No abstract

Doppler self-mixing laser probing techniques are often used for vibration measurement with very high accuracy. A novel optoelectronic probe solution is proposed, based on off-the-shelf components, with a direct reflection optical scheme for contactless characterization of the target's movement. This probe was tested with two test bench apparatus that enhance its precision performance, with a linear actuator at low frequency (35 m, 5-60 Hz), and its dynamics, with disc shaped transducers for small amplitude and high frequency (0.6 m, 100-2500 Hz). The results, obtained from well-established signal processing methods for self-mixing Doppler signals, allowed the evaluation of vibration velocity and amplitudes with an average error of less than 10%. The impedance spectrum of piezoelectric (PZ) disc target revealed a maximum of impedance (around 1 kHz) for minimal Doppler shift. A bidimensional scan over the PZ disc surface allowed the categorization of the vibration mode (0, 1) and explained its deflection directions. The feasibility of a laser vibrometer based on self-mixing principles and supported by tailored electronics able to accurately measure submicron displacements was, thus, successfully demonstrated.

Electrical impedance spectroscopy, EIS, has been proving efficacy and utility in a wide range of areas, from the characterization of biological tissues to living organisms. Several commercial solutions, with high precision and resolution, are available. Nonetheless, the typical equipments are expensive, unfeasible for in vivo and in field applications and unspecific for concrete applications. These features, together with the lately demands in the vegetal field, fundament this work. Actually, the fast spread of asymptomatic forest diseases, with no cure available to date, such as the pinewood disease, PWD, constitute a problem of economical and forestall huge proportions. Herein is proposed a portable EIS system, for biological applications, able to perform AC current or voltage scans within a selectable frequency range. The procedure and the results obtained for a population of 24 young pine trees (Pinus pinaster Aiton) are also presented. Pine trees were kept in a controlled environment and were inoculated with the nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus Nickle), that causes the PWD, and also with bark beetles (Tomicus destruens Wollaston). Some degree of discrimination between different physiological states was achieved. These results may constitute a first innovative approach to the diagnosis of such types of diseases.