BLUETOOTH OPERATED SCISSOR JACK: THE FUTURE OF VEHICLE LIFTING EQUIPMENT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The tire exchange process can be a daunting task for people with limited abilities. As the physical effort required for the conventional vehicle jack operation can be difficult or impossible for some people. Hence, manufacturers have developed electrical scissor jacks that can be controlled remotely. These jacks eliminate the need for exerting any physical effort so that people with limited abilities can change their own tires. However, commercial electrical jacks are expensive, not always available in developing countries at reasonable prices. Moreover, they are controlled using a wired remote-control device and powered by connecting alligator cables to the vehicles’ battery. This paper presents the procedures needed to convert a manual commercial scissor jack to a smartphone-controlled one using developing country local market components. The jack is controlled via Bluetooth connected device and can be powered by the vehicle's cigarette lighter receptables, alligator cables, or AC power outlet. In addition, emergency buttons are attached to the control unit in case smartphone application suddenly malfunctions during the lifting process. The prototype was successfully tested and was able to lift a vehicle 25 cm in less than two minutes. This is a significant improvement over manual jacks, which can take up to four minutes to lift the same distance. The proposed smartphone-controlled scissor jack is a valuable tool for people with limited abilities, as it makes the tire exchange process much easier and faster. The low cost and local availability of the components make it a viable option for developing countries

EFFECT OF VARIOUS FIBRE LOADINGS OF PINEAPPLE LEAF FIBRE ON POLYLACTIC ACID COMPOSITES FILAMENT

Recently, natural fibres have been widely utilized because they are firmer and have higher strength comparable to synthetic fibres. Every fibre has various properties, and polymer composites reinforced with natural fibre are known to have superior mechanical properties. In this study, the pineapple leaf fibre/polylactic acid (PALF/PLA) composites filaments are developed with several processes, including grinding, sieving, chemical treatment, and hot compression on the composites with various fibre loadings of 1, 3, and 5%, continued with the crushing and the extrusion processes. Then, mechanical testing for specific flexural and tensile testing was conducted on the PALF/PLA filament composites. The findings showed that the PALF/PLA composites with a 5% fibre loading exhibited the highest mechanical properties in both flexural and tensile properties. In conclusion, 5% fibre loading of PALF/PLA composites filaments can be used as an alternative material to replace pure PL

DEVELOPMENT OF SOLAR COOKER USING PARABOLIC REFLECTORS

For cooking we generally make use of gas which is a commercial source. Solar energy is a renewable and non-commercial source which is adequately available for usage. So the idea of making use of solar energy to cook brought the existence of solar cookers. But the main problem with the model with it is, it is not effective during day start and end because rays cannot incident completely over it. So it takes more time to cook. So to overcome this issue, usage of a parabolic reflector is the solution where the incident rays meet at the focus which generate more heat and results in faster cooking that saves time

ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION AND OPTIMUM DESIGN OF A DOUBLE GIRDER OVERHEAD CRANE

Lifting equipment’s have a wide range of use in all commercial and industrial area from small to large. The machine that enables the lifting of a substance and transporting it from one place to another under conditions where human power is not enough is called a crane. Overhead cranes are frequently used in workshops and construction sites. Overhead cranes are a bridge construction that travels between two runway girders that form the high-rise crane running path. Initial investment cost in facilities is very important. High-weight equipment, such as bridge cranes, must both work efficiently without any security weakness and be of optimum weight. For this, optimum system design should be made. The aim of this study is to optimize the cross-section values of the girder in order to bring the unit weight to the most reasonable level. In this study, analytical calculations based on FEM and DIN standards were used for calculations. Practical Design Optimization steps were determined for optimization by using analytical solutions. Optimization has been performed on the cross sectional values of girders so as to reduce the unit weight which is the main cause of production costs. Results indicate that the unit weight of girder decreased 32.16% after comprehensive optimization process was performed

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF ASBESTOS-FREE BRAKE PADS PRODUCED FROM COSTUS AFER WASTE AND LOCAL GUM ARABIC

This study dealt with the development and evaluation of a new asbestos-free non-carcinogenic brake pads with Costus afer waste (CAW) particle as the base material. Three sets of brake pads with different sieve sizes (90, 100 and 200 µm) were developed, through compression molding from a 55% CAW particles, 22% local gum Arabic as binder, 5% of rubber seed husk and 5% of walnut shell as fillers, 10% iron filling as frictional addictive, 1% of carbon black as friction modifier, 1% of cobalt nepthanate as catalyst and 1% of Methyl ethyl ketone as accelerator. Physico-mechanical test were carried out on the CAW-based brake pad with a Brinell hardness test value of 103HB and density of 1.3 g/cm3 which is far better than the commercial available brake pad upon comparison. These properties were found to increase with a decrease in particle sizes while the water absorption, oil absorption, wear rate, and flame resistance increased with increasing particle sizes due to enhanced porosity. The developed CAW-based brake pad especially with the grain size of 90µm, shows a better wear performance as compared to the control commercial brake pad. The overall results of the evaluation were further compared with similar asbestos-free brake pad in literature. The study can conclude therefore that the CAW-based brake pad stands as a better replacement for the existing commercial asbestos-based brake pads

DEVELOPMENT AND PARAMETER ESTIMATION OF A COMPACT ELECTRONIC WEDGE BRAKE TEST RIG USING GREY BOX SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION

This article presented the development of a compact electronic wedge brake (EWB) based brake test rig and the estimation of model parameters through system identification (SI). The EWB test rig was huge and complex, leading to high costs and time consumption. Additionally, the EWB parameters estimation was limitedly discussed. Thus, a compact test rig was developed to produce up to 300N of braking force, which was acceptable to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model and EWB performance. Two separate transfer function models for the motor and EWB mechanism were proposed. The parameter estimation was made using the grey box approach, which combined physical modelling and SI. The complete physical parameters value via two separated SI was successfully obtained. The brake responses were analysed by comparing the simulation and experiment under rapid control prototyping (RCP). The average percentage of root mean square error (RMSE) value between the simulation and experiment was less than 6.23%. The test rig configuration and proposed model guarantees were useful in preparing a simpler, low-cost brake test rig and provided an alternative way to obtain model physical parameter values

PEMERKASAAN KEPIMPINAN AKADEMIK DALAM KALANGAN STAF AKADEMIK DI UTEM: SATU TINJAUAN

(Empowering Academic Leadership among UTeM’s Lectures: A Review)ABSTRAK Kepimpinan akademik telah menjadi tumpuan di peringkat kebangsaan, serantau dan global apabila wujudnya ranking yang mengukur tahap kesarjanaan sesebuah universiti. Kehadiran institusi yang mengukur ranking ini telah memberi tekanan kepada agensi dan insitusi pengajian tinggi untuk mengambil langkah yang lebih bersasar untuk meningkatkan kualiti kepimpinan akademik. Pengkaji-pengkaji telah memberi maksud konsep memperkasa kepimpinan akademik dalam pelbagai cara dengan matlamat memenuhi keperluan pemegang taruh dan kaedah pengurusan yang kompleks. Antara maksud kepimpinan akademik yang telah diperolehi ialah membangunkan keupayaan, kecerdasan emosi dan kepimpinan tulen, komunikasi dan pemikiran sistemik. Dalam konteks institusi pengajian tinggi di Malaysia, terdapat empat jenis kepimpinan utama iaitu kepimpinan pengajaran, kepimpinan penyelidikan, kepimpinan awam dan kepimpinan pengurusan. Kata Kunci: kepimpinan akademik, pengurusan, penyelidikan, pengajaran ABSTRACT With the prevalence of ranking system in higher education institutions academic leadership has become a significant issue at national, regional and global level. The pressure created by the presence of ranking bodies have urged higher education institutions to have targeted efforts in raising the standards of academic leadership. Researchers have defined academic leadership empowerment in various ways with the main objectives to fulfill the needs of stakeholders and complex management methods. Among the factors of academic leadership that have been acquired are capacity development, emotional intelligence and true leadership, and systematic communication and thinking skills. In the context of higher education institutions in Malaysia, there are four main types of leadership which are teaching leadership, research leadership, public leadership and management leadership Keywords: academic leadership, management, research, teachin

3D MODELLING OF A RECONDITIONED PISTON OF A SINGLE-CYLINDER FOUR-STROKE DIESEL ENGINE BY USING SOLIDWORKS SOFTWARE

This paper gives the possibility of modelling a reconditioned piston of a single-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine using the ZS1115NM diesel engine specifications. Due to the upsurge of counterfeit spare parts in the market, meeting the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) standards requires a reconditioning process. The reconditioned piston is a thermal barrier coated one with a ceramic material that enables it to withstand high gas combustion temperatures without cracking. A piston converts thermal energy to mechanical energy in an internal combustion engine (ICE). The methodology includes sizing and modelling of the conventional piston, topcoat and bond-coat layers and finally assembling them to get a reconditioned piston using Solidworks Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software. The material chosen for the piston is an aluminium alloy designated as A2618, due majorly to its high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) which enables the piston to withstand high thermal stress without cracking or failing. The ceramic material chosen is a 7.5% yttria-stabilized zirconia which is the topcoat with low thermal conductivity and a high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) on a bond-coat metallic material called Nickel Chromium Aluminium Cobalt Yttria which are applied by plasma sprayed method on the crown of the substrate. The chosen thickness from the literature of the topcoat layer is 0.35 mm and that of the bond-coat layer is 0.15 mm. Also, from the literature, the major reason for the thermal barrier-coating (TBC) of a diesel engine piston crown using a ceramic material was to improve its performance.

IMPACT OF JOB ROTATION ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE THROUGH JOB SATISFACTION IN THE PUBLIC CIVIL SERVICE MELAKA

ABSTRACT  This study examined the influence of job rotation i.e., human capital development and human capital transformation on employee performance. In addition, the study also analyzed the role of job satisfaction as a mediator that mediated the relationship between job rotation and employee performance. 403 Administrative Assistants in the State Civil Service of Melaka were the total population, and sample size calculation included 196 respondents. The questionnaire was based on five Likert scale points, analyzed through the application of IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 and PROCESS for SPSS. The findings showed that the job rotation had a positive and significant relationship on employee performance. In addition, the study also found that job satisfaction was a mediator deemed suitable to mediate the relationship between job rotation and employee performance in the sector studied. Keywords: Job rotation, employee performance, job satisfaction, civil servic

POSITION TRACKING CONTROL OF DC MOTOR FOR FRONT WHEEL SYSTEMS VIA HILS SIMULATION METHOD

This paper present about position tracking control of DC motor to be used as the actuator controller for the front wheel test rig system. The controller strategy that was developed is based on Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. It consists of one single closed control loops namely position tracking control loop.  To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed controller, simulation and experimental studies were performed by using various input demand such as saw tooth, sine and step functions in 5°, 10°, 15° and 20° with the present of steering ratio at 360:20. The results, it is found that the trend between simulation and experimental data are similar with the command position with acceptable level of error which less than 10% for application at hand