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Intracellular delivery with a nanoneedle is a versatile method of injecting various types of materials into a single cell. A single hollow needle limits the throughput of cellular delivery. This study aims to develop an array of hollow nanoneedles suitable for massively parallel delivery and mass production. The fabrication of hollow nanoneedle structures by stepper lithography looks promising, but a method for the fabrication has remained unclear. We patterned the tips of nanoneedles by i-line stepper lithography and fabricated a hollow nanoneedle array. We used silicon and silicon-on-insulator wafers and established a process for controlling needle diameter, height, and pitch. Needle tips were produced on the front side and introduction channels were formed on the backside. A fluorescent DNA solution was transported by electrokinetic ejection through a fabricated nanoneedle array.

Energy is pivotal to the human and capital development of any nation; hence, the ever growing quest to discover reliable and sustainable energy sources. Researches on renewable energy sources ranging from wind, tidal, hydro power and solar energy is on-going; all geared towards providing better electrical energy source. Solar energy, however, holds a very promising future as far as sustainable energy solution is concerned. It is silent, green, with zero negative impact to the globe and no pollution. Unlike the conventional energy sources from fossil fuel, it reduces greatly the impact of global warming and remains endless. The developed solar tracker has two automatic tracking axis for both the zenith daily and the azimuth annually as well as displaying in real-time solar irradiation and tilt angles on the mounted LCD. The self-controlled tracking is achieved by using a MEGA2560 microcontroller board, programmed to read analog values from an array of LDRs, convert them to digital values, compare them and drive the stepper motors in the desired direction until equal light is sensed by alternate LDRs. At this point, the panel is aligned perpendicular to the sun rays to capture the maximum possible energy. A working prototype is successfully designed and constructed. The testing revealed very precise tracking made possible by using micro-stepping modes of the stepper motors. This also gave a very high tracking accuracy of about ±0.0560.

Magnetic actuation on digital microfluidic (DMF) platforms may provide a low-cost, less cumbersome alternative for droplet manipulation in comparison to other techniques such as electrowetting-on-dielectric. Precise control of droplets in magnetically driven DMF platforms is achieved using a low-friction surface, magnetically susceptible material/droplet(s), and an applied magnetic field. Superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces offer limited friction for aqueous media as defined by their high water contact angles (WCA) (150°) and low sliding angles (10°). The low surface friction of such coatings and materials significantly reduces the force required for droplet transport. Here, we present a study that examines several actuation parameters including the effects of particle and particle-free actuation mechanisms, porous and non-porous SH materials, surface chemistry, droplet speed/acceleration, and the presence of surface energy traps (SETs) on droplet kinematics. Automated actuation was performed using an XY linear stepper gantry, which enabled sequential droplet actuation, mixing, and undocking operations to be performed in series. The results of this study are applied to a quantitative fluorescence-based DNA assay in under 2 min. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Wind turbine is utilizing the active energy come from the wind for producing the power by using the ac generators. The created electrical force is provided to the lattice. The created energy mostly relies upon the wind speed and the cleared space of the turbine. As the wind speed increments in like manner the components of the blades of wind turbine diminishes. The blades are made auto flexible with the assistance of stepper engine and control unit mounted on it. Different planning angles are discussed while keeping up with the created power. The wind turbine blades power and productivity has been estimated at various tip-speed-proportions. Present work gives a knowledge into the plan parts of a wind turbine, similar to turbine blade configuration, wind force and yield power computation. This paper presents a significant design and analysis of wind turbine blade.

In this paper, we present cost-effective techniques to assess shielding performance of RFID Kanban racks equipped with UHF RFID readers. This includes a self-developed positioner, made from roof battens and stepper motors, which positions a tag in a vertical area around each side of the rack to sense the radio frequency (RF) distribution emitted from the reader. For the measurements on the shelves, we sticked 30 tags on a foam board in a 20 cm grid to detect leakages on the horizontal planes. The overall material cost is less than 50 € and we made the documentation and control software publicly available.

In solar tracking system, general stepper motor is used to control the stepwise movement and low speed of solar panel in vertical motion. Degree of rotation is directly proportional to stepwise movement (stepping method) of stepper motor. But it is cumbersome process to hold a solar panel at a particular vertical position depending on the sun’s position using low cost stepper motors. So, geared DC motor is implemented into stepper motor for low-speed applications using Stepping Method (GDCSM). Degree per step movement of geared DC motor is identified using Step angle switching delay time signal (A) of microcontroller. Speed of geared DC motor is controlled by passing fixed time interval between the pulses where the pulses have fixed width. Controlling speed is implemented by using Step delay time signal (D) of microcontroller. Combining effect of switching delay time signals A and D represents the Stepping Method. Stepping method resembles the step movement and controlling speed of the stepper motor. Speed of 10RPM & 30RPM geared DC motors is operated at 10V DC power supply. Microcontroller ATmega 328P with switching delay time signals is used to control the geared DC motors. Performance of 10RPM & 30RPM GDCSM is analyzed with stepper motors in terms of Relative slip degree error per revolution (RE$$_\mathrm{{S}}$$ S ) and acceptable slippage degree tolerance under open loop condition. Change in consuming voltage tolerance ($$\varDelta$$ Δ ) during rotation of GDCSM is another parameter which is used to maintain the constant actual total step count per revolutions of GDCSM. At 40 ms of step angle delay time (A), 10RPMGDCSM has 120 steps per revolution. At 25 ms of A, 30RPMGDCSM has 55 steps per revolution. Speed of 10RPM & 30RPM GDCSM is controllable up to 2RPM when its RE$$_\mathrm{{S}}$$ S or acceptable slippage degree tolerance value is less than or equal to 1%. If $$\varDelta$$ Δ value of GDCSM is less than or equal to − 0.4%, then it behaves like stepper motor. GDCSM is suitable to hold and control vertical position of solar tracking system with low speed and step movement. Performance of geared DC motor experimentally showed better result than commercial available stepper motors like 28BYJ-48 or STP-43d1027-01.

