Negative temperature coefficient (NTC) chip thermistors were thermally coupled to form a novel device (TCCT) aimed for application in microelectronics. It consists of two NTC chip thermistors Th₁ and Th₂, which are small in size (0603) and power (1/10 W). They are in thermal junction, but concurrently they are electrically isolated. The first thermistor Th₁ generates heat as a self-heating component at a constant supply voltage U (input thermistor), while the second thermistor Th₂ receives heat as a passive component (output thermistor). The temperature dependence R(T) of NTC chip thermistors was measured in the climatic test chamber, and the exponential factor B_10/30 of thermistor resistance was determined. After that, a self–heating current I₁ of the input thermistor was measured vs. supply voltage U and ambient temperature T_a as a parameter. Input resistance R₁ was determined as a ratio of U and I₁ while output thermistor resistance R₂ was measured by a multimeter concurrently with the current I₁. Temperatures T₁ and T₂ of both thermistors were determined using the Steinhart–Hart equation. Heat transfer, thermal response, stability, and inaccuracy were analyzed. The application of thermally coupled NTC chip thermistors is expected in microelectronics for the input to output electrical decoupling/thermal coupling of slow changeable signals.

A pair of thick film segmented themistors with negative temperature coefficient (NTC) were joined together (back-to-back) to form thermally coupled device (TCT). The alumina substrate enables a very high galvanic insulation of thermistors and thermal coupling at the same time. The input thermistor R ₁ in the coupled pair was self-heated at constant voltages and the output thermistor R ₂ was a heat receiver through the alumina substrate. Custom designed NTC thick film thermistor pastes were made out of nickel manganese and modified nickel manganese. Thermistor electrical resistances were measured in a climatic test chamber and the themistor exponential temperature factor B was determined for both pastes. The TCT device was electrically characterized at different ambient temperatures. The input power, heat transfer, resistance and temperature of both thermistors were measured as a function of input voltage and time. The input and output thermistor temperatures T ₁ and T ₂ were obtained using thermistor resistance and Steinhart - Hart equation.The device sensitivity and measuring inaccuracy were analyzed. The main advantage of TCT is thermal coupling / electrical decoupling. The applications of TCT device are seen in automotive electronics, home appliances and power convertors to measure output temperature vs. input power.

In this paper we present two different, software and reconfigurable hardware, open architecture approaches to the PUMA 560 robot controller implementation, fully document them and provide the full design specification, software code and hardware description. Such solutions are necessary in today’s robotics and industry: deprecated old control units render robotic installations useless and allow no upgrades, advancements, or innovation in an inherently innovative ecosystem. For the sake of simplicity, just the first robot axis is considered. The first approach described is a PC solution with data acquisition I/O board (Humusoft MF634). This board is supported with Matlab Real-Time Windows Toolbox for real-time applications and thus whole controller was designed in Matlab environment. The second approach is a robot controller developed on field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) board. The complexity of FPGA design can be overcome by using a third party software package, such as self-developed Matlab FPGA Real Time Toolbox. In both cases, parameters of motion controller are calculated by using simulation of the PUMA 560 robot first axis motion. Simulations were conducted in Matlab/Simulink using Robotics Toolbox.

A pair of small disc NTC thermistors were joined together laterally using a thin layer of silicon resin between them to form a novel thermally coupled device (TCT). The epoxy coating on disc thermistors enables concurrent galvanic isolation and thermal coupling. Input thermistor Th ₁ in the coupled pair was self-heated at constant voltages and acts as heat transmitter while the output thermistor Th ₂ acted as a heat receiver through the epoxy layer and silicon resin. Small NTC disc thermistors with different nominal resistances were produced out of nickel manganese and modified nickel manganese powder. The disc thermistor resistances and the thermistor exponential temperature factor B were measured in the climatic test chamber. The input power, resistance and temperature of both disc thermistors were measured at different ambient temperatures as a function of input voltage and time. The temperature of thermistors Th ₁ and Th ₂ (input and output) was determined using the Steinhart - Hart equation. The TCT device sensitivity, stability and inaccuracy were also analyzed. The applications of disc TCT device are based on the measuring of output temperature vs. input power in automotive electronics, home appliances and power convertors.

The monitoring of air quality continues to be one of the most important tasks when ensuring the safety of our environment. This paper aims to look at correlations between different types of pollutants, so that robust air quality measurement systems can be deployed in remote, inaccessible areas, at a reduced cost. The first matter at hand was to design an affordable and portable system capable of measuring different air pollutants. A custom PCB was designed that could support the acquisition of readings of, among others, particulate and CO sensors. Then, correlations between the concentrations of different pollutants were analyzed to identify if measuring the concentration of one type of pollutant can allow the extrapolation of the concentration of another. This particular study focuses on the correlations between the concentrations of particulate matter and CO. Finally, after observing a moderate correlation, it was proposed to measure the concentrations of pollutants that require less expensive sensors, and to extrapolate the concentrations of pollutants that require a more expensive sensor to measure their concentration. The link between particulate pollution and CO concentrations was identified and discussed as the result of this study.