e-CAT - Circuits i Transductors Electrònics

 

Recerca i disseny de nous circuits electrònics per a transductors, tant per al processament del senyal com de l’energia, amb la finalitat de desenvolupar sensors intel·ligents energèticament autònoms amb aplicació transversal. Posem l'èmfasi en circuits de consum i cost reduïts i basats en microcontrolador, i en noves tècniques i mètodes per a maximitzar l'energia captada (òptica/solar, mecànica, tèrmica, de radiofreqüència, etc.). Aplicació de sensors autònoms en aplicacions de bioenginyeria i enginyeria aeroespacial.

Investigación y diseño de nuevos circuitos electrónicos para transductores, tanto para el procesamiento de la señal como de la energía, con la finalidad de desarrollar sensores inteligentes energéticamente autónomos y de aplicación transversal. Ponemos el énfasis en circuitos de consumo y coste reducidos y basados en microcontrolador, y en nuevas técnicas y métodos para maximizar la energía captada (óptica/solar, mecánica, térmica, de radiofrecuencia, etc). Complementariamente, se tratarán otros temas, como las redes de sensores inalámbricas energéticamente eficientes y aspectos de instrumentación y medida.

Research and design of new electronic circuits applied to transducers, for signal and power processing, with the aim of developing energy-autonomous smart sensors with application to any field. Emphasis will be focused on low-power and low-cost microcontroller-based circuits and on new techniques and methods for maximizing the harvested energy (optical/solar, mechanical, thermal, radiofrequency). In addition, other topics such as energy-efficient wireless sensor network and instrumentation and measurement subjects will be tackled.

Research and design of new electronic circuits applied to transducers, for signal and power processing, with the aim of developing energy-autonomous smart sensors with application to any field. Emphasis will be focused on low-power and low-cost microcontroller-based circuits and on new techniques and methods for maximizing the harvested energy (optical/solar, mechanical, thermal, radiofrequency). In addition, other topics such as energy-efficient wireless sensor network and instrumentation and measurement subjects will be tackled.

Recent Submissions

  • Early Tests of the WikiLauncher First Stage 

    Tristancho Martínez, Joshua; Tarazona Romero, Andrea (2013-05-03)
    Research report
    Open Access
    This is a technical report for the early nine test of the first stage of a minilauncher to put up to six femto-satellites in a 250 km Low Earth Orbit. These nine tests were performed in a stone quarry in order to gain ...

  • Experimental study on the power consumption of timers embedded into microcontrollers 

    Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran; Gasulla Forner, Manuel (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2021)
    Conference report
    Open Access
    An experimental study on the current consumption of timers embedded into microcontrollers is presented in this work. The study is carried out in two commercial microcontrollers (MSP430FR5969 and ATtiny2313) and the ...

  • A novel measurement technique for DC voltage and current reducing the DMM loading effects 

    Torres, Emilio; Monzo, Carlos; Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2021)
    Conference report
    Open Access
    A novel technique for the measurement of DC voltage and current that reduces the loading effects of a digital multimeter is presented in this work. When the variable of interest is a current (voltage), instead of ...

  • High-linearity front-end circuit for remote grounded capacitive sensors 

    Haberman, Marcelo A.; Spinelli, Enrique Mario; Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (2021-02)
    Article
    Open Access
    This paper presents a novel front-end circuit for remote grounded capacitive sensors. The circuit is insensitive to amplifier input capacitance and stray interconnecting-cable capacitances. It does not rely on neutralization ...

  • Electromagnetic rolling mass wave energy harvester for oceanic drifter applications 

    Carandell Widmer, Matias; Tichy, Jiri; Smilek, Jan; Toma, Daniel; Gasulla Forner, Manuel; Río Fernandez, Joaquín del; Hadas, Zdenek (Springer, 2022-03-05)
    Article
    Open Access
    Ocean monitoring requirements have fomented the evolution of sensor platforms such as Lagrangian drifters, whose autonomy is a critical factor in the design process. Energy Harvesting (EH) has proven to be a sound option ...

  • An auto-balancing capacitance-to-pulse-width converter for capacitive sensors 

    Areekath, Lakshmi; George, Boby; Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (2021-01)
    Article
    Open Access
    A novel auto-balancing capacitance-to-pulse- width converter (CPC) that uses sinusoidal excitation, and operates in a closed-loop configuration, is presented in this paper. Unlike most of the existing CPCs, the ...

  • A tutorial on thermal sensors in the 200th anniversary of the seebeck effect 

    Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (2021-10)
    Article
    Open Access
    Two noteworthy events associated to the physics of thermal sensors were demonstrated and announced in 1821, exactly two hundred years ago. The first event was the Seebeck effect, which led to the development of thermocouples. ...

  • BPF-based thermal sensor circuit for on-chip testing of RF circuits 

    Altet Sanahujes, Josep; Barajas Ojeda, Enrique; Mateo Peña, Diego; Billong, Alexandre; Aragonès Cervera, Xavier; Perpiñà Gilabet, Xavier; Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2021-01)
    Article
    Open Access
    A new sensor topology meant to extract figures of merit of radio-frequency analog integrated circuits (RF-ICs) was experimentally validated. Implemented in a standard 0.35 µm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) ...

  • Electronic reading of a mechanical gas meter based on dual magnetic sensing 

    Ripoll Vercellone, Edgar; Gasulla Forner, Manuel; Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (2021-06-08)
    Article
    Open Access
    This article proposes a measurement system controlled by a microcontroller unit (MCU) for the electronic reading of a mechanical gas meter. The measurement relies on dual magnetic sensing: (a) low-cost low-power primary ...

  • Analysis of a direct microcontroller interface for capacitively coupled resistive sensors 

    Areekath, Lakshmi; George, Boby; Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (2021-01-01)
    Article
    Open Access
    A novel approach to directly interface a capacitively coupled resistive sensor to a microcontroller is presented in this article. The existing measurement schemes for such sensors are complex. In addition, the coupling ...

  • A microcontroller-based interface circuit for non-linear resistive sensors 

    Reverter Cubarsí, Ferran (2021)
    Article
    Open Access
    This article proposes a circuit based on a microcontroller unit (MCU) for the direct measurement and linearization of non-linear resistive sensors, such as thermistors. The measurement relies on an embedded digital timer ...

  • Contributions to the pendulum-type wave energy converter system for oceanic drifter applications 

    Carandell Widmer, Matias; Toma, Daniel; Gasulla Forner, Manuel; Río Fernandez, Joaquín del (2021)
    Conference report
    Open Access
    Lagrangian Drifters are autonomous floating passive devices that provide oceanographic surface data. They are low-cost, versatile and easy-deployable marine instrumentation used in climate research. One of the main challenges ...

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