Search results for "Low-cost"
showing 10 items of 25 documents
Experiencing Urban Mining in an Italian Municipality towards a Circular Economy vision
2017
Abstract Selective waste collection in Italy has undergone significant changes over the last decade, highlighting very different approaches from one region to another. Research results presented in this paper are underlying differences between geographical regions and use them as a model of good practices to improve the less optimized systems. In the last decade, the Trento City Council has established a goal – the optimization of selective municipal solid waste collection – that led to a very low amount of recyclable materials in the residual fraction. More than that, for the first time sanitary textiles have been considered as a separable fraction at the source; for a long time this type …
A PC-based wattmeter for accurate measurements in sinusoidal and distorted conditions: Setup and experimental characterization
2012
This paper presents the development of a high-accuracy sampling wattmeter, which can be employed with both sinusoidal and distorted input signals. The proposed personal computer (PC)-based system is a simple, portable, and low-cost solution because it is based on two commercial data acquisition boards connected to a common PC. Owing to this solution, the voltage is sensed directly, avoiding expensive voltage dividers, while the current is sensed by means of a noninductive current shunt. Commercial software is also used for data processing and implementation of the virtual instrument. The setup of the PC-based wattmeter is described, with a detailed description of the correction strategy of …
Sliding Mode Control of Quadratic Boost Converters Based on Min-Type Control Strategy
2023
The paper deals with the control of a quadratic boost converter supplied by low-voltage energy sources, such as photovoltaic panels, fuel cells, or batteries. The control scheme consists of two control loops. A min-type controller governs the inner loop to force the current state of the nominal model to converge in a neighborhood of the equilibrium state. The external loop processes the output tracking error using an integrator, and it allows reconfiguring the converter's working point by changing the equilibrium state given in the input to the internal loop. This configuration assures both zero tracking error of the output voltage and robustness against load and input voltage variations an…
Inclusive Design for Alzheimer’s Disease: Low-cost Treatments, Design and ICT
2019
Inability to acquire new memories, difficulty to remember recent events and to recognize objects, places and people, visual-spatial disorientation, these are some of the disorders with which who is affected by neurological diseases must learn to live with. In a continuously evolving society, where the decreasing birth rate and the drops in mortality are consistent, the job of Architecture is precisely to interpret the requirements and needs of people who have lost the canonical relationship with the world and give them the possibility to recover it or maintain it through communication channels that use their remaining ability to understand. The indoors and outdoors acquire a “prosthesis fun…
New algorithms to evaluate the real shape of a hull
2018
In this study, a new method to compare rebuilt surfaces of hulls of sailing yachts is presented. In particular, the considered rebuilt surfaces are created through classic reverse engineering approaches. The new method has been developed by means of Grasshopper, a free generative algorithms editor that can be used as plugin of Rhinoceros, one of the most widespread free-form modelling software. In particular, two different algorithms have been developed: the first one allows controlling the quality of the rebuilt surfaces, the second one, instead, allows to measure the deviations between the original CAD Model and the rebuilt surface of the hull. A case study related to the hull of a small …
Design and Low-Cost Implementation of an Optimally Robust Reduced-Order Rotor Flux Observer for Induction Motor Control
2007
The aim of this paper is to design and analyze reduced-order observers of the rotor flux of induction motors. The design is carried out in two steps. In the first step, a boundary of the stability region of the observation error is obtained corresponding to a chosen Lyapunov function. In the second step, the boundary is translated into a performance index that is minimized with respect to stator and rotor resistance variations and differences of voltages supplying the motor and those supplying the observer in order to obtain the largest stability region. Implementation of the observer on a low-cost fixed-point digital signal processor using look-up tables is described. Experimental results …
An Analytic Hierachy Process for Ranking Operating Costs of Low Cost and Full Service Airlines
2009
This paper develops an application of the analytic hierarchy process to rank the operating cost components of full service and low cost airlines. It takes into account the financial balance sheets and answers to a questionnaire submitted to the managers of selected airlines. The results suggest that the analytic hierarchy process can be appropriately used to obtain the ranking of the costs taking into account different views: financial, management and operative. Rental, office equipment and other supplies costs show the highest importance in the cost ranking, both for full services and low cost airlines. The robustness of the results is tested by Monte Carlo analysis.
Untreated Opuntia ficus indica for the Efficient Adsorption of Ni(II), Pb(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II) Ions from Water
2023
The raw cladode of Opuntia ficus indica (OFI) was evaluated as a sustainable biosorbent for the removal of heavy metals (Ni, Pb, Cu, and Cd) from aqueous solutions. The functional groups of OFI were identified by employing DRIFT-FTIR and CP-MAS-NMR techniques before and after contact with the ions in an aqueous media, showing a rearrangement of the biomass structure due to the complexation between the metal and the functional groups. The adsorption process was studied in both single- and multi-component systems under batch conditions at different pHs (4.0, 5.0, and 6.0), different metal concentrations, and different biomass amounts. The results show that the raw OFI had a removal capacity a…
A Systematic Review of Air Quality Sensors, Guidelines, and Measurement Studies for Indoor Air Quality Management
2020
The existence of indoor air pollutants—such as ozone, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and total volatile organic compounds—is evidently a critical issue for human health. Over the past decade, various international agencies have continually refined and updated the quantitative air quality guidelines and standards in order to meet the requirements for indoor air quality management. This paper first provides a systematic review of the existing air quality guidelines and standards implemented by different agencies, which include the Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS); the World Health Organization (WHO); the Occupational Safety and Heal…
Low-cost smart energy managment based on ATmega 328P-PU microcontroller
2017
This paper presents a real-time, low-cost, wireless, AC and DC monitoring system based on an ATmega328P-PU microcontroller. The proposed system is composed by different client nodes, which have the task to measure the main electrical quantities involved in the system, and a server node that collects the data and send them to a display device. The system is well suited for a good accuracy monitoring of either AC or DC electrical quantities. In order to verify the correct operation of the system, a case study for the simultaneous monitoring of the DC and AC voltages and currents is provided.