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Die drei großen Hersteller von Cochlea-Implantat (CI)-Systemen ermöglichen es klinischen Audiologen, die Mikrofoneigenschaften der meisten CI-Sprachprozessoren zu prüfen. Dazu können bei diesen Sprachprozessoren Monitorkopfhörer angeschlossen und das/die Mikrofon(e) inklusive eines Teils der Signalvorverarbeitung abgehört werden. Präzise Angaben dazu, mit welchen Stimuli, bei welchem Pegel und nach welchem Kriterium diese Prüfung stattfinden soll, machen die CI-Hersteller nicht. Auf Basis dieser Prüfung soll der Audiologe dann über die Funktion der Mikrofone und damit darüber entscheiden, ob der betreffende Sprachprozessor an den Hersteller eingeschickt wird oder nicht.
Zur Objektivierung der CI-Sprachprozessor-Mikrofon-Prüfung haben wir eine Testbox entwickelt, mit der alle abhörbaren aktuellen CI-Sprachprozessoren der drei großen Hersteller geprüft werden können. Die Box wurde im 3D-Druck-Verfahren hergestellt. Der zu prüfende Sprachprozessor wird in die Messbox eingehängt und über einen darin verbauten Lautsprecher mit definierten Prüfsignalen (Sinustöne unterschiedlicher Frequenz) beschallt. Das Mikrofonsignal wird über das Kabel der Monitorkopfhörer herausgeführt und mit einer Shifting- and Scaling-Schaltung in einen Spannungsbereich transformiert, der für die AD-Wandlung mit einem Mikrokontroller (ATmega1280 verbaut auf einem Arduino Mega) geeignet ist. Derselbe Mikrokontroller übernimmt über einen eigens gebauten DA-Wandler die Ausgabe der Sinustöne über den Lautsprecher. Signalaufnahme und –wiedergabe erfolgen mit jeweils 38,5 kHz Samplingrate. Der für jede Frequenz über mehrere Perioden des Prüfsignals ermittelte Effektivwert wird mit dem Effektivwert, der mit einem neuwertigen Referenzprozessor für diese Frequenz gemessen wurde, verglichen. Die Messergebnisse werden graphisch auf einem Display ausgegeben.
Derzeit läuft eine erste Datenerhebung mit in der Klinik subjektiv auffällig gewordenen CI-Sprachprozessoren, die anschließend in der Messbox untersucht werden. So sollen realistische Schwellen für kritische Abweichungen von den Referenz-Effektivwerten ermittelt werden. Im weiteren Verlauf sollen dann Hit und False Alarm-Raten der subjektiven Prüfung bestimmt werden.
The ability to detect a target signal masked by noise is improved in normal-hearing listeners when interaural phase differences (IPDs) between the ear signals exist either in the masker or in the signal. To improve binaural hearing in bilaterally implanted cochlear implant (BiCI) users, a coding strategy providing the best possible access to IPDs is highly desirable. Outcomes of a previous study (Zirn, Arndt et al. 2016) revealed that a subset of BiCI users showed improved IPD detection thresholds with the fine structure processing strategy FS4 compared to the constant rate strategy HDCIS using narrowband stimuli. In contrast, little differences between the coding strategies were found for broadband stimuli with regard to binaural speech intelligibility level differences (BILD) as an estimate of binaural unmasking. Compared to normalhearing listeners (7.5 ± 1.2 dB) BILD were small in BiCI users (around 0.5 dB with both coding strategies).
In the present work, we investigated the influence of binaural fitting parameters on BILD. In our cohort of BiCI users many were implanted with electrode arrays differing in length left versus right. Because this length difference typically corresponded to the distance of two electrode contacts the first modification of bilateral fitting was a tonotopic adjustment by deactivation of the most apical electrode contact on the side with the deeper inserted array (tonotopic approach).
The second modification was the isolation of the residual, most apical electrode contacts by deactivation of the basally adjacent electrode contact on each side (tonotopic sparse approach). Applying these modifications, BILD improved by up to 1.5 dB.
Das normalhörende auditorische System ist in der Lage, interaurale Zeit- bzw. Phasendifferenzen zur verbesserten Signaldetektion im Störgeräusch zu nutzen. Dieses Phänomen wird häufig als binaurale Entmaskierung bezeichnet und ist sowohl bei einfachen Signalen wie Sinustönen, als auch bei Sprachsignalen im Störgeräusch wirksam. Vorangegangene Studien haben gezeigt, dass binaurale Entmaskierung eingeschränkt auch bei bilateralen CI-Trägern beobachtbar ist (Zirn et al., 2016).