In this paper, an application of an Active Disturbance Rejection Controller (ADRC) to a hybrid stepper motor is presented. ADRC has gained the attention of practitioners due to its simplicity and robustness against model uncertainty and external disturbances compared to standard PID control. The performance of the Linear ADRC (LADRC) is addressed in this paper for a stepper motor under Field Oriented Control (FOC). First a simulation of current, speed and position control loops is performed, and after, a position reference step experiment is done in a real test bench. The results are systematically compared to the case of a PI controller showing improvements for the same given specifications. Also, a load torque observer (LTO) is added as feedforward to the PI controller for the experimental tests. Results show a better load rejection, setpoint tracking and repeatibility for the ADRC controller in hybrid stepper motors.

The evolution of the wind turbine to generate carbon-free renewable energy is rapidly growing. Thus, performing maintenance and inspection tasks in high altitude environments or difficult to access places, and even bad weather conditions, poses a problem for the periodic inspection process of the wind turbine industry. This paper describes the design and development of a scaled-down prototype climbing robot for wind turbine maintenance to perform critical tower operations. Thus, the unique feature of this maintenance robot is the winding mechanism, which uses a tension force to grip on the tower surface without falling to the ground either in static or dynamic situations, with the locomotion to perform a straight up–down motion in a circular truncated cone and the stability to work at significant heights. The robot computer-aided design (CAD) model of the mechanical mechanism, force and structural analysis, and the testing of the prototype model, are addressed in this paper. The key hardware developments that were utilized to build a low-cost, reliable and compact climbing robot are the embedded microprocessors, brushed DC motors, stepper motors and steel rope. This paper concludes with a successful preliminary experiment of a scaled down prototype proving the functionality of the concept. The potential applications for this robot are industrial maintenance, inspection and exploration, security and surveillance, cleaning, painting, and welding at extreme height conditions.

More-than-Moore approaches to improve system performance have been a hot topic for a more than a decade as a way to maximize the efficiency and increase the bandwidth of high performance computing systems. Fan-Out packaging that realizes submicron Redistribution Lines (RDL) and large die sizes is one technology that can help enable complex heterogeneous integration for applications including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving. For systems requiring large package sizes, Panel Level Packaging (PLP) can offer efficiency and cost advantages over Wafer Level Packaging (WLP). PLP however poses unique technical challenges including the requirement to realize uniform submicron patterning across the entire rectangular panel. To meet this challenge, Canon developed the first patterning exposure tool (stepper) capable of submicron resolution on 500 mm panels. The panel exposure tool is equipped with wide-field projection optics that offer a large 52 mm × 68 mm image field and a 0.24 NA that is optimum for submicron resolution. The stepper also features an updated panel handling system for processing up to 515 × 515 mm panels. In this paper, we will report on our study of fine patterning on rectangular panels using the submicron resolution panel stepper and will introduce technology innovations supporting advanced heterogeneous integration. Our study researched photoresist material performance and slit-coating uniformity challenges we identified through collaboration with resist vendors and slit-coating equipment manufacturers. We will report on the results of our collaborative study and will discuss current and future PLP advantages, challenges and solutions.

In making sensors require multiple processing by using different masks to accomplish, it needs reload and multiple aligning for a wafer in order to make a functional wafer, thus, the consuming for making mask are wasted, and used lamps toxic. In the study, a ULVLED stepper with Programmable LCoS or DLP as mask for multiple process wafer is proposed. By a programmable ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UVLED) array with a collimated lens as a transfer lens forms uniform source, to expose programmable LCoS or DLP as mask by using a 1 to 1 lithographic lens. Sensors and optical binary lens are easily made.

Underwater exploration or inspection requires suitable robotic systems capable of maneuvering, manipulating objects, and operating untethered in complex environmental conditions. Traditional robots have been used to perform many tasks underwater. However, they have limited degrees of freedom, manipulation capabilities, portability, and have disruptive interactions with aquatic life. Research in soft robotics seeks to incorporate ideas of the natural flexibility and agility of aquatic species into man-made technologies to improve the current capabilities of robots using biomimetics. In this paper, we present a novel design, fabrication, and testing results of an underwater robot known as Kraken that has tentacles to mimic the arm movement of an octopus. To control the arm motion, Kraken utilizes a hybrid actuation technology consisting of stepper motors and twisted and a coiled fishing line polymer muscle (TCP FL ). TCPs are becoming one of the promising actuation technologies due to their high actuation stroke, high force, light weight, and low cost. We have studied different arm stiffness configurations of the tentacles tailored to operate in different modalities (curling, twisting, and bending), to control the shape of the tentacles and grasp irregular objects delicately. Kraken uses an onboard battery, a wireless programmable joystick, a buoyancy system for depth control, all housed in a three-layer 3D printed dome-like structure. Here, we present Kraken fully functioning underwater in an Olympic-size swimming pool using its servo actuated tentacles and other test results on the TCP FL actuated tentacles in a laboratory setting. This is the first time that an embedded TCP FL actuator within elastomer has been proposed for the tentacles of an octopus-like robot along with the performance of the structures. Further, as a case study, we showed the functionality of the robot in grasping objects underwater for field robotics applications.

