This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, China (cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0046), the project of Chongqing Education Commission of China (KJQN202001127), and the project of Banan District Science and Technology Commission, Chongqing, China (2020TJZ010). The authors would like to thank Prof. Yan Yang for providing the test site. We are also grateful to Dr. Jingshu Wang and Dr. Jinghua Ma for their guidance of using the vibration measurement instrumentation. Thanks are also due to the subjects for their wholehearted cooperation during the experiments.

All procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of Chongqing University of Technology and each subject provided written informed consent prior to participation in this study.
1. Hand tractor preparation
<ol>
	<li>Ensure the hand tractor is subjected to proper test conditions with a full fuel tank, without looseness of bolts, and without other mechanical defects that would result in abnormal vibration. 
	NOTE: The specifications of the hand tractor used in this experiment are given in Table 1.</li>
	<li>Place the hand tractor in a test site with a dry, firm, and level ground surface. 
	NOTE: If this experiment was conducted in an indoor laboratory, the laboratory must be well-ventilated to prevent any injurious effects of the exhaust gas from the hand tractor.</li>
	<li>Remove the dust cover of the engine pulley to conveniently calibrate the engine speed with a speedometer during the experiment.</li>
	<li>Remove the elastomeric materials of the handles according to ISO 5349-2 standard5.</li>
</ol>
2. Subject preparation
<ol>
	<li>Ensure that all subjects are healthy with no physical ailment and are above the age of 18 years3. Inform each subject about the study objectives and test procedures. Obtain written informed consent from all subjects.
	<ol>
		<li>Exclude subjects with the following diseases: primary Raynaud&#39;s disease or secondary Raynaud&#39;s phenomenon, impairment of blood circulation to the hands, deformity of bones and joints, disorders of the peripheral nervous system or musculoskeletal system3.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Ask subjects to wear sleeveless or short-sleeved clothing, and to remove watches, bracelets, rings, etc.</li>
	<li>Warn each subject not to touch the gear shift lever of the hand tractor during operation. Warn each subject to stay away from the engine pulley when the hand tractor is running.</li>
	<li>Provide subjects with speed regulation training on the hand tractor. Inform each subject to shut down the engine at the end of the experiment by pressing down on the engine switch button. 
	NOTE: Generally, the engine speed regulation is controlled by the throttle switch located on the right handle, and subjects are trained to regulate the engine speed by turning the throttle switch to the left (speed decrease) or to the right (speed increase) with their right hands.</li>
	<li>Instruct each subject how to operate the hand tractor and how to regulate the engine speed from 1500 rpm to 3500 rpm.</li>
	<li>Measure each subject&#39;s body dimensions (standing height, mass, forearm length, upper arm length, hand length). 
	NOTE: Table 2 summarizes the physical characteristics of ten healthy subjects in this experiment.</li>
	<li>Wrap the accelerometer adapters tightly on the hand and arm of each subject at the locations indicated in Figure 2. 
	&#8203;NOTE: Each adapter was fabricated using a nylon strap and a piece of the galvanized iron sheet (0.3 mm) to provide a rigid and light attachment.</li>
</ol>
3. Measurement system setup
<ol>
	<li>Acceleration measurement system setup 
	NOTE: The present steps aim to collect the vibration acceleration signals from the handle of the hand tractor and six locations of operator&#39;s hand-arm system. The proposed approach employs a compact Data Acquisition (DAQ) system composed of seven accelerometers, three data acquisition cards, a DAQ chassis, a laptop computer, and some associated cables (Figure 3). Other types of DAQ systems with proper characteristics for the involved application can be similarly applied.
