Dear readers, Here it is, a new amazing experience through the world of Instrumentation and Measurement with a specific focus on Optical Measurements!

Optical sensing techniques are used in a large variety of application fields where fast, portable, remote-sensing, low-cost and/or rugged devices are required for detection, identification, and measurements of a variety of parameters. Sensors based on optical fibers are exploited in demanding applications, including pharmaceutical research, medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, structural

In nonlinear optics, a major challenge is to maximize the interaction between the light from laser sources and low-density media such as gases. An ultrafast laser beam can be focused to form a highly intense spot over a small concentrated area. The ultrafast laser beam has a short pulse width of less than one picosecond and high peak power in the beam profile (Fig. 1). The beam profile of the laser

In this article, we investigated and designed a double-clad fiber optic pressure (DFOP) sensor, which can acceptably calculate the pressure values using the input and output intensities/powers of light. In order to know the received power, the overlap integral of the emitted light from the core of a double-clad fiber with its reflection from a mirrored diaphragm onto either itself or the inner clad

Measurement of liquid levels inside containers is an important task in a number of industrial and scientific processes. In applications such as fuel monitoring, pharmaceutical industries, wastewater treatment, and food processes, the knowledge of the liquid level is of primary concern. Furthermore, the advent of new technologies and a growing number of applications require exploration of new sensors

Nowadays, robotic systems use tactile sensing as a key enabling technology to implement complex tasks. For example, manipulation and grasping problems strongly depend on the physical and geometrical characteristics of the objects; in fact, objects may be deformable or change their shape when in contact with the robot or the environment. For this reason, often, robots end effectors are equipped with

A refractometric sensor was applied to measure in real-time the concentration of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in crystallization experiments. Paracetamol was used as a model system due to the extensive literature available for this API. The refractometric sensor was fabricated by a simple and inexpensive method that consisted in splicing a short section of a multimode fiber to a single

The whole world experienced in the last decades a continuous change in the age pyramid related to the population aging, where there is an increase in the elderly population (over 65 years) when compared with other age groups [1]. Such demographic change is not essentially an issue, since it demonstrates that the life expectancy is increasing, directly related to many advances in medicine, public health

The use of optical fibers has evolved from an optical transmission waveguide to a more intricated device for bio-chemical sensing. The possibility of measuring target substances with rapid and low-cost tools is still a main challenge in different application fields, from environmental monitoring to the medical-diagnostic sector. In recent decades, plasmonic fiber-optic sensors have gained great interest

The use of Long-Period Fiber Gratings (LPFGs) as sensors has been thoroughly researched, given the multitude of parameters these structures can monitor by themselves (such as temperature, strain, curvature) and the potential for combination with other materials that allow for monitoring of parameters such as humidity, pH and chemical concentration, at a low price and with easy fabrication processes

Surface plasmon-polaritons are electromagnetic modes that can be excited at a conducting-dielec-tric interface [1]. The engineering of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based devices is a milestone in the development of optical sensors. The ability to construct an all-optical system to confine lightwave power at subwavelength dimensions with higher levels of sensitivity and resolution in a broad spectral

Single photon detectors (SPD) are largely used when the signal to be measured is particularly low or if high accuracy, timing resolution and low noise are required. About twenty years ago, a new type of SPD based on superconducting materials appeared, and today these devices present the best performances in terms of efficiency, noise, counting rate, detectable wavelength, dead time, and timing jitter

Water leakages in water distribution systems due aging of pipes is a problem affecting most countries around the world. Official reports from government-commissioned surveys indicate that water losses are estimated to amount to an average of around 30% in most countries, with peaks up to 60% [1]–[3]. Such amounts increase in urban areas, reaching 70 to 80% in some cities. From an economic point of

Tektronix, Inc., in collaboration with Anritsu, has introduced a new PCI EXPRESS® 5.0 transceiver (Base and CEM) and reference clock solution, claiming to be the first company to offer early CEM fixtures for pre-compliance testing. The collaboration between Tektronix and Anritsu enables industry-leading receiver verification, complementing a world-class transmitter and reference clock test suite.

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Dear Readers, Whether we like it or not, our everyday life is full of sensors!, Let's think of one of the most used objects, which is always in our pocket or purse: the smartphone. This device is full of sensors, which help the smartphone operate and provide services which sometimes may be useful, such as GPS, or allow for fun, such as gaming Apps.

The use of nanoparticles (NP) has been dramatically rising in the recent years and NPs can nowadays be found in various products ranging from food to composite materials or cosmetics [1], [2]. Currently, the most frequently employed NP types are titania (TiO 2 ), as a typical color additive, silica (SiO 2 ), as anticoagulation agent, and silver (Ag) NPs, which are added to textiles, due to their antimicrobial

The digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) has a vital role in measurement practice, since its resourcefulness fits both general purpose aims and requirements of more specific applications. A deep knowledge of DSO operation principles and available features is fundamental for technicians to best exploit the possibilities of the instrument. Operation principles regard digitization, acquisition, processing

Time comparison based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is one of the main techniques in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) calculation. At present, there is a goal to promote the Galileo system to join the UTC calculation to provide high-precision services for users all over the world. In this paper, the Precision Point Positioning (PPP) time comparison based on Galileo is studied. The data

Viscometers are extensively utilized for a wide variety of sensing and monitoring applications like biomedical diagnostics, biochemical optimization, fluid adulteration detection and quality control in pharmaceuticals. Realizing the viscometer in the lab-on-chip/microfluidic domain increases its potential to be a point-of-care device by making it completely automated and robust. This work presents