Aktuelle Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die binaurale Entmaskierung sensitiv gegenüber der bilateralen CI-Anpassung ist. So lässt sich der Effekt durch tonotopen Abgleich und Herausstellen eines apikalen Feinstrukturkanals modulieren. Steigerungen der binauralen Entmaskierung um bis zu 1,5 dB sind auf diese Weise gegenüber der konventionellen CI-Anpassung möglich. Allerdings variiert der Einfluss der CI-Anpassung interindividuell erheblich.
The aim of the smart grid is to achieve more efficient, distributed and secure supply of energy over the traditional power grid by using a bidirectional information flow between the grid agents (e.g. generator node, customer). One of the key optimization problems in smart grid is to produce power among generator nodes with a minimum cost while meeting the customer demand, known as Economic Dispatch Problem (EDP). In recent years, many distributed approaches to solve EDP have been proposed. However, protecting the privacy-sensitive data of individual generator nodes has been largely overlooked in the existing solutions. In this work, we show an attack against an existing auction-based EDP protocol considering a non-colluding semi-honest adversary. We briefly introduce our approach to a practical privacy-preserving EDP solution as our work in progress.
Biological in situ methanation: Gassing concept and feeding strategy for enhanced performance
(2017)
The expansion of fluctuating renewable electricity production from wind and solar energy requires huge storage capacities. Power-to-gas (PtG) can contribute to tackle that issue via a two-step process, the electrolytic production of hydrogen and a subsequent methanation step (with additional CO2). The resulting fully grid compatible methane, also known as synthetic natural gas (SNG), can be both stored and transported in the vast existing natural gas infrastructure.
To overcome current major drawbacks of PtG, the relatively low efficiency and the high costs, we developed an improved method for the methanation step. In our approach we use a further development of the biological in situ methanation of hydrogen in biogas plants. Because this strategy uses directly internal residual CO2 from the biogas process in the biogas plant, you neither need additional external CO2 nor special reactors. Thus, PtG is combined with the production of an upgraded highly methane rich raw biogas.
However, the low solubility of hydrogen in aqueous solutions and the exploitation of the maximum biological production rates are still an engineering challenge for high performance biological in situ methanation.
In our experiments a setup with membrane gassing turned out to be most promising to ensure a sufficient gas liquid mass transfer of the hydrogen. The monitoring of hydrogenotrophic and aceticlastic archaea showed some adaption of these microbial subgroups to the hydrogen feed.
In order to achieve high methane concentrations of more than 90 % in the raw biogas a CO2-controlled hydrogen feed flow rate is suggested. For methane concentrations lower than 90 % simple current controlled hydrogen supply can be applied.
Qualitative Wissenschaft, künstlerisches Forschen und forschendes Lernen verbinden Erkenntnis aus Praxis und Erfahrung. In der Autoethnographie der eigenen Werkstatt des Hörens wie der Kultur in Studios anderer, wird die noch neue Interdisziplin Sound (Studies) erprobt und vertieft, mit Impulsen für die Praxis und Theorie, von der noch wenig bekannten A/r/t ographie heute, hin zu einer künftig A/R/Tophonie, dem künstlerischen Forschen in der Musik, ebenso wie durch Klang Komposition, Radio Kunst und visuelle Musik.
Sichere Detektion von Menschen in der Mensch-Roboter-Kollaboration mit Time-of-Flight Kameras
(2017)
In safety critical applications wireless technologies are not widely spread. This is mainly due to reliability and latency requirements. In this paper a new wireless architecture is presented which will allow for customizing the latency and reliability for every single participant within the network. The architecture allows for building up a network of inhomogeneous participants with different reliability and latency requirements. The used TDMA scheme with TDD as duplex method is acting gentle on resources. Therefore participants with different processing and energy resources are able to participate.
Spectral analysis of signal averaging electrocardiography in atrial and ventricular tachyarrhythmias
(2017)
Background: Targeting complex fractionated atrial electrograms detected by automated algorithms during ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation has produced conflicting outcomes in previous electrophysiological studies. The aim of the investigation was to evaluate atrial and ventricular high frequency fractionated electrical signals with signal averaging technique.
Methods: Signal averaging electrocardiography (ECG) allows high resolution ECG technique to eliminate interference noise signals in the recorded ECG. The algorithm uses automatic ECG trigger function for signal averaged transthoracic, transesophageal and intracardiac ECG signals with novel LabVIEW software (National Instruments, Austin, Texas, USA). For spectral analysis we used fast fourier transformation in combination with spectro-temporal mapping and wavelet transformation for evaluation of detailed information about the frequency and intensity of high frequency atrial and ventricular signals.