	<ol>
		<li>Before initiating a measurement, gather all the components of the measurement system (accelerometers, data acquisition system, thin-film pressure sensing system, tachometer, digital goniometer, and other relevant components).</li>
		<li>To set up the acceleration measurement system, connect the accelerometer with the data acquisition cards using the accelerometer cables. Using an Ethernet cable, connect the chassis with the computer. 
		NOTE: Two tri-axial accelerometers and five single-axis accelerometers fixed with magnetic mounting base were used in this experiment.</li>
		<li>Attach one tri-axial accelerometer on the left handle of the hand tractor and attach the other one on the accelerometer adapter of the subject&#39;s hand. Attach single-axis accelerometers, one by one, on the accelerometer adapters of the subject&#39;s arm and shoulder. 
		NOTE: The locations of the accelerometers are as shown in Figure 1. The location selection of the tri-axial accelerometer on the left handle of the hand tractor should be as close to the operator&#39;s left hand as possible.</li>
		<li>Adjust the orientation of the tri-axial accelerometers on the hand to be consistent with the basicentric coordinate system (Figure 4) for measurement of hand-arm vibration refer to ISO 5349-1 standard4. Using adhesive tape, secure the accelerometer cables on the skin surface of the subject&#39;s arm and the tractor&#39;s handlebar.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Grip force measurement setup 
	NOTE: A thin-film pressure sensing system15,16 was designed with two resistive pressure sensitive sensors, a single-chip controller, and an LED display, and was calibrated before measurement, as shown in Figure 5.
	<ol>
		<li>Attach two thin-film sensors symmetrically on opposite sides around the central axis of the handle using double-sided adhesive tape.</li>
		<li>Place the screen of the sensing system at a convenient height so that the subject could monitor and adjust the grip force to the specified level during the operation of the hand tractor.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Engine speed measurement setup 
	NOTE: Engine speed refers to the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the propeller of the employed hand tractor engine, which equals to the RPM of the engine pulley. A laser tachometer was used to calibrate and monitor the engine speed during operation.
	<ol>
		<li>Attach a piece of retroreflective tape (approximately 10 &#215; 10 mm) to the engine pulley surface for laser tachometer measurement.</li>
		<li>Place the tachometer at a proper height and perpendicular to the retroreflective tape.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Posture measurement
	<ol>
		<li>Instruct the subject to hold and raise the handle to a horizontal position. Measure the subject&#39;s hand and arm posture using a digital goniometer. 
		&#8203;NOTE: The five angles17 used to describe the hand and arm posture during the operation of the hand tractor are shown in Figure 6. The subjects&#39; posture angles measured in this experiment are presented in Table 2.</li>
		<li>Ask the subject to maintain the posture until the end of the trial.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
4. Experiment and data acquisition
<ol>
	<li>Start the hand tractor in neutral and keep it running at a low engine speed (around 1500 rpm) for about 30 s until it stabilized.</li>
	<li>Turn on the tachometer, the thin-film pressure sensing device, the laptop computer and the acceleration data acquisition system, respectively.</li>
	<li>Open the DAQ software and create a new file for each subject. Set the parameters of acceleration, acquisition mode, and sampling rate for data collection. 
