With the rise of wireless sensor networks and the internet of things, many sensors are being developed to help us monitor our environment. Sensor applications from marine animal tracking to implantable healthcare monitoring require small and non-invasive methods of powering, for which purpose traditional batteries are considered too bulky and unreasonable. If appropriately designed, energy harvesting devices can be a viable solution. Solar and wind energy are good candidates of power but require constant exposure to their sources, which may not be feasible for in-vivo and underwater applications. Mechanical energy, however, is available underwater (the motion of the waves) and inside our bodies (the beating of the heart). These vibrations are normally low in frequency and amplitude, thus resulting in a low voltage once converted into electrical signals using conventional mechanical harvesters. These mechanical harvesters also suffer from narrow bandwidth, which limits their efficient operation to a small range of frequencies. Thus, there is a need for a mechanical energy harvester to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy with enhanced output voltage and for a wide range of frequencies. In this thesis, a new mechanical harvester is introduced, and two different methods of rectifying it are investigated. The designed harvester enhances the output voltage and extends the bandwidth of operation using a mechanical frequency up-convertor. This is implemented using magnetic forces to convert low-frequency vibrations to high-frequency pulses with the help of a piezoelectric material to generate high output voltage. The results show a 48.9% increase in the output voltage at 12.2Hz at an acceleration of 1.0g, and a bandwidth increase from 0.23Hz to 11.4Hz. For the rectification, mechanical rectifiers are discussed, which would obviate the need for electrical rectification, thus preventing the losses normally caused by the threshold voltage of electronics. Two designs of mechanical rectifiers are investigated and implemented on the frequency up-converter: a static rectifier and a rotating rectifier. The results show a voltage rectification, which required a sacrifice in the bandwidth and boosted voltage.

To isolate and study various components of a nuclear reaction, elaborate equipment must be developed to aid in this process. This thesis presents the design and implementation of an ultra-high slew rate Bradbury-Nielsen gate driver circuit with high-voltage input isolation. This design will be used in a multi-pass time-of-flight isomer spectrometer and separator application integrated into an overall instrument called the Oak Ridge Isomer Spectrometer and Separator (ORISS). The output drive signals of this circuit are transmitted through a vacuum feed-through system to supply the necessary signals to the Bradbury-Nielsen gate contained within the vacuum. A differential driving signal with a 100-V magnitude and switching times on the order of nanoseconds is presented in this design. The “on time” of this signal is comparable to the amount of time required for it to transition states, creating complex design constraints. The implementation of this design is based on a 4-layer printed circuit board and the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components.

This diploma thesis describes the piezoelectric phenomenon and its use for positioning with nanometric precision in laboratory use. In the thesis is description of direct and indirect piezoelectric phenomenon, various types of piezoelectric actuators and ways of their control with the aim of eliminating their hysteresis. The goal is to design a controller for piezo actuator built in the three-axis nanometric manipulator Thorlabs MAX341/M.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T17:38:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Toshiyuki Matsumi.pdf: 2530177 bytes, checksum: d45251b727305a9062002cf939cb57eb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Electropermeabilization is the process of transient increase in the permeability of biological membranes of cells subjected to intense electric fields. This technique is currently still in development and has important clinical and technological applications such as electrochemotherapy and gene transfer. Electroporator is the equipment used in the generation and application of such intense fields. This dissertation presents the design, construction and testing of an electroporator for use in biomedical research. The proposed equipment presents versatility and performance appropriate to allow for different types of experiments with biological tissues or cell suspensions. It consists of a voltage generator with programmable wave form, a high voltage amplifier with high output current capability and a system for transduction of voltage and current in the sample. Both the generation of signal as the measured values in the load are monitored by a program built in LabVIEW® environment that triggers a data acquisition card with 16 bits of resolution. The performance of the electronic system developed fully meets the requirements of project. The amplifier can deliver up to 500V and 5A to the load during a time interval enough for the testing of electropermeabilization. The bandwidth, slightly higher than 100kHz and the step response time of the order of 1μs are suitable for performing experiments with different waveforms and different sizes of cells. An important application of the equipment built is demonstrated with an experiment of electropermeabilization in suspension of red cells of rats. This result demonstrated the occurrence of increased conductivity of the sample during stimulation with high-intensity electric field. / Eletropermeabilização é o processo de aumento transitório da permeabilidade das membranas de células biológicas submetidas a campos elétricos intensos. Esta é uma técnica atualmente ainda em desenvolvimento e que possui importantes aplicações clínicas e tecnológicas tais como a eletro quimioterapia e a transferência genética. Os eletropermeabilizadores são equipamentos usados na geração e aplicação desses campos intensos. Esta dissertação apresenta o projeto, construção e teste de um eletropermeabilizador para uso em pesquisa biomédica. O equipamento proposto apresenta versatilidade e desempenho adequados para permitir a realização de diferentes tipos de ensaios com tecidos biológicos ou suspensões de células. É constituído de um gerador de tensão com forma de onda programável, um amplificador de alta tensão e alta corrente de saída e um sistema de transdução de tensão e corrente na amostra analisada. Tanto a geração de sinal quanto os valores medidos na carga são monitorados por um programa construído em ambiente LabVIEW® que aciona uma placa de aquisição de dados com 16 bits de resolução. O desempenho do sistema eletrônico desenvolvido atende completamente os requisitos de projeto. O amplificador pode fornecer até 500V de amplitude de tensão com 5A de corrente de carga durante intervalos de tempo suficientes para os ensaios de eletropermeabilização. A banda passante pouco maior que 100KHz e os tempos de resposta ao degrau da ordem de 1μs são adequados para a realização de experimentos com diferentes formas de onda e diferentes tamanhos de células. Uma importante aplicação do equipamento construído é exemplificada com um experimento de eletropermeabilização em suspensão de hemácias de rato, sendo demonstrada a ocorrência de aumento da condutividade da amostra durante a estimulação com campo elétrico de alta intensidade.