University of Electro-Communications eBulletin: Polymer-based Optical Fiber for Visualization of Stress for Construction Sites and Civil Engineering Applications

TOKYO, Dec. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- University of Electro-Communications publishes the December 2019 issue of UEC e-Bulletin

http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/

The December 2019 issue of the UEC e-Bulletin includes short videos of UEC researchers describing their activities on 'plastic optical fibers' and 'algorithms for enhancing security of IoT industrial control systems'.

Research highlights from high impact publications are 'Stretchable electric pumps for next-generation soft robotics', Jun Shintake; 'Inspecting dust on surfaces in product manufacturing', Ryosuke Nakajima; and 'Polymer-based optical fiber for visualization of stress', Rei Furukawa.

The Topics section features research on 'Algorithms for enhancing security of IoT industrial control systems' by Kenji Sawada.

News and Events are updates on 'The Irago Conference 2019'; '3rd International Union of Radio Science, Japan Radio Science Meeting 2019 (URSI) held at UEC Tokyo';' UEC signs general agreement with National Taipei University'; 'UEC holds The 1st ECTI - UEC Workshop and The 6th UEC Seminar in ASEAN, 2019'; and 'Sakura Science Plan Visiting Students Pay a Courtesy Visit to Mr. Hagiuda Koichi, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) during Their UEC Visit'.

December 2019 issue of UEC eBulletin

http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/

Researcher Video Profiles
Basic studies and application of plastic optical fibers

Rei Furukawa
Associate Professor, Department of Engineering Science, The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo.
http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/feature/2019/basic-studies-and-application-of-plastic-optical-fibers.html

Rei Furukawa and her colleagues are conducting research on plastic optical fibers. "We fabricate our own fibers, for example using unique monomer compositions, by adding dopants, dyes, fluorophores, nano-crystals, for example," explains Furukawa. "We are investing new possibilities of plastic-based optical fibers.

Research Highlights

Stretchable electric pumps for next-generation soft robotics
http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/research-highlights/2019/stretchable-electric-pumps-for-next-generation-soft-robotics.html

Soft robots that are composed of compliant materials, offer important advantages over conventional rigid robots, such as simplified body structure and control as well as high robustness and versatility.

Reference: Vito Cacucciolo, Jun Shintake, Yu Kuwajima, Shingo Maeda, Dario Floreano, Herbert Shea, Stretchable pumps for soft machines, Nature, 672, pp516-519.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1479-6

http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/research-highlights/2019/stretchable-electric-pumps-for-next-generation-soft-robotics.html

Inspecting dust on surfaces in product manufacturing: Effect of dirt on inspection surfaces on the accuracy of visual inspection
http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/research-highlights/2019/inspecting-dust-on-surfaces-in-product-manufacturing.html

To supply high-quality products to the market, visual inspection by human senses is conducted in many manufacturing industries. It is generally recommended that visual inspection for a high-quality product be performed in a clean room.

Ryosuke Nakajima, Yuta Asano, Takuya Hida, and Toshiyuki Matsumoto, "The Relationship between Dirt Levels of Inspection Surface and Defect Detection in Visual Inspection Utilizing Peripheral Vision", Industrial Engineering & Management Systems vol. 17(1), pp. 102-112 (2018).

DOI: 10.7232/iems.2018.17.1.102

Polymer-based optical fiber for visualization of stress
http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/research-highlights/2019/polymer-based-optical-fiber-for-visualization-of-stress.html

Fiber-optic strain sensing is known for its ability to monitor large areas. However, most types of fiber-optic strain sensors require spectrum analysis instruments, which drastically increases the overall cost of sensor systems. In contrast, fiber-optic strain sensors such as Bragg-grating or Brillouin optical time domain reflectometers, have reliable structures that are commercially available. However, they are not widely used to support workers in high-risk construction sites.

