and present selected examples of R&D projects carried out within the Advanced Sensors Team in the Institute for Energy and Environment at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, targeting a range of industrial applications. The goal is to highlight great potential of optical sensors and to enrich recipients’ experience in instrumentation and measurement using alternative, non-electronic methods.
Alternatively, for audiences with greater photonics sensors awareness, the presentation can be tailored to solely focus on reporting the most recent progress in fiber sensing research for power and energy industries carried out within the team. In this instance, it will highlight specific examples of the measurement needs within the power and energy sectors and report on the novel approaches in fiber sensing to address these needs. In particular, it will illustrate such applications as downhole and subsea electrical plant monitoring; voltage and current measurement for power system metering and protection in the context of distributed generation; force and magnetic field monitoring in the context of thermonuclear fusion research; and, measurement of the loss of loading within concrete prestressing steel tendons in nuclear power plant applications. As the potential good solutions to these respective measurement needs, this talk will introduce such emerging technologies as the hybrid fiber Bragg grating (FBG) voltage and current sensors; novel solid-state FBG interrogation schemes utilizing wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and time-domain multiplexing (TDM) architectures (not requiring tunable spectral filters or lasers); and novel FBG sensors and interrogation schemes utilizing some promising intrinsic sensing mechanisms capable of measuring such quantities as magnetic and electric fields or bend.
Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is an imaging technique for industrial applications. ECT is based on measuring capacitance from a multi-electrode capacitance sensor and reconstructing cross-sectional images, aiming to visualise the distribution of dielectric materials, such as gas/oil flows in an oil pipeline and gas/solids distribution in a fluidised bed. The internal information is valuable for understanding complicated phenomena, verifying computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models, measurement, and control of industrial processes, which are difficult with conventional process instruments. Compared with other tomography modalities, ECT is the most mature and offers advantages of no radiation, rapid response, non-intrusive and non-invasive, withstanding high temperature and high pressure and low-cost.
Research into ECT involves sensor and electronic circuit design, data acquisition, computer interface, mathematics, finite element analysis, software programming, and general knowledge in process engineering. Because of extremely small capacitance to be measured (down to 0.0001 pF) and the nature of soft-field, ECT presents challenges in engineering and mathematics. The University of Manchester (formerly UMIST) pioneered research into ECT. The latest ACECT system presents the state-of-the-art technology, which can generate on-line images at 100 frames per second with 73 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and has been used for many challenging industrial applications, such as gas-oil-water flows in oil pipelines, wet gas separators, pneumatic conveyors, cyclone separators and fluidised bed dryers. It is foreseen that ECT will make major contributions to the gas/oil, pharmaceutical, power, and other industries. In this Lecture, the principle of ECT, capacitance measuring circuits, image reconstruction algorithms, and some applications will be discussed, together with a demonstration of an ACECT system.
Robots have changed the way we work, play, live, and unfortunately fight wars. Robots invaded the workplace many decades ago, initially for factory automation. They are increasing their presence in the home at a very rapid pace, primarily for assisted living. Wars are being fought using robots on the ground, above and below the waters and in the air. In the next decade, the world will witness the largest growth of robots in the service industry. From the days of industrial automation using monstrous robots, the world has advanced to micro and nanorobots traversing the veins of a human body to deliver drugs.
What makes the robots so capable and versatile as they are today? Will they ever be able to attain the full functionality, intelligence, and versatility of human beings? Or is it wishful thinking? What will be the breakthrough technology that will enable the robots to make that quantum jump in their capabilities?
For successful completion of tasks, robots have to perceive the world around them, the workspace in which they operate. At the heart of this perception are the inputs from a gamut of sensors. Accurate measurement of physical parameters and fusion of sensory data has a profound influence on the accuracy of the perception model. While a lot of energy and resources are still being expended for research into robot locomotion and actuators for motion, it is the advancement in sensors and measurement technology that will catapult the robots to the next level of versatility and acceptance. Miniaturisation of sensors and precision measurement will be the flavour of research in the next decade which will make a career in instrumentation and measurement a very attractive proposition for young scientists and researchers.
This presentation will -
This presentation will be informative for industry and academicians and enthuse engineers and students to take up a career in sensors and instrumentation.