Results: Spectral-temporal mapping and wavelet transformation of the signal averaged ECG allowed the evaluation of high frequency fractionated atrial signals in patients with atrial fibrillation and high frequency ventricular signals in patients with ventricular tachycardia. The analysis in the time domain evaluated fractionated atrial signals at the end of the signal averaged P-wave and fractionated ventricular signals at the end of the QRS complex. The analysis in the frequency domain evaluated high frequency fractionated atrial signals during the P-wave and high frequency fractionated ventricular signals during QRS complex. The combination of analysis in the time and frequency domain allowed the evaluation of fractionated signals during atrial and ventricular conduction.
Conclusions: Spectral analysis of signal averaging electrocardiography with novel LabVIEW software can utilized to evaluate atrial and ventricular conduction delays in patients with atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. Complex fractionated atrial electrograms may be useful parameters to evaluate electrical cardiac arrhythmogenic signals in atrial fibrillation ablation.
In the course of the last few years, our students are becoming increasingly unhappy. Sometimes they stop attending lectures and even seem not to know how to behave correctly. It feels like they are getting on strike. Consequently, drop-out rates are sky-rocketing. The lecturers/professors are not happy either, adopting an “I-don’t-care” attitude.
An interdisciplinary, international team set in to find out: (1) What are the students unhappy about? Why is it becoming so difficult for them to cope? (2) What does the “I-don’t-care” attitude of professors actually mean? What do they care or not care about? (3) How far do the views of the parties correlate? Could some kind of mutual understanding be achieved?
The findings indicate that, at least at our universities, there is rather a long way to go from “Engineering versus Pedagogy” to “Engineering Pedagogy”.
eTPL: An Enhanced Version of the TLS Presentation Language Suitable for Automated Parser Generation
(2017)
The specification of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol defines its own presentation language used for the purpose of semi-formally describing the structure and on-the-wire format of TLS protocol messages. This TLS Presentation Language (TPL) is more expressive and concise than natural language or tabular descriptions, but as a result of its limited objective has a number of deficiencies. We present eTPL, an enhanced version of TPL that improves its expressiveness, flexibility, and applicability to non-TLS scenarios. We first define a generic model that describes the parsing of binary data. Based on this, we propose language constructs for TPL that capture important information which would otherwise have to be picked manually from informal protocol descriptions. Finally, we briefly introduce our software tool etpl-tool which reads eTPL definitions and automatically generates corresponding message parsers in C++. We see our work as a contribution supporting sniffing, debugging, and rapid-prototyping of wired and wireless communication systems.
The low cost and small size of MEMS inertial sensors allows their combination into a multi sensor module in order to improve performance. However the different linear accelerations measured on different places on a rotating rigid body have to be considered for the proper fusion of the measurements. The errors in measurement of MEMS inertial sensors include deterministic imperfection, but also random noise. The gain in accuracy of using multiple sensors depends strongly on the correlation between these errors from the different sensors. Although for sensor fusion it usually assumed that the measurement errors of different sensors are uncorrelated, estimation theory shows that for the combination of the same type of sensors actually a negative correlation will be more beneficial. Therefore we describe some important and often neglected considerations for the combination of several sensors and also present some preliminary results with regard to the correlation of measurements from a simple multi sensor setup.
The Thread protocol is a recent development based on 6LoWPAN (IPv6 over IEEE 802.15.4), but with extensions regarding a more media independent approach, which – additionally – also promises true interoperability. To evaluate and analyse the operation of a Thread network a given open source 6LoWPAN stack for embedded devices (emb::6) has been extended in order to comply with the Thread specification. The implementation covers Mesh Link Establishment (MLE) and network layer functionality as well as 6LoWPAN mesh under routing mechanism based on MAC short addresses. The development has been verified on a virtualization platform and allows dynamical establishment of network topologies based on Thread's partitioning algorithm.
A novel approach of a test environment for embedded networking nodes has been conceptualized and implemented. Its basis is the use of virtual nodes in a PC environment, where each node executes the original embedded code. Different nodes run in parallel, connected via so-called virtual channels. The environment allows to modifying the behavior of the virtual channels as well as the overall topology during runtime to virtualize real-life networking scenarios. The presented approach is very efficient and allows a simple description of test cases without the need of a network simulator. Furthermore, it speeds up the process of developing new features as well as it supports the identification of bugs in wireless communication stacks. In combination with powerful test execution systems, it is possible to create a continuous development and integration flow.
A novel approach of a testbed for embedded networking nodes has been conceptualized and implemented. It is based on the use of virtual nodes in a PC environment, where each node executes the original embedded code. Different nodes are running in parallel and are connected via so-called virtual interfaces. The presented approach is very efficient and allows a simple description of test cases without the need of a network simulator. Furthermore, it speeds up the process of developing new features.
OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture) is already a well-known concept used widely in the automation industry. In the area of factory automation, OPC UA models the underlying field devices such as sensors and actuators in an OPC UA server to allow connecting OPC UA clients to access device-specific information via a standardized information model. One of the requirements of the OPC UA server to represent field device data using its information model is to have advanced knowledge about the properties of the field devices in the form of device descriptions. The international standard IEC 61804 specifies EDDL (Electronic Device Description Language) as a generic language for describing the properties of field devices. In this paper, the authors describe a possibility to dynamically map and integrate field device descriptions based on EDDL into OPCUA.
The paper describes the hardware and software architecture of the developed multi MEMS sensor prototype module, consisting of ARM Cortex M4 STM32F446 microcontroller unit, five 9-axis inertial measurement units MPU9255 (3D accelerometer, 3D gyroscope, 3D magnetometer and temperature sensor) and a BMP280 barometer. The module is also equipped with WiFi wireless interface (Espressif ESP8266 chip). The module is constructed in the form of a truncated pyramid. Inertial sensors are mounted on a special basement at different angles to each other to eliminate hardware sensors drifts and to provide the capability for self-calibration. The module fuses information obtained from all types of inertial sensors (acceleration, rotation rate, magnetic field and air pressure) in order to calculate orientation and trajectory. It might be used as an Inertial Measurement Unit, Vertical Reference Unit or Attitude and Heading Reference System.
Legacy industrial communication protocols are proved robust and functional. During the last decades, the industry has invented completely new or advanced versions of the legacy communication solutions. However, even with the high adoption rate of these new solutions, still the majority industry applications run on legacy, mostly fieldbus related technologies. Profibus is one of those technologies that still keep on growing in the market, albeit a slow in market growth in recent years. A retrofit technology that would enable these technologies to connect to the Internet of Things, utilize the ever growing potential of data analysis, predictive maintenance or cloud-based application, while at the same time not changing a running system is fundamental.
Climate change and resultant scarcity of water are becoming major challenges for countries around the world. With the advent of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) in the last decade and a relatively new concept of Internet of Things (IoT), embedded systems developers are now working on designing control and automation systems that are lower in cost and more sustainable than the existing telemetry systems for monitoring. The Indus river basin in Pakistan has one of the world's largest irrigation systems and it is extremely challenging to design a low-cost embedded system for monitoring and control of waterways that can last for decades. In this paper, we present a hardware design and performance evaluation of a smart water metering solution that is IEEE 802.15.4-compliant. The results show that our hardware design is as powerful as the reference design, but allows for additional flexibility both in hardware and in firmware. The indigenously designed solution has a power added efficiency (PAE) of 24.7% that is expected to last for 351 and 814 days for nodes with and without a power amplifier (PA). Similarly, the results show that a broadband communication (434 MHz) over more than 3km can be supported, which is an important stepping stone for designing a complete coverage solution of large-scale waterways.
Due to climate change and scarcity of water reservoirs, monitoring and control of irrigation systems is now becoming a major focal area for researchers in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are rapidly finding their way in the field of irrigation and play the key role as data gathering technology in the domain of IoT and CPS. They are efficient for reliable monitoring, giving farmers an edge to take precautionary measures. However, designing an energy-efficient WSN system requires a cross-layer effort and energy-aware routing protocols play a vital role in the overall energy optimization of a WSN. In this paper, we propose a new hierarchical routing protocol suitable for large area environmental monitoring such as large-scale irrigation network existing in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The proposed protocol resolves the issues faced by traditional multi-hop routing protocols such as LEACH, M-LEACH and I-LEACH, and enhances the lifespan of each WSN node that results in an increased lifespan of the whole network. We used the open-source NS3 simulator for simulation purposes and results indicate that our proposed modifications result in an average 27.8% increase in lifespan of the overall WSN when compared to the existing protocols.
For the RoboCup Soccer AdultSize League the humanoid robot Sweaty uses a single fully convolutional neural network to detect and localize the ball, opponents and other features on the field of play. This neural network can be trained from scratch in a few hours and is able to perform in real-time within the constraints of computational resources available on the robot. The time it takes to precess an image is approximately 11 ms. Balls and goal posts are recalled in 99 % of all cases (94.5 % for all objects) accompanied by a false detection rate of 1.2 % (5.2 % for all). The object detection and localization helped Sweaty to become finalist for the RoboCup 2017 in Nagoya.
With increasing flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices in operation, like the most versatile unified power flow controller (UPFC), the AC/DC transmission flexibility and power system stability have been suffering unprecedented challenge. This paper introduces the user-defined modeling (UDM) method into the UPFC dynamic modeling process, to deal with the challenging requirements of power system operation. This has also been verified using a leading-edge stability analysis software named DSATools TM in the IEEE-39 bus benchmark system. The characteristics of steady-state and dynamic responses are compared and analyzed under different conditions. Furthermore, simulation results prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed UPFC in terms of both the independent regulation of power flow and the improvement of transient stability.
