Peristaltic pump-based low range pressure sensor calibration system

Peristaltic pumps were normally used to pump liquids in several chemical and biological applications. In the present study, a peristaltic pump was used to pressurize the chamber (positive as well negative pressures) using atmospheric air. In the present paper, we discuss the development and performance study of an automatic pressurization system to calibrate low range (millibar) pressure sensors. The system includes a peristaltic pump, calibrated pressure sensor (master sensor), pressure chamber, and the control electronics. An in-house developed peristaltic pump was used to pressurize the chamber. A closed loop control system has been developed to detect and adjust the pressure leaks in the chamber. The complete system has been integrated into a portable product. The system performance has been studied for a step response and steady state errors. The system is portable, free from oil contaminants, and consumes less power compared to existing pressure calibration systems. The veracity of the system was verified by calibrating an unknown diaphragm based pressure sensor and the results obtained were satisfactory. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Ultrasonic Guided Wave Sensor Network Optimization for Monitoring Rivet Line

Guided waves using piezo-electric wafer active sensors (PWAS) is one of the useful techniques of damage detection. Sensor network optimization with minimal network hardware footprint and maximal area of coverage remains a challenging problem. PWAS sensors are placed at discrete locations in order to inspect damages in plates and the idea has the potential to be extended to assembled structures. Various actuator-sensor configurations are possible within the network in order to identify and locate damages. In this paper we present a correlation based approach to monitor cracks emanating from rivet line using a simulated guided wave signal whose sensor is operating in pulse echo mode. Discussions regarding the identification of phase change due to reflections from the crack are also discussed in this paper.

Amine Functionalized polyaniline grafted to exfoliated graphite oxide: Synthesis, characterization and multi-element sensor studies

An amine functionalized polyaniline (AMPANI) derivative has been grafted onto exfoliated graphite oxide (EGO). The synthesis involved the in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of functionalized aniline monomer in the presence of EGO with diaminobenzene acting as a bridging ligand to yield EGAMPANI. The synthesized compound was characterized by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopy as well as thermogravimetric and X-ray diffraction analysis. The EGAMPANI was then used to modify a carbon paste electrode (CPE), which was applied for multi-elemental sensing of Pb2+, Cd2+ and Hg2+ ions using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetty. The limits of detection achieved using the EGAMPANI modified CPE were 22 x 10(-6) M for Hg2+ ion, 1.2 x 10(-6) M for Cd2+ ion and 9.8 x 10(-7) M for Pb2+ ion. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Package for Submicron Level Displacement Measurements

In this article, the design and development of a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) based displacement sensor package for submicron level displacement measurements are presented. A linear shift of 12.12 nm in Bragg wavelength of the FBG sensor is obtained for a displacement of 6 mm with a calibration factor of 0.495 mu m/pm. Field trials have also been conducted by comparing the FBG displacement sensor package against a conventional dial gauge, on a five block masonry prism specimen loaded using three-point bending technique. The responses from both the sensors are in good agreement, up to the failure of the masonry prism. Furthermore, from the real-time displacement data recorded using FBG, it is possible to detect the time at which early creaks generated inside the body of the specimen which then prorogate to the surface to develop visible surface cracks; the respective load from the load cell can be obtained from the inflection (stress release point) in the displacement curve. Thus the developed FBG displacement sensor package can be used to detect failures in structures much earlier and to provide an adequate time to exercise necessary action, thereby avoiding the possible disaster.

Studies on Carbon Mediated Paste Screen Printed Sensors for Blood Glucose Sensing Application

Ready-to-use screen printed glucose sensors are fabricated using Prussian Blue (PB) and Cobalt Phthalocyanine (CoPC) mediated carbon inks as working electrodes. The reference and counter electrodes are screen printed using silver/silver chloride and graphitic carbon paste respectively. The screen printed reference electrodes (internal reference electrode (IRE)) are found to be stable for more than 60 minutes when examined with saturated calomel electrode. Optimal operating voltage for PB and CoPC screen printed sensors are determined by hydrodynamic voltammetric technique. Glucose oxidase is immobilized on the working electrodes by cross-linking method. PB mediated glucose sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 5.60 mA cm(-2)/mM for the range, 10 to 1000 mu M. Sensitivity of CoPC mediated glucose sensor is found to be 5.224 mu A cm(-2)/mM and amperometeric response is linear for the range, 100 to 1500 mu M. Interference studies on the fabricated glucose sensors are conducted with species like uric acid and ascorbic acid. PB mediated sensors showed a completely interference-free behavior. The sensing characteristics of PB mediated glucose sensors are also studied in diluted human serum samples and the results are compared with the values obtained through standard clinical method. The co-efficient of variation is found to be less than 5%. (C) 2015 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

Voltammetric determination of paracetamol, tramadol and caffeine using poly(Nile blue) modified glassy carbon electrode

A poly(Nile blue) modified glassy carbon electrode (PNBMGCE) was fabricated by electropolymerisation of Nile blue (NB) monomer using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and was used for the determination of paracetamol (ACOP), tramadol (TRA) and caffeine (CAF). The electrochemical investigations showed that PNB - film formed on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) improved the electroactive surface area and displayed a remarkable increase in the peak current and a substantial decrease in over potential of ACOP, TRA and CAF when compared to bare GCE. The dependence of peak current and potential on pH, sweep rate and concentration were also investigated at the surface of PNBMGCE. It showed good sensitivity and selectivity in a wide linear range from 2.0 x 10(-7) to 1.62 x 10(-5) M, 1.0 x 10(-6) to 3.1 x 10(-4) M and 8.0 x 10(-7) to 2.0 x 10(-5) M, with detection limits of 0.08, 0.5 and 0.1 mu M, for ACOP, TRA and CAF, respectively. The PNBMGCE was also successfully applied for the determination of ACOP, TRA and CAF in pharmaceutical dosage forms. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

RPRDC: Reliable Proliferation Routing with low Duty-Cycle in Wireless Sensor Networks

Ensuring reliable energy efficient data communication in resource constrained Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is of primary concern. Traditionally, two types of re-transmission have been proposed for the data-loss, namely, End-to-End loss recovery (E2E) and per hop. In these mechanisms, lost packets are re-transmitted from a source node or an intermediate node with a low success rate. The proliferation routing(1) for QoS provisioning in WSNs low End-to-End reliability, not energy efficient and works only for transmissions from sensors to sink. This paper proposes a Reliable Proliferation Routing with low Duty Cycle RPRDC] in WSNs that integrates three core concepts namely, (i) reliable path finder, (ii) a randomized dispersity, and (iii) forwarding. Simulation results demonstrates that packet successful delivery rate can be maintained upto 93% in RPRDC and outperform Proliferation Routing(1). (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Analysis of Factors for Improving Functionality of Tin Oxide Gas Sensor

The proposed work discusses different parameters which are considered to improve the performance of a tin oxide-based thin film gas sensor. This includes analysing and deducing suitable catalytic additives to enhance the performance of the sensor in terms of selectivity and sensitivity. Chemical sensitization and electronic sensitization are performed to improve the rate of response of the sensor.