Sharif Digital Repository

Purpose - Dimensional accuracy analysis of wax model created by room temperature vulcanization (RTV) silicone rubber molding to be used in investment casting is presented. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effective parameters of dimensional accuracy in RTV tooling technique. Design/methodology/approach - After producing a pattern by stereolithography (SLA) and then creating the RTV silicone rubber mold by the SLA pattern, dimensional accuracy of wax models produced by RTV tool are analyzed. Design of experiments (DOE) using the Taguchi approach is used for analysis and determination of optimum condition. Findings - Experiments show that the dimensional accuracy in RTV technique is... 

Modern SoC architectures use NoCs for high-speed inter-IP communication. For NoC architectures, high-performance efficient routing algorithms with low power consumption are essential for real-time applications. NoCs with mesh and torus interconnection topologies are now popular due to their simple structures. A torus NoC is very similar to the mesh NoC, but has rather smaller diameter. For a routing algorithm to be deadlock-free in a torus, at least two virtual channels per physical channel must be used to avoid cyclic channel dependencies due to the warp-around links; however, in a mesh network deadlock freedom can be insured using only one virtual channel. The employed number of virtual... 

Modern SoC architectures use NoCs for high-speed inter-IP communication. For NoC architectures, high-performance efficient routing algorithms with low power consumption are essential for real-time applications. NoCs with mesh and torus interconnection topologies are now popular due to their simple structures. A torus NoC is very similar to the mesh NoC, but has rather smaller diameter. For a routing algorithm to be deadlock-free in a torus, at least two virtual channels per physical channel must be used to avoid cyclic channel dependencies due to the warp-around links; however, in a mesh network deadlock freedom can be insured using only one virtual channel. The employed number of virtual... 

Network-on-Chip (NoC) has been proposed as an attractive alternative to traditional dedicated wires to achieve high performance and modularity. Power efficiency is one of the most important concerns in NoC architecture design. The choice of network topology is important in designing a low-power and high-performance NoC. In this paper, we propose the use of the WK-recursive networks to be used as the underlying topology in NoC. We have implemented VHDL hardware model of mesh and WK-recursive topologies and measured the latency results using simulation with these implementation. We also propose a novel approach in high level power modeling based on latency for these topologies and show that... 

This work presents a novel melatonin sensor based on unfunctionalized macroporous graphene networks decorated with gold nanoparticles for the differential pulse voltammetric detection of melatonin in pharmaceutical products. Highly porous graphene structures were prepared by metallic template-assisted chemical vapor deposition, and their active surface area and electrocatalytic activity were improved by electrochemical deposition of gold nanoparticles (50-250 nm) on their struts. The graphene-gold electrodes present a highly sensitive performance toward electro-oxidation of melatonin with a wide linear range of 0.05-50 μM, a low detection limit of 0.0082 μM (3σ/m), and a significant... 

This paper presents a kinetic data structure (KDS) for maintenance of the Euclidean minimum spanning tree (EMST) on a set of moving points in 2-dimensional space. For a set of n points moving in the plane we build a KDS of size O(n) in O(nlogn) preprocessing time by which the EMST is maintained efficiently during the motion. This is done by applying the required changes to the combinatorial structure of the EMST which is changed in discrete timestamps. We assume that the motion of the points, i.e. x and y coordinates of the points, are defined by algebraic functions of constant maximum degree. In terms of the KDS performance parameters, our KDS is responsive, local, and compact. The... 

This paper presents the first kinetic data structure (KDS) for maintenance of the Euclidean minimum spanning tree (EMST) on a set of n moving points in 2-dimensional space. We build a KDS of size O(n) in O(nlogn) preprocessing time by which their EMST is maintained efficiently during the motion. In terms of the KDS performance parameters, our KDS is responsive, local, and compact  

In this paper, we enumerate the number of combinatorial changes of the the Euclidean minimum spanning tree (EMST) of a set of n moving points in 2- dimensional space. We assume that the motion of the points in the plane, is defined by algebraic functions of maximum degree s of time. We prove an upper bound of O(n3β2s(n2)) for the number of the combinatorial changes of the EMST, where βs(n)= λs(n)/n and λs(n) is the maximum length of Davenport-Schinzel sequences of order s on n symbols which is nearly linear in n. This result is an O(n) improvement over the previously trivial bound of O(n4)  

This paper presents design and analysis of a cabledriven mechanism for a spherical laparoscopy surgical robot manufactured at the Research Center for Science and Technology in Medicine. The design is featured by two types of 'idler pulleys', which allow change of cables' plane of motion in spherical workspace. This robot suffers from back-lash and high friction due to the usage of motor and gear-box in each joint. In order to find a precise and optimal design, the paper studies various designs of cable robots, considering pulleys and cable arrangements, as well as pre-tensioning methods. Final scheme introduces two series of pulleys for each DOF, which transmits power from motors located on... 

Design, implementation and experimental evaluation of a classic PID, and a modern Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) for an off-pump heart tracking system were carried out. Following the design and simulation analysis of the controllers, experimental evaluation was conducted on the slave robot of SINA tele-operational surgical system. Results revealed that considering the volatile high-frequency/speed pattern of heart motion, the agility of the controlled system is the most influential factor on its performance. With this in mind, unlike the Ziegler-Nichols-based tuned PID with emphasis on steady-state condition, the PID control with more transient behavior showed a superior performance.... 

Design, implementation and experimental evaluation of a classic PID, and a modern Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) for an off-pump heart tracking system were carried out. Following the design and simulation analysis of the controllers, experimental evaluation was conducted on the slave robot of SINA tele-operational surgical system. Results revealed that considering the volatile high-frequency/speed pattern of heart motion, the agility of the controlled system is the most influential factor on its performance. With this in mind, unlike the Ziegler-Nichols-based tuned PID with emphasis on steady-state condition, the PID control with more transient behavior showed a superior performance.... 

Studying the mechanical performance of concrete after being exposed to high temperatures is an important step in the damage assessment of buildings and fire safety applications. However, predicting the compressive strength of GPC accurately after exposure to high temperatures is a challenging task. In this paper, artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) models were developed to predict the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete (GPC) at high temperatures ranging from 100 °C to 1000 °C. A series of experiments consisting of different mix designs were conducted at elevated temperatures to prepare a dataset. Besides experiments' results, the data of previously... 

Individuals have been regarded as independent decision makers in majority of transportation analysis. However, agents’ behaviors are usually affected by the interactions among the members in a group; and therefore, individual decision-making paradigms may result in unrealistic outcomes and erroneous interpretations of the results. In light of this, the present study develops discrete choice models in individual and group levels and compares their prediction power in predicting the choice of escort pattern in dual-worker households with at least one under-18-year-old student. The main purpose is to reveal the efficiency of each approach in analyzing parent-child joint activities and highlight...