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Study of alternative back contacts for thin film Cu2ZnSnSe4-based solar cells

Cu2ZnSnSe4 thin film solar cells are usually fabricated on a soda lime glass substrate with a molybdenum (Mo) back contact. It is suspected that degradation in electrical performance occurs due to the formation of a barrier between the absorber and Mo back contact. To overcome such degradation, Titanium Nitride (TiN), Titanium Tungsten (TiW), Chromium (Cr), Titanium (Ti) and Aluminum (Al) deposited on Mo-coated glass substrates are investigated as alternative back contact materials. Physical and electrical characterization as well as photoluminescence measurements are performed. Compositional

Circuit Theory and Applications
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness

Multistability Analysis and Function Projective Synchronization in Relay Coupled Oscillators

Regions of stability phases discovered in a general class of Genesio-Tesi chaotic oscillators are proposed. In a relatively large region of two-parameter space, the system has coexisting point attractors and limit cycles. The variation of two parameters is used to characterize the multistability by plotting the isospike diagrams for two nonsymmetric initial conditions. The parameters window in which the jerk system exhibits the unusual and striking feature of multiple attractors (e.g., coexistence of six disconnected periodic chaotic attractors and three-point attraction) is investigated. The

Circuit Theory and Applications
Software and Communications
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness

Influence of Periodic Surface Nanopatterning Profiles on Series Resistance in Thin-Film Crystalline Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

In the frame of the development of thin crystalline silicon solar cell technologies, surface nanopatterning of silicon is gaining importance. Its impact on the material quality is, however, not yet fully controlled.We investigate here the influence of surface nanotexturing on the series resistance of a contacting scheme relevant for thin-film crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Twodimensional periodic nanotextures are fabricated using a combination of nanoimprint lithography and either dry or wet etching, while random pyramid texturing is used for benchmarking. We compare these

Energy and Water
Circuit Theory and Applications
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness

Implementing earned value management using bridge information modeling

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has widely become an effective tool in engineering and construction fields. It could be used in: generating shop drawings; detecting clashes; estimating quantities; and controlling documents. Applying BIM technology on bridges is named Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM). Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) is an intelligent representation of bridges since it contains all information needed about bridges through their whole lifecycle. This paper presents the use of Building Information Modeling in cost and time management of infrastructure bridges. BIM-based

Energy and Water
Circuit Theory and Applications
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness

Improved Production Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) Using Intelligent-Manufacturing Execution Systems (I-MES)

The aim of this research is to reduce the gap between manufacture expertise and management expertise by using modern technology like Manufacturing Execution System (MES) via Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machin Learning (ML). A design of MES has been proposed and implemented on El-Araby Plastic Injection Molding (PIM) factory. This work is based on the International Society of Automation Standard (ISA-S95). A fully automated data management system has been designed and implemented to control data follow between shop floor e.g. (machines and operators) and management floor e.g. (production

Artificial Intelligence
Circuit Theory and Applications
Mechanical Design
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness

Tactile sensing biohybrid soft E-skin based on bioimpedance using aloe vera pulp tissues

Soft and flexible E-skin advances are a subset of soft robotics field where the soft morphology of human skin is mimicked. The number of prototypes that conformed the use of biological tissues within the structure of soft robots—to develop “Biohybrid Soft Robots”—has increased in the last decade. However, no research was conducted to realize Biohybrid E-skin. In this paper, a novel biohybrid E-skin that provides tactile sensing is developed. The biohybrid E-skin highly mimics the human skin softness and morphology and can sense forces as low as 0.01 newton. The tactile sensing feature is

Circuit Theory and Applications

Two-Degree of Freedom Proportional Integral Derivative (2-DOF PID) Controller for Robotic Infusion Stand

Infusion Stand is one of the medical supportive tools in the field of biomedical that assist in holding and carrying medications to patients via intravenous injections. Mobilization of Infusion Stand from a place to another place is necessary not only for the patients itself but also for the nurses. Therefore, this leads to not only uneasiness but also inconvenience for both parties. Therefore, to improve the existing situation and current Infusion Stand in the market, a proposal to design and implement a prototypic Robotic Infusion Stand is submitted. In this paper, 2-Degree of Freedom

Artificial Intelligence
Circuit Theory and Applications
Software and Communications

Gripping Force Modeling of a Variable Inclined Air Pillow Soft Pneumatic Actuator

Soft pneumatic actuators grasping tasks is one of the essential rules in robot manipulation methods. The grasping forces can be adapted to handle delicate and hard objects without leaving any damages on the object surfaces. This paper investigates the influence of the inclination angle of the soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) on its gripping force at its end tip. A range of inclination angles for SPA is analyzed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to estimate the gripping force at the end tip regarding SPA inner faces pressure. FEA study is conducted based on Hyperelastic material modeling

Circuit Theory and Applications
Mechanical Design

Biohybrid soft robots, E-skin, and bioimpedance potential to build up their applications: A review

Soft Robotics is a new approach towards better human-robot interaction and biomimicry in the robotics field. Its integration with biological materials (Biohybrid soft robotics) is one of the topics being focused on in the soft robotics research in the last fifteen years. The motive for this approach is to combine the best of biological and artificial systems. In this article, Biohybrid soft robots and Electronic Skin (E-skin), which is considered one of the advances of soft robotics, are reviewed. Their most significant milestones and the highlights of their most researched applications are

Healthcare
Circuit Theory and Applications

Optimal Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) Controller Design for Smart Irrigation Mobile Robot with Soil Moisture Sensor

Uncertainty on the condition of the weather always give a major headache to the agricultural industry as the cultivated plant that is grown on a large scale commercially rely on the condition of the weather. Therefore, to reduce the interdependency on the weather itself, a recommendation to develop a prototypic mobile robot for smart irrigation is submitted. Smart irrigation system is an essential tool from yield point of view and scarcity of the water. This smart irrigation system adopts a soil moisture sensor to measure the moisture content of the soil and automatically provide a signal to

Energy and Water
Circuit Theory and Applications
Software and Communications
Agriculture and Crops
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness