Development of ASTM International D8405-Standard Test Method for Evaluating PM2.5 Sensors or Sensor Systems Used in Indoor Applications.

Sensors and sensor systems for monitoring fine particles with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 2.5 µm can provide real-time feedback on indoor air quality and thus can help guide actions to manage indoor air pollutant concentrations. Standardized verification of the performance and accuracy of sensors and sensor systems is crucial for predicting the efficacy of such monitoring. A new ASTM International standard test method (ASTM D8405) was created for this need and is the most exacting laboratory protocol published to date for evaluating indoor air quality sensors and sensor systems measuring particles smaller than 2.5 µm in diameter. ASTM D8405 subjects sensors and sensor systems to five test phases: (1) an initial particle concentration ramp; (2) exposure to various temperature and humidity conditions; (3) exposure to interfering particles; (4) temperature cycling; and (5) a final particle concentration ramp to assess drift. This paper discusses the development of the standard test method, key aspects of the testing process, example evaluation results, and a comparison of this standard test method against peer evaluation protocols.

Impact Analysis of Standardized GNSS Receiver Testing against Real-World Interferences Detected at Live Monitoring Sites.

GNSS-based applications are susceptible to different threats, including radio frequency interference. Ensuring that the new applications can be validated against the latest threats supports the wider adoption and success of GNSS in higher value markets. Therefore, the availability of standardized GNSS receiver testing procedures is central to developing the next generation of receiver technologies. The EU Horizon2020 research project STRIKE3 (Standardization of GNSS Threat reporting and Receiver testing through International Knowledge Exchange, Experimentation and Exploitation) proposed standardized test procedures to validate different categories of receivers against real-world interferences, detected at different monitoring sites. This paper describes the recorded interference signatures, their use in standardized test procedures, and analyzes the result for two categories of receivers, namely mass-market and professional grade. The result analysis in terms of well-defined receiver key performance indicators showed that performance of both receiver categories was degraded by the selected interference threats, although there was considerable difference in degree and nature of their impact.

ISO/IEEE 11073 Treadmill Interoperability Framework and its Test Method: Design and Implementation.

BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity is proven to help prevent and treat noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and breast and colon cancer. The exercise data generated by health and fitness devices (eg, treadmill, exercise bike) are very important for health management service providers to develop personalized training programs. However, at present, there is little research on a unified interoperability framework in the health and fitness domain, and there are not many solutions; besides, the privatized treadmill data transmission scheme is not conducive to data integration and analysis. OBJECTIVE: This article will expand the IEEE 11073-PHD standard protocol family, develop standards for health and fitness device (using treadmill as an example) based on the latest version of the 11073-20601 optimized exchange protocol, and design protocol standards compliance testing process and inspection software, which can automatically detect whether the instantiated object of the treadmill meets the standard. METHODS: The study includes the following steps: (1) Map the data transmitted by the treadmill to the 11073-PHD objects; (2) Construct a programming language structure corresponding to the 11073-PHD application protocol data unit (APDU) to complete the coding and decoding part of the test software; and (3) Transmit the instantiated simulated treadmill data to the gateway test software through transmission control protocol for standard compliance testing. RESULTS: According to the characteristics of the treadmill, a data exchange framework conforming to 11073-PHD is constructed, and a corresponding testing framework is developed; a treadmill agent simulation is implemented, and the interoperability test is performed. Through the designed testing process, the corresponding testing software was developed to complete the standard compliance testing of the treadmill. CONCLUSIONS: The extended research of IEEE 11073-PHD in the field of health and fitness provides a potential new idea for the data transmission framework of sports equipment such as treadmills, which may also provide some help for the development of sports health equipment interoperability standards.

Current playground surface test standards underestimate brain injury risk for children.

Playgrounds surface test standards have been introduced to reduce the number of fatal and severe injuries. However, these test standards have several simplifications to make it practical, robust and cost-effective, such as the head is represented with a hemisphere, only the linear kinematics is evaluated and the body is excluded. Little is known about how these simplifications may influence the test results. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of these simplifications on global head kinematics and head injury prediction for different age groups. The finite element human body model PIPER was used and scaled to seven different age groups from 1.5 up to 18 years old, and each model was impacted at three different playground surface stiffness and three head impact locations. All simulations were performed in pairs, including and excluding the body. Linear kinematics and skull bone stress showed small influence if excluding the body while head angular kinematics and brain tissue strain were underestimated by the same simplification. The predicted performance of the three different playground surface materials, in terms of head angular kinematics and brain tissue strain, was also altered when including the body. A body and biofidelic neck need to be included, together with suitable head angular kinematics based injury thresholds, in future physical or virtual playground surface test standards to better prevent brain injuries.