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The exploration of Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) represents a crucial aspect in the advancement of modern science and technology. They offer low-cost solutions to miniaturize numerous devices. The increasing use of MEMS applications in biological research has created a pressing need for reliable micromanipulation tools. In this context, microgrippers have emerged as promising tools for the precise handling and characterization of biological samples. This thesis presents a novel biocompatible microgripper that utilizes electrothermal actuation integrated with a rotary capacitive position sensor. To overcome the limited displacement possibilities associated with electrothermal actuators, this microgripper incorporates conjugate surface flexure hinges (CSFH). These hinges enhance the desired tweezers output displacement. The designed microgripper can in principle manipulate biological samples ranging in size from 15 to 120 μm. Based on the sensitivity calculation of the rotary capacitive position sensors, the sensitivity of the displacement measurement is 102 fF/μm. By employing a kinematics modeling approach based on the pseudo-rigid-body method (PRBM), an equation for the displacement amplification factor is developed, and this equation is subsequently verified through FEM-based simulations. By comparing the amplification ratio value obtained from the analytical modeling and simulations, there is an excellent match, with a relative difference of only ~1%, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the PRBM approach in modeling the kinematics of the structure under investigation. In addition to this, by using analytical modeling based on finite elements method (FEM), the design of the electrothermal actuator and the heat dissipation mechanism is optimized. FEM-based simulations are used to validate the theoretical modeling, demonstrating good agreement between the displacements derived from analytical modeling and simulations. The temperature difference (∆T) across a range from room temperature to 278°C exhibits a relative difference of ~2.8%. Moreover, underpass technology is implemented to ensure that electrical signals or disturbances from other parts of the device, such as the electrothermal actuation system, do not interfere with the operation and integrity of the gripping mechanism. Ultimately, the microgripper is fabricated using conventional MEMS technology from a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer through the deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) technique. The integration of theoretical modeling, simulations, and practical fabrication highlights a compelling approach that has the potential for transformative applications in the field of micromanipulation and biological sample handling. Furthermore, we propose a C-shaped structure with a curved beam mechanism to improve the movement provided by the thermal actuators. The design of experiment (DOE) method is used to optimize the geometrical parameters of our proposed device. Analytical modeling based on Castigliano's second theorem and finite element method (FEM) simulations are used to predict the behavior of the symmetrical C-shaped structure; the results are in good agreement. The MEMS-based rotational structures are fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers using bulk micromachining and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). The fabricated devices are tested; our findings reveal that our proposed MEMS rotational structure outperforms the symmetrical lancet structure by 28% in terms of delivered displacement. Furthermore, the experimental results agree well with those obtained through numerical analysis.

Two capacitive sensors, a commercial FP-32C and a custom design capacitor plate were evaluated for real-time cotton moisture content (MC%) measurement in ginning environment. The sensors were able to measure MC ranges of 3.56%–19.7% and 4.56%–21.04% MC for FP-32C and custom capacitor pate, respectively. In dynamic mode, the ranges were 4.9%–14.5% and 4.9%–14.7% respectively. Results showed that measurements of both sensors had strong correlations with results obtained from oven method. A comparison of moisture content measurement methods using a moisture balance (M5 Thermo 163M,) and oven method was conducted with the result showing that Lint-Only samples were the most closely correlated to the oven method. The study concluded that both sensors, with appropriate calibration, offered good non-destructive methods of MC measurements in real-time, and they can be effective in providing a close loop control of cotton moisture in the gin. Key words: cotton moisture content, capacitive sensors, static mode, dynamic mode, real-time, moisture balance, non-destructive method.

