Metrology and Measurement Systems

There is an ongoing debate about the fundamental security of existing quantum key exchange schemes. This debate indicates not only that there is a problem with security but also that the meanings of perfect, imperfect, conditional and unconditional (information theoretic) security in physically secure key exchange schemes are often misunderstood. It has been shown recently that the use of two pairs of resistors with enhanced Johnsonnoise and a Kirchhoff-loop ‒ i.e., a Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) protocol ‒ for secure key distribution leads to information theoretic security levels superior to those of today’s quantum key distribution. This issue is becoming particularly timely because of the recent full cracks of practical quantum communicators, as shown in numerous peer-reviewed publications. The KLJN system is briefly surveyed here with discussions about the essential questions such as (i) perfect and imperfect security characteristics of the key distribution, and (ii) how these two types of securities can be unconditional (or information theoretical).

This elaboration presents the method of virtual positioning of the construction of an endoprosthesis of hip joint in a patient’s pelvis and femoral bone, reconstructed on the basis of imaging obtained from computer tomography. It is based on the matching of an implant to individual anatomical-biomechanical conditions. The method is established on the following procedures: diagnostic, spatial modeling, virtual measuring and targeted biometrological application for the model of bone structures. The final effect of the completed procedures is selection and optimal positioning of the endoprosthesis of hip joint before a planned medical intervention. The determined geometrical parameters of bone structures and settled positioning of the endoprosthesis can create data for the system of computer navigation.

In this paper we introduce a self-tuning Kalman filter for fast time-domain amplitude estimation of noisy harmonic signals with non-stationary amplitude and harmonic distortion, which is the problem of a contactvoltage measurement to which we apply the proposed method. The research method is based on the self-tuning of the Kalman filter's dropping-off behavior. The optimal performance (in terms of accuracy and fast response) is achieved by detecting the jump of the amplitude based on statistical tests of the innovation vector of the Kalman filter and reacting to this jump by adjusting the values of the covariance matrix of the state vector. The method's optimal configuration of the parameters was chosen using a statistical power analysis. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms competing methods in terms of speed and accuracy of the jump detection and amplitude estimation.

The paper presents the family of three analyzers allowing to measure impedance in the range of 10 Ω<|Zx|<10 GΩ in a wide frequency range from 10 mHz up to 100 kHz. The most important features of the analyzer family are: miniaturization, low power consumption, low production cost, telemetric controlling and the use of an impedance measurement method based on digital signal processing (DSP). The miniaturization and other above-mentioned features of the analyzers were obtained thanks to the use of the newest generation of large-scale integration chips: e.g. “system on a chip” microsystems (AD5933), 32-bit AVR32-family microcontrollers and specialized modules for wireless communication using the ZigBee standard. When comparing metrological parameters, the developed instrumentation can equal portable analyzers offered by top worldwide manufacturers (Gamry, Ivium) but outperforms them on smaller dimensions, weight, a few times lower price and the possibility to work in a distributed telemetric network. All analyzer versions are able to be put into medium-volume production.

In this paper, we present a synthesis of the parameters of the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and the reconstruction of the distributed strain affecting the grating, performed by means of its reflection spectrum. For this purpose, we applied the transition matrix method and the Nelder-Mead nonlinear optimization method. Reconstruction results of the strain profile carried out on the basis of a simulated reflection spectrum as well as measured reflection spectrum of the FBG indicate good agreement with the original strain profile; the profile reconstruction errors are within the single digit percentage range. We can conclude that the Nelder-Mead optimization method combined with the transition matrix method can be used for distributed sensing problems.

This paper presents a novel strategy of particle filtering for state estimation based on Generalized Gaussian distributions (GGDs). The proposed strategy is implemented with the Gaussian particle pilter (GPF), which has been proved to be a powerful approach for state estimation of nonlinear systems with high accuracy and low computational cost. In our investigations, the distribution which gives the complete statistical characterization of the given data is obtained by exponent parameter estimation for GGDs, which has been solved by many methods. Based on GGDs, an extension of GPF is proposed and the simulation results show that the extension of GPF has higher estimation accuracy and nearly equal computational cost compared with the GPF which is based on Gaussian distribution assumption.

Improvements of modern manufacturing techniques implies more efficient production but also new challenges for coordinate metrologists. The crucial task here is a coordinate measurement accuracy assessment. It is important because according to technological requirements, measurements are useful only when they are stated with their accuracy. Currently used methods for the measurements accuracy estimation are difficult to implement and time consuming. It is therefore important to implement correct and validated methods that will also be easy to implement. The method presented in this paper is one of them. It is an on-line accuracy estimation method based on the virtual CMM idea. A model is built using a modern LaserTracer system and a common test sphere and its implementation lasts less than one day. Results obtained using the presented method are comparable to results of commonly used uncertainty estimation methods which proves its correct functioning. Its properties predispose it to be widely used both in laboratory and industrial conditions.

The paper presents a new elastic scheduling task model which has been used in the uniprocessor node of a control measuring system. This model allows the selection of a new set of periods for the occurrence of tasks executed in the node of a system in the case when it is necessary to perform additional aperiodic tasks or there is a need to change the time parameters of existing tasks. Selection of periods is performed by heuristic algorithms. This paper presents the results of the experimental use of an elastic scheduling model with a GRASP heuristic algorithm.

In this paper, a modified form of the Gabor Wigner Transform (GWT) has been proposed. It is based on adaptive thresholding in the Gabor Transform (GT) and Wigner Distribution (WD). The modified GWT combines the advantages of both GT and WD and proves itself as a powerful tool for analyzing multi-component signals. Performance analyses of the proposed distribution are tested on the examples, show high resolution and crossterms suppression. To exploit the strengths of GWT, the signal synthesis technique is used to extract amplitude varying auto-components of a multi-component signal. The proposed technique improves the readability of GWT and proves advantages of combined effects of these signal processing techniques.

Various components of surface texture are identified, namely form, waviness and roughness. Separation of these components is done by digital filtering. Several problems exist during analysis of two-process surfaces. Therefore the Gaussian robust profile filtering technique was established and has been studied here. The computer generated 2D profiles and 3D surface topographies having triangular scratches as well as measured stratified surfaces were subjected to filtration. However even robust filter applications cause distortion of profiles having valleys wider than 100 μm. In order to minimize the distortion associated with wide and deep valleys, the robust filter should be modified. A special procedure was elaborated for minimizing distortion of roughness profiles caused by filtration. Application of this method to analyses of several profiles was presented. The difference between 1-D and 2-D filtering of surface topography using the same kind of filter was discussed. As a result we found that modification of a 2-D surface topography filter was not necessary.

One of the most important parameters in the study of diffraction gratings is their optical efficiency. This paper analyzes the different manufacturing processes to cover gratings of Moiré interferometry and their influence on the quality and absolute efficiency of replicated gratings on the surfaces of specimens. The Moiré interferometry is a field measurement technique that has been used in many different fields such as applied mechanics, microelectronics, biomechanics or micromechanics, hence the importance of this study. The applied reflected coating was done by sputtering and aluminium vaporization processes. In this work different materials and thickness layers were analyzed. The obtained coatings have a high degree of reflectivity on the replicated gratings.

Digital photoelasticity is an important optical metrology follow-up for stress and strain analysis using full-field digital photographic images. Advances in digital image processing, data acquisition, procedures for pattern recognition and storage capacity enable the use of the computer-aided technique in automation and facilitate improvement of the digital photoelastic technique. The objective of this research is to find new equations for a novel phase-shifting method in digital photoelasticity. Some innovations are proposed. In terms of phaseshifting, only the analyzer is rotated, and the other equations are deduced by applying a new numerical technique instead of the usual algebraic techniques. This approach can be used to calculate a larger sequence of images. Each image represents a pattern and a measurement of the stresses present in the object. A decrease in the mean errors was obtained by increasing the number of observations. A reduction in the difference between the theoretical and experimental values of stresses was obtained by increasing the number of images in the equations for calculating phase. Every photographic image has errors and random noise, but the uncertainties due to these effects can be reduced with a larger number of observations. The proposed method with many images and high accuracy is a good alternative to the photoelastic techniques.

Wavelet transform becomes a more and more common method of processing 3D signals. It is widely used to analyze data in various branches of science and technology (medicine, seismology, engineering, etc.). In the field of mechanical engineering wavelet transform is usually used to investigate surface micro- and nanotopography. Wavelet transform is commonly regarded as a very good tool to analyze non-stationary signals. However, to analyze periodical signals, most researchers prefer to use well-known methods such as Fourier analysis. In this paper authors make an attempt to prove that wavelet transform can be a useful method to analyze 3D signals that are approximately periodical. As an example of such signal, measurement data of cylindrical workpieces are investigated. The calculations were performed in the MATLAB environment using the Wavelet Toolbox.