In this paper we present a sun position sensor platform with a scalable approach for the 3D integration of the sensor optics. This would facilitate the sun position sensor miniaturization, reduces fabrication cost and mitigates the need for sensor calibration. The sun position sensor platform is implemented in a seven mask BICMOS technology with optical windows between the light masking layer and CMOS image sensor implemented by adhesively bonded glass windows. The CMOS sensor functionality is experimentally verified by modulation of a light spot using a laser. The proposed approach enables wafer-scale fabrication of the 3D optics that includes the wafer stepper accurate overlay alignment of the apertures. This mitigates the need for cumbersome alignment of the apertures at die or package level and facilitates further miniaturization, accuracy and sensor cost.

In this paper we present the design of Remote Controlled Mount using Arduino for corner reflector deployments. This system includes the low cost mount designed out of wood polymer composite to withstand the corner reflectors and a remote operated using Arduino for orientation settings. The control feedback is given to the mount by means of stepper motor attached to the mount. The position accuracy is achieved accurately by altering the steps of +/-0.50 which is induced by the stepper motor, which is further controlled through programming.Corner reflectors are passive devices used for radiometric calibration of Synthetic Aperture Radars (SAR). In radiometric calibration the quantitative method of calibration is achieved by accurate orientation (azimuth and elevation) of corner reflectors towards the SAR satellites. With the smaller step variation produced by stepper motors, azimuth and elevation of corner reflectors are controlled with +/-10 accuracy without manual orientation error. The mount is very efficient and remotely controlled which can replace the current manual system where lot of physical effort is involved.The range for controlling the mount is up to 1 km with the current set up. The system is tested for its real-time responsiveness, reliability, stability and safety when deployed with corner reflectors for the Sentine-1B Synthetic Aperture Radar acquisition over JGI-Global campus. The system is designed and tested to be resistant to weather, temperature and some minor mechanical stresses.

Car parking systems have been very useful in helping to reduce traffic congestion caused as a result of haphazard parking of vehicles along road ways. Parking a vehicle is simply the act of leaving the vehicle in a particular location for a period of time. It is a common practice for vehicles to be parked along road ways, especially in urban areas where there are not enough parking spaces. This work, therefore presents the development of a smart multi-level car parking system prototype. The developed system is aimed at proffering solution to the problem of inadequate car parking space, traffic congestion, and the insecurity of drivers and their vehicles. The developed smart multi-level car parking system prototype consists of a multi-level car park, and a storage and retrieval system. The frame of the designed multi-level car park was fabricated with mild steel and assembled with bolts and nuts. The storage and retrieval system was made with threaded rods, ball-bearing slides, D.C. stepper motors, nuts and sleeves coupled on the systems frame by drilling and welding. Tests were carried out on the hardware components of the automated multi-level car parking system to ensure that the motor driver circuit and infrared proximity sensor operate optimally.

Low load capacity and poor positioning accuracy of stepper motors in high-speed operation are currently two of the bottlenecks that limit their application in high-speed and heavy-duty drive applications. To solve this problem, a hybrid controller is proposed for the high-speed heavy-duty closed-loop stepper motor driving system, which includes two core contents. First, for the position control, a hybrid controller based on position error for open-loop/closed-loop automatic switching-combined spatial current given amplitude and angle automatic adjustment is proposed. Secondly, an advanced angle compensation strategy based on error-integrated feedforward is adopted to compensate for the electrical angle of the combined space current vector. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, theoretical analysis and system development as well as testing are carried out. Compared with the traditional open-loop drive system, results show that the maximum operating speed and maximum torque of the newly developed drive system based on the proposed method are improved by 50% and 81.25%, respectively. And at the same set speed and position, the response speed is faster and the accuracy of the steady-state process is higher. In the case of setting higher running speed and load torque, the drive system also maintains high-precision operation.

A key challenge in soft robotics is how to design self-supported large-scale soft robots. In order to address this we have created a braided manipulator. The manipulator consists of a biaxially braided cylinder made from twelve glass-fiber enforced rods. The manipulator measures 1.38m in height in its equilibrium state and has a diameter of 8.5cm at the top and 20.0cm at the base and only weighs 35g. The manipulator is fixed to a base which weighs 1.9kg in which three stepper motor driven winches are embedded at 120° intervals. From each winch a string is braided vertically through the braided manipulator and is fixed to the top. In experiments we find that the manipulator can be compressed to 51cm corresponding to 38%. The manipulator compresses in 54s which is determined by stepper speed and winch diameter and expands when the actuators are turned off in 105ms. We also find that the force required to compress the manipulator is constant at 2.6N for most of actuation range. The force generated by the manipulator corresponds to a payload of 265g which is an order of magnitude more then the weight of the manipulator itself. The limitations of the current work is that the actuation, processing, and power is externalized to the manipulator and modelling and control are unaddressed. However, overall we find that the braided manipulator is evidence that braiding holds potential as a construction paradigm for soft robotics as we have demonstrated that it allows for large-scale and light-weight soft robots.

Nowadays, stepper motors are extensively used in positioning applications due to excellent open-loop accuracy and a relatively simple control principle. Every time the controller sends a step-command pulse to the motor, the rotor will move for a known discrete angle. By subsequently counting the number of pulses, the rotor angle is known at all times. Nevertheless, due to the control principle's nature, as a matter of safety, the bulk of stepper motors are often not driven at their full potential to prevent so-called step-losses. Typically, this results in low energy efficiency and an over-dimensioned motor. As a solution, maximizing the motor's load potential through intelligent algorithms contributes to smaller motors and increases efficiency since higher motion speeds are reachable. Until now, in search of optimal motor usage for point-to-point motion profiles, literature mainly focused on finding time-optimal motion profiles using simplified models with a complicated analytical approach rather than developing an easily executable methodology that optimizes at the fundamental control level. Therefore, this paper presents a novel optimization methodology, solely based on the motor's load angle, of which the resulting puls commands' timings can be easily deployed in commercial stepper motor drives. Results show a significant improvement in time-saving of 36,45% compared to a reference 5th-order polynomial point-to-point trajectory.

