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Miniaturised dedicated application opto-electronic sensors in the evolution of smart systems

Thesis (DTech (Electrical Engineering))--Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, 2002 / In the last decade, the South Amcan Electricity Supply Commission would have had
their ability to serve an ever demanding public severely tested. With the dilemma of
providing electricity supply through hazardous environmental conditions, and with
prospects of supplying power even beyond South Afiican borders, the need for a
comprehensive damage and power delivery assessment strategy becomes all the more
relevant. The rapid growth being made in the evolution of so called "intelligent"
structures, with inherent sensor, actuator and control mechanisms built in can have
direct influence on a power distribution network. At least in the foreseeable future, the
impact ofphotonic sensors with inherent miniaturization, a foremost candidate in Smart
System technology, can play a vital role in damage assessment of a potentially large
network such as that found in the supply ofelectricity.
Smart systems are nonliving systems that integrate the functions of sensing, actuation,
logic and control, to respond adaptively to changes in their condition or environment to
which they are exposed, in a useful and usually repetitive manner. Sensors are a
fundamental part of the evolution of such systems and form the basis for the topic of
this dissertation. The use ofoptical fiber sensors is increasing widely mainly due to their
(a) miniature size, (b) remote signal processing ability, and (c) multiplexing capabilities.
Because of the above features a variety of optical fiber sensing techniques has evolved
over the years having potential for a myriad of applications. In this work a systems model and equations was developed for modeling the
propagation of light in a optical waveguide, in order to study a Fabry Perrot sensor
topology for application as a miniaturised sensor in a new type of smart structure,
namely a smart electrical power system.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1196
Date January 2002
CreatorsKahn, Mohammed Tariq Ekeramodien
PublisherPeninsula Technikon
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/

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