Study and design of a digital micro-mirror controller in Laser Beam Scanning (LBS) applicationsContact person
ANGELO GERACIEmail:
angelo.geraci@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Description:
The activity deals with the control of a MEMS-resonant mirror and a MEMS-linear mirror with the aim of generating a raster scan. The designed circuit will be inserted into an LBS architecture for applications of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR / VR) where it will work together with an analog ASIC for the control of the mirrors and for the generation and management of video synchronisms.
Goals of the project are: Matlab system study; implementation in RTL language or languages compatible with high level synthesis; development of a mixed signal simulation environment for the cosimulation of the digital controller with analog front end and mechanical models of the mirrors, with the aim of verifying the validity of the control also on the ASIC and MEMS process spreads; choice of technology for a future ASIC implementation.
The activity will be carried out in STMicroelectronics at the Castelletto headquarters.
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Study and design of a digital interface circuit between Application Processor and Laser Driver for Laser Beam Scanning (LBS) in video projection applicationsContact person
ANGELO GERACIEmail:
angelo.geraci@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Description:
The activity deals with the synchronization between source and driver, as well as the calibration and color balance of the various lasers. The designed circuit will be inserted in an LBS architecture for applications of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR / VR) where it will work as a glue between application processors, laser drivers and mirror drivers.
Goals of the project are: definition of the microarchitecture, implementation in RTL language; FPGA implementation of the circuit together with an existing ST laser driver; choice of technology for a future ASIC implementation.
The activity will be carried out in STMicroelectronics at the Castelletto headquarters.
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Convolutional neural networks with PCM synapses for artificial visionContact person
DANIELE IELMINI;DANIELE IELMINIEmail:
daniele.ielmini@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Description:
The convolutional neural network (CNN) is the mainstream solution for computer vision, enabling image recognition with extreme accuracy and high speed. This thesis addresses the adoption of phase change memory (PCM) synapses in the CNN to reduce the power consumption by analog matrix-vector multiplication within the PCM array. This thesis will address the benefits of PCM synapses in terms of area, energy, and speed, by design and simulation of digital/analog CNNs. The thesis will be carried out in STMicroelectronics.
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SENSORISTICA INTEGRATA PER ROBOT COLLABORATIVIContact person
GIORGIO FERRARIEmail:
giorgio.ferrari@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Marco SampietroWeb page:
http://home.deib.polimi.it/ferrari/TesiLoson2018.pdfDescription
Description:
La tesi prevede lo sviluppo di bracci sensorizzati in fibra di carbonio per le nuove generazioni di robot collaborativi. Questa nuova famiglia di robot nasce per collaborare direttamente con l’uomo e, per questa ragione, devono essere dotati di sensori per percepire l’ambiente circostante. Grazie alle proprie competenze di progettazione meccanica nel composito ed elettronica, Loson sta sviluppando insieme ad un primario produttore di robot dei bracci robotici in fibra di carbonio con sensoristica direttamente integrata nel materiale.
Obiettivo dell’attività è procedere, a partire da una prima tesi già svolta e da una serie di primi prototipi, nell’integrazione e sviluppo di sensoristica dal punto di vista fisico ed elettronico con soluzioni sostenibili in termini di costi e di produzione, in modo da garantire lo sviluppo di prodotti di successo nel lungo periodo.
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In wheel Motor synchronization via can BUS for off road applicationsContact person
GIAMBATTISTA GRUOSSOEmail:
giambattista.gruosso@polimi.itStudy course: Electrical Engineering
Description
Description:
The aim of the thesis is to develop a electrical powert train, synchronizing inwheels motor drive by means of CANbus networks.