The devices capable to convert the electrical signal to other physical parameters like motion, light, etc., are termed as actuators. Single actuators and combination of actuators are normally used in the smart city infrastructure to automate the process. The most commonly used actuators in the industries are (1) relay units and (2) led displays. The relay units convert the electrical signal given to motion signals to close and open any high-voltage circuits. This chapter mainly deals about operating such actuators with the help of arduino and raspberry pi units. This chapter mainly concentrates on providing basic programming and operational limits of commonly used actuators like sg90 servos and micro stepper motors.

Nowadays, a need arises more and more often to develop new hard-to-rich areas, which place a demand on special properties of machinery—first of all, such as cross-country capacity, maneuverability, and remote-control. A rotary screw all-terrain vehicle (ATV) is a high-passability terrestrial vehicle for off-road driving. The paper solves the problem of reducing overall dimensions of a propeller, which drives a rotary screw ATV; design variations of screw propellers with their motor fitted inside are proposed. Three types of propellers were designed: with a variable-speed motor, a stepper motor, and bicycle wheel-motor. The main design feature of such propellers is a motor within the propeller remaining stationary while a hollow body of revolution with a helical spiral ribbon, becoming a movable structural element. The description and analysis of special control systems as well as the principles of selecting individual units of the system are given. Logic control circuits for stepper and variable-speed motors were developed. Step-pulse systems with spiral motors on stepper drives allow constructing compact snow-and-swamp-mobiles with their lifting capacities higher (at least by 1.5–2 times) than those of similar vehicles with pulse-counting systems or spiral motors on bicycle wheel-motors.

The present paper aims to highlight the way in which the speeds and accelerations for the numerical control (NC) axes of the systems specific to a didactic stand with Automated Storage & Retrieval System (AS-RS) and guided transport system can be determined experimentally. The stand consists of an AS-RS system where the storage of pallets with products is achieved using 3 storage structures arranged circularly around the transport-transfer system. The pallets reach the entryexit station by means of a two-station guided transport system. Its role is to supply the AS-RS with pallets for storage and to evacuate the pallets from it. Stepper motors were used to drive the NC axes specific to the mentioned systems, and the control was realized by means of programmable logical controllers (PLC). The control programs were made in applications according to these PLC. A Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) type interface was created and thus it was possible to determine experimentally the speeds and accelerations specific to the NC axes of the mentioned systems.

Purpose: A lack of objective and validated clinical measures to assess Quadriceps muscle endurance (ME) currently exists. The Transitt model of the NuStep recumbent stepper has the capability to measure ME but has not been validated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between ME measures on the NuStep and the isokinetic dynamometer (ID). Methods: 30 healthy individuals were recruited to participate. On both the NuStep (70°/90° knee flexion) and ID (70° knee flexion), the participants were instructed to hold a submaximal isometric unilateral knee extension contraction until exhaustion. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and correlation analyses were used with significance set at p

Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machinery were created to reduce manufacturing times for industry, but this type of machinery is costly and therefore only a few uses can recover the investment. However, the progress of electronics in the last decades has allowed to develop affordable CNC machines. This article explains the design and manufacturing process of a low budget CNC milling machine for woodworking. All the structural elements were designed and simulated using PTC CREO, as well as the manufacturing sequence. The control hardware uses commercially available electronics such as Arduino ONE, and stepper motors to move the machine, while the software uses the free open source codes Vetrica Aspire and Universal G Code. The machine was tested on different materials, obtaining good results. The result is a CNC milling machine for woodworking that costs about 50% the price of an equivalent commercial machine, an can therefore be a suitable solution for craft industries.

Solid end mill with a toroidal forming section are the most productive solutions in the field of processing difficult-to-process materials. The process of forming the cutting geometry of such cutters is performed on grinding machines with CNC with the use of abrasive grinding wheels. The formation of the cutting edge on the toroidal section is carried out by discrete movements of the working bodies of the machine in accordance with the control program. The disadvantage of the stepper drive used in CNC machines is the limited discreteness of the described trajectory resulted in the loss of accuracy when forming radius, arc, spherical and toroidal sections. Loss of accuracy in the formation of elements of the working geometry of a solid end mill can negatively affect the tool life, and the structural strength of the joints of the transition of working surfaces. The study is aimed at identifying the necessary and sufficient number of points that describe the spatial shape of the cutting edge with acceptable loss of accuracy.

Ocean acidification is one of the phenomena caused by climate change in the world. Most Ocean acidification (OA) experimental is carried out in a laboratory by creating a simple system. In this research, the seawater in tank is given CO2 gas regulated using a needle valve driven by stepper motors using Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. This tank is equipped with a stirrer to accelerate the system’s homogeneity, flow sensor, and pH sensor. Arduino as a system control is tasked to regulate stepper motors, reading and keeping the pH value according to the set point value while recording the changes of pH value occurring in the tank. This research shows that the system can reach a desired set point and maintain it with 1.7 % overshoot. From the experimental results, OA system has a good response with a final pH value of 7±0.09 that can also be concluded this system is very suitable for long-term research.

