Swallowing accelerometry may provide a portable and cost-effective bedside alternative to currently available instrumentation. In this study, dual-axis accelerometry signals were collected simultaneous to videofluoroscopic records from 29 pediatric participants (age 6.8 $\pm$ 4.8 years; 20 males) previously diagnosed with neurogenic dysphagia. Videofluoroscopic records were reviewed by a clinical expert to extract swallow timings and ratings. The dual-axis accelerometry signals corresponding to each identified swallow were pre-processed, segmented and trimmed prior to feature extraction from time, frequency, time-frequency and information theoretic domains. Feature space dimensionality was reduced via principal components. Using 8-fold cross-validation, 16-18 dimensions and a support vector machine classifier with an RBF kernel, an adjusted accuracy of 89.6\% $\pm$ 0.9 was achieved for the discrimination between swallows with and without airway entry. Our results suggest that dual-axis accelerometry has merit in the non-invasive detection of unsafe swallows in children and deserves further consideration as a pediatric medical device.

Swallowing accelerometry may provide a portable and cost-effective bedside alternative to currently available instrumentation. In this study, dual-axis accelerometry signals were collected simultaneous to videofluoroscopic records from 29 pediatric participants (age 6.8 $\pm$ 4.8 years; 20 males) previously diagnosed with neurogenic dysphagia. Videofluoroscopic records were reviewed by a clinical expert to extract swallow timings and ratings. The dual-axis accelerometry signals corresponding to each identified swallow were pre-processed, segmented and trimmed prior to feature extraction from time, frequency, time-frequency and information theoretic domains. Feature space dimensionality was reduced via principal components. Using 8-fold cross-validation, 16-18 dimensions and a support vector machine classifier with an RBF kernel, an adjusted accuracy of 89.6\% $\pm$ 0.9 was achieved for the discrimination between swallows with and without airway entry. Our results suggest that dual-axis accelerometry has merit in the non-invasive detection of unsafe swallows in children and deserves further consideration as a pediatric medical device.

The purpose of this dissertation is to design the dual-axis solar tracker carrying the concentrator photovoltaic panels. The preamble of the dissertation shortly examines a photovoltaic cells development up to concentrators and the common support structures of solar power plants. The second part focuses on the engineering process itself. It includes the choice of the variant that suits best the requirements, the calculations of wind load and design of the various joints. The conclusion part is devoted to the evaluation, economy analysis of the construction and proposals for improvements.

Solar energy is a clean energy source which has a minimal impact on the environment than other forms of energy. Solar energy is now widely used in a variety of applications. Although solar energy is widely used, the efficiency of converting solar energy into electricity is insufficient since most solar panels are installed at a fixed angle and the fixed solar panels do not aim directly towards the sun due to the earth’s constant motion. Solar panels are very expensive for families or businesses that consume more energy than usual, as they require several solar panels to generate enough power. The main objective of this project is to build a working model so that to increase the efficiency of power output taken from solar panel by continuously tracking the sun’s rays through out the day and aligns the solar panel orthogonal to the sun. To develop a model that benefits people by producing more solar energy with fewer solar panels. In order to overcome this problem we come up with a solution through Arduino Uno system which consists of four LDR sensors which are responsible for the detection of the light intensity of the sun’s rays. Two micro servo motors are used for movement of the solar panel in azimuth and elevation direction since it is a dual axis tracking system. A solar panel is the core part we use in this model for the conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. The LCD displays shows the power output of the solar panel. The proposed system is a dual axis tracking system that actively tracks solar radiation and adjusts the panel so that the sun’s rays are perpendicular to it, maximizing the solar panel’s power output. The LCD display shows the power output of the solar panel. By this project, we can say that dual axis tracking system we built can track the sun’s rays and increases the power output of solar panel. The manual effort for changing the solar panel according to the sun position can be avoided.

This thesis consists of a detailed analysis of different blade testing methods and improvements to a novel concept for tri-axial testing of large wind turbine blades. As the blades are one of the most critical components of the wind turbine, they have to be tested in order to ensure that their specifications are consistent with the actual performance of the blade. It must be demonstrated that the blade can withstand both the ultimate loads and the fatigue loads to which the blade is expected to be subjected during its design service life. There are basically two types of blade testing: static testing and fatigue testing. Testing of the blades statically and dynamically helps in improving the designs and the manufacturing processes. This thesis has two objectives. The first objective is to document the assumptions, calculations and results of an initial sizing of a bell crank system for testing blades 50m, 60m and 70m long. The second objective of this report is to document the modeling of one of the alternatives to bell crank system in SolidWorks. The thesis ends with conclusions and suggestions for future work. An advanced blade testing method which can be used for large wind turbine blades is developed and so are the system requirements. The concept is used to excite the blade in flapwise and edgewise direction simultaneously. The flap motion of the blade is caused by BREX resonant technology, which is already used by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado, and edgewise motion is delivered by the use of two inclined hydraulic actuators and linear guide rail system is used to move the inclined actuators in the flapwise direction along the blade motion. The hydraulic system and linear guide rail requirements are analyzed and discussed. The design is discussed and analyzed in detail proving it to be feasible. The cost estimation is done for the design. It is recommended for implementation as it will serve as an efficient way of testing large wind turbine blades.

