Browse Topic: Windows and windshields
The malfunction of the aircraft windshield electric heating system, particularly arc discharge, poses a serious threat to flight safety by causing glass breakage. A systematic study was conducted on the causes and effects of arc faults on windshield structural integrity, employing macroscopic observation, microscopic analysis, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) following a windshield fracture incident. The results indicate that arc discharge typically occurs at the interface between the heating film busbar and adjacent structures. Localized high temperatures cause the outer glass to fracture, generating radial cracks. The ablation of the busbar silver coating and the carbonization of the PVB interlayer are direct evidence of arc action, whereas the heating wire remains a passive component affected by the high-temperature environment. The fault is primarily attributed to local disbonding at the busbar interface and moisture ingress. Based on the findings, recommendations are proposed for process optimization and inspection method improvement, providing a basis for the safe design and maintenance of windshield structures.
Passive fatigue can cause accidents with automated and regular vehicles. A proof-of-concept prototype [made with light-emitting diode (LED) matrices and white LED (WLED)] and a preliminary comparative usability test (N = 7) are used to study whether the active manipulation of simulated weather cues can be a potential countermeasure to passive fatigue. Participants rated system suitability, system impression, and their fatigue level similarly when they viewed a weather windshield heads-up display (HUD) versus a speedometer windshield HUD [no significant differences found and relatively small 95% confidence interval (CI) ranges around 0]. Qualitative analysis of interviews found that participants saw the potential value of the weather display and that display placement, dynamic graphics, and user activation were commonly mentioned themes. These results suggest the concept is theoretically possible, though further work is needed to prove the concept in practice.
Precision agriculture, also known as smart farming, was once reserved for early adopters or large-scale operations, but is now an expectation within the farming industry. Across various regions and farm sizes, smart farming techniques are changing the way crops are planted as well as how they are monitored and harvested. However, farmers today are under increasing pressure to reduce labor, decrease chemical inputs, conserve water and operate in tighter windows. Couple this with factors such as narrow seasonal windows, productivity demands and safety considerations, and the need for smarter decisions becomes imperative. Going one step further, global food demands and environmental pressures are further increasing demand for precise, accurate and intelligent farming solutions.
Prior work demonstrated that acceleration washout in motion simulators produces decay-rate sensing ambiguity within the vestibular system, forcing pilots to rely on visual cues for control. While Pilot Induced Oscillation Ratings (PIORs) for flight and simulation have been matched using different sensing thresholds, a quantitative basis for the 50% reduction in the visual decay-rate threshold has remained elusive. This paper provides evidence that pilots perceive decay rate proprioceptively through stick force during both flight and simulation, rather than through vestibular or visual channels. The residues of the stick-force sensitivity transfer function reflect the amplification or attenuation of neighboring zeros and poles; when these residues fall outside the human's 30 dB tactile sensory window, the resulting decay rate becomes imperceptible. Modeling reveals that stabilization via the visual channel in simulators produces dominant mode characteristics - decay rates, frequencies, and residues - that diverge significantly from vestibular-stabilized flight. The Virtual Vestibular Cueing (VVC) technique is introduced to tune the visual channel using pseudo-vestibular rate cueing, optimally aligning the simulated dominant mode with flight-validated residues and decay rates. A preliminary fixed-base study demonstrates that VVC synchronizes performance and subjective ratings by restoring this tactile-vestibular harmony. This work establishes that handling qualities are fundamentally an Information Theory problem: Level 1 ratings occur when the residue-to-decay gradient is tuned to map the dominant mode's physical 'elbow' onto the human sensory window. This paper establishes that perceptual fidelity is not determined by the closed-loop vehicle residues, but by the force sensitivity residues. By identifying the stick-force channel as the superior conduit for this mapping, VVC allows designers to restore informational integrity in virtual environments across all axes of aircraft dynamics. VVC ensures that the visual channel supports a control strategy where the tactile feedback remains within the human sensory window, preventing the 'wrong reading' that leads to simulator-to-flight rating mismatches.
