Sharif Digital Repository

Modern sensors consist of arrays of detectors specially arranged to enhance precision, capabilities, and field of view (FOV). Sensor arrays can have multiple functionalities such as the simultaneous detection of position and motion. We use a linear sensor model and develop an optimization method to design an array of photodiodes. Our objective function minimizes bias and variance estimations. We introduce a maximum likelihood technique to approximate and determine the bias caused by measurement errors, and verify our theory by statistically complete simulations. We apply our theory to design an optimal sun sensor. The sensor has a predefined conical FOV, and its accuracy is controlled by a... 

Recent advancements in wireless communications and also a tendency to use low cost, tiny, and autonomous high performance products have led to the emergence of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). As the main source of power in a sensor node is a limited and irreplaceable battery, energy is the main important issue. Data aggregation, as an in-network processing method, is a promised technique aiming to conserve energy by reducing the number of packet transmissions through the network. It is a key, yet time-consuming functionality in WSNS, where we hold packets in intermediate nodes to promote aggregation efficiency. However, the requirement of real-time communications is becoming more and more... 

Recent advancement in wireless communications, electronics, low power design and also tendency to use high performance low cost products have led to emergence of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). As the main purpose of a WSN is information gathering and it’s transmission to the sink node, the main problem is to deliver information correctly with minimum energy consumption. Besides, whereas the majority of developed applications for WSNs are event-critical applications, achieving reliable data transfer as the main factor of dependability and quality of service seems vital. However, data transmission is unreliable over multi-hop WSN due to the unreliability of wireless links and node failures. ... 

Platinum nanotubes were deposited inside the pores of polycarbonate template with the pore size of 200 nm by electrochemical methods. In this regard a solution containing of 0.05 M H2PtCl6 and 0. 1 M H2SO4 in doubly distilled water was utilized. The electrodeposition process was studied by electrochemical techniques such as voltammetry and chronoamperometry methods. It was observed that the process was conducted in several stages including; nucleation and growth in steady state regime. Furthermore, it was concluded that electrodeposition was affected by mass transport restriction and was controlled by a diffusion process. In this regard, all the voltammograms were shifted to more negative... 

A bolometer is a device for measuring electromagnetic waves, which uses the heating of a material with variable resistance to temperature. Due to the existing limitations and quality improvement, superconducting materials are used in the manufacture of these devices. In this dissertation, the construction and improvement of the components of a high temperature transient edge superconducting radiometer with terahertz detection capability is discussed. In the construction of these detectors, the superconducting material YBa2Cu3O7-x is used as a thermal sensor with a transition temperature of 93.5K. In order to characterize these detectors, an automatic system for measuring the voltage response... 

In this thesis, a decentralized controller for trajectory tracking of robot manipulators is developed. Proposed control scheme use uncalibrated joint torque sensors. Recently, it has been shown that the use of joint torque sensing results in a simplified manipulator model and reduce the need of dynamic model of links for controlling. In this thesis, we use the special lower triangular structure of this simplified model for decentralized control of manipulator. For the first time a smooth decentralized law is designed which makes both position and velocity tracking errors of robot manipulators globally converge to zero. Against most of previous work in decentralized control of manipulators,... 

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a multidisciplinary emerging research field. SHM assesses the health state of the structure through processing and interpreting of signals and can predict remain life of the structure. Damage detection with Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors (PWAS) is one of the effective and emerging methods of SHM. One of the most critical parts of aerial structures is lap joints in which SHM could be very effective. In this research, damage detection of lap joints using lamb wave propagation has been studied. A 3D model of an aluminum lap joint presented. The PWAS are modeled separately and bonded to the host structure and coupled electromechanically with the... 

In the first section of this research, we have developed a simple and rapid colorimetric method for determination of tizanidine using citrate capped gold nanoparticles. Under optimal conditions, the AuNPs easily aggregate upon addition of tizanidine and the solution color changes from red to gray. This color change was followed using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The detection limit was calculated to be 0.48 µM. The method was successfully applied for determination of tizanidine in Spalex© tablets. In the last section, the anti-aggregation effect of Hg(II) on the tizanidine-AuNPs system was utilized with the aim of developing a colorimetric method for detection of Hg(II). Addition of... 

In this project an optimized and robust orientation estimation method using IMU and magnetic sensors is presented. Magnetic distortion effects in orientation estimation is also one of the main purposes. Proposed sensor fusion algorithm is based on a complementary filter which provides a quaternion estimation as the algebraic solution of a system from inertial/magnetic observations. To develop the basic sensor fusion algorithm some procedures including a simple calculation to deal better with non-gravitational accelerations, decrease the effect of magnetometer in the presence of distortions and online gyroscope bias estimation is added. Also, a method for classification the different types of... 

Rapid growth of space traffic and small satellite systems for current and future space missions have generated new enhanced performance requirements for navigation subsystem. As such, the navigation subsystem is considered as a vital part of all active satellite systems that effectively influences their successful missions. In this regard, the present work is dedicated on the subject of autonomous satellite navigation utilizing nonlinear filters, for which some laboratory experimentations have also been implemented. Generally, advanced orbit and attitude estimation algorithms can effectively compensate for the effect of low cost hardware and sensor packs utilized in microsatellites. In... 