In this chapter, we’ll build a device library for a stepper motor driver. Stepper motors get used primarily in robotics projects, but it is not inconceivable they could be used in IOT projects.

Journal of synchrotron radiation 28(1), 146-157 (2021). doi:10.1107/S1600577520013223, For high-resolution powder diffraction in material science, high photon energies are necessary, especially for in situ and in operando experiments. For this purpose, a multi-analyser detector (MAD) was developed for the high-energy beamline P02.1 at PETRA III of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY). In order to be able to adjust the detector for the high photon energies of 60 keV, an individually adjustable analyser–crystal setup was designed. The adjustment is performed via piezo stepper motors for each of the ten channels. The detector shows a low and flat background as well as a high signal-to-noise ratio. A range of standard materials were measured for characterizing the performance. Two exemplary experiments were performed to demonstrate the potential for sophisticated structural analysis with the MAD: (i) the structure of a complex material based on strontium niobate titanate and strontium niobate zirconate was determined and (ii) an in situ stroboscopy experiment with an applied electric field on a highly absorbing piezoceramic was performed. These experiments demonstrate the capabilities of the new MAD, which advances the frontiers of the structural characterization of materials., Published by Wiley-Blackwell, [S.l.]

Three-dimensional scanning is a task that is highly important for our modern society and this is translated by a wide area of knowledge that contains numerous approaches to this task. As this process is non-trivial, most of the technologies are expensive, with even the low-cost ones being a great investment for the regular user. Therefore, this work presents a low-cost LIDAR-based 3D scanning system that can perform 3D scans of small objects and reconstruct their digital STL models. The system consists of one rotating platform and a scanning arcshaped structure, which both are actuated by stepper motors. The project that gave rise to these results received the support of a fellowship from ”la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/DI20/11780028. This work also has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Projects UIDB/50014/2020 and UIDB/05757/2020. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This article reports a high throughput 150‐nm‐gate AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) process using i‐line stepper lithography and a thermal reflow technique. Optimizing thermal reflow conditions, fabrication of a 150‐nm gate structure was successfully realized with the initial resist opening of 0.7 μm. AlGaN/GaN field‐plated HEMTs were fabricated on a semi‐insulating SiC substrate by using this process. In spite of unoptimized structures, fabricated 150‐nm gate devices exhibited the maximum drain current of 0.65 A/mm and the gate‐drain breakdown voltage exceeding 200 V. Based on cold HEMT extraction measurements, the average gate length of 187 nm and the standard deviation of 30 nm were obtained on a quarter 4‐in. wafer.

In this paper the design of rectangular waveguide filters in Ka-band with constant bandwidth is discussed. Only the cavities are assumed to be tuned, while the couplings must be dimensioned in order to get constant the bandwidth in the tuning bands. The tuning elements are implemented by means of dielectric rods driven by a single stepper micro-motor. As a result, all the rods are assumed to have the same penetration in the cavities for each tuning band. The design of a filter with 500 MHz bandwidth tuned in the band 29-31 GHz is presented, together with the preliminary simulation results.

The resolution enhancement lithography assisted by chemical shrink (RELACS) is presented to increase the resolution of the i-line lithography. We have succeeded in developing an advanced i-line lithography process based on i-line stepper lithography and second-RELACS process. Moreover, the limit resolution of i-line lithography can be increased from 0.35 μm to 0.1 μm at the first time, and the wafer yield of GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) with 3.1 mm gate width which has an Lg = 0.147 μm is 87.4 %. Besides, the second-RELACS process is applied to X-band GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit power amplifier (MMIC PA), the resist width and gate length are about 0.15 μm and 0.2 μm. It is confirmed that the wafer yield of T gate with 6.8 mm gate width can be as high as 70.2 %. Comparing with the results of deep ultra-violet (DUV) lithography, the electrical and radio frequency (RF) characteristics of the GaN HEMTs fabricated with the second-RELACS process are stable.

Datasets are increasingly becoming an important research tool in most machine learning fields. In this paper, we address the lack of a publicly available dataset for mechanical stop detection of stepper motors. Various signals from 32 stepper motors are collected at different environmental conditions, to create an extensive dataset. The experimental setup, on which the dataset is based, is explained in detail and an overview of the structure of the dataset is given. Furthermore, benchmarking problems are established, discussed, and initial results, which are obtained using well-known standard machine learning methods, are presented. In addition to that, we identify the challenges associated with performing classification under the described environmental conditions of the recorded data.

