This paper proposes a novel human machine interface (HMI) and electronics system design to control a rehabilitation robotic exoskeleton glove. Such system can be activated with biometric authentication using the user's voice, take voice commands as input, recognize the command and perform biometric authentication in real-time with limited computing power, and execute the command on the exoskeleton. The electronics design is a stand-alone plug-and-play modulated design independent of the exoskeleton design. This personalized voice activated grasping system achieves better wearability, lower latency, and improved security than any existing exoskeleton glove control system.

In order to improve the performance of a magnetically levitated (maglev) axial flow blood pump, three-dimensional (3-D) finite element analysis (FEA) was used to optimize the design of a hybrid magnetic bearing (HMB). Radial, axial, and current stiffness of multiple design variations of the HMB were calculated using a 3-D FEA package and verified by experimental results. As compared with the original design, the optimized HMB had twice the axial stiffness with the resulting increase of negative radial stiffness partially compensated for by increased current stiffness. Accordingly, the performance of the maglev axial flow blood pump with the optimized HMBs was improved: the maximum pump speed was increased from 6000 rpm to 9000 rpm (50%). The radial, axial and current stiffness of the HMB was found to be linear at nominal operational position from both 3-D FEA and empirical measurements. Stiffness values determined by FEA and empirical measurements agreed well with one another. The magnetic flux density distribution and flux loop of the HMB were also visualized via 3-D FEA which confirms the designers' initial assumption about the function of this HMB.

In most Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM), a piezoelectric tube scanner is used to position the sample underneath the measurement probe. Oscillations stemming from the weakly damped resonances of the tube scanner are a major source of image distortion, putting a limitation on the achievable imaging speed. This paper demonstrates active damping of these oscillations in multiple scanning axes without the need for additional position sensors. By connecting the tube scanner in a capacitive bridge circuit the scanner oscillations can be measured in both scanning axes, using the same piezo material as an actuator and sensor simultaneously. In order to compensate for circuit imbalance caused by hysteresis in the piezo element, an adaptive balancing circuit is used. The obtained measurement signal is used for feedback control, reducing the resonance peaks in both scanning axes by 18 dB and the cross-coupling at those frequencies by 30 dB. Experimental results demonstrate a significant reduction in scanner oscillations when applying the typical triangular scanning signals, as well as a strong reduction in coupling induced oscillations. Recorded AFM images show a considerable reduction in image distortion due to the proposed control method, enabling artifact free AFM imaging at a speed of 122 lines per second with a standard piezoelectric tube scanner.