	NOTE: To obtain the accurate characterization of the HTV, the sampling rate should be no less than 1500 Hz. In this study, the sampling rate was set at 1650 Hz. If a more higher sampling rate was used for data collection, a low-pass filter with a cut-off frequency at 1500 Hz was advised to remove the noise influences such as the irrelevant high-frequency contributions.</li>
	<li>Click the Run and wait about 10 s until the system is stabilized. Then click Record to start recording the acceleration data.</li>
	<li>Adjustment of the engine speed and grip force 
	NOTE: As shown in Figure 7, this experiment was conducted at three levels of engine speed (1500, 2500 and 3500 rpm) and three levels of grip force (20, 30, and 40 N) during each trial. The approximate duration of each subject&#39;s HTV testing is 6 min.
	<ol>
		<li>Ask the subject to monitor the tachometer and adjust the engine speed to 1500 rpm until it stabilized.</li>
		<li>Instruct the subject adjust the grip force carefully to 20 N by looking at the displayed force signals from the thin-film pressure sensing system, and keep this grip force level for about 30 s. 
		NOTE: The adjustment of the grip force denotes the increase or decrease of pressure between the hand and the handlebar of the hand tractor. Subjects should perform the adjustment of the grip force through holding the handlebar more tightly or lightly.</li>
		<li>Adjust the grip force to 30 N and keep about 30 s. Then, adjust the grip force to 40 N and keep about 30 s.</li>
		<li>Adjust the engine speed to 2500 rpm and repeat steps 4.5.2 and 4.5.3.</li>
		<li>Adjust the engine speed to 3500 rpm and repeat steps 4.5.2 and 4.5.3.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Ask the subject to turn the throttle switch to the lowest engine speed. Put down the handle and shut down the engine of the hand tractor.</li>
	<li>Save the data and shut down the DAQ system. Remove and place the accelerometers on the next subject.</li>
	<li>Repeat steps 4.3 to 4.7 until the end of the data collections of all subjects.</li>
	<li>Export the acceleration time-series data for further analysis.</li>
</ol>
5. Data processing and analysis
<ol>
	<li>Import the recorded vibration time domain signals to MATLAB software. Calculate the root-mean-square (RMS) values of the vibration acceleration of hand tractor&#39;s handle, which represent the vibration exposure during the operation of the hand tractor, with the Equation (1): 
	<img alt="Equation 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/62508/62508eq01.jpg" /> (1) 
	where, aRMS&#160;is the RMS of vibration acceleration (m/s2) calculated for each 1/3rd octave band, a(t) is the measured vibration acceleration amplitude (m/s2), and T&#160;is the duration of the measured vibration acceleration (s). 
	NOTE: In ISO 5349-1 standard, it is important to use RMS acceleration to represent the magnitude of vibrations transmitted to the operator&#39;s hands.</li>
	<li>Calculate the RMS values of vibration acceleration on hand, wrist, arm and shoulder of each subject using Equation (1). Calculate the vibration transmissibility (TR) using Equation (2)1,14: 
	<img alt="Equation 2" src="/files/ftp_upload/62508/62508eq02.jpg" /> (2) 
	where, ain is the handle vibration for HTV, and aout is the respective vibration in the six locations of the subject&#39;s hand-arm system (see Figure 2). 
	NOTE: According to ISO 5349-1, the factors (except for grip force and vibration frequency) may influence the results of hand transmitted vibration measurement include: the operator&#39;s skill, body posture, climatic conditions, noise, etc. To decrease these random factors, the TR values of all the measurement locations of the ten subjects in this study were averaged.</li>
	<li>Convert the time domain signals of the handle to frequency domain signals by fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm using MATLAB program to examine the input vibration.</li>
</ol>

