Engineering Commons^™

A Fiber Bragg Grating-Based All-Fiber Sensing Systems For Telerobotic Cutting Applications, Ginu Rajan, Dean Callaghan, Yuliya Semenova, Mark Mcgrath, Eugene Coyle, Gerald Farrell

Articles

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based strain sensing system for minimally invasive telerobotic cutting applications is presented in this paper. Investigations assume that a scissor blade can be approximated as a uniformly tapered cantilever beam. A replica of the scissor blade is produced and strain characterization has been carried out using an FBG sensor system. Results are validated against measurements obtained using conventional electrical resistance strain gauges. The scissor blade experiences both direct and lateral forces during cutting, hence the system is characterized for a direct load range of 0-30 N and a lateral load range of 0-10 N. The results …

The Generation Of Domestic Electricity Load Profiles Through Markov Chain Modelling, Fintan Mcloughlin, Aidan Duffy, Michael Conlon

Articles

Micro-generation technologies such as photovoltaics and micro-wind power are becoming increasing popular among homeowners, mainly a result of policy support mechanisms helping to improve cost competiveness as compared to traditional fossil fuel generation. National government strategies to reduce electricity demand generated from fossil fuels and to meet European Union 20/20/20 targets is driving this change. However, the real performance of these technologies in a domestic setting is not often known as high time resolution models for domestic electricity load profiles are not readily available. As a result, projections in terms of reducing electricity demand and financial paybacks for these micro-generation …

Terminology Enhanced Ehr: Integration Of Archetypes And Terminology, An Implementation Experience, Sheng Yu, Damon Berry

Reports

The integration of terminology and EHR information models is an important step in the journey towards semantic interoperability. Archetypes and two-level models for EHRs provide a mechanism that not only applies constraints on clinical content but also ensures effective terminology binding. However the lack of a standardised mechanism to bind terminology to the EHR and the difficulty of systematically coding clinical content, has led to a number of possible implementation choices. This study presents a review of the problems that may occur when working with modern terminology systems and discusses some related state of art technologies. The paper aims to …

Use Of Oids And Iis In En13606, Damon Berry, Jostein Ven, Gerard Freriks, David Moner

Reports

No abstract provided.

A Hybrid Highly Birefringent Fiber Optic Sensing System For Simultaneous Strain And Temperature Measurement, Piotr Lesiak, Ginu Rajan, Yuliya Semenova, Gerald Farrell, Anna Boczkowska, Andrzej Domanski, Tomasz Wolinkski

Articles

A novel hybrid fiber optic sensor based on integration of polarimetric fiber sensors for simultaneous strain and temperature measurement is presented in this paper. Two types of polarimetric fibers are used: a side-hole fiber and a polarization maintaining photonic crystal fiber. The disadvantage of each sensor type can be overcome by using the sensors in a complementary manner to measure temperature independently from average strain.

Development Of A Tool For Windfarm Site Analysis In Electrical Networks With High Levels Of Wind Power Generation, Edward Carroll, John Mcgrory

Dissertations

Controlling electrical networks that contain high levels of wind power will be a challenge facing many System Operators in the coming years. The intermittency and uncertainty of the power supplied by wind turbines create difficulties surrounding scheduling of plant, operating reserve and grid integration. The current process for windfarm selection is carried out by an individual stakeholder and lacks the consideration for all other stakeholders involved, which can create problems in the long term when the levels of wind power increase on the network. This paper proposes a collective approach to analysing potential windfarm sites using the key factors which …

Analysis Of Transformer Ratings In A Wind Farm Environment, John Mccarthy

ME in Sustainable Electrical Energy Systems

The grid connection transformer is one of the most expensive components of a wind farm development. If a transformer is under-utilised, this indicates that the initial capital outlay on the transformer was excessive. Overloading can lead to accelerated aging and increased losses. This project will investigate whether it is possible, by understanding the load profiles and stress conditions in a wind farm environment, to overload a transformer above its nameplate rating, thus reducing the capital outlay costs in developing a wind farm. The paper will investigate a specific wind farm overloading scenario and examine whether it is feasible, and financially …

Microstrip-Fed Wideband Circularly Polarized Printed Antenna, Xiulong Bao, Max Ammann, Patrick Mcevoy

Articles

A wideband circularly-polarized printed antenna is proposed, which employs an asymmetrical dipole and a slit in the ground plane which are fed by an L-shaped microstrip feedline using a via. The proposed antenna geometry is arranged so that the orthogonal surface currents, which are generated in the dipole, feedline and ground plane, have the appropriate phase to provide circular polarization. A parametric study of the key parameters is made and the mechanism for circular polarization is described. The measured results show that the impedance bandwidth is approximately 1.34 GHz (2.45 GHz to 3.79 GHz) and the 3 dB axial ratio …