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Methods for motorcycle attitude estimationContact person
LUIGI PIRODDIEmail:
luigi.piroddi@polimi.itStudy course: Automation Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Simone Formentin, Federico BianchiDescription
Description:
Nowadays, wheeled vehicles are equipped with many driver assistant systems - such as the ABS (anti-lock break system) or the TCS (traction control system) - which increase driver and passengers safety and comfort. While these systems have become a standard on all four-wheeled vehicles, their use on two-wheeled vehicles is more recent (the ABS became mandatory in the EU only in 2016). Therefore, in the field of two-wheeled vehicles, the interest in electronic systems for the control of vehicle dynamics is still recent. Particularly interesting and challenging, is the attitude estimation since it plays a major role in the overall vehicle dynamics. In this regard, a reliable method should take into account also the multi-mode nature of the controlled system: the overall dynamics can be considered as a collection of several continuous dynamics representing different operational modes - acceleration, braking, steering - indexed by a discrete variable. The goal of this thesis is the investigation and development of methods for motorcycle attitude estimation.
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Adaptive Kalman filtering for hybrid systemsContact person
LUIGI PIRODDIEmail:
luigi.piroddi@polimi.itStudy course: Automation Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Simone Formentin, Federico BianchiDescription
Description:
The filtering problem consists in reconstructing or estimating a non-measurable variable (called remote variable) based on the knowledge of other, measurable and uncertain variables. This uncertainty refers to measurement noise related to sensors, and to process noise which accounts for all those modelling aspects that for various reasons are not taken into account. In Kalman filtering, the noise is expressed by means of stochastic Gaussian processes described in terms of their statistical properties (mean and covariance). The filter formulation requires the knowledge of a model of the underlying system, as well the process and measurement noise covariance matrices. In practice, the latter are design parameters, whose setting critically affects the filter performance.
This is all the more true for hybrid systems, whose behavior can be described by the interaction of several time-driven continuous dynamics (continuous states or modes) indexed by event-driven discrete dynamic (discrete states). Indeed, in that framework also the noise covariances change with the discrete state.
The problem of estimating the covariance matrices that optimize the filter performance is an open problem in literature, which could have a significant impact on Kalman filter-based applications. The goal of this thesis is the investigation of the filtering problem in the context of hybrid systems, with particular emphasis on the adaptation of the covariance matrices involved in the filter computations.
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Randomized methods for the identification of hybrid systemsContact person
LUIGI PIRODDIEmail:
luigi.piroddi@polimi.itStudy course: Automation Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Dr. Federico BianchiDescription
Description:
Hybrid systems are heterogeneous dynamical systems whose behavior can be described by the interaction of several time-driven continuous dynamics (continuous states or modes) indexed by event-driven discrete dynamic (discrete states). They can represent technological systems where continuous models such as differential or difference equations describe the physical and mechanical part, and discrete models such as finite-state machines or Petri nets describe the software and logical behavior. For example, while driving, a car follows different dynamics, depending on the specific phase (acceleration/braking, cornering) or the track characteristics (slope, road surface, weather conditions).
The goal of this thesis is the development of a randomized black-box technique to identify both the system modes and the switching mechanism directly from data.
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Prediction of stuck-pipe events in oil&gas drilling operationsContact person
LUIGI PIRODDIEmail:
luigi.piroddi@polimi.itStudy course: Automation Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Matteo, Matteucci, Marcello Restelli, Luca FerrariniDescription
Description:
Sticking occurs when the drillstring cannot be moved (rotated or reciprocated) along the axis of the wellbore. During drilling operations, a pipe is considered stuck if it cannot be freed from the hole without damaging the pipe, and without exceeding the drilling rig's maximum allowed hook load. Stuck-pipes are one of the main causes of NPT (Non-Productive Time) in drilling operations and are estimated to cost between 200 and 500 millions of dollars each year to the oil industry. Various sensor measurements taken throughout the drilling process are available in a large dataset to be used to tune the models.
This thesis proposal falls within an ongoing collaboration with ENI on Big data analytics for NPT prediction and operational efficiency.
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Characterization and modeling for spindle motors for HARD DISK applicationsContact person
GIAMBATTISTA GRUOSSOEmail:
giambattista.gruosso@polimi.itStudy course: Electrical Engineering
Description
Description:
The characterization and modeling for spindle motors for HARD DISK applications is a fundamental theme for the development of sensorless type controls. The thesis, carried out in collaboration with ST microeletrocnis (internship) will aim to study this type of engines and arrive at a complete electromechanical model.
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Error correcting and storage with emerging memoriesContact person
LUCA BARLETTAEmail:
luca.barletta@polimi.itStudy course: Telecommunications Engineering
Web page:
http://home.deib.polimi.it/barletta/Description
Description:
We want to investigate aspects related to reliability and latency required by storage with emerging memory technologies – like PCM, STTMRAM, Cu-RAM, Ce-RAM, Fe-RAM, Ox-RAM, and 3D XPoint – through the design of error correcting codes.
Computer simulations may be needed to assess the performance of practical error correcting codes.
(Suggested) Prerequisites: Coding theory.
Computer simulations will be performed in Matlab or C, depending on student's preferences.
During the thesis the student will be financially supported by Micron Semiconductor Italia S.r.l (approximately 600 € / month).
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Photo Controlled Deformable MirrorsContact person
DARIO ANDREA NICOLA NATALIEmail:
dario.natali@polimi.it, andrea.bianco@brera.inaf.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Description:
In the field of astronomy, to achieve diffraction limited imaging it is mandatory to compensate for the distortion induced by the atmosphere. This can be done by means of suitable deformable optics. Photo Controlled Deformable Mirrors (PCDMs) are an innovative class of deformable mirrors, where the deformation of a reflective surface is induced by a local and optically addressed change of the electrostatic pressure . The thesis deals the design and realization of mirror prototypes, the assessment of expected performances of an adaptive optical system and with the development of suitable opto-electric-mechanical models for PDMCs.
The project, which is part of the EU Horizon2020 OPTICON project (Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy), www.astro-opticon.org/,
is in collaboration with Andrea Bianco, INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Merate (LC).
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Memristive Hopfield networks for pattern learning, association, recognition and correctionContact person
DANIELE IELMINIEmail:
daniele.ielmini@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Description:
Recurrent neural networks can learn and recall patterns, and are responsible for associative memories (e.g., the Pavlov's dog) in our brain. This Thesis will aim at the simulation, the design and the testing of Hopfield-type recurrent networks with memristive synapses, to demonstrate cognitive functions such as memory formation, recall, association, and correction. Work to be performed at the Nanodevice lab, DEIB.
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Brain-inspired circuits for learning in silicoContact person
DANIELE IELMINIEmail:
daniele.ielmini@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Description:
The objective of this Thesis is the development of spiking neural networks with memristive synapses capable of learning. The activity includes the simulation, the design, and the testing of a neural network capable of learning and recognition spatio-temporal patterns, such as moving trajectories, words, and jingles. The work will be carried out at the Nanodevice lab, DEIB.
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Solving linear algebra problems with memristorsContact person
DANIELE IELMINIEmail:
daniele.ielmini@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Description:
The objective of this Thesis is the hardware demonstration of a recently developed scheme for solving linear algebra problems, such as finding the vector x in Ax = b, using a crossbar array of memristors. The activity includes simulations, design and testing of analog circuits with memristive devices fabricated in Polifab. The work will be carried out at the Nanodevice lab, DEIB.
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Progetto di un moltiplicatore di frequenza a 80GHz per applicazioni wireless in tecnologia BiCMOS 55nmContact person
SALVATORE LEVANTINOEmail:
salvatore.levantino@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Progettazione di un regolatore di tensione a controllo digitale totalmente integrato in tecnologia CMOS 28nmContact person
SALVATORE LEVANTINOEmail:
salvatore.levantino@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Description
Blockchain / Composizione di contrattiContact person
FLORIAN DANIELEmail:
florian.daniel@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Web page:
http://www.floriandaniel.it/tesi.htmlDescription
Description:
Blockchain è la tecnologia dei Bitcoin, una tecnologia del futuro. Si tratta di un “libro mastro” per la registrazione di transazioni (non solo di denaro) distribuito e aperto a tutti, quasi impossibile da falsificare. Etherium, una delle possibili piattaforme blockchain, supporta anche l’esecuzione di piccoli script all’interno del blockchain, i cosiddetti contratti. L’obiettivo finale di questo argomento è quello di arrivare a definire un’approccio di composizione leggero per l’integrazione di contratti. Ma prima: Qual è il potere espressivo di questi contratti? Come sono fatti? Quali operazioni sono possibili? Quali sensate? Come possiamo mettere in comunicazione due contratti?
