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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
System, Device, And Method For Determination Of Intraocular Pressure, Jeffrey Todd Hastings, E. Britt Brockman, Ingrid L. St. Omer, John C. Wright
System, Device, And Method For Determination Of Intraocular Pressure, Jeffrey Todd Hastings, E. Britt Brockman, Ingrid L. St. Omer, John C. Wright
Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Patents
A system for determination of intraocular pressure includes: an intraocular pressure sensor; a light source illuminating the sensor with one or more wavelengths of light; and a detector that measures emitted light from the sensor. The sensor includes a substrate member, a spacer member, and a flexible membrane, which define a sealed cavity. The flexible membrane moves in response to intraocular pressure changes. A device for measuring intraocular pressure includes: the sensor; an anchoring member attached to the sensor for immobilizing the sensor in an eye; and a protective member attached to the anchoring member and covering the sensor to …
Nozzle Sensor For In-System Chemical Concentration Monitoring, Joseph S. Dvorak, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Yongbo Wan
Nozzle Sensor For In-System Chemical Concentration Monitoring, Joseph S. Dvorak, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Yongbo Wan
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
Chemical concentration is a vital parameter for determining appropriate chemical application. This study describes the design and testing of a sensor that attempted to monitor concentration of chemicals upstream from each nozzle body. The sensor is based on an LED and photodiode pair. Its ability to detect chemical concentration within the main carrier was tested with a 2,4-D formulation, a glyphosate formulation, and a powdered Acid Blue 9 dye. The liquid herbicide formulations of glyphosate and 2,4-D were tested across common application concentrations of 0% to 12.5% by volume. The powdered dye produced a much stronger effect on the sensor …
Monitoring Yogurt Culture Fermentation And Predicting Fermentation Endpoint With Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Timothey P. Mains, Frederick Alan Payne, Michael P. Sama
Monitoring Yogurt Culture Fermentation And Predicting Fermentation Endpoint With Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Timothey P. Mains, Frederick Alan Payne, Michael P. Sama
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
Determination of the endpoint of yogurt culture fermentation is a process parameter that could benefit from automation. The feasibility of using a fluorescence sensor technology based on 280 nm excitation and 350 nm emission to predict the endpoint of yogurt culture fermentation was investigated and compared with the endpoint prediction from a near-infrared (880 nm) light backscatter sensor. Yogurt cultures with three levels of milk solids (8%, 10%, and 12%) and three temperatures (40°C, 43°C, and 46°C) were tested with three replications in a 3 x 3 factorial design (n = 27). Prediction models were developed for each optical measurement …
An Optical Sprayer Nozzle Flow Rate Sensor, Joseph S. Dvorak, Luke E. Bryant
An Optical Sprayer Nozzle Flow Rate Sensor, Joseph S. Dvorak, Luke E. Bryant
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
Ensuring proper flow rates from each nozzle on an agricultural sprayer has become even more important as advances continue to be made in precision application technology. In this article, we describe the structure and testing of a sensor technology based on optical cross-correlation to determine the flow rate of individual sprayer nozzles. An advantage of this technology is that it does not require that impellers or other components be placed in the flow, which could cause plugging. The only moving part in the entire system is a solenoid used to inject a tracer dye. The objective of this study was …
Moisture Sensors On Conductive Substrates, Zhi David Chen, Ibrahim Yucedag
Moisture Sensors On Conductive Substrates, Zhi David Chen, Ibrahim Yucedag
Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Patents
A moisture sensor includes a first electrode (a conductive substrate) having a first sensor portion and a first terminal portion as well as a second electrode having a second sensor portion and a second terminal portion. The moisture sensor also includes a layer of porous dielectric material sandwiched between the first sensor portion and the second sensor portion. Further the moisture sensor includes a layer of dense insulating material sandwiched between the first terminal portion and the second terminal portion. Leads are then connected to the two terminal portions.