Energy Storage:Maximising Irelands Wind Energy Potential, Damien Kelly

ME in Sustainable Electrical Energy Systems

Ireland plan's to generate up to 40% of its electricity from wind generation by 2020. This thesis outlines the problems that may be faced by the electricity system and illustrates the benefits that large scale energy storage can bring to the electricity system when trying to integrate large amounts of wind energy. Energy storage is currently a topical subject in Ireland as wind penetration increases and problems such as curtailment loom. This thesis outlines the storage capacities required to sufficiently aid the integration of wind energy in Ireland and outlines the value that large scale energy storage can bring to …

Mirthconnect Howto Document, Sebastien Pardon, Damon Berry

Reports

This document aims at describing the steps involved in installing and configuring Mirth Connect so as to produce an EN13606-compliant record extract from an HL7v2 message using the LinkedEHR- produced xquery.

The Application Of Multi Frequency Resonant Controllers In In A Dfig To Improve Performance By Reducing Unwanted Power And Torque Pulsations And Reducing Current Harmonics., Joseph Kearney, Michael Conlon, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

The paper describes a method to control the rotor-side and grid side converters in a DFIG when subjected to the effects of network voltage unbalance conditions. Multi Frequency Resonant Controllers are incorporated into the grid side and rotor side converters to assist in the control functions. The Resonant Controllers are tuned to twice the network frequency to assist in the control of power and torque pulsations and to three times the network frequency to assist in the control of the generated third harmonic currents. A DFIG model is implemented in Matlab/Simulink and simulations show the reduction in power and torque …

The Application Of Multi Frequency Resonant Controllers In In A Dfig To Improve Performance By Reducing Unwanted Power And Torque Pulsations And Reducing Current Harmonics., Joseph Kearney, Michael Conlon, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

The paper describes a method to control the rotor-side and grid side converters in a DFIG when subjected to the effects of network voltage unbalance conditions. Multi Frequency Resonant Controllers are incorporated into the grid side and rotor side converters to assist in the control functions. The Resonant Controllers are tuned to twice the network frequency to assist in the control of power and torque pulsations and to three times the network frequency to assist in the control of the generated third harmonic currents. A DFIG model is implemented in Matlab/Simulink and simulations show the reduction in power and torque …

Evaluation Of A Part-Time Engineering Degree Programme That Aimed To Unify And Diversify, Kevin Kelly, Vincent Kenny

Conference papers

The School of Electrical Engineering within DIT attempted to address the challenge of increasing diversity in Engineering Education by developing a part-time Electrical Services Engineering degree programme that began as a certificate in 2001 and as a degree in 2003. This four year evening programme had a number of innovations: • Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) • Application of a Student Centred paradigm • Innovative Curriculum Development using Constructivist principles and Project Based Learning (in part) This paper will be an evaluation of the four year part time degree programme. There are issues deserving investigation with regard to the programme. …

Wavelet Based Islanding Detection Of Dc-Ac Inverter Interfaced Dg Systems, Mohamed Moin Hanif, Malabika Basu, Kevin Gaughan

Conference papers

The increased penetration of distributed generation (DG) often connected to grid through dc-ac interface has made islanding detection an important and challenging issue to power engineers. Several methods based on passive and active detection scheme have been proposed in the literature. While passive schemes have a large non detection zone (NDZ), concern has been raised on active method due to its degrading power quality effect. This paper proposes a wavelet based passive islanding detection scheme with almost zero NDZ for dc-ac inverter interfaced grid connected DGs. The key idea is to utilize the spectral changes in the higher frequency components …

Integration Of Antennas And Solar Cells For Autonomous Communication Systems, Maria Jose Roo Ons

Doctoral

Solar energy is becoming an attractive alternative for powering autonomous communication systems. These devices often involve the use of separate photovoltaics and antennas, which demand a compromise in the utilization of the limited space available. This thesis deals with the design, analysis, fabrication and validation of different techniques for the integration of antennas and solar cells in a single multifunctional device. Four different photovoltaic technologies are considered within this work, namely, polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si), monocrystalline (mono-Si) emitter-wrap-through (EWT) rear contact solar cells, amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film on glass substrate, and bifacial solar cells. The use of a poly-Si solar …

A Monocular Marker-Free Gait Measurement System, Jane Courtney, Annraoi M. De Paor

