• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.147-172
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• 2007

The present paper is concerned with the design of distributed sensors and actuators. Strain type sensors and actuators are considered with their intensity continuously distributed throughout a continuous structure. The sensors measure a weighted average of the strain tensor. As a starting point for their design we introduce the concept of collocated sensors and actuators as well as the so-called natural output. Then we utilize the principle of virtual work for an auxiliary quasi-static problem to assign a mechanical interpretation to the natural output of the sensors to be designed. Therefore, we take the virtual displacements in the principle of virtual work as that part of the displacement in the original problem, which characterizes the deviation from a desired one. We introduce different kinds of distributed sensors, each of them with a mechanical interpretation other than a weighted average of the strain tensor. Additionally, we assign a mechanical interpretation to the collocated actuators as well; for that purpose we use an extended body force analogy. The sensors and actuators are applied to solve the displacement tracking problem for continuous structures; i.e., the problem of enforcing a desired displacement field. We discuss feed forward and feed back control. In the case of feed back control we show that a PD controller can stabilize the continuous system. Finally, a numerical example is presented. A desired deflection of a clamped-clamped beam is tracked by means of feed forward control, feed back control and a combination of the two.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.139-152
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• 2009

Globally, civil infrastructures are deteriorating at an alarming rate caused by overuse, overloading, aging, damage or failure due to natural or man-made hazards. With such a vast network of deteriorating infrastructure, there is a growing interest in continuous monitoring technologies. In order to provide a true distributed sensor and control system for civil structures, we are developing a Structural Nervous System that mimics key attributes of a human nervous system. This nervous system is made up of building blocks that are designed based on mechanoreceptors as a fundamentally new approach for the development of a structural health monitoring and diagnostic system that utilizes the recently developed piezo-fibers capable of sensing and actuation. In particular, our research has been focused on producing a sensory nervous system for civil structures by using piezo-fibers as sensory receptors, nerve fibers, neuronal pools, and spinocervical tract to the nodal and central processing units. This paper presents up to date results of our research, including the design and analysis of the structural nervous system.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.102-122
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• 2017

Nanotechnology has provided a set of tools that the engineers can use to design and manufacture integrated nano devices, which are capable of performing sensing, computing, data storing and actuation. One of the main hurdles for nano devices has been the amount of power that it can generate for transmission of data. In this paper, we proposed cooperative nano communication in the Terahertz (THz) Gap frequency band to increase the range of transmission. Outage probability (OP) performances for the proposed cooperative nano communication networks in the THz band (0.1 - 10THz) have been evaluated for the following scenarios; A) A single decode-and-forward (DF) relay over independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading channels, B) DF multi-relay network with best relay selection (BRS) over i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channels, and C) DF multi-relay network with multiple hops with BRS over i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channels. The results show that the transmission distance can be improved significantly by employing DF relays. Also, it is shown that by increasing the number of hops in a relay the OP performance is marginally degraded. The analytical results have been verified by Monte-Carlo simulation.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5035-5057
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• 2019

Advancements in nanotechnology and novel nano materials in the past decade have provided a set of tools that can be used to design and manufacture integrated nano devices, which are capable of performing sensing, computing, data storing and actuation. In this paper, we have proposed cooperative nano communication using Power Switching Relay (PSR) Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) protocol and Time Switching Relay (TSR) WPT protocol over independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading channels in the Terahertz (THz) Gap frequency band to increase the range of transmission. Outage Probability (OP) performances for the proposed cooperative nano communication networks have been evaluated for the following scenarios: A) A single decode-and-forward (DF) relay for PSR protocol and TSR protocol, B) DF multi-relay network with best relay selection (BRS) for PSR protocol and TSR protocol, and C) DF multi-relay network with multiple DF hops with BRS for PSR protocol and TSR protocol. The results have shown that the transmission distance can be improved significantly by employing DF relays with WPT. They have also shown that by increasing the number of hops in a relay the OP performance is only marginally degraded. The analytical results have been verified by Monte-Carlo simulations.