When a torque measurement is required, torque transducers show many drawbacks during their use: the usual limits are the need for contact and the effects on shaft line parameters. A new approach is proposed in this work: a non-contact torque meter for a machine shaft has been developed, based on a laser speckle contrast method. It carries out torque measurements evaluating the torsional displacement between two distinct sections of the shaft, through the monitoring of their roughness.

Electrical impedance spectroscopy, in which a sine-wave test voltage or current is applied to the sample under test to measure its impedance over a suitable frequency range, is a powerful technique to investigate the electrical properties of a large variety of materials. This paper presents an updated review of EIS main applications such as measure of bacterial concentration, analysis of human body composition and characterization of food products, as well as other non-biological applications.

In this work, we measured strain during a cylindrical grinding process in real time and in situ during the process. For this, we integrated strain sensors in a standard workpiece using microfabrication technology and performed grinding experiments on the so-called sensorial workpiece to characterize the manufacturing process. The approach can be used for measuring strain and temperature in other manufacturing processes, to characterize them.

This work presents a cost-effective optical-based sensor for pH monitoring of sample volumes less than 150 µL. As part of a bigger project to develop a stand-alone micro bioreactor system, measurements carried out with phenol red and DMEM reported a standard error of calibration in the physiologic pH range (6.5–7.5) of pH ±0.04. Compared to other accessible optical-based sensors this reported system is a good alternative regarding the overall costs of less than EUR 50.

The car production industry is being subjected to more and more pressing technological challenges. In this framework the use of an advanced measurement technique such as thermoelasticity allows the engineers to have a fast and reliable tool for experimental investigation, optimization and validation of the FEM models. In this work it is shown how the thermoelastic measurement technique can be used to optimize a Ferrari car frame.

This article introduces a new idea for a micro vacuum sensor. The measuring principle of the sensor is to measure the electrical conductivity of the residual gas in a vacuum chamber. The conductivity is measured between two electrodes that are only 300 nm apart. It has been shown that this type of sensor allows vacuum pressure measurement from atmospheric pressure to high vacuum at very low voltages.

The paper introduces a novel method for 2-D localization of a target in the indoor environment using the RSSI approach with only two sensors. The proposed method reduces the number of sensors by one compared to the trilateration method, which uses at least three sensors for 2-D localization. The achieved accuracy under the white Gaussian noise condition is about 3.4 cm as an average of all positions inside the considered simulated environment.

Electron capture detectors (ECDs) are widely used for the detection of electron affine substances such as pesticides or chlorofluorocarbons. In this work we present a new non-radioactive ECD and investigate the analytical performance depending on the operating parameters. We achieved limits of detection for 1,1,2-trichloroethane and sevoflurane, which are comparable to radioactive ECDs. Furthermore, a pulsed collector voltage mode was implemented, leading to an extended linear range.

This paper focuses on a novel carbon fibre sensor technology that exploits the low-cost and low-energy electrical reflectometry method for a spatially resolved strain measurement. The application of artificial neural networks for mapping the measured electrical signal to the existing strain profile is demonstrated. The potential and current limits are highlighted. The sensor is a promising part for the next generation of light-weight structures with operando health monitoring systems.

A planar thermoelectric gas sensor is modeled. By coupling all influences (fluid flow, gas diffusion, heat transfer, chemical reactions, and electrical properties) a model was set up that mirrors the sensor behavior precisely, as the comparison with experimental data shows. The coupling of 3-D and 1-D geometry enables to calculate the temperature distribution, fluid flow, and the gas concentration distribution in the 3-D model, while the chemical reactions are very accurately calculated in 1-D.