Articles

This paper presents a new, user-friendly, portable motion capture and gait analysis system for capturing and analyzing human gait, designed as a telemedicine tool to monitor remotely the progress of patients through treatment. The system requires minimal user input and simple single-camera filming (which can be acquired from a basic webcam) making it very accessible to nontechnical, nonclinical personnel. This system can allow gait studies to acquire a much larger data set and allow trained gait analysts to focus their skills on the interpretation phase of gait analysis. The design uses a novel motion capture method derived from spatiotemporal segmentation …

Investigation Of The Slow- And Fast-Light Effect On The Basis Of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering For Application In Optical Communication And Information Systems., Ronny Henker

Doctoral

In today's information age demand for ultra-fast information transfer with ultra-high bandwidths has reached extraordinary levels. Hence, the transmission in the future internet-backbone will be increasingly constrained in the network nodes. At the same time, the power consumption of the network systems will increase to unsustainable levels.

Nowadays, optical signal processing and switching can be implemented relatively easily. However, the realization of optical bu ers and short-term memories is still an unsolved challenge. The slow- and fast-light e ect has been investigated as one solution for the optical bu ering over the last few years. It means the slowing down …

The Generation Of Domestic Electricity Load Profiles Through Markov Chain Modelling, Aidan Duffy, Fintan Mcloughlin, Michael Conlon

Conference Papers

Micro-generation technologies such as photovoltaics and micro-wind power are becoming increasing popular among homeowners, mainly a result of policy support mechanisms helping to improve cost competiveness as compared to traditional fossil fuel generation. National government strategies to reduce electricity demand generated from fossil fuels and to meet European Union 20/20 targets is driving this change. However, the real performance of these technologies in a domestic setting is not often known as high time resolution models for domestic electricity load profiles are not readily available. As a result, projections in terms of reducing electricity demand and financial paybacks for these micro-generation …

Validated Real-Time Energy Models For Small-Scale Grid-Connected Pv-Systems, Lacour Ayompe, Aidan Duffy, Sarah Mccormack, Michael Conlon

Articles

This paper presents validated real-time energy models for small-scale grid-connected PV-systems suitable for domestic application. The models were used to predict real-time AC power output from a PV system in Dublin, Ireland using 30-min intervals of measured performance data between April 2009 and March 2010. Statistical analysis of the predicted results and measured data highlight possible sources of errors and the limitations and/or adequacy of existing models, to describe the temperature and efficiency of PV-cells and consequently, the accuracy of power prediction models. PV-system AC output power predictions using empirical models for PV-cell temperature and efficiency prediction showed lower percentage …

Analysis Of Engineering Students Learning Styles On Level 7, Level 8 And Level 9 Programmes, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution reports on research, carried out over three academic years, into the learning styles of engineering students, on a number of Level 7, Level 8 and Level 9 programmes at DIT, using the index of learning styles survey developed by Felder and Soloman (1991). The contribution explores the results obtained in detail, placing them particularly in the national context. The correlation between student performance and individual learning styles is examined. Knowledge of the strongly visual learning style of these cohorts of students may be used to improve the learning environment.

Intelligibility Of Electrolarynx Speech Using A Novel Actuator, Brian Madden, Mark Nolan, Ted Burke, James Condron, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

During voiced speech, the larynx provides quasi-periodic acoustic excitation of the vocal tract. Following a laryngectomy, some people speak using an electrolarynx which replaces the excitatory function of the absent larynx. Drawbacks of conventional electrolarynx designs include the buzzing monotonic sound emitted, the need for a free hand to operate the device, and difficulty experienced by many laryngectomees in adapting to its use. Despite these shortcomings, it remains the preferred method of speech rehabilitation for a substantial minority of laryngectomees. In most electrolarynxes, mechanical vibrations are produced by a linear electromechanical actuator, the armature of which percusses against a metal …

High Performance Modified Dsr Routing Protocol For Wlan Mesh Networks, Mustafa Ramadhan, Mark Davis

Conference papers

This work presents a cross-layer modification to the DSR protocol which discovers high throughput paths on multi-hop wireless mesh networks. The modified DSR incorporates a metric based upon the bandwidth availability at a node into the routing discovery mechanism. We introduce the Access Efficiency Factor (AEF) as an alternative metric to the hop-count for the routing selection mechanism. In this modification, the selected path is identified by finding a path with the highest minimum AEF value. The OPNET modeler has been employed to investigate the performance of the modified DSR protocol on randomly generated network opologies of different node densities. …

Development Of A 12 Kva Dsp-Controlled Laboratory Prototype Upqc, Iurie Axente, Jayanti Navilgone Ganesh, Malabika Basu, Michael Conlon, Kevin Gaughan

