Category: in progress
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Design and testing of a wireless pressure-tap anemometer for distributed wind monitoring
Background and Motivation Accurate characterization of wind loading is fundamental in wind engineering, particularly for slender and flexible structures exposed to turbulent atmospheric flows. Conventional anemometers provide accurate measurements at a specific location, but their use for distributed wind monitoring can become impractical when measurements are required at multiple points over large structures. This issue…
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Wind Tunnel Testing of Iced Conductor Bundles for Galloping Assessment
Background and Motivation Galloping is a large-amplitude, low-frequency aeroelastic instability that may develop on overhead transmission lines under specific combinations of wind conditions and ice accretion. Accurate prediction of galloping requires reliable aerodynamic data, including force coefficients and flutter derivatives, which strongly depend on the geometry of the ice accretion and the conductor bundle configuration.…
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Development of an adaptive control architecture and test-bench validation for a knee joint of a transfemoral prosthesis
Motivation of the study. Transfemoral lower-limb amputations significantly impact mobility and quality of life, motivating continuous research and development in the field of active prosthetic devices. In recent years, powered transfemoral prostheses have emerged as a promising solution to restore more natural and efficient gait patterns by actively assisting the user during locomotion. A key…
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Mechanical nonlinearities (Geometric or Contact) in inertial MEMS sensors
Mechanical nonlinearities play an important role in inertial MEMS sensors and cannot be avoided. The trend to push the performance to the limits caused second-order nonlinear effects to become a critical phenomenon that must be considered: these effects are already visible and characterized on mass production devices. External shocks and vibrations could also induce other…
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Out-of-plane stroboscopic analysis of MEMS motion sensors
Goal: implement a system for optical stroboscopic analysis of TDK’s MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes, aimed at the characterization of out-of-plane resonant modes in those devices Strategy: enhance TDK’s existing system for in-plane stroboscopic optical analysis, based on the usage of infrared microscope and synchronously controlled light source, to add the out-of-plane capability. Work phases Estimated…
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Evaluation of athlete effort during competitive bike activities
In the wind gallery of Politecnico di Milano, competitive athletes perform aerodynamic evaluations to improve their performances. The goal is to define the better position and/or equipment to be as competitive as possible from an aerodynamic point of view. Nothing is ever said, however, about the possible differences in terms of the effort of the…