The miniaturization of actuators for applications that need large displacements, high energy efficiency or output forces is an ongoing challenge [1]. Piezoelectric ultrasonic motors (USM) have proven to be a suitable solution to obtain long motion range, high torque, quick response, high power to weight ratio and high efficiency in comparison to electrostatic, magnetic, and thermal alternatives [2]–[4]. Despite the advantages of USM for linear motion, scaling down to the millimetre range remains a challenge, due to the difficulties in generating standing or travelling waves at high frequencies with enough amplitude [5]. The monolithic fabrication based on silicon micromachining, in combination with the use of integrated piezoelectric films was successfully applied to the effective size reduction of such positional devices. Furthermore, the addition of 3D-printed legs, for a controlled contact, allowed for a further step into the manufacturing of efficient linear motors. Such hybrid devices have recently demonstrated the conveyance of sliders – surpassing several times the motor weight – with speeds of 1.7 mm/s, while operated at 6 V and 19.3kHz and positional resolution of 70 nm [6]. However, by the optimisation of various aspects of the device such as the vibrational modes and excitation signals, or the legs dimension and distribution, speeds above 30 mm/s could be reached with payloads above 25 times the motor weight. [1] Kenji Uchino, MicroMechatronics, Second Edition. [2] M. L. Chan et al., ‘Design and characterization of MEMS micromotor supported on low friction liquid bearing’, Sens. Actuators Phys., vol. 177, pp. 1–9, Apr. 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.sna.2011.08.003. [3] A. Khiat et al., ‘Linear and rotational thermal micro-stepper motors’, Microelectron. Eng., vol. 98, pp. 497–501, Oct. 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.mee.2012.07.086. [4] E. Sarajlic, C. Yamahata, M. Cordero, and H. Fujita, ‘Three-Phase Electrostatic Rotary Stepper Micromotor With a Flexural Pivot Bearing’, J. Microelectromechanical Syst., vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 338–349, Apr. 2010, doi: 10.1109/JMEMS.2010.2040139. [5] J. S. Pulskamp et al., ‘Piezoelectric PZT MEMS technologies for small-scale robotics and RF applications’, MRS Bull., vol. 37, no. 11, pp. 1062–1070, Nov. 2012, doi: 10.1557/mrs.2012.269. [6] V. Ruiz-Diez, J. Hernando-Garcia, J. Toledo, A. Ababneh, H. Seidel, and J. L. Sanchez-Rojas, ‘Bidirectional Linear Motion by Travelling Waves on Legged Piezoelectric Microfabricated Plates’, Micromachines, vol. 11, no. 5, Art. no. 5, May 2020, doi: 10.3390/mi11050517.

Background: Stepper movement is popular as a home-based exercise. However, it has not been fully investigated how much energy is consumed during movement. This study aimed to investigate oxygen consumption for stepper movements at different cadence levels and to look into whether there are correlations between stepper movement and treadmill walking. Methods: Twenty two healthy volunteers (10 males, 12 females, aged between 18 and 40 years) participated in the study. The participants randomly performed stepper movements and treadmill walking at three different cadences, a self-determined comfortable cadence, a 20% higher and a 20% lower ones than the comfortable one. Their oxygen consumption was measured using Oxycon mobile® system. A set of parameters, e.g. VO2, Metabolic unit, Energy expenditure, etc were obtained. Statistical analysis was carried out to investigate correlations between stepper and treadmill movements in terms of oxygen consumptions. Results: Strong correlations were found between two types of movements, most of metabolic parameters had correlation coefficients ranged proximately between 0.5 to 0.8, p2, 0.790 for energy consumption, 0.826 for ventilation, all p2 for stepper movements was 826.49±56.02 (ml/min) while VO2 for treadmill walking was 787.16±56.02. Usually, stepper movements have oxygen consumption similar to or slightly higher than that in treadmill walking.Conclusions: This study indicates that stepper movement has similar oxygen consumption level to treadmill at a comfortable cadence level and at a 20% higher than the comfortable one, but stepper movement consumes more energy than treadmill walking by approximately 10% at lower cadence (i.e. 20% lower than the comfortable one). The study shows that the stepper movements is highly correlated with treadmill walking in terms of oxygen consumption, and thus stepper movement data provided can be used as a reference for the healthy to estimate their energy consumption in rehabilitation at home.

The remote control system on electrical equipment in the room can be fulfilled through the internet as an IoT (Internet of Things) implementation. All devices managed from one interface, so home appliances management delivered quickly and conveniently. The main contribution in this research is IP based controlling for rooms with control lights and vertical curtains, and also the temperature of the air conditioner (AC) with IoT Technology. The used hardware is Raspberry Pi 3 as a server, Relay, motor stepper, IR led Transmitter, and temperature sensor DS18B20. For implementation, an android application is built by MIT App Inventor 2. The results show that all features function correctly, but each device responds with a different delay value. Delay time response of a lamp, vertical blind, and AC is up to 1.5 sec, 2.1 sec, and 1.6 sec, respectively.electrical appliances, IoT, controlling system, smart room

This paper presents an application of a water meter "Tester" made with the help of a stepper motor control module, a functional mechanical part of a water meter and other tools created for testing. The testing steps, along with the architecture of the tester and the water meter will be explained. The achievement of this electronic water meter adapter testing application is the simulation of water flow through the mechanical water meter using a stepper motor.

Currently, the use of microcontrollers is very diverse in helping make work easier. A microcontroller is also a microprocessor circuit system that consists of CPU, Internal Memory, Internal Beat Circuit, and I/O Terminal. All parts of the system are integrated into one single chip to get the maximum benefit from the microcontroller.In the industrial world, humans are greatly helped by the machines that have been created. One very useful machine is a CNC machine. This project utilizes a microcontroller as an automatic control on a CNC machine which aims to help simplify the programming of input files or data needed to move a CNC machine. The ball screw is used to convert the rotational motion generated from the stepper motor into a translational motion to move the working axis of the CNC machine. Designs that have been drawn on a personal computer will be converted into a G-Code form and then converted into microcontroller programing language using Inkscape application. The microcontroller uses a Pronterface application to read the data that has been transferred by the personal computer. Then this data is used to drive the two stepper motors, and a pattern is formed on the plane according to the design.The result of this CNC machine is to use a pen as an assumption of the drill bit, the precision of the distance traveled according to the input, and the milling experiment in the form of a certain image or writing.

A modular, customizable, and low-cost experimental control system for electron spectrometers is described. LabVIEW is used to interface with a suite of Arduino-controlled power supplies, detectors, and stepper motors enabling a variety of different types of measurements to be performed. The structure of the LabVIEW control system and the general design of the Arduino-controlled modules are described. Examples of results from electron scattering and electron impact ionization experiments performed using this control system are presented.

