Domenico Grimaldi

Java based distributed measurement systems

This paper focuses on the development of distributed measurement systems using Java and Web tools. An approach is proposed which is based on object-oriented programming and client/server communications and which allows remote configuration and monitoring of the measurement system. The approach proves useful both for educational and industrial measurement requirements.

ANN-based error reduction for experimentally modeled sensors

A method for correcting the effects of multiple error sources in differential transducers is proposed. The difference in actual characteristics of the sensing elements of the differential scheme, and an easily controllable auxiliary quantity (e.g. supply voltage of conditioning circuit) provide independent information for the correction. This is carried out by a nonlinear multidimensional inverse model of the transducer based on an artificial neural network. Experimental results of the correction of a variable-reluctance displacement transducer, subject to the combined interference of structural and geometrical parameters, highlight the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Distributed measurement systems

Abstract In this paper the technologies that permit the development of distributed measurement systems over the internet are discussed. The different concepts of virtual instrumentation are summarized. Two different approaches to measurement system development are compared — the first is based on the commercially available environment labview , and the second, widely used in the research field, is based on the object-oriented programming.

Photoplethysmography detection by smartphone's videocamera

Smartphones video cameras become more and more powerful while the devices itself become used by many people. That allows utilizing them for many every-day tasks. One of such suitable application of the widely used smartphones is monitoring the state of the health. In this paper we propose an approach to detect the photoplethysmograph signal from the fingertip using a smartphones camera and built-in LED. The proposed solution allows detecting the proper heart rate and is robust to different situations of wrong-usage of the system.

Distributed measurement systems: An object-oriented architecture and a case study

This paper is concerned with the software development of distributed real-time measurement systems. Major goals are modularity, reusability and independency from hardware devices, processors and comunications networks. A light-weight architecture for real-time (DART) is proposed which delivers a systematic methodology centred on object-oriented techniques. The effectiveness of DART is illustrated by means of its application to a distributed measurement system for electrical power plants.

Remote Didactic Laboratory “G. Savastano,” The Italian Experience for E-Learning at the Technical Universities in the Field of Electrical and Electronic Measurements: Overview on Didactic Experiments

The Remote Didactic Laboratory Laboratorio Didattico Remoto - LA.DI.RE. ldquoG. Savastanordquo is the e-learning measurement laboratory supported by the Italian Ministry of Education and University. It involves about 20 Italian universities and provides students of electric and electronic measurement courses with access to remote measurement laboratories delivering different didactic activities related to measurement experiments. In order to demonstrate the versatility for didactic use, the overview of some experiments is given. The didactic experiments summarized in this paper concern measurement characterization of instruments and communication systems, measurement devices for remote laboratories, basic electrical measurements, magnetic measurements, electromagnetic-interference measurements, and signal processing for measurement applications.

A Neural Network-based method for continuous blood pressure estimation from a PPG signal

There is a relation, not always linear, between the blood pressure and the pulse duration, obtained from photoplethysmography (PPG) signal. In order to estimate the blood pressure from the PPG signal, in this paper the Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are used. Training data were extracted from the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care waveform database for better representation of possible pulse and pressure variation. In total there were analyzed more than 15000 heartbeats and 21 parameters were extracted from each of them that define the input vector for the ANN. The comparison between estimated and reference values shows better accuracy than the linear regression method and satisfy the American National Standards of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

Real-time measurement and control of an industrial system over a standard network: implementation of a prototype for educational purposes

This paper deals with a real-time distributed architecture based on the reservation protocol (RSVP). After some discussion of the RSVP, the prototype for real-time measurement and control of an industrial system over a standard computer network for educational purposes is described. The performance of the RSVP-based system is then analyzed and compared with an ordinary RSVP-less system.

Wireless Distributed Measurement System by Using Mobile Devices

The innovative architecture of distributed measurement systems (DMS) is proposed in order to increase the adaptability characteristic to the new necessity of the industrial applications. This architecture is based on (i) the wireless technology to realize the communication structure and (ii) the personal digital assistant to manage and control the measurement instrumentations. The wireless protocol IEEE 802.11 is used to realize the local area network. The aspects concerning both the software and the hardware to realize the wireless DMS are discussed. In order to evidence innovative features, two applicative examples are shown and discussed.

On a circuit theory approach to evaluate the stray capacitances of two coupled inductors

The authors provide a method for evaluating three lumped equivalent capacitances which take into account the physical effects of stray capacitances in two coupled inductors. Capacitance evaluation is performed in two steps. Initially, the resistance and leakage inductance of every winding and the core exciting equivalent impedance are evaluated by means of discrete parameter estimation. Then the three equivalent capacitances are evaluated by means of three simple mathematical expressions once the natural oscillation frequencies of the two coupled inductors in the experimental test are determined. The definitions and the mathematical theory underlying the method are outlined. The actual reponse of the two coupled inductors is compared with the response of the identified model and the test results show a good correlation between them.<<ETX>>