The application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in speeding up the flow of materials in an industrial manufacturing process

Published ArticleRFID can work in conjunction with sensors in material handling especially on a conveyor belt. A dozen different graded tagged products can be picked up by the RFID system in real-time and transported to respective chutes into automatic guided vehicles (AGV) for transportation to specific storage locations. The development of this system is now at an advanced stage. Our predictions to date show that the application of RFID in material handling in a manufacturing environment can assist in the fast flow of components throughout the assembly line beyond what available systems can do

Research trends in RFID technology

Published ArticleWhile the adoption rate of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is increasing, mass-market adoption will not be achieved until a few major challenges are addressed. These challenges are: privacy, security and costs from the end-user's view point and limited power supply to the tag from the engineering perspective. We discuss the research efforts aimed at addressing these challenges. We focus our attention on research in: RFID privacy and security, antennas, polymer electronics-based RFID devices, power management circuits and techniques, and efficient RF spectrum utilization. We conclude by drawing attention to three additional areas that we believe are in need of more research

Automatic student attendance register using RFID

Published ArticleThe purpose of this project is to investigate the application of Radio Frequency Identification, RFID, to automatic student attendance register. The aim is that the students in any class can be recorded when they carry their student cards with them without having to individually swipe the card or allocate special interaction time. The successful implementation of this proposal will facilitate such record keeping in a non-intrusive and efficient manner and will provide the platform for further research on the correlation between attendance and performance of the students. The opportunity for related research is identified regarding the range of the parameters involved, ensuring that individual identifications do not clash and interfacing challenges with the central record keeping are overcome

Community service projects and service learning - recommendations for the School of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, CUT

Published ArticleThis article explores the possible opportunities in Community Service and Service Learning for the School of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at the Central University of Technology, Free State, and outlines the associated recommendations. The development of these activities, together with research and postgraduate expansion, are particularly significant in the context of the necessary transformations from a Technikon to a University of Technology and will enhance the relationship with the community that the University must serve. It offers to industry a channel to influence the content of training programmes and a supplementary source of research and development for their specific needs. It further highlights the role of tertiary institutions in skills development of public servants

A marine bacterium, Oceanobacillus sp. Pinky, isolated from Algoa Bay sediment produces a thermostable glycoprotein flocculant

In this study, we report on the bioflocculant production potential of an Oceanobacillus sp. isolated from the marine sediments of Algoa Bay. The bacteria produced an extracellular bioflocculant optimally in the presence of sodium carbonate as source of carbon with flocculating activity of about 95.5%. Other optimal culture conditions included: tryptone as nitrogen source (flocculating activity, 84.5%); presence of Ca2+; inoculum size of 2% (v/v) and alkaline pH (10). Composition analyses revealed the purified bioflocculant to be thermostable and composed of polysaccharide and protein. Optimum dose of the purified bioflocculant for the clarification of 4 g/L kaolin clay suspension at neutral pH was 0.2 mg/ml. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observations were indicative of a porous bioflocculant structure while Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum revealed the presence of carboxyl, hydroxyl and amine groups. We proposed that the bacteria hold promise as a potential source of new bioflocculant compound(s).Keywords: Oceanobacillus sp., bioflocculant, glycoprotein, marine sediment, Algoa BayAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(26), pp. 4135-414

Effects of buoyacy on jets in crossflow: application to the kraft recovery boiler

This thesis investigates the effect of buoyancy forces on jets in a crossflow, with specific application to kraft recovery furnaces. Both experimental and numerical studies are presented. Experiments were conducted to investigate the concentration profiles of variable density slot jets issuing into a confined crossflow. A recently-developed multigrid computational fluid dynamics code is used to find the flow pattern of variable density jets in a crossflow. The governing equations of motion for non-isothermal flow, i.e. mass continuity, Navier-Stokes equations, and energy equation, are discretized using the control volume technique. The turbulence phenomena are modelled using modified k -- ∈ equations. The validity of the code for variable density conditions is verified by comparison with experimental results. Numerical modelling of two-dimensional slot jets in crossflow, simulating the primary air jets in the kraft recovery furnace, is carried out. The effect of buoyancy force on the penetration and spread of these jets is investigated. It is found that, for horizontal jets being issued into an upwards crossfiow, excluding the buoyancy force from the momentum equation results in under prediction of the jet penetration and spread. The effect of buoyancy force on the penetration of the jet is found to be significantly affected by the orientation of the jet and the crossifow. The effects of buoyancy force on the flow field of three-dimensional single jets and a row of jets issuing into a crossflow, which simulates the tertiary air jets in a kraft recovery furnace, are investigated. The penetration of the row of jets is found to be more significantly affected by buoyancy than is the penetration of a single jet. Numerical simulation of the flow field inside the full kraft recovery furnace is carried out. The gross features of the gas flow fields inside the furnace for cases both with and without the buoyancy force are similar.Applied Science, Faculty ofMechanical Engineering, Department ofGraduat

Self-clocked sequential circuits: - a design example

Asynchronous sequential circuits offer improved speed of operation when compared to their synchronous counterparts. However, the standard methods of asynchronous design require careful examination of the flow table for possible critical races and hazards. This complicates the design procedure and often leads to extra states and additional hardware. A number of new design methodologies which involve locally generating a clock and using it to self synchronize the machine have been proposed. Such clock signals are generated whenever an input changes, or by controlled excitation whenever a change of inputs necessitates a change of state. All such designs, where the circuit is timed by locally generated clocks, are called Self-Clocked Sequential Circuits. This paper uses a design methodology for the State variable toggling through data driven clocks to implement a Direct Memory Access Controller (DMAC) as a design example. The design is simulated on software and also implemented using discrete hardware components. The methodology can be extended to parallel controllers for neural networks and automated using state assignment techniques already developed for synchronous parallel controllers. Keywords: Sequential circuits, synchronous, asynchronous, neural networks Botswana Journal of Technology Vol.13(1) 2004: 18-2