Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-262). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 23-26, 2000 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / In the past few years, GPS has proven itself as an effective source of time space position information (TSPI) data for air vehicles. Currently, GPS truth systems are used to track aircraft ranging from low dynamic vehicles to high dynamic fighters. However, low-cost GPS TSPI instrumentation is not currently available for stores and weapons delivered by air vehicles. To date, data is collected by tracking dropped items using radar or optical means. This process is costly and time consuming. The purpose of this project is to leverage the recent advances in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology to develop a subminiature, inexpensive, low power, disposable telemetrytransmitting package. The purpose of this transmitting package is to up-link the GPS positional data from the weapon or store to the host aircraft. This data is then retransmitted by the host aircraft to a ground station and/or recorded on board for post processing. The transmission of the data to the host aircraft can provide near real- time position data for the released object. The transmitting package must have a unique identification method for application in tracking multiple objects. Since most of the systems used in weapons testing will be destroyed, it is extremely important to keep the development and maintenance cost low. In addition, the package must be non-intrusive to avoid any significant modification to the weapon and to facilitate quick instrumentation of the weapon for test and evaluation.

Robotic microassembly is a process to leverage intelligent micro-robotic technologies to manipulate and assemble three-dimensional complex micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) from a set of simple-functional microparts or subsystems. As the development of micro and nano-technologies has progressed in recent years, complex and highly integrated micro-devices are required. Microassembly will certainly play an important role in the fabrication of the next generation of MEMS devices. This work provides advances in robotic microassembly of complex three-dimensional MEMS devices. The following key technologies in robotic microassembly are studied in this research: (i) the design of micro-fasteners with high accuracy, high mechanical strength, and reliable electrical connection, (ii) the development of a microassembly strategy that permits the manipulation of microparts with multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs) and high accuracy, (iii) fully automated microassembly based on computer vision, (iv) micro-force sensor design for microassembly. An adhesive mechanical micro-fastener is developed to assemble micro-devices. Hybrid microassembly strategy, which consists of pick-and-place and pushing-based manipulations, is employed to assemble three-dimensional micro-devices with high flexibility and high accuracy. Novel three-dimensional rotary MEMS mirrors have been successfully assembled using the proposed micro-fastener and manipulation strategy. Fully automatic pick-and-place microassembly is successfully developed based on visual servo control. A vision-based contact sensor is developed and applied to automatic micro-joining tasks. Experimental results show that automatic microassembly has achieved sub-micron accuracy, high efficiency, and high success rate. This work has provided an effective approach to construct the next generation of MEMS devices with high performance, high efficiency, and low cost.

Robotic microassembly is a process to leverage intelligent micro-robotic technologies to manipulate and assemble three-dimensional complex micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) from a set of simple-functional microparts or subsystems. As the development of micro and nano-technologies has progressed in recent years, complex and highly integrated micro-devices are required. Microassembly will certainly play an important role in the fabrication of the next generation of MEMS devices. This work provides advances in robotic microassembly of complex three-dimensional MEMS devices. The following key technologies in robotic microassembly are studied in this research: (i) the design of micro-fasteners with high accuracy, high mechanical strength, and reliable electrical connection, (ii) the development of a microassembly strategy that permits the manipulation of microparts with multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs) and high accuracy, (iii) fully automated microassembly based on computer vision, (iv) micro-force sensor design for microassembly. An adhesive mechanical micro-fastener is developed to assemble micro-devices. Hybrid microassembly strategy, which consists of pick-and-place and pushing-based manipulations, is employed to assemble three-dimensional micro-devices with high flexibility and high accuracy. Novel three-dimensional rotary MEMS mirrors have been successfully assembled using the proposed micro-fastener and manipulation strategy. Fully automatic pick-and-place microassembly is successfully developed based on visual servo control. A vision-based contact sensor is developed and applied to automatic micro-joining tasks. Experimental results show that automatic microassembly has achieved sub-micron accuracy, high efficiency, and high success rate. This work has provided an effective approach to construct the next generation of MEMS devices with high performance, high efficiency, and low cost.

Pour une exploitation technologique possible en ingénierie électromécanique, nous considérons dans cette thèse l'étude dynamique et la synchronisation des dispositifs électromécaniques non-linéaires décrits par le système couplé constitué de l'oscillateur électrique de Duffing couplé magnétiquement et paramètriquement aux oscillateurs mécaniques linéaires en série et en parallèle. L'intérêt porté sur ces dispositifs électromécaniques revêt un caractère technologique indéniable, dû à sa présence dans plusieurs branches de l'ingénierie électromécanique. Nous étudions le comportement de ces dispositifs à travers les études analytique et numérique, et montrons que les phénomènes non-linéaires tels que: les phénomènes de résonances, d'anti-résonances, d'hystérésis et de multi-stabilité, les oscillations sous et super harmoniques, et le chaos peuvent être utilisé pour améliorer les perfectionnements à des taches industrielles. Le problème de synchronisation des états régulier et chaotique de ces dispositifs est aussi d'un grand intérêt pour des applications en ingénierie électromécanique.

As micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and smart technologies have been more matured, applications for wider fields are more available. Piezoelectric materials have the property of electromechanical energy conversion, which can convert vibration energy into electrical energy. In this paper, a general concept of the piezoelectric energy conversion is first given. Then, a simple modeling design and analysis for a special transverse mode of the piezoelectric generator called mode 31 is presented. With regard to analytical method, the piezoelectric equivalent circuit model is able to illustrate the important parameters that influence the process how the piezoelectric element generates electrical energy. We may adjust unimorph voltage by controlling the deflection of cantilever beam. And the output power is taken as the indicated parameters for the generator. The energy conversion efficiency of the generator depends on the operation frequency. By using this way, the piezoelectric power generator may be widely applied to environment with both low-frequency and high-frequency vibration range.

Mechanical energy exists all over the place in our living, and vibration is the most common way of mechanical performance. Micro-electromechanical systems, the application which integrate techniques and combine different field of research, make it possible to convert vibration into electrical energy by using piezoelectric materials; moreover, it become a small piezoelectric power generator. The thesis set up an equivalent circuit model based on the principle of piezoelectric and cantilever mechanics for experimenting the model¡¦s exactness; consequently, model shows that resonant frequency has no effect on generate electricity when amplitude was fixed. The thesis attempts to change the shape of unimorph for enhancing its power generation. By using different sharp of unimorph, the experiment demonstrate that power generation have direct ratio with frequency at amplitude of 5mm. Moreover, different shapes of the unimorph at frequency of 16Hz have different power output; the disparity among power output might up to 1.78 times.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία πραγματεύεται το σχεδιασμό και την κατασκευή μίας διάταξης φόρτισης ενός κινητηρίου συστήματος. Η διάταξη αυτή, αποτελούμενη από μια μηχανή Συνεχούς Ρεύματος και έναν ηλεκτρονικό μετατροπέα, παρέχει τη δυνατότητα εργαστηριακής εξομοίωσης ενός οποιουδήποτε φορτίου που επιθυμούμε να επιβληθεί στο ηλεκτροκινητήριο σύστημα. Η μεταβολή του φορτίου επιτυγχάνεται με τον κατάλληλο έλεγχο του μετατροπέα. Η εργασία αυτή εκπονήθηκε στο Εργαστήριο Ηλεκτρομηχανικής Μετατροπής Ενέργειας του Τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών της Πολυτεχνικής Σχολής του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Σκοπός της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η κατασκευή ενός ηλεκτρονικού μετατροπέα ισχύος, ο οποίος σε συνδυασμό με μία μηχανή συνεχούς ρεύματος ξένης διέγερσης, που λειτουργεί ως γεννήτρια, θα φορτίζει έναν κινητήρα που συνδέεται στον άξονα της, εξομοιώνοντας έργαστηριακά τις εξωτερικές δυνάμεις που ασκούνται σε ένα όχημα κατά την κίνηση του. Απώτερος στόχος είναι η κατάλληλη φόρτιση ενός οποιουδήποτε ελεγχόμενου ηλεκτροκινητήριου συστήματος ώστε να υλοποιηθεί ένα εργαστηριακό σύστημα το οποίο να παρέχει τη δυνατότητα διερεύνησης της λειτουργίας του κάτω από οποιεσδήποτε συνθήκες στατικής ή δυναμικής καταπόνησης καθώς και επιβεβαίωσης θεωρητικών αναλύσεων. Αρχικά γίνεται ανάλυση του φορτίου του κινητήρα ενός οχήματος και μέσω της εξίσωσης κινήσεως αναζητείται τρόπος ώστε να συνδεθεί κατάλληλα η σχέση αυτή με την εξίσωση που δίνει τη ροπή στον άξονα μιας μηχανής συνεχούς ρεύματος, ούτως ώστε να εξομοιωθεί το φορτίο του κινητήρα του οχήματος. Στη συνέχεια γίνεται η επιλογή του κατάλληλου για την εφαρμογή μετατροπέα και αναλύεται η λειτουργία του. Την θεωρητική μελέτη ακολουθεί η μελέτη του συστήματος σε περιβάλλον MATLAΒ/SIMULINK προκειμένου να εξακριβωθεί η ορθή λειτουργία του συνολικού συστήματος πριν την κατασκευή του. Συγχρόνως γίνεται η μελέτη για τον έλεγχο του ηλεκτρομηχανικού συστήματος, έτσι ώστε το σύστημα να λειτουργεί ανεξάρτητα, δίνοντας την κατάλληλη ροπή στον άξονα μετρώντας τον αριθμό στροφών, την κλίση του οδοστρώματος και την πραγματική ροπή στον άξονα της γεννήτριας. Τέλος, γίνεται η μελέτη και η κατασκευή της διάταξης στο εργαστήριο, με τη χρήση της οποίας διεξάγονται μετρήσεις για την επιβεβαίωση και την αξιολόγηση της θεωρητικής μελέτης. / This diploma thesis deals with the design and implementation of an electromechanical system able to strain a vehicle’s motor. This system consists of a Direct Current machine and a power converter, which can actually strain any given electric motor drive. Any desirable strain can be achieved on the electric motor drive, by controlling the converter properly. This study was conducted in the Laboratory of Electromechanical Energy Conversion, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Patras. The purpose of this diploma thesis is the construction of an electromechanical system, which will be attached on the shaft of an electric motor in order to strain it and simulate a car’s driving conditions. The equation of a car’s motion is analyzed and the forces applied on a car are presented. Then these forces are combined with the torque applied on a Direct Current generator’s shaft in order to accomplish the simulation of the external forces applied on a car, while in motion. The next step is to confirm the theoretical analysis by computer simulation, which takes place in Matlab/Simulink environment. Finally, the design and manufacturing of the laboratory experimental set-up is being studied, in order to carry out the measurements required to confirm and evaluate the theory.

