Francesco Adamo | Università degli Studi di Palermo (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Francesco Adamo

Research paper thumbnail of Soil Moisture Assessment by Means of Compressional and Shear Wave Velocities: a Theoretical Analysis

This paper deals with the problem of measuring the moisture of agricultural soils by an accurate ... more This paper deals with the problem of measuring the moisture of agricultural soils by an accurate theoretical method valid for different kinds of soils in different physical conditions. In this work we propose a theoretical analysis based on the propagation of seismic waves in a complex medium as the agricultural soil is. Particularly we prove that the use of both compressional and shear waves simplifies the analysis (by reducing the number of parameters affecting the moisture measurement) and increases the accuracy of the assessment without increasing the computational charge. Moreover we have noticed that, to obtain a complete and accurate mathematical model, it is necessary to focus on the Z factor, which accounts for the influence of air and water content in the soil on the sound velocities. The aim is to demonstrate that velocity of propagation of compressional and shear waves are influenced differently for the different physical factors. Moreover, we will show that the Z factor has to be taken into account for this different dependence on parameters and microclimatic characteristics of the soil

Research paper thumbnail of A low-cost inspection system for online defects assessment in satin glass

Research paper thumbnail of Soil moisture assessment by means of compressional and shear wave velocities: Theoretical analysis and experimental setup

Research paper thumbnail of Velocity-Moisture Relationships for Sandy Soils: Experimental Results and Data Analysis

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of A Virtual Instrument for the Electric Power Monitoring in the Distributing Network

Research paper thumbnail of Measuring the static characteristic of dithered A/D converters

Measurement, 2002

Dithering is a useful technique that removes quantization error and part of the linearity error i... more Dithering is a useful technique that removes quantization error and part of the linearity error in A/D converters. Removing the remaining static error requires a periodical fast measurement of the characteristic, which is a rather difficult task because of the intrinsic very high ...

Research paper thumbnail of Design and Development of a sensor prototype for Soil Moisture Measurement: First Experimental Results

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a System for Soil Microclimatic Analysis

In this paper the design and the development of a moisture sensor for granular and porous mediums... more In this paper the design and the development of a moisture sensor for granular and porous mediums are presented. In the proposed method the moisture is measured by estimating the velocity of propagation of seismic waves (both compressional and shear ones) between a transmitter and a receiver separated by a known distance. The first experimental results are illustrated and compared with theoretical results.

Research paper thumbnail of A/D converters nonlinearity measurement and correction by frequency analysis and dither

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Linearization of A/D converters by dither and Chebyshev polynomials

Research paper thumbnail of Improving data acquisition for characterizazion of soft magnetic ferrites via volt-amperometric technique

This paper presents the application of a measurement procedure for improving data acquisition for... more This paper presents the application of a measurement procedure for improving data acquisition for the characterization of soft magnetic ferrites. The approach is based on a voltamperometric technique and is aimed at better measure minor asymmetric cycles improving the quality and resolution of measurement data. Physical and mathematical conditions require the use of current and voltage signals with very different dynamic range since the major loop has to be traced together to the minor cycles. In such a way, the possibility to get the signal via two channels with different configuration is analyzed and discussed. Preliminary results are reported in the paper together to some preliminary concerns relevant to the metrological characterization of the method.

Research paper thumbnail of SCADA/HMI Systems in Advanced Educational Courses

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of FFT test of A/D converters to determine the integral nonlinearity

Research paper thumbnail of FFT test of A/D converters to determine the integral nonlinearity

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2002

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization and Testing of a Tool for Photovoltaic Panel Modeling

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2011

This paper presents the evaluation of the performance, in terms of uncertainty, of a tool designe... more This paper presents the evaluation of the performance, in terms of uncertainty, of a tool designed to estimate the main parameters of a model of a photovoltaic panel (PVP) under real and/or simulated working conditions. The presented tool permits the characterization of the panel, and it is useful to predict its behavior in whatever working condition; in this way, it is possible to compare the actual and expected performance to prevent any decrease in the output power, so permitting the replacement of the monitored module before it goes out of order or its efficiency falls under a given threshold. The well-known two-diode model is used to estimate the parameters of the electrical equivalent circuit of the PVP and to simulate the I -V and P-V characteristic curves in any given environmental condition of irradiance and/or temperature. The model and the estimation algorithm are implemented with MATLAB functions, whereas data acquisition and result presentation are managed by a LabVIEW graphics user interface. The presented tool has been validated against an experimentally characterized PVP. The environmental parameters of the model such as irradiance and temperature have been set (with their respective uncertainties) during simulations or directly measured during the outdoor tests, whereas the others parameters have been evaluated using a best-fit algorithm on the measured data. The estimation is based on the minimization of a new objective function and on a modified expression of the model resistances, which differ from those mentioned in the available literature. After a review of the state of the art, this paper provides the description of the estimation technique and its validation by means of simulations and experiments. Some results are also provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed test method.