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

The protocol presented in this study was established based on HTV standards4,5,24, and was developed as the standard steps for the measurement of the HTV of the human hand-arm system during the operation of a hand tractor in a stationary condition. This condition is the most stable state of the hand tractor to help ensure the reliable measurement of the vibration actually transmitted to the hand and arm. The range of variables c...

Hand tractors, also known as power tillers, are widely used in developing countries for the land preparation of small fields. The field operation of a hand tractor involves walking behind the machine and holding its handles to control its movement. The operators of hand tractors are exposed to high levels of vibration, which could be attributed to the small single cylinder engine and lack of suspension system of hand tractors1. The hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)2 can be caused by long-period endurance from the vibration, named hand transmitted vibration (HTV), which generated by the hand tractor and received by the operator&#39;s hands. To assess the health risks derived by operators&#39; exposure to the HTV of hand tractors, it is necessary to establish a method for the measurement of the vibration response of the hand-arm system.
The hand-arm system is composed of bones, muscles, tissues, veins and arteries, tendons and skin3, and the direct measurement of HTV poses many problems. The relevant international standards4,5 provide guidelines pertaining to the measurement of the severity of vibration generated in the immediate vicinity of the hand, including the coordinate system for the hand, the location and mounting of accelerometers, the measurement duration, cable connector problems, etc. However, the standards do not take into consideration intrinsic variables, such as the grip force, the posture of the hand and arm, individual factors, etc. These factors have been examined extensively under a wide range of vibration excitations and test conditions6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13, but the results of different investigators are not in good agreement. Many of these factors have not been sufficiently understood to be incorporated into standard methods. This restriction is partially attributable to the complexities of the human hand-arm system, the test conditions, and the differences in the experimental and measurement techniques employed.
Moreover, most of the earlier measurements of HTV were performed under carefully controlled conditions with idealized vibration excitations, grip force, and postural conditions. The findings and experimental procedures of these measurements, therefore, may not truly replicate real-world conditions, such as the operating conditions of hand tractors. Moreover, only limited efforts have been undertaken to study the HTV of hand tractors with field measurements. These measurements were performed using accelerometers attached to the operator&#39;s wrist, arm, chest, and head to measure the whole body vibration under the tractor&#39;s transportation conditions1, or under the conditions of tilling in an untilled field and puddling in a submerged field with different levels of engine speeds14. The effect of the grip force, which could be a crucial factor of HTV7,8, was not isolated. These methods are therefore unsuitable as standardized measurement procedures due to the operator&#39;s various forced postures during farming ascribed to the harsh environmental conditions.
The present research was undertaken to contribute to the establishment of reliable and repeatable procedures for the HTV measurement of hand tractors in a stationary mode. Figure 1 presents the schematic diagram of the experimental design. A hand tractor manufactured in China and commonly used by Chinese farmers was employed, and ten research workers were chosen as subjects for the study. Seven lightweight piezoelectric accelerometers attached to the tractor-hand-arm system were used to measure the vibration. One tachometer and two thin-film pressure sensors monitored the engine speed and grip force during testing. The subjects were required to sequentially operate the hand tractor at specified engine speeds and with specified grip forces to obtain the vibration characteristics in various operational modes. This manuscript provides a detailed protocol for the HTV measurement of the tractor-hand-arm system with unique consideration of changes in the grip force and vibration frequency.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Accelerometers</td>
			<td>PCB Piezotronics Inc.</td>
			<td>352C33, 356A04</td>
			<td>Used to measure vibration signals. Including 2 tri-axial accelerometers and 5 single-axis accelerometers.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CompactDAQ System</td>
			<td>National Instruments</td>
			<td>cRIO-9045,NI-9234 C</td>
			<td>Used for acceleration acquisition. The system consists of a chassis and 3 data acquisition cards.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Digital caliper</td>
			<td>Sanliang</td>
			<td>160800635</td>
			<td>Used to measure dimensions of the hand.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Digital goniometer</td>
			<td>Sanliang</td>
			<td>802973</td>
			<td>Used to measure hand and arm posture.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Laptop computer</td>
			<td>Lenovo</td>
			<td>Ideapad 500s</td>
			<td>To run the softwares.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Matlab</td>
			<td>MathWorks Inc.</td>
			<td>Version 2020a</td>
			<td>Used for data processing.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NI SignalExpress</td>
			<td>National Instruments</td>
			<td>Trial version 2015</td>
			<td>Use to acquire, analyze and present acceleration data.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tachometer</td>
			<td>Sanliang</td>
			<td>TM 680</td>
			<td>Used to measure engine speed.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Thin-film pressure sensing system</td>
			<td>YourCee</td>
			<td>n/a</td>
			<td>Used to measure grip force. The system consists of 2 thin-film sensors, a STM32 singlechip and a LED display.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

measurement of the hand transmitted vibration of the human hand arm system during operation of a hand tractor

Operators of hand tractors are exposed to high levels of hand transmitted vibration (HTV). This vibration, which can be both irksome and hazardous to human health, is imparted to the operator via his or her hands and arms. However, a standardized method for measuring HTV of hand tractors has yet to be defined. The aim of the study was to present an experimental method for the investigation of the biodynamic response and vibration transmissibility of the hand-arm system during the operation of a hand tractor in a stationary mode. Measurements were performed with ten subjects using three grip forces and three handle vibration levels to examine the influences of the hand pressure and frequency on hand transmitted vibration (HTV). The results indicate that the tightness of grip on the handle influences the vibration response of the hand-arm system, especially at frequencies between 20 and 100 Hz. The transmission of lower frequencies in the hand-arm system was relatively unattenuated. In comparison, attenuation was found to be quite marked for higher frequencies during the operation of the hand tractor. The vibration transmissibility to different parts of the hand-arm system decreased with the increase of the distance from the vibration source. The proposed methodology contributes to the collection of consistent data for the evaluation of operator vibration exposure and the ergonomics development of hand tractors.