One of the challenges in humanoid robotics is motion control. Interacting with humans requires impedance control algorithms, as well as tackling the problem of the closed kinematic chains which occur when both feet touch the ground. However, pure impedance control for totally autonomous robots is difficult to realize, as this algorithm needs very precise sensors for force and speed of the actuated parts, as well as very high sampling rates for the controller input signals. Both requirements lead to a complex and heavy weight design, which makes up for heavy machines unusable in RoboCup Soccer competitions.
A lightweight motor controller was developed that can be used for admittance and impedance control as well as for model predictive control algorithms to further improve the gait of the robot.
Heart rhythm model and simulation of electrophysiological studies and high-frequency ablations
(2017)
Background: Target of the study was to create an accurate anatomic CAD heart rhythm model, and to show its usefulness for cardiac electrophysiological studies and high-frequency ablations. The method is more careful for the patients’ health and has the potential to replace clinical studies due to its high efficiency regarding time and costs.
Methods: All natural heart components of the new HRM were based on MRI records, which guaranteed electronic functionality. The software CST was used for the construction, while CST’s material library assured genuine tissue properties. It should be applicable to simulate different heart rhythm diseases as well as various diffusions of electromagnetic fields, caused by electrophysiological conduction, inside the heart tissue.
Results: It was achievable to simulate sinus rhythm and fourteen different heart rhythm disturbance with different atrial and ventricular conduction delays. The simulated biological excitation of healthy and sick HRM were plotted by simulated electrodes of four polar right atrial catheter, six polar His bundle catheter, ten polar coronary sinus catheter, four polar ablation catheter and eight polar transesophageal left cardiac catheter. Accordingly, six variables were rebuilt and inserted into the anatomic HRM in order to establish heart catheters for ECG monitoring and HF ablation. The HF ablation catheters made it possible to simulate various types of heart rhythm disturbance ablations with different HF ablation catheters and also showed a functional visualisation of tissue heating. The use of tetrahedral meshing HRM made it attainable to store the results faster accompanied by a higher degree of space saving. The smart meshing function reduced unnecessary high resolutions for coarse structures.
Conclusions: The new HRM for EPS simulation may be additional useful for simulation of heart rhythm disturbance, cardiac pacing, HF ablation and for locating and identification of complex fractioned signals within the atrium during atrial fibrillation HF ablation.
Heart rhythm model and simulation of electrophysiological studies and high-frequency ablations
(2017)
Background: The simulation of complex cardiologic structures has the potential to replace clinical studies due to its high efficiency regarding time and costs. Furthermore, the method is more careful for the patients’ health than the conventional ways. The aim of the study was to create an anatomic CAD heart rhythm model (HRM) as accurate as possible, and to show its usefulness for cardiac electrophysiological studies (EPS) and high-frequency (HF) ablations.
Methods: All natural heart components of the new HRM were based on MRI records, which guaranteed electronic functionality. The software CST (Computer Simulation Technology, Darmstadt) was used for the construction, while CST’s material library assured genuine tissue properties. It should be applicable to simulate different heart rhythm diseases as well as various diffusions of electromagnetic fields, caused by electrophysiological conduction, inside the heart tissue.
Results: It was achievable to simulate normal sinus rhythm and fourteen different heart rhythm disturbance with different atrial and ventricular conduction delays. The simulated biological excitation of healthy and sick HRM were plotted by simulated electrodes of four polar right atrial catheter, six polar His bundle catheter, ten polar coronary sinus catheter, four polar ablation catheter and eight polar transesophageal left cardiac catheter (Fig.). Accordingly, six variables were rebuilt and inserted into the anatomic HRM in order to establish heart catheters for ECG monitoring and HF ablation. The HF ablation catheters made it possible to simulate various types of heart rhythm disturbance ablations with different HF ablation catheters and also showed a functional visualisation of tissue heating. The use of tetrahedral meshing HRM made it attainable to store the results faster accompanied by a higher degree of space saving. The smart meshing function reduced unnecessary high resolutions for coarse structures.
Conclusions: The new HRM for EPS simulation may be additional useful for simulation of heart rhythm disturbance, cardiac pacing, HF ablation and for locating and identification of complex fractioned signals within the atrium during atrial fibrillation HF ablation.
Heart rhythm model and simulation of electrophysiological studies and high-frequency ablations
(2017)
Background: The simulation of complex cardiologic structures has the potential to replace clinical studies due to its high efficiency regarding time and costs. Furthermore, the method is more careful for the patients’ health than the conventional ways. The aim of the study was to create an anatomic CAD heart rhythm model (HRM) as accurate as possible, and to show its usefulness for cardiac electrophysiological studies (EPS) and high-frequency (HF) ablations.
Methods: All natural heart components of the new HRM were based on MRI records, which guaranteed electronic functionality. The software CST (Computer Simulation Technology, Darmstadt) was used for the construction, while CST’s material library assured genuine tissue properties. It should be applicable to simulate different heart rhythm diseases as well as various diffusions of electromagnetic fields, caused by electrophysiological conduction, inside the heart tissue.
Results: It was achievable to simulate normal sinus rhythm and fourteen different heart rhythm disturbance with different atrial and ventricular conduction delays. The simulated biological excitation of healthy and sick HRM were plotted by simulated electrodes of four polar right atrial catheter, six polar His bundle catheter, ten polar coronary sinus catheter, four polar ablation catheter and eight polar transesophageal left cardiac catheter (Fig.). Accordingly, six variables were rebuilt and inserted into the anatomic HRM in order to establish heart catheters for ECG monitoring and HF ablation. The HF ablation catheters made it possible to simulate various types of heart rhythm disturbance ablations with different HF ablation catheters and also showed a functional visualisation of tissue heating. The use of tetrahedral meshing HRM made it attainable to store the results faster accompanied by a higher degree of space saving. The smart meshing function reduced unnecessary high resolutions for coarse structures.
Conclusions: The new HRM for EPS simulation may be additional useful for simulation of heart rhythm disturbance, cardiac pacing, HF ablation and for locating and identification of complex fractioned signals within the atrium during atrial fibrillation HF ablation.
Microscale trigeneration systems are highly flexible in their operation and thus offer the technical possibility for peak load shifting in building demand side management. However to harness their potential modern control methods such as model predictive control must be implemented for their optimal scheduling. In literature the need for experimental investigation of microscale trigeneration systems to identify typical characteristics of the components and their interactions has been identified. On a real-life setup control specific information of the components is collected and lessons learnt during commissioning of the equipment is shared. The data is analysed to draw the vital characteristics of the system and it will be used for creating models of the components that can be utilised for optimal control.
Modelling and Simulation of Microscale Trigeneration Systems Based on Real- Life Experimental Data
(2017)
For the shift of the energy grid towards a smarter decentralised system flexible microscale trigeneration systems will play an important role due to their ability to support the demand side management in buildings. However to harness their potential modern control methods like model predictive control must be implemented for their optimal scheduling and control. To implement such supervisory control methods, first, simple analytical models representing the behaviour of the components need to be developed. At the Institute of Energy System Technologies in Offenburg we have built a real-life microscale trigeneration plant and present in this paper the models based on experimental data. These models are qualitatively validated and their application in the future for the optimal scheduling problem is briefly motivated.
Elastic constants of components are usually determined by tensile tests in combination with ultrasonic experiments. However, these properties may change due to e.g. mechanical treatments or service conditions during their lifetime. Knowledge of the actual material parameters is key to the determination of quantities like residual stresses present in the medium. In this work the acoustic nonlinearity parameter (ANP) for surface acoustic waves is examined through the derivation of an evolution equation for the amplitude of the second harmonic. Given a certain depth profile of the third-order elastic constants, the dependence of the ANP with respect to the input frequency is determined and on the basis of these results, an appropriate inversion method is developed. This method is intended for the extraction of the depth dependence of the third-order elastic constants of the material from second-harmonic generation and guided wave mixing experiments, assuming that the change in the linear Rayleigh wave velocity is small. The latter assumption is supported by a 3D-FEM model study of a medium with randomly distributed microcracks as well as theoretical works on this topic in the literature.
Zerstörungsfreie Verfahren zur Messung von Eigenspannungen erfordern, abhängig vom gewählten Verfahren, die Kenntnis gewisser Kopplungskonstanten. Im Falle von Ultraschallmessverfahren sind das neben den elastischen Konstanten zweiter Ordnung (SOEC) vor allem die Konstanten dritter Ordnung (TOEC). Elastische Konstanten fester, metallischer Bauteile werden in der Regel in Zugversuchen bestimmt. Zur Ermittlung der TOEC werden diese mit Ultraschallmessmethoden kombiniert. Durch äußere Einflüsse, wie etwa mechanische Nachbehandlungen der zu untersuchenden Bauteile können sich diese Konstanten jedoch ändern und müssen folglich direkt am veränderten Material bestimmt werden. Mithilfe von Simulationen wird die Ausbreitung der zweiten Harmonischen und der nichtlinear erzeugten Oberflächenwellen in Wellenmischexperimenten analysiert und der akustische Nichtlinearitätsparameter (ANP) bzw. der Kopplungsparameter aus der Amplitudenentwicklung berechnet. Insbesondere wird untersucht, welchen Einfluss ein gegebenes Tiefenprofil der TOEC auf den ANP hat (Vorwärtsproblem) und inwiefern sich aus den Messungen des ANP auf ein vorliegendes Tiefenprofil der TOEC schließen lässt (inverses Problem). Außerdem wird diskutiert, welchen Einfluss lokale Änderungen der SOEC auf den ANP haben können und wie groß diese Änderungen sein dürfen, um die TOEC dennoch bestimmen zu können. Die Untersuchungen hierzu wurden auf der Basis eines 3D-FEM Modells mit zufällig orientierten Mikrorissen durchgeführt. Die numerischen Rechnungen zeigen dabei auch eine gute Übereinstimmung mit einem aus der Literatur bekannten und für dieses Problem erweiterten, analytischen Modell. Neben der rissinduzierten Nichtlinearität kann bei diesem auch die Gitternichtlinearität berücksichtigt werden.
