Amar Kapic | EPFL Graph Search

He graduated with B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Power and Control Systems from the University of Montenegro, with high distinction. During his master studies he took part in an International Exchange Programme at the University of Sapienza, Rome. His master research was focused on the proposal of novel adaptive algorithms for maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic systems which led to publication of two conference papers. In 2017 he participated in a Summer Student Programme at CERN while in 2018 he did a year-long internship (Technical Studentship) at the same laboratory. His responsibility was to design a setup for testing humidity and temperature sensors for CMS detector, program PLCs and create a SCADA system to monitor and control sensors’ data during the testing period. In January 2019 he joined Integrated Circuits Laboratory (ICLAB) at EPFL and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Microsystems and Microelectronics under the supervision of Prof. Sandro Carrara. He is currently based at CERN and as a member of CMX group he is working on development of humidity sensors for High Energy Physics applications.

Robust Analog Multisensory Array System for Lossy Capacitive Sensors Over Long Distances

Sandro Carrara, Amar Kapic, Andromachi Tsirou

A robust capacitive multisensory readout system is presented in this article. The system consists of a few thousand lossy capacitive-based sensors that can be modeled as a parallel connection of sensor capacitor and undesirable leakage resistance. The real system in our application will consist of a high number of capacitive sensors used for the monitoring of relative humidity in a high-energy detector at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). However, our findings apply to any set of capacitive devices aimed at any other sensing application. Furthermore, the proposed system is intended for harsh environments (e.g., with high radiation levels and magnetic field presence) where the readout system is separated from the sensor and placed far away, connecting to them via cables. In such cases, the presence of cables brings another issue to the readout system-parasitic capacitance. Using long cables, we introduce high values of parasitic capacitance that make the sensor capacitance practically invisible to the readout unit. This article presents an effective, robust, and analog method, based on a quadrature-phase shifter and an auto-balancing bridge, used to overcome the sensor leakage resistance and parasitic capacitance caused by the cables. The experiments for various values of capacitance and leakage resistance at different frequencies and the influence of different cable lengths and types are analyzed and discussed.

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2023

Thermal and humidity monitoring in "Cold" silicon-based high energy physics detectors

Sandro Carrara, Amar Kapic, Andromachi Tsirou

As high readout channel density and compact design become the norm for HEP detectors so is the detector cooling at temperatures below the experimental site dewpoint. This increases the importance of humidity and temperature monitoring systems that are also adapted to the detector environment. The proposed systems for temperature and humidity monitoring are developed targeting compactness, cost, and seamless integration to the CMS DSS/DCS systems. Therefore, this paper presents a novel design for a standalone system, able to condition up to 24 temperature sensors. The proposed temperature monitoring system is aimed at many hundreds of RTD sensors with modest space and price requirements. For humidity monitoring, we have identified a potential sensing element and designed, built and tested the conditioning electronics capable of nullifying the capacitance of the long cables.

IOP Publishing Ltd2023

Uncertainty analysis of polymer-based capacitive relative humidity sensor at negative temperatures and low humidity levels

Sandro Carrara, Amar Kapic, Andromachi Tsirou

Capacitive relative humidity sensors, widely used in industrial and environmental applications, should be interchangeable and ideally have parametrizable response to relative humidity changes. While the effects of temperatures in the range between 0 degrees C and 50 degrees C are negligible, this is not the case for negative values. Therefore, this effect must be taken into consideration when parameterizing the output of the capacitive humidity sensors for temperatures below the freezing point of water. In this paper, we present our investigations on the temperature effect for one type of such sensors when using it at subzero temperatures. The experiments were conducted at temperatures of -10 degrees C, -20 degrees C and -30 degrees C. Additionally, we have tested the sensor performance at relative humidity levels low enough for most sensors not exhibit their best performances. Direct and inverse calibration methods were used and the uncertainty analysis of the devices under test is discussed.

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2023