The experiment was carried out in the laboratory (air temperature 22.0 &#176;C &#177; 1.5 &#176;C) on ten healthy subjects (Table 2) during the operation of a hand tractor in a stationary condition.
Following the protocol, vibration acceleration data were collected from the handle of the hand tractor, as well as the back of the hand, the wrist, the arm, and the shoulder of each subject. The spectrum of the vibration acceleration occurring at the handle (input to the hand) was ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Measurement of the Hand Transmitted Vibration of the Human Hand Arm System During Operation of a Hand Tractor at JoVE.com

Measurement of the Hand Transmitted Vibration of the Human Hand Arm System During Operation of a Hand Tractor

Here, we present a standardized method for measurement of the hand transmitted vibration from handles of a single-axle tractor with special reference to changes in grip force and vibration frequency.

Operators of hand tractors are exposed to high levels of hand transmitted vibration (HTV). This vibration, which can be both irksome and hazardous to ...

measurement-hand-transmitted-vibration-human-hand-arm-system-during

Research

JoVE Journal

Engineering

4.3K Views.  Chongqing University of Technology. Here, we present a standardized method for measurement of the hand transmitted vibration from handles of a single-axle tractor with special reference to changes in grip force and vibration frequency.

Video: Measurement of the Hand Transmitted Vibration of the Human Hand Arm System During Operation of a Hand Tractor

Experimental Measurement of Settling Velocity of Spherical Particles in Unconfined and Confined Surfactant-based Shear Thinning Viscoelastic Fluids

An experimental study is performed to measure the terminal settling velocities of spherical particles in surfactant based shear thinning viscoelastic (VES) fluids. The measurements are made for particles settling in unbounded fluids&#160;and fluids between parallel walls. VES fluids over a wide range of rheological properties are prepared and rheologically characterized. The rheological characterization involves steady shear-viscosity and dynamic oscillatory-shear measurements to quantify the viscous and elastic properties respectively. The settling velocities under unbounded conditions are measured in beakers having diameters at least 25x the diameter of particles. For measuring settling velocities between parallel walls, two experimental cells with different wall spacing are constructed. Spherical particles of varying sizes are gently dropped in the fluids and allowed to settle. The process is recorded with a high resolution video camera and the trajectory of the particle is recorded using image analysis software. Terminal settling velocities are calculated from the data.
The impact of elasticity on settling velocity in unbounded fluids is quantified by comparing the experimental settling velocity to the settling velocity calculated by the inelastic drag predictions of Renaud et al.1&#160;Results show that elasticity of fluids can increase or decrease the settling velocity. The magnitude of reduction/increase is a function of the rheological properties of the fluids and properties of particles. Confining walls are observed to cause a retardation effect on settling and the retardation is measured in terms of wall factors.

This paper demonstrates the experimental procedure to measure terminal settling velocities of spherical particles in surfactant-based shear thinning viscoelastic fluids. Fluids over a wide range of rheological properties are prepared and settling velocities are measured for a range of particle sizes in unbounded fluids and fluids between parallel walls.

An experimental study is performed to measure the terminal settling velocities of spherical particles in surfactant based shear thinning viscoelastic ...

Fabrication and Operation of a Nano-Optical Conveyor Belt

The technique of using focused laser beams to trap and exert forces on small particles has enabled many pivotal discoveries in the nanoscale biological and physical sciences over the past few decades. The progress made in this field invites further study of even smaller systems and at a larger scale, with tools that could be distributed more easily and made more widely available. Unfortunately, the fundamental laws of diffraction limit the minimum size of the focal spot of a laser beam, which makes particles smaller than a half-wavelength in diameter hard to trap and generally prevents an operator from discriminating between particles which are closer together than one half-wavelength. This precludes the optical manipulation of many closely-spaced nanoparticles and&#160;limits the&#160;resolution of optical-mechanical systems. Furthermore, manipulation using focused beams requires beam-forming or steering optics, which can be very bulky and expensive. To address these limitations in the system scalability of conventional optical trapping our lab has devised an alternative technique which utilizes near-field optics to move particles across a chip. Instead of focusing laser beams in the far-field, the optical near field of plasmonic resonators produces the necessary local optical intensity enhancement to overcome the restrictions of diffraction and manipulate particles at higher resolution. Closely-spaced resonators produce strong optical traps which can be addressed to mediate the hand-off of particles from one to the next in a conveyor-belt-like fashion. Here, we describe how to design and produce a conveyor belt using a gold surface patterned with plasmonic C-shaped resonators and how to operate it with polarized laser light to achieve super-resolution nanoparticle manipulation and transport. The nano-optical conveyor belt chip can be produced using lithography techniques and easily packaged and distributed.