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Chatbots / Bot personali, ma davveroContact person
FLORIAN DANIELEmail:
florian.daniel@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Web page:
http://www.floriandaniel.it/tesi.htmlDescription
Description:
Tutte le conversazioni online oggi vedono partecipare non solo umani ma anche dei bot, cioè delle entità algoritmiche che in superficie mimano il comportamento umano, ma non lo sono affatto. I chatbot, per esempio, sono quei bot con cui chattiamo tramite WhatsApp, Messager, o simili strumenti di messaggistica. Lo sviluppo di chatbot fatti bene rimane però un problema aperto. Non esistono strumenti che permettano a un utente non programmatore di sviluppare dei bot. Come possiamo invece mettere questo utente nelle condizioni di svilupparsi un bot tutto suo? Come assisterlo nel suo compito? L’obiettivo è permettere a tutti di avere un assistente bot personale.
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Crowdsourcing / Studi con utentiContact person
FLORIAN DANIELEmail:
florian.daniel@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Web page:
http://www.floriandaniel.it/tesi.htmlDescription
Description:
Il crowdsourcing è l’esternalizzazione (outsourcing) di lavoro a un gruppo di persone sconosciute (la crowd) tramite una chiamata aperta a tutti, una pratica diventata famosa soprattutto grazie a piattaforme come Mechanical Turk e CrowdFlower. La sfida è capire come coinvolgere persone nella risoluzione di problemi che computer tradizionali non sono in grado di risolvere, garantendo la qualità dei risultati.
E’ possibile usare la crowd per condurre studi con utenti (user studies) che solitamente invece richiedono la presenza degli utenti in un laboratorio? Quali compromessi bisogna accettare? Quali invece possono essere gli eventuali vantaggi?
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Data science / Sviluppo sistema di analisi di datiContact person
FLORIAN DANIELEmail:
florian.daniel@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Web page:
http://www.floriandaniel.it/tesi.htmlDescription
Description:
La data science è una disciplina emergente che combina tante aree della computer science — data management, machine learning, statistica, UI design — per creare valore dai dati, dati che continuano a crescere con ritmi esorbitanti (Big Data). Innumerevoli sono le sfide da affrontare, dalla gestione di grandi moli di dati, alla loro rappresentazione, interpretazione, analisi e visualizzazione. Altrettante sono le domande di ricerca che si possono studiare.
Rispondere a queste domande richiede il coordinamento di operazioni diverse (analisi di dati, formattazioni di dati, crawling del Web, …). Lo scopo di questo progetto quindi è quello di sviluppare un sistema di analisi dei dati basato sul concetto di Workflow/Business Process Management che permetta la modularizzazione delle operazioni e la loro orchestrazione a partire da un modello grafico.
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Validating models through big dataContact person
BARBARA PERNICIEmail:
barbara.pernici@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Gabriele Scalia gabriele.scalia@polimi.itWeb page:
http://pernici.faculty.polimi.itDescription
Description:
The thesis is in the fields of data science, big data management and machine learning.
The goal of the thesis is to investigate how, given a large set of experimental data and a set of existing models which should approximate them, it is possible to automatically evaluate the performance of the models.
Techniques to compare a single experiment to a single model already exist. The research question is about exploiting the large amount of experimental data which are nowadays available, all together, to better assess and characterize the performance of models. This assessment could also drive further model improvements.
The context is provided by the domain of combustion kinetic modelling (chemical engineering field), where models are continuously developed and must be tested and improved on real data. However, the same techniques investigated in this thesis could also be applied to many other fields. No knowledge in chemical engineering is required.