Reactive stepping and push recovery for biped robots is often restricted to flat terrains because of the difficulty in computing capture regions for nonlinear dynamic models. In this paper, we address this limitation by using reinforcement learning to approximately learn the 3D capture region for such systems. We propose a novel 3D reactive stepper, The DeepQ stepper, that computes optimal step locations for walking at different velocities using the 3D capture regions approximated by the action-value function. We demonstrate the ability of the approach to learn stepping with a simplified 3D pendulum model and a full robot dynamics. Further, the stepper achieves a higher performance when it learns approximate capture regions while taking into account the entire dynamics of the robot that are often ignored in existing reactive steppers based on simplified models. The DeepQ stepper can handle non convex terrain with obstacles, walk on restricted surfaces like stepping stones and recover from external disturbances for a constant computational cost.

This paper presents a logic control scheme and its implementing circuit that can carry out precise and convenient control of the stepper motor current. The logic control scheme can complete the control of the stepper motor's speed, steering and step length by using only four control inputs. Based on the mode selection, a variety of subdivision driving modes such as full step, half step, 1/4 step, 1/8 step, 1/16 step, 1/32 step can be realized, which greatly reduces the number and simplifies complexity of external control signals. It is verified by simulations that the control scheme is able to provide accurate current control signals for driving stepper motors.

In this paper a smart real-time tracking and positioning for a solar cell or solar panel in order to maximize the solar energy recovered from the electromagnetic radiation from the Sun. The idea of the paper is to use a mathematical transform from the Cartesian coordinates to spherical coordinates, with the mechanical part implementation based on two changes (the azimuth change and angular change) using two actuators, made of precision stepper motors. The system will position and correct the positioning of the solar panel by reading in real-time the instantaneous current on a test load (different from the real charging circuit load), the current is digitized using the internal analog to digital convertor of a microcontroller and stored in a memory buffer. The position for the maximum solar electromagnetic radiation that can to reach the solar panel is determined by periodic scanning for the maximum generated current. In order to scan for the maximum current, the solar cell's orientation is changed for the horizontal angle and azimuth. The solar panel will be rotated in small increments a few degrees in both directions and the instantaneous current will be recorded along with the orientation. The rotations will be for the horizontal angle and azimuth (up and down). A two steps algorithm is used to determine each local maximum. The first step determines the average component using the analog to digital convertor with lower resolution. The second step involves a higher resolution search in the vicinity of the maximum from step one. The higher resolution current data will be stored in a memory buffer along with the corresponding horizontal position and azimuth. With the latest current data and the values stored in the memory buffer, the microcontroller will perform corrections to the position of the solar panel.

Extended Kalman Filters (EKFs), Phase Locked Loops (PLLs), and Stator Flux Observers (SFOs) are widely used for sensorless control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) drives. Their use (in their most advanced version) is here extended, on the basis of model analogies and suitably-guaranteed closed loop stability properties, to the sensorless speed regulation control of Hybrid Stepper Motors (HSMs), in which position and speed sensors are not employed to reduce costs and increase robustness with respect to high temperature and high-vibration environments. Both realistic simulations and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methods in terms of closed-loop performance and robustness to parameters mismatch.

In the next few years, advanced process technologies in advanced packaging fabs will migrate rapidly to reduction lithography to achieve 2/2 RDL and beyond. Reticle enhancement techniques, such as Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) may be required in multiple reticle layers to provide sufficient process latitude for high volume manufacturing. However, a challenge in the manufacturing of OPC reticles is the lack of a precise specifications for defect inspection with respect to the printability on wafers [1]. In this paper, the printability of reticle defects for 2/2 micrometers Redistribution Layer (RDL) design rule are studied via i-line resist process. The reticle defect printability is determined by considering the wafer process critical dimension (CD) variability. In the experiment, an i-line 2x reduction stepper with 0.1 NA imaging lens was used to expose the programmed defect reticle. The resist CD response to the reticle defect area is measured under a variety of process conditions, i.e., different exposure dose or focusThe programmed defect reticles consisted of both Clear and Dark Field polarities comprising of 2/2 design rules will be used for the printability study. Defects such as intrusions and protrusions at various sizes on RDL patterns, have been characterized. Defect disposition comparing reticle to designed programmed defects to those without will be shown as well as the impact of the defect on patterning performance. Finally, the allowable reticle defect requirement is assessed where the printable reticle defect size is tied to the wafer process specifications and the actual wafer process CD controllability. The influence of the reticle manufacturing processes on wafer patterning performance is examined. Through this comparison, insights into target specifications (MTT, CDU, defects) for advanced RDL reticles can be derived while balancing cost tradeoffs.

The neurosurgical operative microscope is primarily designed with an aim to enhance the range of view for neurosurgeons during surgical practices. The existing surgical tools do not allow an angular field of view, thereby limiting depth information, which is critical for neurosurgical analysis and any further surgical actions. The proposed neurosurgical setup offers 4 degrees of freedom, two translational and two rotational motions, enabling enhanced depth information of the specimen under investigation. The flexible probe with an endoscopy camera was built in the form of a continuum of 3D printed plastic hollow structures that rest on top of each other. The hollow structures were configured to a hemispherical shape at the top, to allow easy sliding against the other homogeneous entity forming a probe. A set of three cables connecting each individual structure offer confined angular movement in 3D space, and is repeated for all structures, to offer flexibility in the entire sequence of probe. The cables were connected to stepper motors to complete the pulley system design and offer controlled probe curvature ability to the device. A micro-controller was used for controlling the pulley systems and an additional power supply unit was integrated to operate motors and their drivers. The developed microscopy tool was utilized to view 15 human cadaver brain dissections and report first-hand information on the usage of the flexible robotic operating microscope tool and the significance of the curvature scope. An interface to move the probe in different directions was developed and introduced to the investigator for performing brain dissection. In addition, angular re-positioning of the probe to regain old probe view on a specific region was also designed in the novel operating microscope device. The novel real-time microscope design is considered a step forward to precision robotic surgery, which is regarded to immensely benefit mankind.