The scalability and resolution of conventional optical manipulation techniques are limited by diffraction. We circumvent the diffraction limit and describe a method of optically transporting nanoparticles across a chip using a gold surface patterned with a path of closely spaced C-shaped plasmonic resonators.

The technique of using focused laser beams to trap and exert forces on small particles has enabled many pivotal discoveries in the nanoscale biological ...

The Measurement of Unsteady Surface Pressure Using a Remote Microphone Probe

Microphones are widely applied to measure pressure fluctuations at the walls of solid bodies immersed in turbulent flows. Turbulent motions with various characteristic length scales can result in pressure fluctuations over a wide frequency range. This property of turbulence requires sensing devices to have sufficient sensitivity over a wide range of frequencies. Furthermore, the small characteristic length scales of turbulent structures require small sensing areas and the ability to place the sensors in very close proximity to each other. The complex geometries of the solid bodies, often including large surface curvatures or discontinuities, require the probe to have the ability to be set up in very limited spaces. The development of a remote microphone probe, which is inexpensive, consistent, and repeatable, is described in the present communication. It allows for the measurement of pressure fluctuations with high spatial resolution and dynamic response over a wide range of frequencies. The probe is small enough to be placed within the interior of typical wind tunnel models. The remote microphone probe includes a small, rigid, and hollow tube that penetrates the model surface to form the sensing area. This tube is connected to a standard microphone, at some distance away from the surface, using a "T" junction. An experimental method is introduced to determine the dynamic response of the remote microphone probe. In addition, an analytical method for determining the dynamic response is described. The analytical method can be applied in the design stage to determine the dimensions and properties of the RMP components.

Here, we present a protocol to measure, with high spatial resolution, the unsteady surface pressure in turbulent flows. This method demonstrates the construction of a remote microphone probe (RMP) and the determination of its frequency-dependent, complex transfer function. An analytical determination of the dynamic response is presented and validated.

Microphones are widely applied to measure pressure fluctuations at the walls of solid bodies immersed in turbulent flows. Turbulent motions with various ...

Hand Controlled Manipulation of Single Molecules via a Scanning Probe Microscope with a 3D Virtual Reality Interface

Considering organic molecules as the functional building blocks of future nanoscale technology, the question of how to arrange and assemble such building blocks in a bottom-up approach is still open. The scanning probe microscope (SPM) could be a tool of choice; however, SPM-based manipulation was until recently limited to two dimensions (2D). Binding the SPM tip to a molecule at a well-defined position opens an opportunity of controlled manipulation in 3D space. Unfortunately, 3D manipulation is largely incompatible with the typical 2D-paradigm of viewing and generating SPM data on a computer. For intuitive and efficient manipulation we therefore couple a low-temperature non-contact atomic force/scanning tunneling microscope (LT NC-AFM/STM) to a motion capture system and fully immersive virtual reality goggles. This setup permits &#34;hand controlled manipulation&#34; (HCM), in which the SPM tip is moved according to the motion of the experimenter&#39;s hand, while the tip trajectories as well as the response of the SPM junction are visualized in 3D. HCM paves the way to the development of complex manipulation protocols, potentially leading to a better fundamental understanding of nanoscale interactions acting between molecules on surfaces. Here we describe the setup and the steps needed to achieve successful hand-controlled molecular manipulation within the virtual reality environment.

We demonstrate the precise manipulation of individual organic molecules on a metal surface with the tip of a scanning probe microscope driven in 3D by the experimenter's hand using a motion capture system and fully immersive virtual reality goggles.

Considering organic molecules as the functional building blocks of future nanoscale technology, the question of how to arrange and assemble such building ...

