Telecommunications, Télécommunications, Sciences exactes et technologie, Exact sciences and technology, Sciences appliquees, Applied sciences, Telecommunications et theorie de l'information, Telecommunications and information theory, Télécommunications, Telecommunications, Radiocommunications, Antennes, Antennas, Alimentation antenne, Antenna feeds, Antenne lentille, Lens antenna, Antena lentiforme, Application spatiale, Space application, Aplicación espacial, Bande X, X band, Banda X, Constante diélectrique, Permittivity, Constante dieléctrica, Gradient indice, Gradient index, Gradiente indicativo, Guide onde, Waveguide, Guía onda, Implémentation, Implementation, Implementación, Lobe latéral, Lateral lobe, Lóbulo lateral, Matière plastique, Plastics, Material plástico, Méthode élément fini, Finite element method, Método elemento finito, Onde centimétrique, Centimetric wave, Onda centimétrica, Prototypage rapide, Rapid prototyping, Prototipificación rápida, Simulation, Simulación, Luneburg lens, lens antenna, and rapid prototyping

In this work, we designed, built, and tested a low-gain 20 dBi Luneburg Lens antenna using a rapid prototyping machine as a proof of concept demonstrator. The required continuously varying relative permittivity profile was implemented by changing the size of plastic blocks centered on the junctions of a plastic rod space frame. A 12-cm (4λ0 at 10 GHz) diameter lens is designed to work at X-band. The effective permittivity of the unit cell is calculated by effective medium theory and simulated by full-wave finite-element simulations. The fabrication is implemented by a polymer jetting rapid prototyping method. In the measurement, the lens antenna is fed by an X-band waveguide. The measured gain of the antenna at X-band is from 17.3 to 20.3 dB. The measured half-power beam width is from 19° to 12.7° while the side lobes are about 25 dB below the main peak. Good agreement between simulation and experimental results is obtained.

Telecommunications, Télécommunications, Sciences exactes et technologie, Exact sciences and technology, Sciences appliquees, Applied sciences, Telecommunications et theorie de l'information, Telecommunications and information theory, Télécommunications, Telecommunications, Radiocommunications, Antennes, Antennas, Antenne fil, Wire antenna, Antena hilo, Antenne hélicoïdale, Helical antenna, Antena helicoidal, Antenne sphérique, Spherical antenna, Antena esférica, Impression, Printing, Impresión, Prototypage rapide, Rapid prototyping, Prototipificación rápida, Stratification, Estratificación, 3D printing, electrically small antennas, nanocrystalline copper, rapid prototyping, selective laser sintering, and spherical antennas

It is shown how modern rapid prototyping technologies can be applied for quick and inexpensive, but still accurate, fabrication of electrically small wire antennas. A well known folded spherical helix antenna and a novel spherical zigzag antenna have been fabricated and tested, exhibiting the impedance and radiation characteristics in close agreement with those predicted numerically.

Biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics, Biochimie, biologie moléculaire, biophysique, Analytical chemistry, Chimie analytique, Pharmacology drugs, Pharmacologie, galénique, Pollution, Sciences exactes et technologie, Exact sciences and technology, Chimie, Chemistry, Chimie analytique, Analytical chemistry, Méthodes chromatographiques et méthodes physiques associées à la chromatographie, Chromatographic methods and physical methods associated with chromatography, Autres méthodes chromatographiques, Other chromatographic methods, Appareillage, Instrumentation, Instrumentación, Electrophorèse capillaire, Capillary electrophoresis, Electroforesis capilar, Interface, Interfase, Prototype, Prototipo, Raccordement, Connection, Conexión, Siloxane(diméthyl) polymère, Dimethylsiloxane polymer, Siloxano(dimetil) polímero, Flow gate, Flow-gated injection, Interconnect, PDMS, and Prototyping

Integrated microfluidic systems coupled with electrophoretic separations have broad application in biologic and chemical analysis. Interfaces for the connection of various functional parts play a major role in the performance of a system. Here, we developed a rapid prototyping method to fabricate monolithic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) interfaces for flow-gated injection, online reagent mixing, and tube-to-tube connection in an integrated capillary electrophoresis (CE) system. The basic idea was based on the properties of PDMS: elasticity, transparency, and suitability for prototyping. The molds for these interfaces were prepared by using commercially available stainless steel wires and nylon lines or silica capillaries. A steel wire was inserted through the diameter of a nylon line and a cross format was obtained as the mold for PDMS casting of flow gates and 4-way mixers. These interfaces accommodated tubing connection through PDMS elasticity and provided easy visual trouble shooting. The flow gate used smaller channel diameters, thus reducing flow rate by 25-fold for effective gating compared with mechanically machined counterparts. Both PDMS mixers and the tube-to-tube connectors could minimize the sample dead volume by using an appropriate capillary configuration. As a whole, the prototyped PDMS interfaces are reusable, inexpensive, convenient for connection, and robust when integrated with the CE detection system. Therefore, these interfaces could see potential applications in CE and CE-coupled systems.

Computer science, Informatique, Psychology, psychopathology, psychiatry, Psychologie, psychopathologie, psychiatrie, Sciences exactes et technologie, Exact sciences and technology, Sciences appliquees, Applied sciences, Informatique; automatique theorique; systemes, Computer science; control theory; systems, Logiciel, Software, Systèmes informatiques et systèmes répartis. Interface utilisateur, Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface, Simulation, Analyse comportementale, Behavioral analysis, Análisis conductual, Animation par ordinateur, Computer animation, Animación por computador, Apex, Comportement utilisateur, User behavior, Comportamiento usuario, Image tridimensionnelle, Tridimensional image, Imagen tridimensional, Indice aptitude, Capability index, Indice aptitud, Informatique diffuse, Pervasive computing, Informática difusa, Interface utilisateur, User interface, Interfase usuario, Modélisation, Modeling, Modelización, Méthode formelle, Formal method, Método formal, Prototype, Prototipo, Réalité virtuelle, Virtual reality, Realidad virtual, Réseau Pétri coloré, Colored Petri net, Red Pétri colorado, Sensibilité contexte, Context aware, Sensibilidad contexto, Simulation ordinateur, Computer simulation, Simulación computadora, Système conversationnel, Interactive system, Sistema interactivo, Couche physique, Physical layer, Capa física, 3D virtual environments, Interactive systems analysis, Modelling, Prototyping, and Ubiquitous and context-aware computing

If ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) is to enhance physical environments then early and accurate assessment of alternative solutions will be necessary to avoid costly deployment of systems that fail to meet requirements. This paper presents APEX, a prototyping framework that combines a 3D Application Server with a behaviour modeling tool. The contribution of this framework is that it allows exhaustive analysis of the behaviour models that drive the prototype while at the same time enabling immersive exploration of a virtual environment simulating the proposed system. The development of prototypes is supported through three layers: a simulation layer (using OpenSimulator); a modelling layer (using CPN Tools) and a physical layer (using external devices and real users). APEX allows movement between these layers to analyse different features, from user experience to user behaviour. The multi layer approach makes it possible to express user behaviour in the modelling layer, provides a way to reduce the number of real users needed by adding simulated avatars, and supports user testing of hybrids of virtual and real components as well as exhaustive analysis. This paper demonstrates the approach by means of an example, placing particular emphasis on the simulation of virtual environments, low cost prototyping and the formal analysis capabilities.

Computer science, Informatique, Sciences exactes et technologie, Exact sciences and technology, Sciences appliquees, Applied sciences, Informatique; automatique theorique; systemes, Computer science; control theory; systems, Logiciel, Software, Systèmes informatiques et systèmes répartis. Interface utilisateur, Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface, Génie logiciel, Software engineering, Arbre graphe, Tree(graph), Arbol grafo, Calculateur embarqué, Boarded computer, Calculador embarque, Composant logiciel, Software component, Componente logicial, Entrée sortie, Input output, Entrada salida, Flux donnée, Data flow, Flujo datos, Internet, Langage JAVA, JAVA language, Lenguaje JAVA, Logiciel patrimonial, Legacy software, Logicial herencia, Programmation automatique, Automatic programming, Programación automática, Prototypage rapide, Rapid prototyping, Prototipificación rápida, Réseau web, World wide web, Red WWW, Traitement flux donnée, Data flow processing, Téléenseignement, Remote teaching, Teleensenanza, Réutilisation logiciel, Software reusability, Reutilización de logicial, CASE, automatic programming, input-output tree, rapid prototyping, and software reuse

A prototyping tool which facilitates the design of Java applets based on existing Java classes in the repository is developed and embedded into an eLearning platform. An input-output tree is proposed to graphically show the data flow from the input to output of a specific application. In the future, the possible direction of using such similar application as the proposed tool will assist the programmer to assemble the reusable software components from the repository, in which the source codes are generated automatically by means of automatic programming.