Submitted by Rosivalda Pereira (mrs.pereira@ufma.br) on 2017-05-16T17:11:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ChristianCarvalho.pdf: 1874919 bytes, checksum: 3c4ecd041d9c80194ae2c47a229bbd6a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-16T17:11:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ChristianCarvalho.pdf: 1874919 bytes, checksum: 3c4ecd041d9c80194ae2c47a229bbd6a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-31 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão (FAPEMA) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ) / The use of biodiesel/diesel mixtures out of the quality standards specified by the National Agency of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Biofuels - ANP can be harmful to the environment and automotive engines. Therefore, it is important to develop methodologies capable of certifying the commercial quality of such products. In such context, this project aims to design a low-cost sensor to the quantification of the biodiesel content in biodiesel / diesel pseudo-binary blends based on the dielectric constant as a response. Thus, pseudo-binary samples were prepared using soybean or babassu methyl biodiesel with commercial diesel. The dielectric measurements were performed using a LCR meter operating in parallel circuit. In this way, a voltage of 1.0 V, frequency ranging from 100 Hz to 2000 Hz and a pitch of 100 Hz were employed. The dielectric profile of diesel and biodiesel showed remarkable variations in the frequency range of 100-300 Hz and less intense changes in under 400 and 2000 Hz, which confirms greater system stability in this measurement range. The results obtained by ANOVA of pure soybean biodiesel, pure babassu biodiesel and diesel oil showed that there was no significant difference between data treatment at the 95% significance level, once the Fcalculate was lower than the Fcritical. The frequency of 1000 Hz was adopted in biodiesel analysis of content in diesel, as it was verified that the system had a higher stability at this frequency. The correspondent values of dielectric constant demonstrate regularity and stability as well as a precision between the values found. Observing the values of the dielectric constants as a function of the percentage of biodiesel in the diesel, it was possible to plot the correlation curve for a linear model. Finally, according to the Kruskal-Wallis test reinforces the thesis that measuring dielectric constants (K) can be used to determine the concentration of biodiesel in mineral diesel. / A utilização de misturas biodiesel/diesel fora dos padrões especificados pela Agência Nacional de Petróleo e Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis – ANP podem ser prejudiciais ao meio-ambiente e causar prejuízos aos donos de veículos automotivos. Neste sentido, torna-se necessário o desenvolvimento de novas metodologias capazes de certificar a qualidade destes produtos no Brasil. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo desenvolver um sensor de baixo custo para determinar o teor de biodiesel em misturas pseudo-binárias biodiesel/diesel, utilizando constante dielétrica como resposta. Para tanto, foram preparadas misturas utilizando biodieseis metílicos de soja e/ou babaçu e óleo diesel A comercial. As medidas dielétricas foram realizadas em um medidor LCR configurado para funcionar com o circuito em paralelo. Desta forma, foram empregadas tensão de 1,0 V, frequência de 100 Hz - 2000 Hz e um passo de 100 Hz. O perfil dielétrico do óleo diesel e dos biodieseis demonstrou variações acentuadas no intervalo de frequência de 100 - 300 Hz e alterações de menor intensidade entre as frequências de 400 a 2000 Hz, confirmando maior estabilidade do sistema nessa faixa. Os resultados obtidos por ANOVA do biodiesel de soja puro, biodiesel de babaçu puro e o óleo diesel, demostraram que não há diferença significativa entre os tratamentos ao nível de significância de 95%, visto que o Fcalculado foi menor que o Fcrítico. A frequência de 1000 Hz foi adotada nas análises do teor de biodiesel no diesel, pois verificou-se maior estabilidade do sistema nessa frequência. Os valores de constante dielétrica em questão demonstram regularidade e estabilidade, além de uma precisão entre os valores encontrados. Observando os valores das constantes dielétricas em função da porcentagem de biodiesel no diesel, foi possível traçar a curva de correlação para um modelo linear. Por fim, o teste de Kruskal-Wallis demonstrou que a tese de que as medidas constantes dielétricas (𝐾) podem vir a ser utilizadas para determinar a concentração de biodiesel no diesel mineral.

Práce se zabývá návrhem a implementací testovacího zařízení pro manipulačnínmechanismus vzorku v elektronovém mikroskopu. Testovací zařízení a jeho software zajištuje meření několika parametrů mechanismu, jejich statistické vyhodnocení a porovnání se specifikací. Cílem je vytvořit komplexní testovací zařízení s jednoduchým uživatelským rozhraním, s požadavkem náhrady stávajícího nemodulárního a nestabilního řešení a jeho rozšíření o testování dalších parametrů.

Energy efficiency is a key requirement for wireless sensor nodes, biomedical implants, and wearable devices. The energy consumption of the sensor node needs to be minimized to avoid battery replacement, or even better, to enable the device to survive on energy harvested from the ambient. Capacitive sensors do not consume static power; thus, they are attractive from an energy efficiency perspective. In addition, they can be employed in a wide range of sensing applications. However, the sensor readout circuit–i.e., the capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC)–can be the dominant source of energy consumption in the system. Thus, the development of energy-efficient CDCs is crucial to minimizing the energy consumption of capacitive sensor nodes. In the first part of this dissertation, we propose several energy-efficient CDC architectures for low-energy sensor nodes. First, we propose a digitally-controlled coarsefine multislope CDC that employs both current and frequency scaling to achieve significant improvement in energy efficiency. Second, we analyze the limitations of successive approximation (SAR) CDC, and we address these limitations by proposing a robust parasitic-insensitive opamp-based SAR CDC. Third, we propose an inverter-based SAR CDC that achieves an energy efficiency figure-of-merit (FoM) of 31fJ/Step, which is the best energy efficiency FoM reported to date. Fourth, we propose a differential SAR CDC with quasi-dynamic operation to maintain excellent energy efficiency for a scalable sample rate. In the second part of this dissertation, we study the matching properties of small integrated capacitors, which are an integral component of energy-efficient CDCs. Despite conventional wisdom, we experimentally illustrate that the mismatch of small capacitors can be directly measured, and we report mismatch measurements for subfemtofarad integrated capacitors. We also correct the common misconception that lateral capacitors match better than vertical capacitors, and we identify the conditions that make one implementation preferable. In the third and last part of this dissertation, we investigate the potential of novel metal-organic framework (MOF) thin films in capacitive gas sensing. We provide sensitivity-based optimization and simple fabrication flow for capacitive interdigitated electrodes. We use a custom flexible gas sensor test setup that is designed and built in-house to characterize MOF-based capacitive gas sensors.

Submitted by Eunice Novais (enovais@uepg.br) on 2018-08-22T18:09:08Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Ricardo Dalacort.pdf: 1861957 bytes, checksum: 5c11f28e6c7ce7d5d7a7923c738f61c9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T18:09:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Ricardo Dalacort.pdf: 1861957 bytes, checksum: 5c11f28e6c7ce7d5d7a7923c738f61c9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-19 / A agricultura moderna utiliza-se de técnicas e tecnologias que possibilitam o aumento da produtividade e possível redução dos custos ao produtor. Otimizar o uso de insumos aplicando dosagens exatas e precisas, condizentes com as reais necessidades do solo, além de proporcionar os nutrientes necessários para o correto desenvolvimento das culturas, possibilita reduzir os custos e impactos ambientais causados pelo uso incorreto de produtos como fertilizantes e agrotóxicos. A eficiência na produtividade de um sistema depende principalmente das tecnologias empregada a ela, e que, por sua vez, seu bom aproveitamento depende da quantidade de informação disponível para melhor aplicabilidade de seus recursos. O principal objetivo desse trabalho foi desenvolver empiricamente um sensor capacitivo para identificar ausência, presença e variações na distribuição de fertilizante minerais sólidos. O sensor desenvolvido identificou em todos os testes realizados, a ausência ou a presença de fertilizantes independente da formulação testada, apresentando coeficiente de variação inferior a 10% representando homogeneidade e baixa dispersão dos dados em relação à média aritmética. Os maiores erros expressos pelo desvio padrão – DVP ocorreram em estado dinâmico com a formulação 06-21-12 apresentando valores de 6,19 pF e 7,14 pF para o mecanismo dosador por gravidade e por transbordo respectivamente. Na identificação de variações da distribuição do fertilizante, o sensor identificou a redução do fluxo do fertilizante em todos os experimentos quando a obstrução foi imposta. Para a formulação 00-00-60 a redução da capacitância foi de aproximadamente 55% para o mecanismo dosador por gravidade e de 58% para o mecanismo dosador por transbordo. As demais formulações apresentaram variações próximas a estas na imposição da obstrução. Na análise relacionada a identificação da formulação de fertilizante, apenas as formulações 02-28-20 e 06-21-12 nos experimentos realizados com o mecanismo dosador por transbordo não se diferem estatisticamente entre si, sendo que todas as demais formulações apresentaram diferença estatisticamente significante pela analise ANOVA e pelo Teste de Tukey a 5% de significância. A umidade teve influência na permissividade dielétrica das formulações de fertilizantes testadas 02-20-10 e 02-28-20, gerando alterações na resposta do sensor, sendo mais expressiva em níveis de umidade de 6,33% e 7,56% respectivamente, apresentando aumento da capacitância em 493,60% e 385,51% em relação as umidades iniciais de 1,66% e 2%. / Modern agriculture uses techniques and technologies that allow the increase of productivity and possible reduction of costs to the producer. Optimizing the use of inputs by applying precise and precise dosages, in keeping with the real needs of the soil, besides providing the necessary nutrients for the correct development of the crops, reduces the costs and environmental impacts caused by the incorrect use of products such as fertilizers and agrochemicals. The productivity efficiency of a system depends mainly on the technology that is used to it, and that, in turn, its good use depends on the amount of information available to better apply its resources. The main objective of this work was to develop empirically a capacitive sensor to identify absence, presence and variations in the distribution of solid mineral fertilizer. The developed sensor identified in all tests the absence or presence of fertilizers independent of the tested formulation, presenting a coefficient of variation of less than 10% representing homogeneity and low dispersion of the data in relation to the arithmetic mean. The highest errors expressed by the standard deviation - DVP occurred in dynamic state with the formulation 06-21-12 presenting values of 6.19 pF and 7.14 pF for the gravity and overflow mechanism respectively. In the identification of variations of the fertilizer distribution, the sensor identified the reduction of fertilizer flow in all experiments when the obstruction was imposed. For the formulation 00-00-60 the capacitance reduction was approximately 55% for the gravity loading mechanism and 58% for the transhipment dosing mechanism. The other formulations presented variations close to these. In the analysis related to the identification of the fertilizer formulation, only formulations 02-28-20 and 06-21-12 in the experiments performed with the transhipment dosing mechanism do not differ statistically from each other, and all other formulations presented a statistically significant difference by ANOVA and Tukey's test at 5% significance. Moisture had an influence on the dielectric permittivity of the tested fertilizer formulations 02-20-10 and 02-28-20, generating alterations in the sensor response, being more expressive in humidity levels of 6.33% and 7.56%, respectively, presenting capacitance increase in 493.60% and 385.51% in relation to the initial humidities of 1.66% and 2%.

This document describes the design and deployment of a first generation water vapor density sensing unit, the HumiSense. This device is based on an open, air-filled capacitor which is part of a resonant circuit. The frequency of the resonant circuit mixed with a fixed frequency oscillator is the basis of the method to generate a signal that is associated to the change in water vapor density within the open capacitor with time. The physical testing results were inconclusive given that there were many unresolved artifacts in the data. Several suggestions for improving the device for future device generations were provided. / Graduation date: 2013

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this research was to develop a seed moisture measurement system (M.M.S.) prototype that could be embedded on a combine to harvest and analyze experimental plots. It must be able to reach the claims of seed research companies. This kind of system is trade available, though there is no technology designed in Brazil and it is imported in a high cost. To reach the aim, seven construction requirement were defined. The M.M.S. was designed and constructed obeying such requirements. Fixed frequency in 10 kHz, its operation distinguishes itself by gathering constructive characteristics capacitive sensors of parallel plates as well as concentric cylinders. Its calibration was performed using corn seeds (Zea mays L.) artificially moistened through methodology that was preliminarily developed. The calibration curve was obtained by the correlation between the sensor output voltage and the moisture seed sample. Modeling (estimated by Linear Least Squares Fitting technique and evaluated by analysis of variance) consists of three lines which delimit three reading bands (selected automatically by system). The total M.M.S. reading extends from 10 to 30 %. The system checking was comprised by comparing the prototype results to results obtained by standard oven method and three other indirect measurement methods. Thus, the prototype was achieved through the construction of a moisture measurement system that attends the construction requirements, using automatic reading temperature correction and taking into account all the conditions to be embedded on combines. / O objetivo deste trabalho foi o desenvolvimento do prot´otipo de um sistema de medi¸c ao de umidade de sementes, que possa ser embarcado em uma colhedora para colheita e an´alise de parcelas experimentais e que atenda `as necessidades das empresas de pesquisa que atuam no melhoramento de plantas. Este sistema est´a dispon´ıvel no com´ercio, por´em ´e importado a alto custo. A constru¸c ao do sistema de medi¸c ao de umidade foi feita obedecendo a alguns requisitos previamente definidos. Trabalhando com uma freq¨u encia fixa de 10 kHz, distingue-se por reunir caracter´ısticas construtivas dos sensores capacitivos de placas paralelas bem como os de cilindros conc entricos. Sua calibra¸c ao foi feita utilizando sementes de milho (Zea mays L.) umedecidas artificialmente mediante metodologia desenvolvida preliminarmente. A curva de calibra¸c ao foi obtida pela correla¸c ao da tens ao de sa´ıda do sensor com o teor de ´agua presente na amostra de sementes. O modelo (estimado pelo m´etodo de regress ao por m´ınimos-quadrados e avaliado por an´alise de vari ancia) consiste de tr es retas que delimitam tr es faixas de leitura (selecionadas automaticamente pelo sistema). A faixa capaz de medi¸c ao de umidade corresponde `a de 10 a 30 %. A aferi¸c ao do sistema foi delineada pela compara¸c ao dos resultados do prot´otipo com os resultados obtidos por um m´etodo padr ao de estufa e auxiliada por outros tr es m´etodos indiretos de medi¸c ao. Assim, a proposta de desenvolvimento do prot´otipo foi atingida atrav´es da constru- ¸c ao de um sistema de medi¸c ao de umidade que atende aos requisitos de constru¸c ao impostos, possuindo corre¸c ao autom´atica de leitura em fun¸c ao da temperatura ambiente e atendendo a todas as condi¸c oes para ser embarcado em colhedoras. / Doutor em Engenharia Mecânica