Standardized Method for Measuring Collection Efficiency from Wipe-sampling of Trace Explosives

One of the limiting steps to detecting traces of explosives at screening venues is effective collection of the sample. Wipe-sampling is the most common procedure for collecting traces of explosives, and standardized measurements of collection efficiency are needed to evaluate and optimize sampling protocols. The approach described here is designed to provide this measurement infrastructure, and controls most of the factors known to be relevant to wipe-sampling. Three critical factors (the applied force, travel distance, and travel speed) are controlled using an automated device. Test surfaces are chosen based on similarity to the screening environment, and the wipes can be made from any material considered for use in wipe-sampling. Particle samples of the explosive 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) are applied in a fixed location on the surface using a dry-transfer technique. The particle samples, recently developed to simulate residues made after handling explosives, are produced by inkjet printing of RDX solutions onto polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) substrates. Collection efficiency is measured by extracting collected explosive from the wipe, and then related to critical sampling factors and the selection of wipe material and test surface. These measurements are meant to guide the development of sampling protocols at screening venues, where speed and throughput are primary considerations.

Optimized sampling protocols and the development of new wipe materials can be facilitated by standardized measurements of collection efficiency from wipe-sampling. Our approach for sampling trace explosives uses an automated device to control speed, force, and distance during wipe-sampling followed by extraction of collected explosives.

One of the limiting steps to detecting traces of explosives at screening venues is effective collection of the sample. Wipe-sampling is the most common ...

Generation of Size-controlled Poly (ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices

Uniform and size-controllable poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) droplets could be produced via the flow focusing process in a microfluidic device. This paper proposes a semi-three-dimensional (semi-3D) flow-focusing microfluidic chip for droplet formation. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip was fabricated using the multi-layer soft lithography method. Hexadecane containing surfactant was used as the continuous phase, and PEGDA with the ultraviolet (UV) photo-initiator was the dispersed phase. Surfactants allowed the local surface tension to drop and formed a more cusped tip which promoted breaking into tiny micro-droplets. As the pressure of dispersed phase was constant, the size of droplets became smaller with increasing continuous phase pressure before dispersed phase flow was broken off. As a result, droplets with size variation from 1 &#181;m to 80 &#181;m in diameter could be selectively achieved by changing the pressure ratio in two inlet channels, and the average coefficient of variation was estimated to be below 7%. Furthermore, droplets could turn into micro-beads by UV exposure for photo-polymerization. Conjugating biomolecules on such micro-beads surface have many potential applications in the fields of biology and chemistry.

Generation of Size-controlled Poly ethylene Glycol Diacrylate Droplets via Semi-3-Dimensional Flow Focusing Microfluidic Devices

Here, we present a protocol to illustrate the fabrication processes and verifying experiments of a semi-three-dimensional (semi-3D) flow-focusing microfluidic chip for droplet formation.

Uniform and size-controllable poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) droplets could be produced via the flow focusing process in a microfluidic device. ...

Construction and Operation of a Light-driven Gold Nanorod Rotary Motor System

The possibility to generate and measure rotation and torque at the nanoscale is of fundamental interest to the study and application of biological and artificial nanomotors and may provide new routes towards single cell analysis, studies of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and mechanical actuation of nanoscale systems. A facile way to drive rotation is to use focused circularly polarized laser light in optical tweezers. Using this approach, metallic nanoparticles can be operated as highly efficient scattering-driven rotary motors spinning at unprecedented rotation frequencies in water.
In this protocol, we outline the construction and operation of circularly-polarized optical tweezers for nanoparticle rotation and describe the instrumentation needed for recording the Brownian dynamics and Rayleigh scattering of the trapped particle. The rotational motion and the scattering spectra provides independent information on the properties of the nanoparticle and its immediate environment. The experimental platform has proven useful as a nanoscopic gauge of viscosity and local temperature, for tracking morphological changes of nanorods and molecular coatings, and as a transducer and probe of photothermal and thermodynamic processes.

Plasmonic gold nanorods can be trapped in liquids and rotated at kHz frequencies using circularly-polarized optical tweezers. Introducing tools for Brownian dynamics analysis and light scatteringspectroscopy leads to a powerful system for research and application in numerous fields of science.

The possibility to generate and measure rotation and torque at the nanoscale is of fundamental interest to the study and application of biological and ...