Reference

[1] S. Kamimura and R. Furukawa: "Strain sensing based on radiative emission-absorption mechanism using dye-doped polymer optical fiber," Applied Physics Letters 11, 063301 (2017). DOI: 10.1063/1.4998738

[2] C. Hirose, N. Fukuda, T. Sassa, K. Ishibashi, T. Ochiai, R. Furukawa: "Fabrication of a Fluorophore-Doped Cylindrical Waveguide Structure Using Elastomers for Visual Detection of Stress," Fibers 7 (2019) No.5, 37. DOI: 10.3390/fib7050037

Topics Video
Algorithms for enhancing security of IoT industrial control systems 
http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/topics/2019/algorithms-for-enhancing-security-of-iot-industrial-control-systems.html

Kenji Sawada is using his expertise in control engineering to develop algorithms for freely moving objects for applications including automobiles, robots, and security and energy, using mathematical theory for optimization and signal processing.

News and Events
http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/e-bulletin/news/

Sakura Science Plan Visiting Students Pay a Courtesy Visit to Mr. Hagiuda Koichi, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) during Their UEC Visit
With the implementation of the Sakura Science Plan supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency, a group of ten visiting students and one supervisor from King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) in Thailand, one of our prestigious partner universities, was invited to our campus for 7 days between October 20 and October 26 to conduct research exchanges, tour laboratories, engage in student interaction, give a presentation at the symposium, and explore the Japanese culture.

UEC holds The 1st ECTI - UEC Workshop and The 6th UEC Seminar in ASEAN, 2019
On September 6-7, 2019, "The 1st ECTI - UEC Workshop on AI and Applications" (Sep 6) and "The 6th UEC Seminar in ASEAN, 2019" (Sep 7) took place at Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep in Bangkok, Thailand. Eminent researchers, executive officers and staffs of UEC partner universities, governmental agencies and industry from Thailand and other ASEAN countries came together for the workshop and the seminar.

UEC signs general agreement with National Taipei University
As of 7 August, 2019, the University of Electro-Communications (UEC) has singed general agreement with National Taipei University, Taiwan, to promote further international collaboration between the two universities.

3rd International Union of Radio Science, Japan Radio Science Meeting 2019 (URSI) held at UEC Tokyo
The 3rd International Union of Radio Science, Japan Radio Science Meeting 2019 (URSI) was held at the University of Electro-Communications campus from 5-6 September 2019. This conference will further revitalize Japan's URSI-related activities under URSI, an international organization that actively engages in activities to contribute to the development of radio science, and will encourage young researchers to taken an interest in radio science. The number of registered registrants was ~ 200, and many papers were presented. Prof. Yagitani (URSI-JRSM 2019 Conference Chair), Prof. Shibata (President, IEICE Electronics Society), Prof. Ando (President, URSI), and President Fukuda (President of the University of Electro-Communications) and others gave opening speeches.

Irago Conference 2019 is held at UEC campus
The Irago Conference 2019 was held on 29 October 2019 at the UEC Tokyo campus. The conference was organized by University of Electro-Communications, Toyohashi University of Technology, and Tokai University. This was 9th in this series of conferences providing a platform for networking between scientists, graduate students, and policy makers to interact and share ideas to find solutions for some the major issues of the 21st century.

Further information
The University of Electro-Communications
1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585
E-mail: [email protected] 
Website: http://www.uec.ac.jp/ 

About the University of Electro-Communications
http://www.uec.ac.jp/

The University of Electro-Communications (UEC) in Tokyo is a small, luminous university at the forefront of pure and applied sciences, engineering, and technology research. Its roots go back to the Technical Institute for Wireless Commutations, which was established in 1918 by the Wireless Association to train so-called wireless engineers in maritime communications in response to the Titanic disaster in 1912. In 1949, the UEC was established as a national university by the Japanese Ministry of Education and moved in 1957 from Meguro to its current Chofu campus Tokyo.

With approximately 4,000 students and 350 faculty members, UEC is regarded as a small university, but with expertise in wireless communications, laser science, robotics, informatics, and material science, to name just a few areas of research.

The UEC was selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities as a result of its strengths in three main areas: optics and photonics research, where we are number one for the number of joint publications with foreign researchers; wireless communications, which reflects our roots; and materials-based research, particularly on fuel cells.

Website: http://www.uec.ac.jp/

SOURCE The University of Electro-Communications