Design of thermal imprinting system with uniform residual thickness

A new thermal imprinting system for the printed circuit boards (PCBs) with both large areas and fine conducting lines was developed adopting hot airs with a high pressure. Several small nickel stamps were used to cover the large area, and the stamps were replicated from an electroforming process, in addition, a vacuum jig was utilized to avoid bubbles captured in resins or imprinted interfaces. Stefan’s equation was used to estimate residual thicknesses of the imprinted resins, and effects of imprinting conditions on the residual thickness were investigated from numerical analyses to confirm process profiles and specifications of the developed equipment. The results show that the developed imprinting system can remarkably improve the uniformity of the residual thickness after imprinting, as compared with those of the conventional press, in spite of the thickness difference between the used stamps.     

Adaptive robust fuzzy control for path tracking of a wheeled mobile robot

This paper proposes an adaptive robust fuzzy control scheme for path tracking of a wheeled mobile robot with uncertainties. The robot dynamics including the actuator dynamics is considered in this work. The presented controller is composed of a fuzzy basis function network (FBFN) to approximate an unknown nonlinear function of the robot complete dynamics, an adaptive robust input to overcome the uncertainties, and a stabilizing control input. The stability and the convergence of the tracking errors are guaranteed using the Lyapunov stability theory. When the controller is designed, the different parameters for two actuator models in the dynamic equation are taken into account. The proposed control scheme does not require the accurate parameter values for the actuator parameters as well as the robot parameters. The validity and robustness of the proposed control scheme are demonstrated through computer simulations. This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008     

Effect of calcination temperature on the low-temperature oxidation of CO over CoOx/TiO2 catalysts

A 5 wt% CoO_x/TiO₂ catalyst has been used to study the effect of calcination temperature on the activity of this catalyst for CO oxidation at 100 °C under a net oxidizing condition in a continuous flow type fixed-bed reactor system, and the catalyst samples have been characterized using TPD, XPS and XRD measurements. The catalyst after calcination at 450 °C gave highest activity for this low-temperature CO oxidation, and XPS measurements yielded that a 780.2-eV Co 2p_3/2 main peak appeared with this catalyst sample and this binding energy was similar to that measured with pure Co₃O₄. After calcination at 570 °C, the catalyst, which had possessed practically no activity in the oxidation reaction, gave a Co 2p_3/2 main structure peak at 781.3 eV which was very similar to those obtained for synthesized Co_nTiO_n+2 compounds (CoTiO₃ and Co₂TiO₄), and this catalyst sample had relatively negligible CO chemisorption as observed by TPD spectra. XRD peaks indicating only the formation of Co₃O₄ particles on titania surface were developed in the catalyst samples after calcination at temperatures ≥350 °C. Based on these characterization results, five types of Co species could be modeled to exist with the catalyst calcined at different temperatures. Among these surface Co species, the Type A clean Co₃O₄ particles were predominant on a sample of the catalyst after calcination at 450 °C and highly active for CO oxidation at 100 °C, and the calcination at 570 °C gave the Type B Co₃O₄ particles with complete Co_nTiO_n+2 overlayers inactive for this oxidation reaction.     

Microstructural Evolution of Gas-Pressure-Sintered Si3N4 with Yb2O3 as a Sintering Aid

Microstructural evolution of gas-pressure-sintered Si₃N₄ with Yb₂O₃ as a sintering aid was observed. Microstructures typical for in situ toughened Si₃N₄, i.e., large elongated grains randomly distributed in a fine matrix, were observed. However, the size of the elongated grains near the surface was much larger than that at the center, resulting in two distinct regions: an inner region and an outer region. The smaller the amount of Yb₂O₃ added, the larger the difference in the size of the elongated grains between the outer and inner regions. The difference between microstructures was diminished when 16 wt% Yb₂O₃ was added. The microstructural change with Yb₂O₃ content was attributed to the evaporation of Yb-containing liquid phase from the surface.     

