ReSCon '12, Research Student Conference: Book of Abstracts

The fifth SED Research Student Conference (ReSCon2012) was hosted over three days, 18-20 June 2012, in the Hamilton Centre at Brunel University. The conference consisted of 130 oral and 70 poster presentations, based on the high quality and diverse research being conducted within the School of Engineering and Design by postgraduate research students. The conference is held annually, and ReSCon plays a key role in contributing to research and innovations within the School

Investigating Tafheet as a Unique Driving Style Behaviour

Road safety has become a major concern due to the increased rate of deaths caused by road accidents. For this purpose, intelligent transportation systems are being developed to reduce the number of fatalities on the road. A plethora of work has been undertaken on the detection of different styles of behaviour such as fatigue and drunken behaviour of the drivers; however, owing to complexity of human behaviour, a lot has yet to be explored in this field to assess different styles of the abnormal behaviour to make roads safer for travelling. This research focuses on detection of a very complex driver’s behaviours: ‘tafheet’, reckless and aggressive by proposing and building a driver’s behaviour detection model in the context-aware system in the VANET environment. Tafheet behaviour is very complex behaviour shown by young drivers in the Middle East, Japan and the USA. It is characterised by driving at dangerously high speeds (beyond those commonly known in aggressive behaviour) coupled with the drifting and angular movements of the wheels of the vehicle, which is similarly aggressive and reckless driving behaviour. Thus, the dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN) framework was applied to perform reasoning relating to the uncertainty associated with driver’s behaviour and to deduce the possible combinations of the driver’s behaviour based on the information gathered by the system about the foregoing factors. Based on the concept of context-awareness, a novel Tafheet driver’s behaviour detection architecture had been built in this thesis, which had been separated into three phases: sensing phase, processing and thinking phase and the acting phase. The proposed system elaborated the interactions of various components of the architecture with each other in order to detect the required outcomes from it. The implementation of this proposed system was executed using GeNIe 2.0 software, resulting in the construction of DBN model. The DBN model was evaluated by using experimental set of data in order to substantiate its functionality and accuracy in terms of detection of tafheet, reckless and aggressive behaviours in the real time manner. It was shown that the proposed system was able to detect the selected abnormal behaviours of the driver based on the contextual data collected. The novelty of this system was that it could detect the reckless, aggressive and tafheet behaviour in sequential manner, based on the intensity of the driver’s behaviour itself. In contrast to previous detection model, this research work suggested the On Board Unit architecture for the arrangement of sensors and data processing and decision making of the proposed system, which can be used to pre-infer the complex behaviour like tafheet. Thus it has the potential to prevent the road accidents from happening due to tafheet behaviour

Relationship Between the Ground Reaction Forces and the Forces Exerted by the Hands During Automotive Tasks.

The purpose of this study was to determine the strength of the relationship between the ground reaction forces (GRF), forces directly recorded at the feet and the force exerted by the hands as measured at the hands, during simulated work-related tasks, in an effort to understand the validity of GRF measurements as an accurate alternative indirect measurement of physical hand efforts. Thirty healthy participants were recruited between the ages of 18-60 years with no history of pain or injury in their upper and lower extremities for the previous six months. A total of seven manual hand exertion tasks were simulated and their associated force efforts were obtained. Six of the seven task efforts was completed with and without the ability of the participants to brace themselves while the last task was only completed without a brace. The brace is an external object that was placed between the participant and the vertical force plate. Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) was calculated to find the percentage error between forces recorded at the hands and the forces measured at the feet. Results revealed that without Brace tasks often resulted with a significantly lower RMSE compared to Bracing tasks, the Drilling task was found to have the smallest RMSE while the Electrical Connector task showed the highest RMSE, and an increase in RMSE was evident with tasks requiring repetitive/wiggly movements (Hose and Weather-Strip tasks)

ESSE 2017. Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical-, biological-, and information sciences to study and solve environmental problems. ESSE - The International Conference on Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy provides a platform for experts, professionals, and researchers to share updated information and stimulate the communication with each other. In 2017 it was held in Suzhou, China June 23-25, 2017

Development of a decision support system for assessment of mobile bridges

The development of a prototype Decision Support System (DSS) for the condition assessment of the Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB) has been demonstrated in the current work. AVLB is a mobile bridge that has been used by the US Army for tank and assault vehicle crossing. It is employed for spanning short gaps of 50 feet or less in the terrain. The condition assessment of such bridges, to ensure safety of personnel and tank, is of strategic importance. The methodology of the prototype DSS is based on a refined visual inspection procedure and a previously established vibration measurement technique.;Conforming to the design requirements, the DSS has been developed as an Internet based, interactive application, and is integrated with an automated vibration measurement system. The web-based DSS, which incorporates an expert system and a database system, can be run from a web-browser. The development of the system, as described in this thesis, involved: identification of important visual and vibration inspection parameters; development of an expert system for bridge condition assessment, based on these parameters; and design of a database for storing important inspection data and other vital bridge records. The prototype system has been validated through limited test runs. Discussion on further verification and validation issues has also been put forth in this work.;The unique feature of this DSS is its accessibility through the Internet, which is practical considering that the AVLB is deployed worldwide. With a central database, this system provides a useful research tool for further study of the AVLB behavior and damage mechanisms, and can be used to establish failure prediction model and remaining life assessment

The 1st International Conference on Computational Engineering and Intelligent Systems

Computational engineering, artificial intelligence and smart systems constitute a hot multidisciplinary topic contrasting computer science, engineering and applied mathematics that created a variety of fascinating intelligent systems. Computational engineering encloses fundamental engineering and science blended with the advanced knowledge of mathematics, algorithms and computer languages. It is concerned with the modeling and simulation of complex systems and data processing methods. Computing and artificial intelligence lead to smart systems that are advanced machines designed to fulfill certain specifications. This proceedings book is a collection of papers presented at the first International Conference on Computational Engineering and Intelligent Systems (ICCEIS2021), held online in the period December 10-12, 2021. The collection offers a wide scope of engineering topics, including smart grids, intelligent control, artificial intelligence, optimization, microelectronics and telecommunication systems. The contributions included in this book are of high quality, present details concerning the topics in a succinct way, and can be used as excellent reference and support for readers regarding the field of computational engineering, artificial intelligence and smart system

Advanced Energy Harvesting Technologies

Energy harvesting is the conversion of unused or wasted energy in the ambient environment into useful electrical energy. It can be used to power small electronic systems such as wireless sensors and is beginning to enable the widespread and maintenance-free deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. This Special Issue is a collection of the latest developments in both fundamental research and system-level integration. This Special Issue features two review papers, covering two of the hottest research topics in the area of energy harvesting: 3D-printed energy harvesting and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). These papers provide a comprehensive survey of their respective research area, highlight the advantages of the technologies and point out challenges in future development. They are must-read papers for those who are active in these areas. This Special Issue also includes ten research papers covering a wide range of energy-harvesting techniques, including electromagnetic and piezoelectric wideband vibration, wind, current-carrying conductors, thermoelectric and solar energy harvesting, etc. Not only are the foundations of these novel energy-harvesting techniques investigated, but the numerical models, power-conditioning circuitry and real-world applications of these novel energy harvesting techniques are also presented

Smart greenhouses as the path towards precision agriculture in the food-energy and water nexus: case study of Qatar

Greenhouse farming is essential in increasing domestic crop production in countries with limited resources and a harsh climate like Qatar. Smart greenhouse development is even more important to overcome these limitations and achieve high levels of food security. While the main aim of greenhouses is to offer an appropriate environment for high-yield production while protecting crops from adverse climate conditions, smart greenhouses provide precise regulation and control of the microclimate variables by utilizing the latest control techniques, advanced metering and communication infrastructures, and smart management systems thus providing the optimal environment for crop development. However, due to the development of information technology, greenhouses are undergoing a big transformation. In fact, the new generation of greenhouses has gone from simple constructions to sophisticated factories that drive agricultural production at the minimum possible cost. The main objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive understanding framework of the actual greenhouse development in Qatar, so as to be able to support the transition to sustainable precision agriculture. Qatar’s greenhouse market is a dynamic sector, and it is expected to mark double-digit growth by 2025. Thus, this study may offer effective supporting information to decision and policy makers, professionals, and end-users in introducing new technologies and taking advantage of monitoring techniques, artificial intelligence, and communication infrastructure in the agriculture sector by adopting smart greenhouses, consequently enhancing the Food-Energy-Water Nexus resilience and sustainable development. Furthermore, an analysis of the actual agriculture situation in Qatar is provided by examining its potential development regarding the existing drivers and barriers. Finally, the study presents the policy measures already implemented in Qatar and analyses the future development of the local greenhouse sector in terms of sustainability and resource-saving perspective and its penetration into Qatar’s economy.Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library. The authors are grateful to Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) for funding and supporting the M-NEX Project (Grant No. BFSUGI01-1120-170005) in Qatar. The M-NEX is a project of the Collaborative Research Area Belmont Forum (Grant No. 11314551)

Outdoor Insulation and Gas Insulated Switchgears

This book focuses on theoretical and practical developments in the performance of high-voltage transmission line against atmospheric pollution and icing. Modifications using suitable fillers are also pinpointed to improve silicone rubber insulation materials. Very fast transient overvoltage (VFTO) mitigation techniques, along with some suggestions for reliable partial discharge measurements under DC voltage stresses inside gas-insulated switchgears, are addressed. The application of an inductor-based filter for the protective performance of surge arresters against indirect lightning strikes is also discussed