The process of functionalization in the field of nanotechnology is an important area of scientific and technical activities. Functionalization involves different expertise insofar as its complexity impacts physics, chemistry, electronics, measurement and instrumentation, and materials science. The research presented in this paper proposes criteria for verifying silica nanoparticles in terms of shape

In the recent past, a medical 2D image fusion approach has played a vital role in the biomedical industry for diagnosing disease using various modalities of medical images. Biomedical 2D image fusion synthesis is a combining technique that merges useful information from two or more modalities of data captured through high definition scanning devices. The fused image is highly useful when doctors make

Extracting relevant and useful information from measurements is an issue of paramount importance and it can be considered as complementary to the process of data acquisition. This is a crucial point especially in the field of chemical measurements, where data sets can consist of hundreds or even thousands of variables so their interpretation can require long time. Chemometrics try to tackle this issue

In this paper, a new structural damage detection approach is proposed, based on monitoring of the magnetic field intensity variations using smartphones. Experimental and numerical studies are conducted on steel plates to verify the efficiency of the proposed approach. Various damage scenarios are introduced to the steel plates. Then, a smartphone magnetometer sensor is deployed to measure the changes

Infrared thermal wave detection, scanning and recording of temperature responses in the form of digital signals is considered a powerful supplement to traditional nondestructive testing (NDT) methods. It offers a range of advantages, such as a large testing area, a wide range of applications, a fast testing speed, the fact that there is no need to make contact with the tested objects, and the possibility

An automated container terminal (ACT) is a cutting-edge type of container terminal that uses automated equipment and sensors to achieve autonomous applications such as container loading/unloading, horizontal transportation, and yard operations. It has integrated state-of-the-art sensing technologies, ensuring low operating costs, high throughput capacity, and enhanced management security. Vision-based

We consider the micro positioning platform which is equipped with only four receivers. This paper considers estimating the Direction Of Arrival (DOA) using four isotropic receivers. As a signal is reflected or scattered, its amplitude attenuates significantly. Thus, as we estimate the DOA, we use receivers with high signal amplitude, since they have more probability to receive a direct signal (not

While it is known that one of the major causes of accidents in the maritime domain is excessive mental fatigue, objectively assessing mental fatigue in real-time in maritime operations remains a challenging and unanswered question. In this work, we aimed to develop an approach to assess mental fatigue in maritime operators in real-time and independent of the performed task. The method involves a simple

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Although Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are used as mobile measurement platforms in several applications, no guidelines are provided to include the measurement uncertainty assessment in the design steps of the UAV platform. In this article, the steps required for the design of a UAV-based measurement instrument according to the application measurement target and the uncertainty assessment are delineated

When the pantograph of a high-speed train is separated from the power supply line, a panto-graph-catenary arc (PCA) occurs. This generates electromagnetic interference (EMI) and additional undesired effects on the electrical equipment (such as speed sensors) on the train. It creates a safety hazard for high-speed train operation. This article presents a new method for dealing with EMI caused by the

High-speed trains close to airports emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR), which might interfere with the airport communication and navigation signals and create a safety hazard for the aircraft operation. Therefore, it is necessary to measure and evaluate the electromagnetic environment when building high-speed railway near the airport. In this paper, a new influence factor, train speed, is considered

Keysight Technologies, Inc. has introduced the new i7090 massively parallel board test system. This is a new category of automated test equipment designed to perform tests in parallel, on multiple printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA), to achieve high volume throughput which speeds time-to-market and reduces cost-of-test.

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The IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Society (I&M) is soliciting nominations for its Society Awards. To view the full detailed listing of each award please visit our Awards page on the website. Nominations are due by 1 August. Nominators should utilize the forms associated with each award description found at ieee-ims.org/awards. Award Nominations due by 1August 2021 Society Awards: Career Excellence

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During the last year, all of us experienced a strong modification of our habits, the way we interact with each other, the way we communicate and the way we learn and teach. I can still remember the message we sent the last year to our youngest generation of Researchers: ‘Go around the world and get, as much as you can, advanced research outcomes in the field of IM.’

Part A of this Special Issue (SI) on Instrumentation and Measurement in Canada was presented in the April 2021 Issue. Here, we continue the SI in Part B, starting with the topic of Measurement Fundamentals which opens with three articles from Canada's National Research Council (NRC). It's not surprising to see three articles from NRC, considering that it comprises Canada's various metrology, standards

The international System of Units (SI) was redefined in 2018 [1]. This historical event implemented a beautiful idea—a system of units defined entirely by constants of nature. The most notable modification to the SI involved abandoning the artifact definition of the kilogram in favor of fixing the numerical value of the Planck constant. Apart from its physical and mathematical elegance, the new SI

Electric power systems have been designed to operate under sinusoidal voltage and current conditions at power frequencies, mainly 50 Hz and 60 Hz, and by far most electrical energy transmission occurs at 50 Hz and 60 Hz. Electric utilities are responsible for providing a sinusoidal voltage to their residential, commercial and industrial customers. The customers are, on their side, responsible for not

The paper describes research and development (R&D) work being conducted at the NRC in the field of ac Metrology to establish a Josephson based system to provide traceability to the SI to measurements of low frequency ac quantities via digital sampling techniques. Latest achievements suggest that measurement uncertainties bearing parts in 10 7 or much less for frequencies up to 1 kHz are attainable

In spite of the advent of Machine Learning (ML) and its successful deployment in measurement systems, little information can be found in the literature about uncertainty quantification in these systems [1]. Uncertainty is crucial for the adoption of ML in commercial products and services. Designers are now being encouraged to be upfront about the uncertainty in their ML systems, because products that