US – Page 454 – TechConnect Briefs

Design of Reconfigurable Composite Microsystems Based on Hardware/Software Co-design Principles

Zhang T., Chakrabarty K., Fair R.B., Duke University, US

Custom microsystems are expensive, inflexible, and unsuitable for high-volume production. We address this problem by leveraging hardware/software co-design principles to design reconfigurable composite microsystems. We partition the system design parameters into nonreconfigurable and reconfigurable categories. [...]

Computer-Aided Kinematic Design of a Torsional Ratcheting Actuator

Sacks E., Barnes S.M., Purdue University, US

We have developed an interactive computer-aided design program that supports the mechanical design of devices fabricated in surface micro-machining processes. The program automates kinematic analysis via a novel configuration space computation code, performs real-time simulation [...]

Noise Modeling Methodology for Full-System Inertial Microsensor Codesign

Pottenger M.D., Kaiser W.J., University of California at Los Angeles, US

Methos for incorporation noise models into full-system inertial microsensor simulation are presented. Thermal motion of the proof mass and flicker noise in the interface circuit exhibit essential behaviore that must be included in sensor design. [...]

Voxel-Based Heterogeneous Geometric Modeling for Surface Micromachined MEMS

Perrin A., Ananthakrishnan V., Gao F., Sarma R., Ananthasuresh G.K., University of Pennsylvania, 220 S. 33rd Street, US

A heterogeneous geometric modeler for microeletromechanical systmes (MEMS) is the focus of this paper. ON the basis of a comprehensive formalism describe in our earlier work, we present a 3-F implementation of the forward (from [...]

Designing Efficient Computer Experiments for Metamodel Generation

Crary S.B., Woodcock D.M., Hieke A., Crary Group, US

We demonstrate the relative merits of IZ-optimal designs for computer experiments relative to Latin hypercube designs, using two examples, both in two factors and eleven points, one a simple function from Welch et al. [1] [...]

Robust Mask-Layout Synthesis for MEMS

Ma L., Antonsson E.K., California Institute of Technology, US

A method for automated mask-layout and process synthesis for MEMS using Genetic Algorithms was proposed by Ma and Antonsson [5]. For a given desired device shape, and several fabrication process choices, this synthesis method will [...]

A New Material Interpolation Scheme for the Topology Optimization of Thermally Actuated Compliant Micromechanisms

Yin L., Ananthasuresh G.K., University of Pennsylvania, US

Thermally actuated compliant micromechanisms are selectively heated elastic continua that take advantage of nonuniform thermal expansion and mechanical leveraging to amplify displacements and forces. These can be designed systematically, as shown in the earlier work [...]

The Coupled-Domain System Simulation/Simulatability Problem

Jopling J., Rose D., Fair R.B., Duke University, US

This paper discusses the diculties in current approaches to modeling and simulation of coupled-domain systems and presents new approaches and solutions to simulation execution and the model-simulation gap. The ongoing paradigm shift toward coupled-domain systems [...]

Efficient Simulation of MEMS Using Element Stamps

Casinovi G., Georgia Institute of Technology, US

This paper describes an approach to MEMS simulation based on so-called element stamps, which are the building blocks of conventional circuit simulators. Stamps are derived from lumped-constant models of individual electromechanical devices, and built into [...]

Challenges in CMOS-MEMS Extraction

Baidya B., Mukherjee T., Carnegie Mellon University, US

CMOS micromachining processes are being increasingly used to fabricate integrated MEMS devices. Verification of such designs requires extraction from layout to mixed domain circuits and MEMS schematics for lumped parameter simulation. The higher etch hole [...]