The Bluetooth community is in the process to develop mesh technology. This is highly promising as Bluetooth is widely available in Smart Phones and Tablet PCs, allowing an easy access to the Internet of Things. In this paper work, we investigate the performance of Bluetooth enabled mesh networking that we performed to identify the strengths and weaknesses. A demonstrator for this protocol has been implemented by using the Fruity Mesh protocol implementation. Extensive test cases have been executed to measure the performance, the reliability, the power consumption and the delay. For this, an Automated Physical Testbed (APTB), which emulates the physical channels has been used. The results of these measurements are considered useful for the real implementation of Bluetooth; not only for home and building automation, but also for industrial automation.
Message co chairmen
(2017)
Simulation-based degradation assessment of lithium-ion batteries in a hybrid electric vehicle
(2017)
The insufficient lifetime of lithium-ion batteries is one of the major cost driver for mobile applications. The battery pack in vehicles is one of the most expensive single components that practically must be excluded from premature replacement (i.e., before the life span of the other components end). Battery degradation is a complex physicochemical process that strongly depends on operating condition and environment. We present a simulation-based analysis of lithium-ion battery degradation during operation with a standard PHEV test cycle. We use detailed multiphysics (extended Newman-type) cell models that allow the assessment of local electrochemical potential, species and temperature distributions as driving forces for degradation, including solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation [1]. Fig. 1 shows an exemplary test cycle and the predicted resulting spatially-averaged SEI formation rate. We apply a time-upscaling approach to extrapolate the degradation analysis over long time scales, keeping physical accuracy while allowing end-of-life assessment [2]. Results are presented for lithium-ion battery cells with graphite/LFP chemistry. The behavior of these cells in terms of degradation propensity, performance, state of charge and other internal states is predicted during long-term cycling. State of health (SOH) is quantified as capacity fade and internal resistance increase as function of operation time.
Practical bottlenecks associated with commercialization of Lithium-air cells include capacity limitation and low cycling efficiency. The origin of such losses can be traced to complex electrochemical side reactions and reactant mass transport losses[1]. The efforts to minimize such losses include exploration of various electrolytes with additives[2], and cell component geometry and material design. Given the wide range of options for such materials, it is almost impractical to experimentally setup and characterize all those cells. Consequently, modeling and simulation studies are efficient alternatives to analyze spatially and temporally resolved cell behavior for various combinations of materials[3]. In this study, with the help of a two-dimensional multi physics model, we have focused on the effect of electrode and electrolyte interaction (electrochemistry), choice of electrolyte (species transport), and electrode geometry (electrode design) on the performance of a lithium-air button cell. Figure1a shows the schematics of the 2D axisymmetric computational domain. A comparative analysis of five different electrolytes was performed while focusing on the 2D distribution of local current density and the concentration of electro-chemically active species in the cell, that is, O2and Li+. Using two different cathode configurations, namely, flooded electrode and gas diffusion electrode (GDE)[4] at different cathode thickness, the effect of cell geometry and electrolyte saturation on cell performance was explored. Further, a detailed discussion on electrode volume utilization (cf. Figure1b) is presented via changes in the active volume of cathode that produces 90% of the total current with the cell current density for different combinations of electrolyte saturations and cathode thickness.
Computing Aggregates on Autonomous, Self-organizing Multi-Agent System: Application "Smart Grid"
(2017)
Decentralized data aggregation plays an important role in estimating the state of the smart grid, allowing the determination of meaningful system-wide measures (such as the current power generation, consumption, etc.) to balance the power in the grid environment. Data aggregation is often practicable if the aggregation is performed effectively. However, many existing approaches are lacking in terms of fault-tolerance. We present an approach to construct a robust self-organizing overlay by exploiting the heterogeneous characteristics of the nodes and interlinking the most reliable nodes to form an stable unstructured overlay. The network structure can recover from random state perturbations in finite time and tolerates substantial message loss. Our approach is inspired from biological and sociological self-organizing mechanisms.