Articles

This paper reports the development of a laboratory prototype of a fully digital DSP-controlled 12-kVA unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), capable of compensating for both the supply voltage and the load current imperfections. A fully digital controller based on the TMS320F2812 DSP platform is implemented for the reference generation as well as control purposes. The delay problem in the digital controller is overcome by application of a fast DSP, a compact control technique and proper flow of control steps in the DSP software. A phase-locked loopless software grid synchronization method has been implemented for the effective operation of the UPQC …

Information Hiding Using Stochastic Diffusion For The Covert Transmission Of Encrypted Images, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

A principal weakness of all encryption systems is that the output data can be `seen' to be encrypted. In other words, encrypted data provides a 'flag' on the potential value of the information that has been encrypted. In this paper, we provide a novel approach to `hiding' encrypted data in a digital image. We consider an approach in which a plaintext image is encrypted with a cipher using the processes of `stochastic diffusion' and the output quantized into a 1-bit array generating a binary image cipher-text. This output is then `embedded' in a host image which is undertaken either in …

Gate 3 Grid Connection Group Processing Approach:An Analysis, John Leahy

Msc. in Energy Management

The aim of this project is to analyse the Group Processing Approach (the “GPA”) to renewable generator grid connections, and in particular the Gate 3 process which is the latest round of the GPA that is currently being implemented in the Republic of Ireland, to determine if it is the most effective approach for connecting new renewable generation. Gate 3 is the third series of the GPA for connecting renewable generation to the Irish Electricity grid where applications are processed in groups or batches. The size of the Gate 3 has bee capped at 3,900MW with applicants being selected based …

The Integration Of Smart Meters Into Electrical Grids To Ensure Maximum Benefit For Consumers, Generators And Network Operators., Tom Bean, John Mcgrory

Dissertations

The term “smart metering” has been used in many project descriptions and publications produced by utility companies (e.g. gas, water and electricity), conference papers and journal papers, but the true meaning of the term has been fudged. Does smart metering signify rapid recording of data (i.e. data logger) or does it give totals (e.g. maximum, minimum and average), as neither of these are truly “Smart” or “Intelligent” virtues in themselves, or is there some additional role that needs to be explored. This dissertation examines the “smart metering” idiom jointly from energy supplier, grid manager and consumer perspectives and formulates a …

Novel Techniques For The Integration Of Antennas And Photovoltaic Cells, Maria Roo Ons, S. Shynu, Max Ammann, Sarah Mccormack, Brian Norton

Conference Papers

Various novel approaches to the integration of antenna and photovoltaic technologies are proposed. These include the use of polycrystalline solar cells as groundplane for microstrip patch antennas as well as for reflectors of half-wave dipole antennas. Transparent materials were also evaluated as antenna radiating elements, allowing greater solar efficiency. A novel technique illustrating how emitter-wrap-through rear contact solar cells can be used as a folded-dipole antenna, which is located in the focal line of a parabolic solar concentrator, to provide high solar efficiency as well as high antenna gain, is presented.

Compact Spiral Loaded Printed Monopole Antenna, Xiulong Bao, Max Ammann

Conference Papers

A novel miniaturized printed monopole structure is proposed. The antenna comprises a printed monopole strip which is loaded by a spiral located on the rearside connected by a via. The inductive loading provided by the spiral enables considerable miniaturization of antenna. A parametric study of key dimensional parameters and groundplane are discussed.

A Pattern Reconfigurable Slot Antenna With Hybrid Feed, Matthias John, Max Ammann

Conference Papers

In this paper we investigate the design and operating principle of a pattern reconfigurable multi-mode slot antenna with a hybrid feed. The slot antenna is excited by an orthogonal arrangement of a co-planar waveguide (CPW) fed circular disc and a microstrip fed square patch. The design objective is to be able to change the direction of the main lobe by feeding the two orthogonal elements with different phases.

Projected Costs Of A Grid-Connected Domestic Pv System Under Different Scenarios In Ireland, Using Measured Data From A Trial Installation, Lacour Ayompe, Aidan Duffy, Sarah Mccormack, Michael Conlon

Articles

This paper presents results of a study of projected costs for a grid-connected PV system for domestic application in Ireland. The study is based on results from a 1.72kWpPV system installed on a flat rooftop in Dublin, Ireland. During its first year of operation a total of 885.1kWh/kWp of electricity was generated with a performance ratio of 81.5%. The scenarios employed in this study consider: a range of capital costs; cost dynamics based on a PV module learning rate of 2+/-75%; projections for global annual installed PV capacity under an advanced and moderate market growth conditions; domestic electricity cost growth …