The use of myriad pesticides in agriculture crops has promoted the demand of developing rapid and sensitive probes for the detection and discrimination of diverse pesticides, which are usually used together. In this work, a colorimetric sensor array has been designed for identification and discrimination of Thiometon (TM) and Phosalone (PS) as organophosphate pesticides and Prothioconazole (PC) as a triazole pesticide. For this purpose, two different plasmonic nanoparticles including unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and unmodified silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were used as sensing elements. The principle of the proposed strategy relied on the aggregation of AuNPs and AgNPs through the... 

In this work, a novel type electrode based on RuO2 nanoparticles-modified vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (RuO2/MWCNTs) was investigated. ThisRuO2/MWCNTs electrode not only shows a high capacity nature,but also possesses a good response to the pH value. In order to develope this sensor, aligned carbon nanotubes were synthesized by the chemical vapor deposition at first and then modified with RuO2 nanopartcles by sol-gel method. Various parameters affecting the growth of nanotubes, such as substrate type, surface finishing, surface roughness, the growth temperature and carbon feed rate was studiedand and optimal conditions for growth were obtained. At last, aligned nanotubes with a... 

One of the most significant aerial vehicles which has been subject of study of so many engineers and students is quadrotor or quadcopter, which is a cross sectional configuration of motors and propellers. This aerial robot is controlled through slight differences between the angular velocities of the four motors, and robot dynamics is completely nonlinear, thus sophisticated control algorithms are needed. The aim of this project consists of design, fabrication and control of a quadrotor capable of stable hovering. First, some preliminary decisions about general charachteristics of the robot were made. According to these decisions, other mechanical parts were designed and fabricated. Then,... 

Pipeline systems have a major role in civil infrastructure for transportation of energy sources including, petroleum, natural gas, and water. As most pipelines are located in hard-access location such as underground and sea as well as mountains, they are vulnerable to corrosion, cracks and thus, unpredictable failure. Failure of pipelines not only costs millions of dollars but also causes environmental damage, requiring continuous health monitoring systems to provide early detection and early warning of flaws such as corrosion and leaks. Structural health monitoring based on ultrasonic guided waves is used in structures as plates, composites, rods, piping and tubing. This research aims to... 

Due to the widespread use of pesticides and their harmful effects on humans and wildlife, monitoring their residual amounts in crops is critically essential but still challenging regarding the development of high-throughput approaches. Herein, a colorimetric sensor array has been proposed for discrimination and identification of triazole fungicides using monometallic and bimetallic silver and gold nanoparticles. Aggregation-induced behavior of AgNPs, AuNPs and Au-AgNPs in the presence of four triazole fungicides produced a fingerprint response pattern for each analyte. Pattern recognition methods, including linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and hierarchical cluster analysis, have been... 

Characterization of local magnetic activity of the heart muscles is named magnetocardiography (MCG), which measures magnetic field generated by electrical activity around heart. RF SQUID sensors are appropriate choice for measuring magnetic activity of the heart muscles. Because squid detects weak signals as low as fTesla, while heart magnetic field is near 50 pt which is one millionth of earth magnetic field and thousands of time weaker than the environment noise. One of the problems of mcg system is its urgency to shielding of unwanted magnetic field. In this project design of holders and resonators for well coupled input coil with RF SQUID is improved. As a result, at the first stage... 

The exitance of a certain amount of halide ions including Chloride (Cl-), Bromide (Br-) and Iodide (I-) in human body is crucial for ensuring health. However, exposure to high levels of these ions can cause diseases, such as goiter and neurological disfunction. As a result, the development of a simple and efficient analytical method for determining the aforesaid halide ions is so important. Triangular silver nanoparticles (TSNPs) display wide color variations due to their tunable plasmonic properties dependent on the aspect ratio of the nanoparticles. Hence, designing a colorimetric sensor array using the optical properties of TSNPs for determination and discrimination of halide ions is of... 

Low back disorders (LBD) is one of the most musculo-skeletal disorders in industrial environments in which it can impose to the society.Therefore, it is very important to reaserch the causes of LBDs, prevention methods and evaluation risk factor in lifting tasks in order to avoid the prevalence of LBDs in society. There is no doubt heavy lifting has a significant role in emerging of LBDs. Hence, many safety risk assessment tools have been made by researchers.Using assessment tools, we need to know the input parameters corrospending to the assessment tools. Input parameters in assessment tools have been measured in a way of traditional method or by expensive equipment in laboratories. On... 

This study presents the best layout with optimal number of sensors for an arbitrary monitoring area based on reference free damage detection and localization. In recent years, damage detection approaches with the concept of instantaneous baseline measurements in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) with lamb wave propagation are being developed. An array of spars transducers is obligatory in SHM with lamb wave propagation, so that designing the best one is a concern for many researchers. To obtain the best sensors layout, damage localization process should be done for all definable sensors layouts in many different crack positions. Obviously, doing this seems not practical as wave propagation... 

Recently, quasi 1D (Q1D) structures of materials such as nanowires, nanorods and nanobelts with high surface to volume ratio (A/V) and small grain size devoted an extensive part of researches. This is due to their unique properties and thus various applications in manufacturing of nanometric devices. Niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) as semiconductor with wide bandgap has been applied in various fields including: electrochromic devices, gas sensors, anti-reflective coatings, capacitors, photocatalysts , field emission and recently; antibacterial systems. In this project , initially niobium thin films was deposited on Si(100) substrate using RF magnetron sputtering method and then niobium oxide...