Research paper thumbnail of An acoustic method for soil moisture measurement

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of An online defects inspection system for satin glass based on machine vision

Today, quality control is a nodal point in many industries, and in the glass one in particular; i... more Today, quality control is a nodal point in many industries, and in the glass one in particular; in most cases the human control does not catch up with the pressing market requirements, therefore computer vision inspection systems are preferable to reduce costs and to improve the product quality, but several problems must be solved. In this paper a prototype system, able to reproduce all the functionalities of an automatic glass inspection system, is designed and realized; it guarantees good results and considerable reliability with low incidence on manufacturing costs. The final in-line computer vision system is under development in cooperation with a specialized electronic industry.

Research paper thumbnail of A high voltage power supply and amplifier for Hall effect voltage/current transducers characterization

Undoubtedly voltage and current measurements under distorted conditions have recently gained more... more Undoubtedly voltage and current measurements under distorted conditions have recently gained more and more importance in the actual electric market; the deregulation acting in this field with the consequential liberalization and the augmented request of monitoring capabilities on the power quality from the power suppliers, is at the origin of an increased demand of measurement instruments of the various electric parameters with increased capabilities (greater precision, versatility, etc.), less expensive and with interfacing capabilities to permit their use in automatic measurement system. In this paper we expose the first results of an experimental research activity currently in progress at Polytechnic of Bari, aiming at the design and realization of testing equipment that is cheap, simple to use and accurate.

Research paper thumbnail of Frequency Domain Analysis for Dynamic Nonlinearity Measurement in A/D Converters

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2007

... I. Kale is with the Applied DSP and Very Large Scale Integration Research Group, Department o... more ... I. Kale is with the Applied DSP and Very Large Scale Integration Research Group, Department of Electronics Systems, University of Westminster, W1W 6UW London, UK (e-mail: kalei@westminster.ac.uk). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIM.2007.894893 ...

Research paper thumbnail of PARAMETERS ESTIMATION FOR A MODEL OF PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS

Research paper thumbnail of Soil Moisture Assessment by Means of Compressional and Shear Wave Velocities: a Theoretical Analysis

This paper deals with the problem of measuring the moisture of agricultural soils by an accurate ... more This paper deals with the problem of measuring the moisture of agricultural soils by an accurate theoretical method valid for different kinds of soils in different physical conditions. In this work we propose a theoretical analysis based on the propagation of seismic waves in a complex medium as the agricultural soil is. Particularly we prove that the use of both compressional and shear waves simplifies the analysis (by reducing the number of parameters affecting the moisture measurement) and increases the accuracy of the assessment without increasing the computational charge. Moreover we have noticed that, to obtain a complete and accurate mathematical model, it is necessary to focus on the Z factor, which accounts for the influence of air and water content in the soil on the sound velocities. The aim is to demonstrate that velocity of propagation of compressional and shear waves are influenced differently for the different physical factors. Moreover, we will show that the Z factor has to be taken into account for this different dependence on parameters and microclimatic characteristics of the soil

Research paper thumbnail of A low-cost inspection system for online defects assessment in satin glass

Research paper thumbnail of Soil moisture assessment by means of compressional and shear wave velocities: Theoretical analysis and experimental setup

Research paper thumbnail of Velocity-Moisture Relationships for Sandy Soils: Experimental Results and Data Analysis

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of A Virtual Instrument for the Electric Power Monitoring in the Distributing Network

Research paper thumbnail of Measuring the static characteristic of dithered A/D converters

Measurement, 2002

Dithering is a useful technique that removes quantization error and part of the linearity error i... more Dithering is a useful technique that removes quantization error and part of the linearity error in A/D converters. Removing the remaining static error requires a periodical fast measurement of the characteristic, which is a rather difficult task because of the intrinsic very high ...

Research paper thumbnail of Design and Development of a sensor prototype for Soil Moisture Measurement: First Experimental Results

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a System for Soil Microclimatic Analysis

In this paper the design and the development of a moisture sensor for granular and porous mediums... more In this paper the design and the development of a moisture sensor for granular and porous mediums are presented. In the proposed method the moisture is measured by estimating the velocity of propagation of seismic waves (both compressional and shear ones) between a transmitter and a receiver separated by a known distance. The first experimental results are illustrated and compared with theoretical results.