The paper is addressing the needs of the universities regarding qualification of students as future R&D specialists in efficient techniques for successfully running innovation process. In comparison with the engineers, the students often demonstrate lower motivation in learning systematic inventive techniques, like for example TRIZ methodology, and prefer random brainstorming for idea generation. The quality of obtained solutions also depends on the level of completeness of the problem analysis, which is more complex and time consuming in the case of interdisciplinary systems. The paper briefly describes one-semester-course of 60 hours in new product development with the Advanced Innovation Design Approach and TRIZ methodology, in which a typical industrial innovation process for one selected interdisciplinary mechatronic product is modelled.
Finding clusters in high dimensional data is a challenging research problem. Subspace clustering algorithms aim to find clusters in all possible subspaces of the dataset where, a subspace is the subset of dimensions of the data. But exponential increase in the number of subspaces with the dimensionality of data renders most of the algorithms inefficient as well as ineffective. Moreover, these algorithms have ingrained data dependency in the clustering process, thus, parallelization becomes difficult and inefficient. SUBSCALE is a recent subspace clustering algorithm which is scalable with the dimensions and contains independent processing steps which can be exploited through parallelism. In this paper, we aim to leverage, firstly, the computational power of widely available multi-core processors to improve the runtime performance of the SUBSCALE algorithm. The experimental evaluation has shown linear speedup. Secondly, we are developing an approach using graphics processing units (GPUs) for fine-grained data parallelism to accelerate the computation further. First tests of the GPU implementation show very promising results.
In medical applications wireless technologies are not widely spread. Today they are mainly used in non latency-critical applications where reliability can be guaranteed through retransmission protocols and error correction mechanisms. By using retransmission protocols within the disturbed shared wireless channel latency will increase. Therefore retransmission protocols are not sufficient for removing latency-critical wired connections within operating rooms such as foot switches. Todays research aims to improve reliability through the physical characteristics of the wireless channel by using diversity methods and more robust modulation. In this paper an Architecture for building up a reliable network is presented. The Architecture offers the possibility for devices with different reliability, latency and energy consumption requirements to participate. Furthermore reliability, latency and energy consumption are scalable for every single participant.
Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Strommarktsimulationsmodell entwickelt, mit dessen Hilfe die Bereitstellung von Flexibilität auf dem Strom- und Regelleistungsmarkt in Deutschland modell-gestützt analysiert werden soll. Das Modell bildet dabei zwei parallel verlaufende, zentrale Wettbewerbsmärkte ab, an denen Akteure durch die individuelle Gebotsermittlung handeln können. Die entsprechend hierzu entwickelte Gebotslogik wird detailliert erläutert, wobei der Fokus auf der Flexibilität fossil-thermischer Kraftwerke liegt. In der anschließenden Gegen-überstellung mit realen Marktpreisen zeigt sich, dass die verwendete Methodik und die Ge-botslogik den bestehenden Markt und dessen Marktergebnis in geeigneter Form wiederspie-geln, wodurch zukünftig unterschiedlichste Flexibilitätsszenarien analysiert und Aussagen zu deren Auswirkungen auf den Markt und seine Akteure getroffen werden können.
Muli-scale thermos-electrochemical modelling of aging mechanisms in an LFP/graphite lithium-ion cell
(2017)
The electrical field (E-field) of the biventricular (BV) stimulation is important for the success of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with cardiac insufficiency and widened QRS complex.
The aim of the study was to model different pacing and ablation electrodes and to integrate them into a heart model for the static and dynamic simulation of BV stimulation and HF ablation in atrial fibrillation (AF).
The modeling and simulation was carried out using the electromagnetic simulation software CST. Five multipolar left ventricular (LV) electrodes, four bipolar right atrial (RA) electrodes, two right ventricular (RV) electrodes and one HF ablation catheter were modelled. A selection were integrated into the heart rhythm model (Schalk, Offenburg) for the electrical field simulation. The simulation of an AV node ablation at CRT was performed with RA, RV and LV electrodes and integrated ablation catheter with an 8 mm gold tip.
The BV stimulation were performed simultaneously at amplitude of 3 V at the LV electrode and 1 V at the RV electrode with a pulse width of 0.5 ms each. The far-field potential at the RA electrode tip was 32.86 mV and 185.97 mV at a distance of 1 mm from the RA electrode tip. AV node ablation was simulated with an applied power of 5 W at 420 kHz at the distal ablation electrode. The temperature at the catheter tip was 103.87 °C after 5 s ablation time and 37.61 °C at a distance of 2 mm inside the myocardium. After 15 s, the temperature was 118.42 °C and 42.13 °C.
Virtual heart and electrode models as well as the simulations of electrical fields and temperature profiles allow the static and dynamic simulation of atrial synchronous BV stimulation and HF ablation at AF and could be used to optimize the CRT and AF ablation.