Photonic sensors have recently attracted much attention in both industry and academia. High accuracy, low weight and the possibility of building a large sensor network are key benefits of photonic sensors. Another benefit is installing optical sensors in harsh environments where electronic sensors' usage is not plausible: aerospace applications where ionizing radiation is present or gas and oil pipes are some examples.<br/><br/>Integrated photonics brings new challenges to the interrogation of multiplexed sensors in WDM. Unlike FBG sensors, whose resonance wavelength can be chosen to an accuracy better than 1.0 nm, the resonance wavelength of integrated micro-ring resonators cannot be chosen during the design stage. The main reason is the imperfections of the manufacturing process. The fact that the resonance wavelength is unpredictable is a problem for interrogators based on interferometry. Such interrogators perform the demultiplexing and demodulation in different stages: first, a spectrometer separates the optical channels; subsequently, outputs of the spectrometer are conveyed to interferometers. From the photo-receiver voltages connected to MZI outputs, the signal from the sensors can be demodulated. As the resonance value of sensors cannot be determined during design, two sensors may have their resonances in the same spectrometer's channel. As a result, the demultiplexing step fails, compromising the interrogator's operation. <br/><br/>In Chapter 4 of this thesis, a new interrogation method is proposed. Much of the effort of interferometric interrogators is to separate the spectrum of the sensors correctly. In the Fourier Transform Interrogator, the spectrum of all sensors is sent to an array of Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZI) with different OPDs. Using the output voltages from the photo-receivers attached to the MZIs, we derive a system of non-linear equations, whose solution provides the signal from each sensor. The demodulation and demultiplexing steps are performed simultaneously for the Fourier interrogator, which guarantees the interrogator's unique flexibility. On the other hand, the computational cost is high since the system of non-linear equations is solved using Newton's method. For each set of voltages sampled over time, a different system of equations is obtained. Chapter 4 leaves some unanswered questions: <br/><br/> Does the system of non-linear equations have a unique solution? <br/> How many solutions are there?<br/> What is the physical meaning of each of the solutions? <br/> Is it possible to solve non-linear systems of equations for fast sensors in real-time? <br/><br/>All these questions are answered in Chapter 5. As a consequence of the new algebraic formulation, it is possible to solve about 1 000 000 algebraic systems of equations in about 10 ns, i.e., allowing the real-time interrogation of high-speed sensors. The interrogator is a candidate for interrogating arrays of ultrasound ring resonator sensors in the tens of MHz range.

This study investigates the feasibility of in-situ manufacturing of a functionally graded metallic-regolith. To fabricate the gradient, digital light processing, an additive manufacturing technique, and spark plasma sintering were selected due to their compatibility with metallic-ceramic processing in a space environment. The chosen methods were first assessed for their ability to effectively consolidate regolith alone, before progressing regolith directly onto metallic substrates. Optimized processing conditions based on the sintering temperature, initial powder particle size, and different compositions of the lunar regolith powders were identified. Experiments have successfully proven the consolidation of lunar regolith simulants at 1050°C under 80 MPa with digital light processing and spark plasma sintering, while the metallic powders can be fully densified at relatively low temperatures and a pressure of 50 MPa with spark plasma sintering. Furthermore, the lunar regolith and Ti6Al4V gradient was proven to be the most promising combination. While the current study showed that it is feasible to manufacture a functionally graded metallic-regolith, further developments of a fully optimized method have the potential to produce tailored, high-performance materials in an off-earth manufacturing setting for the production of aerospace, robotic, or architectural components.

The quality control of materials from waste is an important step for acceptance in new high-quality products. Given the large volumes and complexity of waste streams, this requires advanced sensor technology such as the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) investigated in this thesis. Recyclers often rely solely on manual sorting and visual inspection, which is far less reliable and accurate than sensor technology that enables automated inspection. The main source of waste in this thesis is demolition concrete. It is characterized by large amounts of moisty granular material, varying amounts and types of impurities, and a dusty environment. This presents a major challenge to introduce an optical inspection technique such as LIBS. The research starts with a literature study into the state of the art of LIBS as a material identification technique. This is followed by a more physically oriented literature review of the transient processes and parameters involved in ablation and plasma formation by a high power pulsed Nd:YAG 1064 nm laser. From this follows the development of models to account for the different processes and phases of the matter. To this end, the different transient processes are separated and analysed by making use of local equilibrium conditions. Subsequently, the influence of the optics and associated hardware that is necessary to obtain good optical data is investigated. This knowledge is supplemented by a study of light collection and data processing techniques to further improve the quality and reproducibility of the optical data, given the challenging conditions in a recycling factory. Subsequently, to better understand the potential and limitations of experimental LIBS data, the useful information about the chemical composition and technical properties of the material sample is tested under different conditions. The aforementioned separate physical models have been compiled into a complete plasma model (MLIBS for short). This can explain the properties and emissions of a laser induced plasma. This model can also be used in reverse to determine the composition of sampled elements in a laser induced plasma. The focus is on the ability not to average data to eliminate noise, but to use the data from each laser shot usefully for identification. This is called single-shot data and it is the most efficient way to implement LIBS in practice, because the price of LIBS hardware increases rapidly with the number of shots a laser has to deliver per second. The last part of research is on statistical techniques that can use all relevant information in LIBS data to make the best decision when it comes to identifying different complex materials. By accumulating statistics, the material composition of contaminated concrete waste flows can be determined more reliably. Based on the entire research in this thesis, a prototype LIBS platform has been developed and integrated with a conveyor belt for the inspection of demolition concrete in a recycling plant. The platform withstood harsh outdoor conditions and successfully demonstrated the capabilities of automated inspection with LIBS. Development of the prototype included the design and integration of a laser system, optics, electronic control equipment, real-time data acquisition system, spectral data processing software, and a weatherproof protective frame.

While there have been significant discussions about the relevance of cybernetics within architectural and urban studies, the focus has mainly been on computing and digital practices. Since its emergence in the post-war period, cybernetics – in both its first and second-order versions – has introduced to architectural discourse systematic design methods and practices, while also tackling issues of reflexivity and complex problems. In this introduction, we examine the relation between cybernetics and architecture by focusing on a problem they both share. To this end, we approach cybernetics as the study of the production, consumption and flow of information, an account that has little to do with digital logics, unless one wants to pursue that special case. Therefore, cyberneticisation can set the foundations for a relational account that examines how signs are communicated and how meaning is produced and experienced within systems. This third-order cybernetics extends beyond the original scope of living organisms and their environments in order to include ecologies of ideas, power, institutions, media and so on. In this sense, cyberneticisation is radically environmental, positing the primacy of relations over fixed terms, binary oppositions and linear logics, making it high time for architectural and urban studies to take into consideration its ground-breaking potentials. By introducing five short points on the relation between architecture and cybernetics, we aim to assist in this endeavour.