Les MEMS et NEMS résonants sont d'excellents candidats pour la réalisation de systèmes de détection de gaz haute résolution et faible couts ayant des applications dans les domaines de la sécurité, la défense, l'environnement et la santé. Cependant, la question du choix des techniques de transduction est toujours largement débattue. La transduction piézoélectrique pourrait être avantageusement exploitée mais elle est encore peu connue à l'échelle nanométrique. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc de progresser vers la réalisation de capteur de gaz à haute résolution à l'aide résonateurs à base de micro / nano poutres piézoélectriques en couvrant la chaîne de prototypage complète depuis les techniques de dépôt des matériaux jusqu'à l'expérience de preuve de principe de mesure de gaz. Pour cela, notre première contribution concerne la modélisation analytique des performances et l'optimisation, design et système, d'un capteur de gaz à base de poutres résonantes piézoélectriques. En particulier, nous démontrons que la diminution de l'épaisseur du film piézoélectrique actif sous la barre des 100 nm permet d'atteindre les meilleures performances. La deuxième contribution concerne la fabrication, la caractérisation et la démonstration des performances capteur de poutres résonantes de 80 μm de long exploitant un film piézoélectrique en AlN de 50 nm d'épais. Ainsi nous avons démontré expérimentalement la stabilité fréquentielle exceptionnelle de ces dispositifs atteignant des déviations standard de l'ordre de 〖10〗^(-8), au niveau de l’état de l'art. Ainsi, ils permettent la détection de vapeurs Di -Methyl -méthyl- phosphonates, un simulateur de gaz sarin, avec des concentrations aussi faibles que 10 ppb. Bien que le niveau d'intégration de notre système de détection ne soit pas suffisant, ces résultats prouvent le fort potentiel de ces résonateurs cantilever piézoélectriques pour un développement industriel futur. / Resonant MEMS and NEMS are excellent candidate for the realization of low cost and high resolution gas sensing systems that have several applications in security, defense, and environment and health care domains. However, the question of the transduction technique used to couple micro or nano scale signals to the macro scale is still a key issue. Piezoelectric transduction can be advantageously exploited but has been rarely studied at the nano-scale. The objective of this PhD is thus to progress toward the realization of high-resolution gas sensor using piezoelectric micro/nano cantilevers resonators and cover the whole prototyping chain from device fabrication to proof of principle experiment. Our first contribution in this research relates the analytical modeling of the sensing performance and the system and design optimization. In particular we demonstrate that decreasing the piezoelectric active film thickness below 100 nm is particularly beneficial. The second contribution relates the fabrication, characterization and demonstration of the high sensing performances of 80 μm long cantilevers embedding a 50 nm thick piezoelectric AlN film for transduction. These devices exhibit state of the art performances in terms of resonance frequency deviation down to the 〖10〗^(-8) range. They allow thus the detection of Di-Methyl-Methyl-Phosphonate vapors, a sarin gas simulant, with concentration as low as 10 ppb. Although the level of integration of our sensing system is not sufficient for real life application, these results prove the high potential of these piezoelectric cantilever resonators for future industrial development.