Research paper thumbnail of A/D converters nonlinearity measurement and correction by frequency analysis and dither

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Linearization of A/D converters by dither and Chebyshev polynomials

Research paper thumbnail of Improving data acquisition for characterizazion of soft magnetic ferrites via volt-amperometric technique

This paper presents the application of a measurement procedure for improving data acquisition for... more This paper presents the application of a measurement procedure for improving data acquisition for the characterization of soft magnetic ferrites. The approach is based on a voltamperometric technique and is aimed at better measure minor asymmetric cycles improving the quality and resolution of measurement data. Physical and mathematical conditions require the use of current and voltage signals with very different dynamic range since the major loop has to be traced together to the minor cycles. In such a way, the possibility to get the signal via two channels with different configuration is analyzed and discussed. Preliminary results are reported in the paper together to some preliminary concerns relevant to the metrological characterization of the method.

Research paper thumbnail of SCADA/HMI Systems in Advanced Educational Courses

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of FFT test of A/D converters to determine the integral nonlinearity

Research paper thumbnail of FFT test of A/D converters to determine the integral nonlinearity

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2002

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization and Testing of a Tool for Photovoltaic Panel Modeling

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2011

This paper presents the evaluation of the performance, in terms of uncertainty, of a tool designe... more This paper presents the evaluation of the performance, in terms of uncertainty, of a tool designed to estimate the main parameters of a model of a photovoltaic panel (PVP) under real and/or simulated working conditions. The presented tool permits the characterization of the panel, and it is useful to predict its behavior in whatever working condition; in this way, it is possible to compare the actual and expected performance to prevent any decrease in the output power, so permitting the replacement of the monitored module before it goes out of order or its efficiency falls under a given threshold. The well-known two-diode model is used to estimate the parameters of the electrical equivalent circuit of the PVP and to simulate the I -V and P-V characteristic curves in any given environmental condition of irradiance and/or temperature. The model and the estimation algorithm are implemented with MATLAB functions, whereas data acquisition and result presentation are managed by a LabVIEW graphics user interface. The presented tool has been validated against an experimentally characterized PVP. The environmental parameters of the model such as irradiance and temperature have been set (with their respective uncertainties) during simulations or directly measured during the outdoor tests, whereas the others parameters have been evaluated using a best-fit algorithm on the measured data. The estimation is based on the minimization of a new objective function and on a modified expression of the model resistances, which differ from those mentioned in the available literature. After a review of the state of the art, this paper provides the description of the estimation technique and its validation by means of simulations and experiments. Some results are also provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed test method.

Research paper thumbnail of An acoustic method for soil moisture measurement

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of An online defects inspection system for satin glass based on machine vision

Today, quality control is a nodal point in many industries, and in the glass one in particular; i... more Today, quality control is a nodal point in many industries, and in the glass one in particular; in most cases the human control does not catch up with the pressing market requirements, therefore computer vision inspection systems are preferable to reduce costs and to improve the product quality, but several problems must be solved. In this paper a prototype system, able to reproduce all the functionalities of an automatic glass inspection system, is designed and realized; it guarantees good results and considerable reliability with low incidence on manufacturing costs. The final in-line computer vision system is under development in cooperation with a specialized electronic industry.

Research paper thumbnail of A high voltage power supply and amplifier for Hall effect voltage/current transducers characterization

Undoubtedly voltage and current measurements under distorted conditions have recently gained more... more Undoubtedly voltage and current measurements under distorted conditions have recently gained more and more importance in the actual electric market; the deregulation acting in this field with the consequential liberalization and the augmented request of monitoring capabilities on the power quality from the power suppliers, is at the origin of an increased demand of measurement instruments of the various electric parameters with increased capabilities (greater precision, versatility, etc.), less expensive and with interfacing capabilities to permit their use in automatic measurement system. In this paper we expose the first results of an experimental research activity currently in progress at Polytechnic of Bari, aiming at the design and realization of testing equipment that is cheap, simple to use and accurate.

Research paper thumbnail of Frequency Domain Analysis for Dynamic Nonlinearity Measurement in A/D Converters

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2007

... I. Kale is with the Applied DSP and Very Large Scale Integration Research Group, Department o... more ... I. Kale is with the Applied DSP and Very Large Scale Integration Research Group, Department of Electronics Systems, University of Westminster, W1W 6UW London, UK (e-mail: kalei@westminster.ac.uk). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIM.2007.894893 ...

Research paper thumbnail of PARAMETERS ESTIMATION FOR A MODEL OF PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS