Design of an ultrasonic sensor for measuring distance and detecting obstacles

This paper introduces a novel method for designing the transducer of a highly directional ultrasonic range sensor for detecting obstacles in mobile robot applications. The transducer consists of wave generation, amplification, and radiation sections, and a countermass. The operating principle of this design is based on the parametric array method where the frequency difference between two ultrasonic waves is used to generate a highly directional low-frequency wave with a small aperture. The aim of this study was to design an optimal transducer to generate the two simultaneous longitudinal modes efficiently. We first derived an appropriate mathematical model by combining the continuum model of a bar and countermass with the compatibility condition between a piezoelectric actuator and a linear horn. Then we determined the optimal length of the aluminum horn and the piezoelectric actuator using a finite element method. The proposed sensor exhibited a half-power bandwidth of less than ±1.3° at 44.8 kHz, a much higher directivity than existing conventional ultrasonic range sensors.     

The ν4 and ν2 + ν5 high resolution infrared bands of FClO3 and FClO3

The high resolution infrared spectra of monoisotopic F³⁵Cl¹⁸O₃ and F³⁷Cl¹⁸O₃ have been studied in the region of the ν₄ fundamentals, centered at 1278.3 and 1263.3 cm⁻¹, respectively. Large perturbations are observed in both bands due to a Fermi type anharmonic resonance with the ν₂ + ν₅ combination bands, centered at 1270.7 cm⁻¹ in F³⁵Cl¹⁸O₃ and 1257.3 cm⁻¹ in F³⁷Cl¹⁸O₃. In particular, they affect the kl > 0 levels of the v₄ = 1 and v₂ = v₅ = 1 states which cross at kl ? 18 in F³⁵Cl¹⁸O₃ and kl ? 3 in F³⁷Cl¹⁸O₃, due to the opposite values of and . The Δl = Δk = ±2 and Δl = 0, Δk = ±3 essential resonances are also effective in the excited states of the dyad in F³⁵Cl¹⁸O₃, while in F³⁷Cl¹⁸O₃ only the Δl = Δk = ±2 one is active. In the spectrum of F³⁵Cl¹⁸O₃ 3423 transitions have been assigned, 10% of them belonging to ν₂ + ν₅. The rovibrational parameters and the interaction constants between the v₄ = 1 and v₂ = v₅ = 1 levels have been obtained. The depertubed band origins of ν₄ and ν₂ + ν₅ are 1277.310567(165) and 1271.753733(195) cm⁻¹, respectively, and the anharmonic resonance constant is 2.804416(153) cm⁻¹. For F³⁷Cl¹⁸O₃, 3022 transitions have been assigned, 38% belonging to the ν₂ + ν₅ combination band. The depertubed band origins are 1260.856338(123) and 1259.872338(134) cm⁻¹, for ν₄and ν₂ + ν₅ and the constant is 2.9350669(405) cm⁻¹. The equilibrium geometry of perchloryl fluoride, r_e (ClO) = 139.7(3) pm, r_e (ClF) = 161.0(5) pm, and α_e (OClO) = 115.7(4) degree, has been determined using the A_e and B_e equilibrium constants of the four symmetric isotopologues of perchloryl fluoride, F^35/37Cl¹⁶O₃ and F^35/37Cl¹⁸O₃.     

Hard magnetic properties in Pr2Fe14B/α-Fe nanocomposite magnets with a combined addition of V and C

Nanostructured Pr₈Fe_86−xV_xB_6−yC_y (x=0, 1; y=0, 1) ribbons composed of Pr₂Fe₁₄B and α-Fe phases with a high coercivity are fabricated by direct melt spinning. The effects of a single addition of V and a combined addition of V and C on the structures and magnetic properties of melt-spun Pr₈Fe₈₆VB_6−xC_x (x=0 and 1) ribbons have been investigated. Compared with addition-free ribbons, 1 at% V addition is found to reduce the grain sizes of the samples and improve their magnetic properties due to a strong exchange coupling between the hard and the soft phase. A remanence ratio of 0.82, a coercive field of 6.2 kOe and a maximum energy product of 23.4 MGOe in melt-spun Pr₈Fe₈₅VB₆ ribbons are obtained at room temperature. The combined addition of V and C is found to lead to the formation of an intermediate phase of VC at grain boundaries, which appears as a pinning barrier during magnetization and results in an increase of the coercivity value to 6.9 kOe for melt-spun Pr₈Fe₈₅VB₅C ribbons.     

色谱光谱法测试超临界压力下穿心莲内酯的结晶规律

以30%和95%的穿心莲内酯为实验原料,采用超临界CO2萃取结晶法考察了不同压力下穿心莲内酯在结晶板上的分布规律,同时也考察了晶体的晶型和红外光谱的变化规律。研究证实： 高效液相色谱分析,不同压力下穿心莲内酯在结晶板上都按纯度梯度结晶分布;X射线衍射分析,压力越高,晶体越趋于向比较单一的晶面上择优生长;红外光谱分析,压力的变化,并没有引起穿心莲内酯化学结构的改变。     

Electrical transport and high pressure studies on bulk Ge20Te80 glass

The electrical resistivity of bulk Ge₂₀Te₈₀ has been measured as a function of pressure and temperature. At 5 GPa, an amorphous semiconductor-to-crystalline metal transition has been observed. The sample recovered from the high pressure cell, after the application of 7 GPa, has a face-centred cubic structure with a lattice constant of 6·42 A. In crystalline sample, the semiconductor-to-metal transition occurs at 7 GPa. The thermoelectric power has also been measured for glassy samples in the temperature range 300–240 K.     

Development of a 64 channel ultrasonic high frequency linear array imaging system

In order to improve the lateral resolution and extend the field of view of a previously reported 48 element 30 MHz ultrasound linear array and 16-channel digital imaging system, the development of a 256 element 30 MHz linear array and an ultrasound imaging system with increased channel count has been undertaken. This paper reports the design and testing of a 64 channel digital imaging system which consists of an analog front-end pulser/receiver, 64 channels of Time-Gain Compensation (TGC), 64 channels of high-speed digitizer as well as a beamformer. A Personal Computer (PC) is used as the user interface to display real-time images. This system is designed as a platform for the purpose of testing the performance of high frequency linear arrays that have been developed in house. Therefore conventional approaches were taken it its implementation. Flexibility and ease of use are of primary concern whereas consideration of cost-effectiveness and novelty in design are only secondary. Even so, there are many issues at higher frequencies but do not exist at lower frequencies need to be solved. The system provides 64 channels of excitation pulsers while receiving simultaneously at a 20–120 MHz sampling rate to 12-bits. The digitized data from all channels are first fed through Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and then stored in memories. These raw data are accessed by the beamforming processor to re-build the image or to be downloaded to the PC for further processing. The beamformer that applies delays to the echoes of each channel is implemented with the strategy that combines coarse (8.3 ns) and fine delays (2 ns). The coarse delays are integer multiples of the sampling clock rate and are achieved by controlling the write enable pin of the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memory to obtain valid beamforming data. The fine delays are accomplished with interpolation filters. This system is capable of achieving a maximum frame rate of 50 frames per second. Wire phantom images acquired with this system show a spatial resolution of 146 μm (lateral) and 54 μm (axial). Images with excised rabbit and pig eyeball as well as mouse embryo were also acquired to demonstrate its imaging capability.     

Properties of high pressure arc plasma

High pressure argon arc discharges are investigated in the pressure range up to 1000 atm. Experimental values of radiative properties such as the frequency-dependent emission coefficient and the total radiation source strength are compared with theoretical predictions. Solutions of the energy balance of wall stabilized high pressure arcs are presented, the agreement with measurements is good. A comparison of measured electrical conductivities of non-ideal argon plasmas with order measurements and with computations following different theoretical approaches, confirms the poor agreement between theory and experiment found by other authors for this regime. Auszug aus einer Habilitationsschrift am Fachbereich für Elektrotechnik der TU München.     

HPLC法测定人体尿液样品中的4'-羟基黄烷酮和6-甲氧基黄烷酮

报道一种快速测定人体尿液中4'-羟基黄烷酮和6-甲氧基黄烷酮的HPLC方法.采用自制的大蒜新素键合硅胶填充柱(DTSP,4.6 mm i.d.×15 mm,10 μm),以乙腈/1.5%三乙胺-甲酸(65:35,v/v,pH=3.0) 为流动相,流速设定为1.0 mL·minn~(-1),检测波长为 257 nm时,实现了人体尿样品中上述黄烷酮化合物的良好分离.4'-羟基黄烷酮的线性范围为5～100 mg·L~(-1),r=0.992 0;6-甲氧基黄烷酮线性范围为5～100 mg·L~(-1),r=0.999 1,它们的最低检出限分别为1.03 ng和1.56 ng,平均回收率分别为99.02%～99.26%和98.21%~98.62%,相应的RSD分别小于0.354%和0.605%(n=5).该方法快速、简便、可靠,适用于人体尿液样品中上述黄烷酮分离分析.     

Enhancement of thermopower in the highT c superconductor YBa2Cu3O7 and related compounds

The absolute thermopower of single phase YBa₂Cu₃O₇ and Y_0.8Er_0.2Ba₂Cu₃O₇ has been measured in the range 250 K to the superconducting transition temperature. It is found that these compounds show a large enhancement of thermopower in the range 150 K down toT _c. This enhancement shows a steep exponential drop as the temperature increases from the transition temperature. The temperature variation of the enhancement is too steep to be accounted for by electron-phonon or electron-local structural excitation mechanisms.     

Observation of inter-grain Josephson effects in Y-Ba-Cu-O samples

Josephson effects have been observed in bulk samples of Y-Ba-Cu-O. The magnitude of the zero-voltage current is found to change systematically with externally applied small magnetic fields of a few mG. It is also found to vary when samples are irradiated with microwaves. These observations suggest the presence of inter-grain Josephson junctions.