A Correlation-Based Optical Flowmeter For Enclosed Flows, Naiqian Zhang, Joseph S. Dvorak, Yali Zhang
A Correlation-Based Optical Flowmeter For Enclosed Flows, Naiqian Zhang, Joseph S. Dvorak, Yali Zhang
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
A low-cost flowmeter would be very useful in a wide variety of monitoring situations. This article discusses the development of such a flowmeter based on optical components and its testing with water in an enclosed flow system. The sensor consisted of two sets of LEDs and phototransistors spaced 4 cm apart, monitoring the optical properties of the fluid at upstream and downstream locations, respectively. A small amount of dye was injected into the flow, which caused a change in the optical properties of the fluid at both locations. The time required for this change to move from the upstream to …
Temperature, Stress, And Corrosive Sensing Apparatus Utilizing Harmonic Response Of Magnetically Soft Sensor Element (S), Craig A. Grimes, Keat Ghee Ong
Temperature, Stress, And Corrosive Sensing Apparatus Utilizing Harmonic Response Of Magnetically Soft Sensor Element (S), Craig A. Grimes, Keat Ghee Ong
Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents
A temperature sensing apparatus including a sensor element made of a magnetically soft material operatively arranged within a first and second time-varying interrogation magnetic field, the first time-varying magnetic field being generated at a frequency higher than that for the second magnetic field. A receiver, remote from the sensor element, is engaged to measure intensity of electromagnetic emissions from the sensor element to identify a relative maximum amplitude value for each of a plurality of higher-order harmonic frequency amplitudes so measured. A unit then determines a value for temperature (or other parameter of interst) using the relative maximum harmonic amplitude …
Magnetoelastic Sensing Apparatus And Method For Remote Pressure Query Of An Environment, Craig A. Grimes, Plamen G. Stoyanov, Dimitris Kouzoudis
Magnetoelastic Sensing Apparatus And Method For Remote Pressure Query Of An Environment, Craig A. Grimes, Plamen G. Stoyanov, Dimitris Kouzoudis
Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents
A pressure sensing apparatus for operative arrangement within an environment, having: a sensor comprising a hermetically-sealed receptacle, at least one side of which has an flexible membrane to which a magnetically hard element is attached. Enclosed within the receptacle is a magnetostrictive element that vibrates in response to a time-varying magnetic field. Also included is a receiver to measure a plurality of successive values for magneto-elastic emission intensity of the sensor taken over an operating range of successive interrogation frequencies to identify a resonant frequency value for the sensor. Additional features include: (a) the magnetically hard element may be adhered …
Remote Resonant-Circuit Analyte Sensing Apparatus With Sensing Structure And Associated Method Of Sensing, Craig A. Grimes
Remote Resonant-Circuit Analyte Sensing Apparatus With Sensing Structure And Associated Method Of Sensing, Craig A. Grimes
Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents
A resonant sensing apparatus for operative arrangement within a test environment to sense an analyte. A sensing structure is included having an antenna in electrical communication with a resonant circuit and a structural element made of a material that selectively responds to the analyte. This sensing structure will resonate at a particular characteristic resonant frequency in the presence of an applied interrogation electromagnetic field and the analyte upon the occurrence of the selective response. A receiver is used for remotely identifying a value for the characteristic resonant frequency by measuring a plurality of values for electromagnetic emission intensity of the …
Light Backscatter Of Milk Products For Transition Sensing Using Optical Fibers, Frederick A. Payne, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Sue E. Nokes, Klat C. Kang
Light Backscatter Of Milk Products For Transition Sensing Using Optical Fibers, Frederick A. Payne, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Sue E. Nokes, Klat C. Kang
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
Transition sensors are needed, particularly in the dairy industry, for detecting transitions in pipe flow systems from product-to-water or product-to-product (such as from chocolate to vanilla ice cream mix). Transition information is used to automatically sequence valves to minimize product waste. Optical fibers were used to measure light backscatter between 400 and 950 nm as a function of milk concentration in water and milkfat concentration in milk. The normalized response (100% for product and 0% for water) as a function of product concentration in water was approximately logarithmic for skim milk between 400 and 900 nm and approximately linear for …
Predicting The Cutting Time Of Cottage Cheese Using Backscatter Measurements, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Frederick A. Payne, Sue E. Nokes
Predicting The Cutting Time Of Cottage Cheese Using Backscatter Measurements, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Frederick A. Payne, Sue E. Nokes
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
An automated system for monitoring culture growth and determining coagulum cutting time is needed for cottage cheese manufacturing. A light backscatter measurement system was designed and installed in a local cottage cheese manufacturing plant. A cutting time prediction algorithm was developed using parameters generated from the backscatter profile. The cutting time prediction algorithm, Tcut = Tmax + β2 S, used two time-based parameters generated from the backscatter profile (Tmax and S) and one operator selected parameter, β2, to predict the coagulum cutting time, Tcut. The standard error of prediction for the algorithm was 6.4 …
Diffuse Reflectance Changes During The Culture Of Cottage Cheese, Frederick Alan Payne, R. Carol Freels, Sue E. Nokes, Richard S. Gates
Diffuse Reflectance Changes During The Culture Of Cottage Cheese, Frederick Alan Payne, R. Carol Freels, Sue E. Nokes, Richard S. Gates
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
A sensor for measuring diffuse reflectance of milk during the typical 6-h culture of cottage cheese was installed in a local manufacturing facility. Diffuse reflectance was found to increase slowly during the first three hours of the culture and increase rapidly toward the end of fermentation. The correlation between parameters generated from the diffuse reflectance profile and cutting time was sufficient to develop an algorithm for cutting time prediction. An algorithm incorporating tmax (time from adding culture to the maximum rate of change in reflectance) and slope of the reflectance curve at tmax predicted the operator selected cutting …