An Improved Object Detection and Trajectory Prediction Method for Traffic Conflicts Analysis

Although computer vision-based methods have seen broad utilisation in evaluating traffic situations, there is a lack of research on the assessment and prediction of near misses in traffic. In addition, most object detection algorithms are not very good at detecting small targets. This study proposes a combination of object detection and tracking algorithms, Inverse Perspective Mapping (IPM), and trajectory prediction mechanisms to assess near-miss events. First, an instance segmentation head was proposed to improve the accuracy of the object frame box detection phase. Secondly, IPM was applied to all detection results. The relationship between them is then explored based on their distance to determine whether there is a near-miss event. In this process, the moving speed of the target was considered as a parameter. Finally, the Kalman filter is used to predict the object\u27s trajectory to determine whether there will be a near-miss in the next few seconds. Experiments on Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) datasets showed results of 0.94 mAP compared to other state-of-the-art methods. In addition to improved detection accuracy, the advantages of instance segmentation fused object detection for small target detection are validated. Therefore, the results will be used to analyse near misses more accurately

Cryptocurrency Returns Over a Decade: Breaks, Trend Breaks, and Outliers

This study finds breaks, trend breaks, and outliers in the last decade returns of five cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tether USD, and Ripple that experienced frequent changes. The study uses the indicator saturation (IS) approach to simultaneously identify breaks, trend breaks, and outliers in these returns to gain a deeper understanding in their dynamics. The study found that monthly, weekly and daily breaks existed in these returns as well as trend breaks, and outliers mostly during the market peaks in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021 that can be attributed to a number of things, such as the global Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the 2021 crypto crackdown in China, the 2020 price halving of Bitcoin, and the 2017–2018 initial coin offering (ICO) boom. These returns also have common break segments and outliers. The application of IS technique to cryptocurrencies and simultaneous detection of market breaks, trend breaks, and outliers makes this study unique. This study is limited to considering only returns of five digital coins. These results may help traders, investors, and financial analysts modify their tactics and risk-management techniques to deal with the complexity of the cryptocurrency market

Solar Drying Technology in Indonesia: an Overview

The most important benefit of solar energy is renewable and low pollutant source of energy (clean energy). Solar energy technology and research are developing fast and much of the technology needed for these applications in industry and agricultures is already available. Solar drying technology (SDT) is one of the most attractive and promising applications of solar energy technology. In this paper, the various performances of SDTs in Indonesia are summarized with details. Generally, the cabinet-type and tunnel-type SDTs are remarkably well suited to drying small quantities of vegetables and fruit on the household scale. Greenhouse and hybrid SDTs are suitable for use on a large scale by industries

Review of solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) air collector

Growing concern with regard to energy sources and their usage has consequently increased significance of photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) collectors. A PV/T air collector is a system which has a conventional PV system combined with a thermal collector system. The system is able to produce electrical energy directly converted from sunlight by using photoelectric effect. Meanwhile, it also extracts heat from the PV and warms the fluid (air flow) inside the collector. In this review, solar PV system and solar thermal collectors are presented. In addition, studies conducted on solar PV/T air collectors are reviewed. The development of PV/T air collectors is a very promising area of research. PV/T air collectors using in solar drying and solar air heater

Overview of Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) Water Collector

The popular solar technology is the integration of solar thermal technology and photovoltaic (PV), called photovoltaic thermal (PVT) technology. This technology converts solar energy to electrical and thermal energy. The efficiency of solar energy conversion via PVT is higher than photovoltaic and solar systems. PV cell efficiency decreases if system operating temperature is higher. Therefore, solar systems attached to PV cells act to cool PV cells and increase the overall efficiency of the PVT system. PVT construction that saves space, is suitable for domestic consumption, and long-term saving costs makes PVT current research by researchers in the latest energy technology. This review presents descriptions and previous works conducted on performances analysis of PVT water collector. Results on the performances of PVT water collectors are summarized. The energy and exergy efficiency of PVT water collector ranges from 28.5% to 85% and 6.8% to 14%, respectively

Direct recycling of aluminium 6061 chip through cold compression

Aluminium is globally used in many different ways, from beverages cans to a large aircraft. This is due to aluminium’s remarkable mechanical properties as the same time having a low density. The high usage of aluminium in the everyday life, encourage higher production of aluminium where high energy consumption manufacturing process such as melting bauxite for primary material or melting recycled aluminium conventionally for secondary aluminium. So by directing recycling the aluminium chip through cold compression will reduce the energy consumption during the manufacturing process. In this process the aluminium chipwere compressed at maximum of 45 tons force with a set amount of holding time. The compressed specimens were then strengthening through sintering. Through sintering, the Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the specimen increased but at the same time micro-hardness and the density is sacrifice. On the other hand, the Elongation to failure (ETF) reduced due to the high compression force which exceeded the optimum. Further deformation process which involved shearing would be recommended to further improve the overall properties

The comparative efficiency of a brown algal-derived biostimulant extract (AMPEP), with and without supplemented PGRs: the induction of direct, axis shoots as applied to the propagation of vegetative seedlings for the successful mass cultivation of three commercial strains of Kappaphycus in Sabah, Malaysia

Three strains of Kappaphycus spp. (viz. K. alvarezii tambalang brown and green and K. striatus sacol green) were used in the present study to optimize the use of Ascophyllum (Acadian) marine plant extract powder (AMPEP) as a culture medium ingredient acting as a biostimulant, applied with, and without, the addition of terrestrial plant growth regulators (PGRs). This was undertaken in order to develop management tools and best practice recommendations for the mass production of new plantlets (seedlings) for industrial, nursery, and out-planting purposes in eastern Malaysia, Sabah, and Peninsular Malaysia (i.e., Langkawi, Kedah and Batu Maung, Penang). After 45 days of laboratory incubation, the three strains tested demonstrated their best performances at 3 mg L−1 of AMPEP, supplemented with PGR. This evaluation was based on the longest direct axes formed, the shortest time to their appearance, and also their highest percentage emergence. Kappaphycus alvarezii (tambalang green) had the longest direct axes (7.0 ± 0.23 mm), followed by K. alvarezii (tambalang brown) at (6.4 ± 0.48 mm) and finally K. striatus (sacol green). In terms of the highest percentage of direct axes formed, K. alvarezii (tambalang brown), K. alvarezii (tambalang green), and K. striatus (sacol green) were recorded as follows: 100 ± 0.00, 99 ± 1.34, and 98 ± 2.66, respectively. The shortest duration taken for the emergence of direct axes was observed in K. alvarezii (tambalang green) followed by tambalang brown and K. striatus (sacol green) on days 9, 10, and 15, respectively. The use of a brown seaweed-derived extract acting as a biostimulant and as the main ingredient of the culture medium for the micropropagation of three strains of Kappaphycus was highly encouraging and one which may be promoted as a protocol for the economic and commercial mass production of new plantlets (asexual seedlings) which are an urgent requirement for Malaysian seaweed farming to meet its full potential