A practical development of engineering simulation-assisted educational AR environments

Engineering simulations have opened several gates for today’s chemical engineers. They are powerful tools to provide technical content as physics-based numerical solvers. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), on the other hand, are already underway to digitize environments in many fields. The combination of AR/VR environments and simulations in engineering education has been attracting widespread interest. Literature has demonstrated a massive amount of digital educational environments in several contexts as being complementary to conventional educational methods. Nevertheless, hosting technical content produced by engineering simulations with educational AR/VR is still challenging and requires expertise from multiple disciplines throughout the technical development. Present work provides a facile and agile methodology for low-cost hardware but content-wise rich AR software development. Inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic, a case study is developed to teach chemical-engineering concepts using a liquid-soap synthesis process. Accordingly, we assess and conclude the digital development process to guide inexperienced developers for the digitalization of teaching content. The present contribution serves as an example of the power of integrating AR/VR with traditional engineering simulations for educational purposes. The digital tool developed in this work is shared in the online version.     

毫米波三维异质异构集成技术的进展与应用

三维异质异构集成技术是实现电子信息系统向着微型化、高效能、高整合、低功耗及低成本方向发展的最重要方法,也是决定信息化平台中微电子和微纳系统领域未来发展的一项核心高技术。文章详细介绍了毫米波频段三维异质异构集成技术的优势、近年来的发展趋势以及面临的挑战。利用硅基MEMS 光敏复合薄膜多层布线工艺可实现异质芯片的低损耗互连,同时三维集成高性能封装滤波器、高辐射效率封装天线等无源元件,还能很好地处理布线间的电磁兼容和芯片间的屏蔽问题。最后介绍了一款新型毫米波三维异质异构集成雷达及其在远距离生命体征探测方面的应用。     

适应不同重力环境的仿壁虎机器人运动仿真

针对不同重力环境下仿壁虎机器人的运动稳定性、运动高效协调性等问题,基于四足机器人的步态规划现状和仿壁虎机器人自身特定的机械结构,设计了仿壁虎机器人在g、0、-g 3种环境下的足端轨迹和运动步态。在ADAMS仿真软件中研究了机器人的运动学和动力学特性,得到了仿壁虎机器人稳定爬行与脚掌黏附力、足端轨迹和运动步态的关系。探讨了仿真结果的合理性和局限性,为仿壁虎机器人在实际环境中的稳定运动奠定了理论基础。     

Controllability and observability of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous and switching topologies

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on controllability and observability of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous and switching topologies, where the first- and the second-order information interaction topologies are different and switching. First, based on the controllable state set, a controllability criterion is obtained in terms of the controllability matrix corresponding to the switching sequence. Next, by virtue of the subspace sequence, two necessary and sufficient algebraic conditions are established for controllability in terms of the system matrices corresponding to all the possible topologies. Furthermore, controllability is considered from the graphic perspective. It is proved that the system is controllable if the union graph of all the possible topologies is controllable. With respect to observability, two sufficient and necessary conditions are derived by taking advantage of the system matrices and the corresponding invariant subspace, respectively. Finally, some simulation examples are worked out to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Complexities of digital technology use and the teaching and learning of function

Many argue that digital technologies have the potential to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics. However, the availability of technology is not sufficient to realise this potential. The study reported takes a detailed approach to investigate the utility of the particular offerings of the available technologies in the teaching and learning of a specific area of mathematics, functions. Sixteen affordances identified in the data are described. The complexity of the process involved in resolving a situation where particular affordances would be useful so as they are perceived and enacted is detailed. Finally, a grounded theory framework arising from the data analysis from this study that can be used to explain, predict and guide action in other digital environments is presented.     

Creating formative feedback spaces in large lectures

Large lectures are the predominant way of teaching first-year students at universities in Norway. However, this forum for education is seldom discussed as a context for a formative feedback practice. The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to address whether and how a student-response system can open for a formative feedback practice in lectures and thereby support students' ability to monitor their own learning, as well as supply insight into how students engage with the feedback in their course work. The context for the study was large lectures (150–200 students) in a qualitative method course for first-year psychology students. Findings from the survey (n = 149) showed a positive correlation between the extent to which students report that they use clickers to monitor their own learning, and the extent to which they report that they used the feedback in their own course work. However, findings indicate that students valued the process of monitoring their own learning during the lectures to a greater extent than they actually used the feedback in their course work. Findings from interviews (n = 6) illustrated various ways students applied feedback in their course work.     

Real-time organic aerosol chemical speciation in the indoor environment using extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Understanding the sources and composition of organic aerosol (OA) in indoor environments requires rapid measurements, since many emissions and processes have short timescales. However, real-time molecular-level OA measurements have not been reported indoors. Here, we present quantitative measurements, at a time resolution of five seconds, of molecular ions corresponding to diverse aerosol-phase species, by applying extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS) to indoor air analysis for the first time, as part of the highly instrumented HOMEChem field study. We demonstrate how the complex spectra of EESI-MS are screened in order to extract chemical information and investigate the possibility of interference from gas-phase semivolatile species. During experiments that simulated the Thanksgiving US holiday meal preparation, EESI-MS quantified multiple species, including fatty acids, carbohydrates, siloxanes, and phthalates. Intercomparisons with Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer suggest that EESI-MS quantified a large fraction of OA. Comparisons with FIGAERO-CIMS shows similar signal levels and good correlation, with a range of 100 for the relative sensitivities. Comparisons with SV-TAG for phthalates and with SV-TAG and AMS for total siloxanes also show strong correlation. EESI-MS observations can be used with gas-phase measurements to identify co-emitted gas- and aerosol-phase species, and this is demonstrated using complementary gas-phase PTR-MS observations.     

异构分层无线网络中基于逗留时间的动态流量均衡算法研究

为使异构分层无线网络能服务更多的移动用户,提出了一种基于逗留时间的动态流量均衡算法.该算法首先根据用户移动模型计算其在小区内的逗留时间,然后基于小区呼叫到达率和重叠覆盖小区的流量状态来确定一个周期内呼叫转移的数量,最后依据逗留时间门限值将重负载小区中满足条件的呼叫转移到轻负载的重叠覆盖小区中.为降低切换呼叫掉线率,还对异构网间的呼叫切换策略做了改进.仿真实验结果表明,本算法在新呼叫阻塞率和切换呼叫掉线率等性能指标上比传统方法有显著的提高.