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Process perturbations related to eventsContact person
BARBARA PERNICIEmail:
barbara.pernici@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Web page:
http://pernici.faculty.polimi.itDescription
Description:
The goal of the thesis is to analyze how business processes may be subject to interferences due to other concurrently executed processes.
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Process resilience and data fault injectorsContact person
BARBARA PERNICIEmail:
barbara.pernici@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Web page:
http://pernici.faculty.polimi.itDescription
Description:
The goal of the thesis is to analyze the resilience characteristics of business processes when they are subject to wrong or missing information.
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Quality analysis of social network information in emergency situationsContact person
BARBARA PERNICIEmail:
barbara.pernici@polimi.itStudy course: Computer Science and Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Chiara FrancalanciWeb page:
http://pernici.faculty.polimi.itDescription
Description:
Within the E2mC European project, we are collecting and classifying tweets as source of information.
The thesis will focus on quality aspects of the gathered information, in particular analyzing the reliability of sources and the distribution of possible information sources.
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Modulation of the momentum of inertia for innovative MEMS accelerometersContact person
GIACOMO LANGFELDEREmail:
giacomo.langfelder@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Cristiano MarraWeb page:
risorse.dei.polimi.it/sensorlabDescription
Description:
After about 20 years of development, MEMS accelerometers based on standard capacitive topologies are reaching their ultimate performance, with a major factor, limiting new applications (IoT, navigation, augmented reality), given by offset drifts.
To overcome this limit, new working principle should be investigated. This Thesis proposes a new concept based on the modulation of the inertia in a rotational MEMS accelerometer, to filter offset drifts.
The work includes the MEMS structure development, the conception and development of electronic blocks, and a thourough experimental campaign using shakers and temperature chambers to verify the accelerometer performance.
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MEMS gyroscopes for automotive safety and performanceContact person
GIACOMO LANGFELDEREmail:
giacomo.langfelder@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Web page:
risorse.dei.polimi.it/sensorlabDescription
Description:
MEMS gyroscopes are heavily entering the automotive market. The increasing demand of robustness and performance is now claiming for structures that are immune to effects of vibrations that typically affect a vehicle. This thesis develops around new amplitude-modulated MEMS gyroscopes based on levered sense modes for improved rejection of linear vibrations, and in particular aims at modelling and validating the combined effects of quadrature error and vibrations on the performance of MEMS gyrosocpes.
Suitable structures will be developed and tested under combined rotations and vibrations. Electronics will be developed to cancel quadrature either with electromechanical compensation or with direct electronic cancellation. A comparison of the different quadrature cancellation techniques against vibrations will be the final achievement of the Thesis.
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3-axis, frequency-modulated MEMS gyroscopesContact person
GIACOMO LANGFELDEREmail:
giacomo.langfelder@polimi.itStudy course: Electronics Engineering
Other members of the research group:
Paolo Minotti, Cristiano MarraWeb page:
risorse.dei.polimi.it/sensorlabDescription
Description:
The Thesis develops around the innovative concept of Lissajous frequency-modulated, a recently proposed working principle for improved stability with respect to state-of-the-art capacitive microgyroscopes. Additionally, the Thesis aims at developing the first monolithic 3-axis gyroscope of this type, with associated electronics.
One Thesis aims at developing system-level PCB-based electronics for a comprehensive ultimate characterization of the sensor.
A second thesis aims at developing and characterizing the complete integrated electronic chain, including innovative frequency-to-digital direct converters.
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A general framework for MIMO receivers with low-resolution quantizationContact person
LUCA BARLETTAEmail:
luca.barletta@polimi.itStudy course: Telecommunications Engineering
Web page:
https://home.deib.polimi.it/barletta/index.htmlDescription
Description:
We want to investigate the capacity of MIMO channels with output quantization for different receiver architectures. In this framework, the quantizers used for analog-to-digital conversion are a scarce resource to be optimally allocated among the receiver's antennas.
Computer simulations are needed to assess the average performance of practical receivers in Gaussian fading channels.
(Suggested) Prerequisites: Mobile communications, Information theory.
Computer simulations will be performed in Matlab or C, depending on student's preferences.
Possibility to spend a period at National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
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