With increasing world tensions and improvements of satellites and their sensors, the interest and possibility of using space and satellites for defensive purposes has increased greatly. However, not much research has been conducted into the needs and possibilities of satellite constellations over Sweden, especially using SAR and optical sensors combined with AI object detection. This thesis provides insight in to the needs and requirements to achieve certain coverage and gap times and explores different constellation design methods to do so. This is done by combining large scale tests performed with genetic algorithm and a dual-axis propagator with theoretical and analytical methods. Results show that for micro-satellites under 100 kg based on current commercial technology, it is found that between 24 to 63 satellites are needed for 1 hour gap times depending on what combination of SAR and optical satellites are used. The genetic algorithm was found to not generate optimal constellations as the number of satellites increased beyond 12. It was however useful in mapping out possibilities and finding certain optimal parameters such as the inclination. The dual-axis propagator tested for its low processing load was found to be good for coverage analysis and estimating the shapes of the orbits. It was noted to have large positional errors however, limiting its use to analysis and not full constellation design. / Med ökande världsspänningar och förbättringar av satelliter och deras sensorer har intresset och möjligheterna att använda rymden och satelliter för försvarssyften ökat avsevärt. Dock har inte mycket forskning gjorts om behoven och möjligheterna med satellitkonstellationer över Sverige, särskilt när det gäller användningen av SAR och optiska sensorer i kombination med AI-objektdetektering. Denna avhandling ger insikt i behoven och kraven för att uppnå viss täckning och tidsgap samt utforskar olika metoder för konstellationsdesign för att uppnå detta. Detta görs genom att kombinera storskaliga tester med genetiska algoritmer och en dual-axis propagator med teoretiska och analytiska metoder. Resultaten visar att för mikrosatelliter under 100 kg, baserat på nuvarande kommersiell teknik, krävs mellan 24 och 63 satelliter för att uppnå gapptider på 1 timme, beroende på vilken kombination av SAR- och optiska satelliter som används. Det konstaterades att genetiska algoritmen inte tillförlitligt kunde hitta optimala konstellationer när antalet satelliter ökade bortom 12 st. Dualaxelpropagatorn, som testades för sin låga processbelastning, ansågs vara bra för täckningsanalys och uppskattning av omloppsbanornas former. Den hade dock stora positionsfel, vilket begränsade dess användning till analys och inte fullständig konstellationsdesign.