Ambient light reflecting off internal components of the car, specifically the Head-Up Display (HUD), creates unwanted reflections on the Windshield. These reflections can obscure the driver's field of view, potentially compromising safety and reducing visual comfort. The extent of this obscuration is influenced by geometrical factors such as the angle of the HUD and the curvature of the Windshield, which need to be analyzed and managed. The primary motivation is to improve driver safety and visual comfort. This is driven by the need to address the negative impact of ambient light reflecting off Head-Up Displays (HUDs), which can impair visibility through the Windshield. There is a need for tools and methods to address this issue proactively during the vehicle design phase. This study employs a tool-based modeling method to trace the pathways of ambient light from its source, reflecting off the HUD, and onto the Windshield using a dimensional modeling tool. It focuses on: Geometrical surfaces (specifically HUD angle and Windshield curvature) Modeling the pathways of ambient light from its source, reflecting off the HUD, and onto the Windshield using the dimensional modeling tool Measuring and analyzing the resulting areas of reflection caused within the driver's field of view. The method aims to evaluate the extent of disruption or obscuration within the driver's field of view caused by the reflections in millions of vehicles.
A mobile wireless charger is a device that charge a smartphone or other compatible gadgets without the need for physical cables. Principle of wireless mobile charger system based on inductive coupling phenomena. The main objective of this paper aims to address the challenge of packaging wireless mobile charger in peculiar door trim profile keeping overall functionality and aesthetic appearance of door trim intact. This paper deals with integration of a wireless charging system within the door trim of a vehicle to provide convenience and advanced functionality. The objective is to pack a wireless charger in door trim meeting the ergonomic target and equilibrium state stability while maintaining sleek and minimalist design of the door trim. The study focuses on innovative packaging solutions related to space optimization in door despite multiple challenges involved. Major challenge lies in packing the unit amidst complex mechanisms such as window regulators, speakers, structural reinforcements while managing the thermal heat generation with proper dissipation techniques The main objective of this paper is to address the following: An innovative approach to the design of Wireless charger for Door trim Meeting stable equilibrium state. Focusing on enhancing aesthetics. Low weight impact, robust design, and assembly, Managing Wireless charger quality quality as per regular standard.
To address the high security demands of HSR communication, this letter proposes a covert communication scheme using irregular intelligent transparent surfaces (ITSs) deployed on train windows. A joint optimization framework is developed to enhance covert rate under element constraints, involving ATS for topology design and NECE for beamforming and phase shift. Gradient descent is used to handle covert constraints. Simulations confirm that the proposed irregular ITS outperforms regular ITS in performance and robustness, offering a promising solution for future HSR covert communication.
Although lithium is highly effective to treat bipolar disorder, the chemical has a narrow therapeutic window — too high a dose can be toxic to patients, causing kidney damage, thyroid damage, or even death, while too low a dose renders the treatment ineffective.
The American truck market is huge. The trucks themselves are also quite large. Pickups went from workhorse machines to enormous luxury vehicles with equally large price tags. Even the Maverick, Ford's latest entry, has seen its price creep up since its debut. The antithesis of the current market is the newly unveiled Slate pickup. A small, two-door, two-seater, bare-bones electric truck that doesn't have power windows, leather interior, or even an entertainment system. It also doesn't boast an insane zero to 60 time, even though it's an EV. Instead, it flies in the face of everything that's happening in the truck market, and it might just be what many customers are looking for.
Traditional silicon-based solar cells are completely opaque, which works for solar farms and roofs but would defeat the purpose of windows. However, organic solar cells, in which the light absorber is a kind of plastic, can be transparent.