Fabrication of Soft Pneumatic Network Actuators with Oblique Chambers

Soft pneumatic network actuators have become one of the most promising actuation devices in soft robotics which benefits from their large bending deformation and low input. However, their monotonous bending motion form in two-dimensional (2-D) space keeps them away from wide applications. This paper presents a detailed fabrication method of soft pneumatic network actuators with oblique chambers, to explore their motions in three-dimensional (3-D) space. The design of oblique chambers enables actuators with tunable coupled bending and twisting capabilities, which gives them the possibility to move dexterously in flexible manipulators, to become biologically inspired robots and medical devices. The fabrication process is based on the molding method, including the silicone elastomer preparation, chamber and base parts fabrication, actuator assembly, tubing connections, checks for leaks, and actuator repair. The fabrication method guarantees the rapid manufacturing of a series of actuators with only a few modifications in the molds. The test results show the high quality of the actuators and their prominent bending and twisting capabilities. Experiments of the gripper demonstrate the advantages of the development in adapting to objects with different diameters and providing sufficient friction.

Here we present a fabrication method of soft pneumatic network actuators with oblique chambers. The actuators are capable of generating coupled bending and twisting motions, which broadens their application in soft robotics.

Soft pneumatic network actuators have become one of the most promising actuation devices in soft robotics which benefits from their large bending ...

Operation of the Collaborative Composite Manufacturing (CCM) System

The automated tape placement and the automated fiber placement (AFP) machines provide a safer working environment and reduce the labor intensity of workers than the traditional manual fiber placement does. Thus, the production accuracy, repeatability and efficiency of composite manufacturing are significantly improved. However, the current AFP systems can only produce the composite components with large open surface or simple revolution parts, which cannot meet the growing interest in small complex or closed structures from industry.
In this research, by employing a 1-degree of freedom (DoF) rotational stage, a 6-RSS parallel robot, and a 6-DoF serial robot, the dexterity of the AFP system can be significantly improved for manufacturing complex composite parts. The rotational stage mounted on the parallel robot is utilized to hold the mandrel and the serial robot carries the placement head to mimic two human hands that have enough dexterity to lay the fiber to the mandrel with complex contour.
Although the CCM system increases the flexibility of composite manufacturing, it is quite time-consuming or even impossible to generate the feasible off-line path, which ensures uniform lay-up of subsequent fibers considering the constraints like singularities, collisions between the fiber placement head and mandrel, smooth fiber direction change and keeping the fiber placement head along the norm of the part&#39;s surface, etc. Moreover, due to the existing positioning error of the robots, the on-line path correction is needed. Therefore, the on-line pose correction algorithm is proposed to correct the paths of both parallel and serial robots, and to keep the relative path between the two robots unchanged through the visual feedback when the constraint or singularity problems in the off-line path planning occur. The experimental results demonstrate the designed CCM system can fulfill the movement needed for manufacturing a composite structure with Y-shape.

Operation of the Collaborative Composite Manufacturing CCM System

A collaborative composite manufacturing system is developed for robotic lay-up of composite laminates using the prepreg tape. The proposed system allows the production of composite laminates with high levels of geometrical complexity. The issues in the path planning, coordination of the robots and control are addressed in the proposed method.

The automated tape placement and the automated fiber placement (AFP) machines provide a safer working environment and reduce the labor intensity of ...

Application of a Coupling Agent to Improve the Dielectric Properties of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites

In this work, an easy, low-cost, and widely applicable method was developed to improve the compatibility between the ceramic fillers and the polymer matrix by adding 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) as a coupling agent during the fabrication process of BaTiO3-P(VDF-CTFE) nanocomposites through solution casting. Results show that the use of KH550 can modify the surface of ceramic nanofillers; therefore, good wettability on the ceramic-polymer interface was achieved, and the enhanced energy storage performances were obtained by a suitable amount of the coupling agent. This method can be used to prepare flexible composites, which is highly desirable for the production of high-performance film capacitors. If an excessive amount of coupling agent is used in the process, the non-attached coupling agent can participate in complex reactions, which leads to a decrease in dielectric constant and an increase in dielectric loss.

Here, we demonstrate a simple and low-cost solution-casting process to improve the compatibility between the filler and the matrix of polymer-based nanocomposites using surface modified BaTiO3 fillers, which can effectively enhance the energy density of the composites.

In this work, an easy, low-cost, and widely applicable method was developed to improve the compatibility between the ceramic fillers and the polymer ...