| 6. High-efficiency Propulsion Systems for Solar Powered Airships
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| Unmanned solar powered airships have great potential for application such as environmental monitoring and communications relay in the least windy lower stratosphere. They have advantages for monitoring typhoons and the Antarctic Ozone hole. However, high-efficiency propulsion systems are needed. Active boundary layer control techniques, in which boundary flow over the airship skin is intercepted by a slot towards the back of the vehicle and ejected as a jet, were developed for improving overall propulsion efficiency.
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| 7. New Acoustic Microscope
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| In order to perform sub-micron analysis of material properties, surface defects and thin films, a new acoustic microscope has been developed. This microscope uses a sharp tip with a radius of a few tens of nanometers to detect the ultrasonic vibration of the sample surface, and has already been commercialized by an instrument manufacturer to perform non-destructive observation of crystal lattice defects and evaluation of lubricant molecules on magnetic recording media.
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| 8. Micro-gripper
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| A micro-gripper has been developed which can be utilized for assembling micromachines and miniature machines. The gripper consists of a force intensifying mechanism using multiple spring joints and links, and a piezo actuator. This mechanism is a one-tip type produced by etching a Be-Cu thin plate. The gripper is 23 mm long, weighs 4 g, and can hold parts weighing up to 1 g.
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| 9. In-cylinder Observation of Diesel Combustion by High Speed Shadougraphy
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| In this project, a system was developed which allows the simultaneous photographing of shadowgraphs and direct images of diesel engine combustion flames. Although the principle of this technique is very simple and it is easy to put into practice, it has proven extremely useful in gaining a complete picture of the fuel spray, combustion flame, and soot behavior in diesel engine cylinders.
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| 10. Hydrogen-powered Vehicle
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| In this project, a practical hydrogen-powered vehicle was developed, which used several new technologies. Amongst these were the use of a new type of metal hydride for fuel storage, a spark ignition engine which featured direct injection of low pressure hydrogen gas, and electronic control of the total engine system. Tests showed the feasibility of practical, high performance hydrogen-powered vehicles.
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