High-efficiency manufacturing involves the transmission of copious amounts of data, exemplified both by trends in the automotive industry and advances in technology. In the automotive industry, products have been growing increasingly complex, owing to multiple SKUs, global supply chains and the involvement of many tier 2 / Just-In Time (JIT) suppliers. On top of that, recalls and incidents in recent years have made it important for OEMs to be able to track down affected vehicles based on their components. All of this has increased the need for OEMs to be able to collect and analyze component data. The advent of Industry 4.0 and IoT has provided manufacturing with the ability to efficiently collect and store large amounts of data, lining up with the needs of manufacturing-based industries. However, while the needs to collect data have been met, corporations now find themselves facing the need to make sense of the data to provide the insights they need, and the data is often unstructured, incorrectly formatted or incorrectly collected. This paper discusses a possible use case of leveraging automation to help meet these needs. By automating data cleaning and analysis, companies obtain insights more quickly, reduce the need for manual-based data intervention, and minimize the risk of human error. Beyond streamlining data analysis, automation enables real-time interventions, such as cleaning data as it comes in (event-driven automation) and providing continuous system monitoring. This paper explores the significant role of automation playbooks in enhancing these processes. Playbooks facilitate the creation and management of automation flows by treating scripts and tasks as modular blocks that can be easily arranged and modified to suit different environments and setups. This modular approach allows for greater flexibility and a "hands-off" automation model, where processes can be deployed on a scheduled basis with minimal manual oversight. In essence, automation can play a critical role in manufacturing's needs to reliably make sense of their data, and the use of playbooks further optimizes these benefits by simplifying the management and execution of automated tasks.
The integrated bracket is a plastic part that packages functional components such as the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) camera, rain light sensor, and the mounting provisions of the auto-dimming IRVM (Inner Rear View Mirror). This part is fixed on the windshield of an automobile using double-sided adhesive tapes and glue. ADAS, rain light sensors, and auto-dimming IRVM play an important part in the safety of the driver and everyone present in the automobile. This makes proper functioning of the integrated bracket very integral to occupant safety. Prior to this work, the following literature; Integrated Bracket for Rain Light Sensor/ADAS/Auto-Dimming IRVM with provision of mounting for Aesthetic Cover [1] outlines the design considerations and advantages of mounting several components on the same bracket. It follows the theme where the authors first define the components packaged on the integrated bracket and then the advantages of packaging multiple components on a single bracket. However, it fails to showcase the development phase of the part. In this paper, the authors take the readers through a set of issues faced in the development phase of integrated bracket. The development phase is the phase when tooled-up parts arrive at the manufacturing plant and get assembled on the vehicle. During this phase, issues at the part level and assembly level are addressed by respective engineering teams. The issue resolution comprises three main parts: root cause analysis, immediate corrective action, and permanent corrective action. Root cause analysis is where the cause is identified. Immediate corrective action is a temporary solution to the problem that can be implemented on day one without any lead time. Permanent corrective action is the final stage of issue resolution where the improved parts start arriving at the manufacturing plant after tool modification.
Reliable and safe Redundant Steering System (RSS) equipped with Dual-Winding Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (DW-PMSM) is considered an ideal actuator for future autonomous vehicle chassis. The built-in DW-PMSM of the RSS is required to identify various winding’s faults such as disconnection, open circuit, and grounding. When achieving redundant control through winding switching, it is necessary to suppress speed fluctuations during the process of winding switching to ensure angle control precision. In this paper, a steering angle safety control for RSS considering motor winding’s faults is proposed. First, we analyze working principle of RSS. Corresponding steering system model and fault model of DW-PMSM have been established. Next, we design the fault diagnosis and fault tolerance strategy of RSS. Considering the difference in amplitude frequency characteristics of phase current during DW-PMSM winding faults, the Hanning window and Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) is comprehensively used to extract the third harmonic components. These components are then compared with the peak values of the third harmonic under DW-PMSM winding fault-free conditions to diagnose faults. Furthermore, in the main loop and the redundant loop of the RSS, we utilize the backstepping control and the sliding-mode control theory to design precise steering angle following method considering the unmodeled disturbance, which ensures smooth switching of two-circuit windings. Finally, a simulation platform based on MATLAB/Simulink is established. The test results demonstrate that the designed steering angle safety control strategy could accurately identify winding faults in the DW-PMSM, reduce speed fluctuations during two-circuit winding switching, and ensures RSS maintains a steady-state following error within 3° under winding fault conditions.
Researchers at UBC Okanagan are looking at ways to improve cell phone connectivity and localization abilities by examining “smart” surfaces that can bounce signals from a tower to customers to improve the link. A smart surface involves installing reflective elements on windows or panels on buildings in dense urban environments.
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