A smartphone watch for mobile surveillance service

Mobile surveillance service is regarded as one of the Internet applications to which much attention is recently given. However, the time and cost problem resulting from using heterogeneous platforms and proprietary protocols must be a burden to developing such systems and expanding their services. In this paper, we present a framework of mobile surveillance service for smartphone users. It includes the design and implementation of a video server and a mobile client called smartphone watch. A component-based architecture is employed for the server and client for easy extension and adaptation. We also employ the well-known standard web protocol HTTP to provide higher compatibility and portability than using a proprietary one. Three different video transmission modes are provided for efficient usage of limited bandwidth resource. We demonstrate our approach via real experiments on a commercial smartphone.     

Developing the vegetation drought response index for South Korea (VegDRI-SKorea) to assess the vegetation condition during drought events

South Korea has experienced severe droughts and water scarcity problems that have influenced agriculture, food prices, and crop production in recent years. Traditionally, climate-based drought indices using point-based meteorological observations have been used to help quantify drought impacts on the vegetation in South Korea. However, these approaches have a limited spatial precision when mapping detailed vegetation stress caused by drought. For these reasons, the development of a drought index that provides detailed spatial-resolution information on drought-affected vegetation conditions is essential to improve the country’s drought monitoring capabilities, which are needed to help develop more effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. The objective of this study was to develop a satellite-based hybrid drought index called the vegetation drought response index for South Korea (VegDRI-SKorea) that could improve the spatial resolution of agricultural drought monitoring on a national scale. The VegDRI-SKorea was developed for South Korea, modifying the original VegDRI methodology (developed for the USA) by tailoring it to the available local data resources. The VegDRI-SKorea utilizes a classification and regression tree (CART) modelling approach that collectively analyses remote-sensing data (e.g. normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), climate-based drought indices (e.g. self-calibrated Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) and standardized precipitation index (SPI)), and biophysical variables (e.g. elevation and land cover) that influence the drought-related vegetation stress. This study evaluates the performance of the recently developed VegDRI-SKorea for severe and extreme drought events that occurred in South Korea in 2001, 2008, and 2012. The results demonstrated that the hybrid drought index improved the more spatially detailed drought patterns compared to the station-based drought indices and resulted in a better understanding of drought impacts on the vegetation conditions. The VegDRI-SKorea model is expected to contribute to the monitoring of drought conditions nationally. In addition, it will provide the necessary information on the spatial variations of those conditions to evaluate local and regional drought risk assessment across South Korea and assist local decision-makers in drought risk management.     

Effect of chargrilled flavoring on the sensory perception and consumer acceptability of bulgogi (Korean barbecued beef)

Food Science and Biotechnology - As the home-meal replacement food industry grows, there is an increasing need for smoky flavorings that can satisfy the diverse tastes of consumers. In particular,...     

Coke formation on the surface of α-Al2O3 in the catalytic pyrolysis of naphtha

The catalytic pyrolysis of naphtha has been carried out in a quartz reactor loaded with 5 mm α-A1₂0₃ spheres. The yields of ethylene and propylene exhibit about 10% and 5% higher values compared to the thermal pyrolysis in the absence of α-A1₂0₂ spheres at the same reaction conditions. The coke formation on α-A1₂0₃ spheres increased continuously along with the axial length of the reactor as well as with reaction time. Results suggest that the concentration of the coke precursors in the gas phase may increase along with the axial length of the reactor. Coke filled up completely the internal pore of the sphere near the exit of the reactor after reaction for 4 hr. The coke film on the external surface of the sphere grew continuously thicker. The coke formation was influenced strongly by the physical properties of the α-Al₂O₃ spheres. Coke deposition was the least on the α-A1₂0₃ sphere with the lowest surface area and pore volume among the tested α-A1₂0₃ spheres.     

Methacrylic Acid: Not a Mere Product But Activator in the Catalytic Oxidation of Methacrolein?

NHTS _x with different noble-metal contents, were new bi-functional titanosilicates with hollow structure used in one-pot process, their catalytic performances of propylene direct epoxidation were investigated extensively. The results show that with the increase of reaction temperature and reaction time, propylene conversion and the yield of propylene oxide increase, while the selectivity to propylene oxide decreases; meanwhile, L acidity and surface acidity are also concerned with their catalytic performance. NHTS _x with hollow structure and noble-metal combined, are fine catalysts for application in the propylene direct epoxidation process.