RESUMEN
In the ever-evolving landscape of modern agriculture, the integration of advanced technologies has become indispensable for optimizing crop management and ensuring sustainable food production. This paper presents the development and implementation of a real-time AI-assisted push-broom hyperspectral system for plant identification. The push-broom hyperspectral technique, coupled with artificial intelligence, offers unprecedented detail and accuracy in crop monitoring. This paper details the design and construction of the spectrometer, including optical assembly and system integration. The real-time acquisition and classification system, utilizing an embedded computing solution, is also described. The calibration and resolution analysis demonstrates the accuracy of the system in capturing spectral data. As a test, the system was applied to the classification of plant leaves. The AI algorithm based on neural networks allows for the continuous analysis of hyperspectral data relative up to 720 ground positions at 50 fps.
RESUMEN
Poly(lactic) acid (PLA) is a bio-compatible polymer widely used in additive manufacturing, and in the form of cellular foam it shows excellent mechanical and piezoelectric properties. This type of structure can be easily 3D-printed by Fusion Deposition Modelling (FDM) with commercially available composite filaments. In this work, we present mechanical and electrical investigations on 3D-printed low-cost and eco-friendly foamed PLA. The cellular microstructure and the foaming degree were tuned by varying extrusion temperature and flowrate. The maximum surface potential and charge stability of disk samples were found in correspondence of extrusion temperature between 230 and 240 °C with a flowrate of 53-44% when charging on a heated bed at 85 °C. The cells' morphology and correlated mechanical properties were analyzed and the measured piezoelectric d33 coefficient was found to be 212 pC/N. These findings show the importance of printing parameters and thermal treatment during the charging process in order to obtain the highest charge storage, stability and material flexibility. These results suggest that 3D-printed cellular PLA is a promising sustainable material for sensing and energy-harvesting applications.
RESUMEN
Mechanotransduction refers to the cellular ability to sense mechanical stimuli from the surrounding environment and convert them into biochemical signals that regulate cellular physiology and homeostasis. Mechanosensitive ion channels (MSCs), especially ones of Piezo family (Piezo1 and Piezo2), play a crucial role in mechanotransduction. These transmembrane proteins directly react to mechanical cues by triggering the onset of an ionic current. The relevance of this mechanism in driving physiology and pathology is emerging, and there is a growing need for the identification of an affordable and reliable assay to measure it. Setting up a mechanosensitivity assay requires exerting a mechanical stimulus on single cells while observing the downstream effects of channels opening. We propose an open-hardware approach to stimulate single adherent cells through controlled microindentation, using a 3D-printed actuation platform. We validated the device by measuring the mechanosensitivity of a neural mice cell line where the expression level and activity of Piezo1 were genetically and pharmacologically manipulated. Moreover, this extremely versatile device could be integrated with different read-out technologies, offering a new tool to improve the understanding of mechanotransduction in living cells.
RESUMEN
The erasure of a classical bit of information is a dissipative process. The minimum heat produced during this operation has been theorized by Rolf Landauer in 1961 to be equal to kBT ln2 and takes the name of Landauer limit, Landauer reset or Landauer principle. Despite its fundamental importance, the Landauer limit remained untested experimentally for more than fifty years until recently when it has been tested using colloidal particles and magnetic dots. Experimental measurements on different devices, like micro-mechanical systems or nano-electronic devices are still missing. Here we show the results obtained in performing the Landauer reset operation in a micro-mechanical system, operated at an effective temperature. The measured heat exchange is in accordance with the theory reaching values close to the expected limit. The data obtained for the heat production is then correlated to the probability of error in accomplishing the reset operation.