Simultaneously achieving high-sensitivity and a large resonance frequency of micromachined accelerometers is difficult because of the inherent trade-off between the two. In this thesis, we present a mechanical displacement-amplifying technique that is amenable to micromachining to enhance sensitivity without compromising on the resonance frequency and cross-axis sensitivity. Depending on the requirements of sensitivity alone or sensitivity and resonance frequency, Displacement-amplifying Compliant Mechanisms (DaCMs) are designed using the selection map-based technique, which indicates the limits of what is possible for given specifications on size and microfabrication. In order to prove the benefits of a DaCM, we modified the designs of two very sensitive capacitive micromachined accelerometers from the literature by incorporating DaCMs and showed that, within the same footprint on the chip, the displacement sensitivity could be enhanced by more than 60% while the resonance frequency was also improved by more than 30%. As the focus of the thesis is to explore the integration of DaCMs into accelerometers, the analytical, computational, and practical aspects are discussed in detail. Both single and dual axis in-plane accelerometers are considered. The fabrication processes used are Silicon-on-Insulator Multi-user MEMS Processes (SOIMUMPs) and a customized Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) based process. The fabricated accelerometers are packaged and brought to the product form. They were tested at the die level as well as in the packaged form. Under dynamic conditions, the measured amplification factor of the fabricated single-axis in-plane accelerometer was observed to be 11. The overall dimension of the accelerometer was 4.25 mm × 1.25 mm. The first in-plane natural frequency of the fabricated accelerometer was found to be 6.25 kHz. The voltage sensitivity of the packaged accelerometer with the DaCM measured 26.7 mV/g at 40 Hz with differential capacitance sensitivity of 3926 ppm/g around the base capacitance of 0.75 pF. The fabricated dual-axis accelerometer has a special configuration of twelve folded-beam suspension blocks that de-couple any displacements along the two in-plane orthogonal axes. The decoupling feature is retained even after adding the DaCMs along both the axes. The total device size was 8.6 mm × 8.6 mm. The device was also fabricated and packaged inside a ceramic flat-pin package using hybrid die-to-die wire-bonding. Die-level dynamic characterization showed that the average geometric advantage achieved using the DaCMs is 6.2 along both the in-plane axes. The measured axial voltage sensitivity of about 580 mV/g for both the axes was achieved with a cross-axial sensitivity of less than 2% and a natural frequency of 920 Hz. The static capacitance sensitivity was found to be 0.296 × 106 ppm/g with a base capacitance of 0.977 pF. Also presented in this work is a wide-band dual-axis accelerometer without an amplifying mechanism. Its first two in-plane modal frequencies measured 14.2 kHz. The measured sensitivity of the packaged accelerometer along both the axes of the device was found to be 62 mV/g at 200 Hz. Aiming at towards cost-effective accelerometers for small-volume markets, we also developed a single-axis and two dual-axis meso-scale spring-steel in-plane accelerometers equipped with Allegro A1395 linear Hall-effect sensors for sensing the displacement of the proof-mass. The single-axis in-plane meso-scale accelerometer also contains a DaCM. It is observed through simulation that the single-axis design with a DaCM is 39% more sensitive and has 41% more bandwidth compared to a single-axis design without a DaCM. The measured sensitivity of the fabricated single-axis spring-steel accelerometer with a DaCM was found to be 71.4 mV/g with a minimum resolvable acceleration of 14 milli-g. The unique features of the first generation of dual-axis accelerometers are that a rechargeable Li-ion battery adds to the proof-mass. It also contains a de-coupling mechanism that can decompose any planar acceleration into its axial components. The second generation of dual-axis accelerometers is more compact in size. All the mechanical elements of the accelerometers are made of EN J42/AISI 1080 spring steel foil machined using Wire-cut Electro-Discharge- Machining. The measured sensitivity of the first generation of dual-axis meso-scale accelerometers is 78 and 108 mV/g along the X and Y axes whereas the second generation device exhibits a sensitivity of 40 mV/g for both the axes. The thesis concludes that the sensitivity of a displacement-based sensor can be improved using a suitably designed DaCM without compromising the resonance frequency and hence the bandwidth. Furthermore, the work describing the development of meso-scale accelerometers also establishes spring steel as a viable material for meso-scale applications.

A dual-axis fluidic thrust vectoring (FTV) system is proposed where the supersonic propulsive jet of an aircraft is exhausted over a scarfed (swept), curved surface to produce flight control moments in both the pitch and yaw axes. This work contributes towards practical dual-axis FTV through expansion of fundamental curved-wall jet (CWJ) understanding, development of the novel Superimposed Characteristics technique for supersonic nozzle design, and performance evaluation of an experimental scarfed curved wall FTV configuration. Previous work has suggested that the use of a sheared exhaust velocity profile improves the attachment of supersonic jets to curved surfaces; however, evidence to support this is limited. To address this, an inviscid numerical CWJ model was developed using the two-dimensional method of characteristics. A major outcome is improved understanding of the effect of exhaust velocity profile on CWJ wave structure and subsequent jet attachment. A sheared velocity exhaust is shown to generate a wave structure that diminishes adverse streamwise pressure gradients within a supersonic curved-wall jet. This reduces the likelihood of boundary layer separation and as a result, a sheared exhaust velocity CWJ is expected to be less readily separated compared to other exhaust velocity profiles. A novel method termed Superimposed Characteristics was developed for the low-order design of supersonic nozzles with rectangular exits. The technique is capable of generating 3D nozzle geometries based on independent exit plane orientation and exhaust velocity distribution requirements. The Superimposed Characteristics method was used to design scarfed rectangular exit nozzles with sheared velocity exhaust profiles. These nozzles were then evaluated using finite volume computational methods and experimental methods. From the analysis, the Superimposed Characteristics method is shown to be valid for preliminary nozzle design. Experimental methods were used to study the on- and off-design attachment qualities of uniform and sheared velocity exhaust jets for a FTV configuration with an external curved wall termination angle of 90 degrees and scarf angle of 30 degrees. Experiments at the on-design nozzle pressure ratio (NPR) of 3.3 demonstrated pitch and yaw jet deflection angles of 78 degrees and 23 degrees respectively for the uniform exhaust velocity CWJ. The sheared exhaust velocity CWJ achieved lower pitch and yaw deflection angles of 34 degrees and 14 degrees respectively at the same on-design NPR. The lower jet deflection angles observed for sheared exhaust velocity jets is inconsistent with the CWJ model prediction of reduced adverse streamwise pressure gradients; however, there was insufficient experimental instrumentation to identify the cause. In the off-design experiments, the uniform exhaust velocity CWJ was observed to detach at an NPR of 3.6, whilst the sheared exhaust velocity CWJ remained attached at NPRs in excess of 4. The capability of sheared exhaust velocity CWJs to remain attached at higher NPRs is consistent with the analytical theory and the CWJ model predictions. An actuation study was carried out to achieve controlled jet detachment using secondary blowing injected normal to the curved wall. Full separation of the wall jets was achieved downstream of the injection point. This provided vectoring angles of more than 20 degrees in pitch and 10 degrees in yaw, exceeding expected vectoring requirements for practical aircraft control. At the on-design NPR, the uniform and sheared exhaust velocity jets required secondary blowing mass flow rates of 2.1% and 3.8% of the primary mass flow respectively to achieve full separation.

Dans une optique de maximisation de la production et de réduction des coûts d’installation, de maintenance et d’entretien des trackers solaires, qui permettent d’orienter les modules photovoltaïques à haute concentration (HCPV), ces travaux de thèse se focalisent sur l’amélioration de la précision et la réduction du coût de la stratégie de génération de la trajectoire du tracker. Dans un premier temps, un simulateur de tracker HCPV est développé offrant une étude de l’influence de la performance du suivi du soleil sur la production des modules HCPV, permettant ainsi une étude et une comparaison des stratégies de génération de trajectoires. Le simulateur est basé sur un modèle comportemental de module HCPV monté sur tracker permettant de prédire la puissance maximale du module HCPV en fonction de l’erreur de position du tracker face au soleil, de l’ensoleillement direct et de la température. Une première stratégie de commande dite de référence a été implémentée sur ce simulateur. C’est une commande hybride qui repose sur un viseur solaire pour corriger l’erreur de poursuite par un calcul astronomique. Ensuite, afin d’améliorer les performances et de réduire les coûts de cette stratégie, une nouvelle approche sans capteur est développée en se basant sur une méthode d’optimisation du gradient de puissance pour la génération de la trajectoire du tracker. Une étude complémentaire est également exposée afin de mettre en évidence des algorithmes de recherche de la puissance maximale (MPPT) pouvant offrir des temps de réponse suffisamment rapides pour ne pas affecter la qualité de l’évaluation du gradient de puissance. Dans ce contexte, une commande MPPT P&O améliorée par un réseau de neurones à complexité réduite est proposée, assurant un compromis entre précision, simplicité et rapidité / This work focuses on improving the accuracy and on reducing the cost of the tracker generating trajectory strategy, in order to maximize the production and to reduce the installation and the maintenance cost of a solar tracker orienting high concentrated photovoltaic modules (HCPV). Initially, we propose a behavioral modeling of the HCPV module mounted on a dual axis tracker in order to study the influence of the tracking performance on the module power production. Then, this simulator can be used to test control strategies and to compare their performance. Firstly, a classical control strategy is implemented in the simulator. It is based on a hybrid control operating an astronomical calculation to follow the sun path, and a sun sensor to correct the tracking error. A sensorless strategy is proposed in this work to reduce the cost of the HCPV tracker control. This strategy is based on a gradient optimization algorithm to generate the tracker trajectory and to catch the sun path. Tested on the simulator, this strategy presents the same accuracy as the classical strategy while being less costly. The last study proposed in this thesis work concerns maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms, in order to respond to a given problem relating to the practical implementation of gradient algorithm. In this context, we propose an original optimization of the P&O MPPT control with a neural network algorithm leading to a significant reduction of the computational cost required to train it. This approach, which is ensuring a good compromise between accuracy and complexity is sufficiently fast to not affect the quality of the evaluation of the gradient.

A major limitation of acousto-optic (AO) leaky-mode modulator based holographic displays is their inability to present full-parallax. We propose that full-parallax capabilities can be bestowed on these displays by integrating an electro-optic (EO) phased array into the architecture. We validated this concept by rendering computational models and by fabricating and testing a basic two-axis AO/EO deflector prototype in lithium niobate. This was, to our knowledge, the first instantiation of an integrated, hybrid AO/EO deflector. The prototype had a 6° deflection range along the AO-axis, and a 3° deflection range along the EO-axis. A series of models provide us with a clear path forward for optimizing this deflector. They suggest that an AO/EO modulator with an EO deflection range of 24.5° and that requires less than 7.5 V can be fabricated within the limitations of standard photolithography.