The paper presents the full implementation of a self-balancing robot based on the mathematical model of an inverted pendulum. The self-balancing robot presented in this paper represents a real-life inverted pendulum built using stepper motors. A linear quadratic regulator (LQR) is tuned to obtain accurate control of angular and linear position of the robot. The control strategy is successfully validated on both simulation and real-life experiments targeting reference tracking and disturbance rejection.

The developed angle sensors are usually used for either clockwise or an anti-clockwise direction. Here, we present a relatively new setup of two angle sensors for independent and simultaneous clock and anti-clockwise rotational measurement. The proposed sensor is based on the twisted macro-bend coupling method (TMBC), in which two fibers are twisted and bent. The angle measurement relies on the coupling of macro-bend loss in which transmitting fiber generates bend loss, and receiving fiber couples the loss. The two-angle sensors are presented in which sensor-1 consists of a single twisted bend and sensor-2 contain two twisted bends on a single transmitting fiber. The stepper motor is used to drag the twisted fiber, resulting in a change in the bending radius that increases or decreases the macro-bend loss. A cascading method is introduced in the TMBC method for the sensor-2 and, two stepper motors are used in the second experiment. Several test scenarios are conducted for both sensor configurations. The experimental results show that sensor-1 can measure angle ±180o, whereas the full clock and anti-clockwise cycle are achieved through sensor-2, having a measurement range is ±360o. Therefore, the proposed sensor can be a potential means for accurate angle measurement in industrial applications.

In this work, a novel smartphone-based electroporation (EP) system integrated with 3D scalable and robust gold-coated silicon-nanopillar Electroporation (Au-Si NP-EP) chip using projection photolithography is developed, for the first time, for both EP and electric cell lysing (ECL) at low voltages. Au-SiNP-EP chip consists of silicon nanopillars fabricated by using ASML stepper, Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) process and coated with a gold microelectrode. The silicon nanopillars were optimized based on theoretical analysis and numerical simulations to enhance the electrical field intensity and mechanical strength. The fabricated Au-SiNP-EP chips are tested with both permeable (Acridine Orange (AO) and impermeable (Propidium Iodide (PI)) molecules for HeLa cells at different volts (1–8 V) and pulse duration (1–9 μs). The fabricated chip achieved an optimized EP efficiency of 84.3% and cell viability of 81.4% at a much smaller voltage (4.5V) than reported planar electroporation (PEP) devices (8–100V). Compared with nanostructures-based devices (2–20 V), our devices show both higher mechanical strength and fabrication yield. Besides, a smartphone app integrated with a low-cost open-source portable Arduino-based system is developed to provide optimized electrical protocols for both EP and ECL. The electric cell lysing with ECL efficiency of 97.0% at 7 V and pulse duration of 9 ms has been successfully demonstrated. The experimental results show that the proposed smartphone-based EP system with Au-SiNP EP chips is promising for various applications, including intracellular delivery of various biomolecules, drugs, and release of DNA/RNA molecules from biological cells.

The development of new renewable sources of clean electric energy (EE) is an urgent scientific and technical task. At the same time, special attention is paid to autonomous decentralized sources of green energy, namely, devices that can be installed in places with a high foot traffic density. EE is being generated thanks to pedestrians moving on such devices. The aim of the work is to study the process of generating renewable energy by an energy-generating platform (EP) based on a multiplier with spur gears, depending on the number and connection scheme of stepper motors to the electric machine unit of the EP. Experimental studies of the electric power generation process have been carried out, depending on the number and connection scheme of stepper motors (SM) to its electric machine unit. Such a platform has compact overall dimensions and it is intended to be installed both indoors and outdoors, in places with high foot traffic. To conduct experimental research, a prototype of the EP with an electric machine unit was developed. The analysis of the conducted experimental studies and the subsequent processing of their results made it possible to determine that the use of two SMs in the EP electric machine unit increases the value of the generated electricity by ~44%. When performing one step on the EP, the installation generates approximately 1.11W of electricity. The connection of two SMs increases the value of the generated electricity by 1.69 times (in direct motion) and 1.38 times (in reverse motion). Knowing the EP potential capabilities and the passing people number, it is possible to calculate the EE value which the EP can generate in a certain time of work, which allows you to determine the required number of such devices at the facility to provide it with the green EE fully or partially.

The paper presents the Pocket Lab for studying DC micro motors. The main goal of this laboratory is to study a DC motor with a pulse-width converter. The laboratory setup includes DC motor, voltage converter board and portable data acquisition device NI myDAQ. The main component of the converter board is an H-Bridge designed for driving DC and stepper motors. To perform the laboratory setup it’s necessary to have installed drivers NI ELVISmx and the programming environment NI LabVIEW and NI myDAQ connected with the converter board plugged into PC. The control signals from digital outputs of the NI myDAQ allows to perform rotation direction change and braking of the tested DC motor. Virtual Instruments have been developed in NI LabVIEW for studying motor speed control, reversing and electric braking, pulse-width modulation, measuring speed and current, and plotting the speed-current diagram. The description of the experiment setup and the procedure of conducting experiments are given below. The results of some experiments have been presented. The advantages of Pocket Labs and the problems of their integration into the educational process are highlighted.