Orientador: José Manoel Balthazar / Banca: Angelo Marcelo Tusset / Banca: Bento Rodrigues de Pontes Junior / Resumo: Neste trabalho é realizada a análise do comportamento dinâmico não linear, caótico e controle, de um sistema macro eletromecânico e um sistema micro eletromecânico, e esta dividida em duas partes: A primeira parte desta dissertação trata - se de um sistema eletromecânico de 2º ordem com um único grau de liberdade em escala macro. Tal sistema é constituído de um oscilador mecânico composto de massa, mola não linear e amortecedor acolplado a um circuito elétrico, este composto uma resistência em série com um atuador capacitivo e um magnésio variável. O objetivo desta análise é estudar o comportamento dinâmico do modelo eletromecânico em estado de equilíbrio, e verificar como as simplificaçõs das não linearidades podem alterar a resposta do sistema. São aplicadas dua técnicas de controle ativo o controle linear feedback e o controle utilizado a equação de Riccati dependente do estado, como ferramenta para obter as oscilações em uma órbita periódica desejada, e com a finalidade de realizar uma comparação entre a eficiência destes dois métodos, para este sistema. Na segunda parte é analisado o comportamento dinâmico de um sistema micro "MEMS", representado por um micro-acelerômetro moderado por uma equação diferencial não-linear de segunda ordem. Este sistema considera duas placas fixas e uma placa móvel entre elas, a qual é aplicada uma tensão V (t), tais placas têm as funções de fornecer eletrodos para formar um capacitor e armazenar energia elétrica, e de fornecer elasticidade ou rigidez mecânica. Os resultados são obtidos através de simulações numéricas, sendo possível observar que para uma determinada faixa de parâmetros utilizados o sistema apresenta um comportamento indesejável. Através do uso da técnica do controle ótimo foi possível levar o sistema a uma orbita periódica desejada / Abstract: This work presented analysis of the dynamic behavior of nonlinear and chaotic control, of electromechanical systems in macro and micro scales, and is divided into two parts. The first part of this work is an electromechanical system in macro scale of second order with of a single degree of freedom. This system consists of mechanical oscillator consisting of mass, spring nonlinear and damper, coupled to an electric circuit, this compound a resistence in series with a capacitive actuator and a magnetic variable. The purpose of this analysis is to study the dynamic behavior of electromechanical model in equilibrium, and see how the simplifications of nonlinearities can change the system response. Two techniques are applied to active control, linear feedback control, and control using the Riccati equation sate-dependent, as a tool for the oscillations in a disired periodic orbit, and with the purpose to make a comparison between the effectiveness of two methods for this system. In the second part we analyze the dynamic behavior of a micro electromechanical system MEMS, represented by a micro-accelerometer is modeled by a nonlinear differential equation of second order. This system takes two fixed plates and a movable plate between them, which is applied a voltage V (t), such boards have the function of providing electrodes to form a capacitor or store electrical energy, and providing mechanical stiffness or elasticity. Results are obtained through numerical simulations. As can be seen that for a certain range of parameters the sytem presents an undesirable behavior. Through the using the technique of optimal control could case the sysstem to a desired periodic orbit. For the system with dimensionless parameters one can observe a chaotic behavior. As in general it is not possible to obtain exact analytical solutions to equations, sought an approximate solution obtained by the method of perturbation, the (Method of Multiple Scales) / Mestre