Application Of Cloud Robotics For Automatic Manipulation

Robots are an integral part of industries involved in manufacturing and assembly process. Changing workpiece requires a change in the programming of robot resulting downtime and loss of output in industrial scenarios. With the increase of population necessities and demands have also grown exponentially. Amount of resources available on the shop floor is always challenging due lack of capital investments. Changing market requirement often require new resources, tools and equipment to accommodate new product requirements. With growing populations and consumer demands, there is more need for manufacturing systems which can share resources saving setup cost and maintenance expenses. Industry 4.0 emphasis on the development of cyber-physical systems to bring new functionalities in existing manufacturing systems. Cloud computing is a one of key paradigm from cyber world to overcome the lack of resources in the physical world by providing additional resources that can be shared by multiple manufacturing systems. These resources range from simple storage to application to application able to execute complex algorithms. This thesis implements a system which deploys cloud-based vision capability in existing industrial robots. The implemented system uses a knowledge base that contains information about the workpiece. An interactive web interface provides a platform to update the knowledge base with new workpiece data. The system utilizes workpiece specifications in the knowledge base to update robot programming at runtime to achieve automatic manipulation. The designed system also allows different operations to be associated with the workpiece making it possible not only to handle different workpiece but also perform various operations. The thesis work provides a pathway and guidelines to develop a basic robotic flexible manufacturing system which can update its manipulation mechanism accordingly to workpiece data at runtime

Design and Simulation of Cascaded Class-A Microwave Power Amplifier

Microwave power amplifiers are the most significant components in wireless communications systems. As the technology continue to progress, the designers are facing new challenges and opportunities. The purpose of this work is to push the limits of efficiency and bandwidth of power amplifiers. The objective of this research is to design and build a prototype two stage Microwave power amplifier operated at 2.4 GHz with a linear region of operation up to our desired output of 0.5 watt or 27 dBm. The transistor used in the first stage is BFP540 while the output power of the first stage is the input of the second stage in which the ATF50189 transistor is used to for amplification. All the simulations and readings are taken by using AWR Microwave Office software. By using the load line Rl and the biasing points are achieved for both stages. The applications of our proposed device include many products in the field of microwave communications. One of the important applications of a Microwave power amplifier is in the output stage of a transmitter where a signal needs amplification before it is transmitted.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v3i5.364

Impact of service quality on customer satisfaction in banking industry of Pakistan: A case study of Karachi

Abstract. Analyzing measures of customers’ satisfaction is an immense dilemma because customer is becoming more demanding regarding service quality in banking sector of Pakistan. It is important to understand the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction. Nowadays, the only demand of the customers is to get the good value for their money. Due to increasing market competitiveness no one can deny the significance of service quality. Therefore, it is challenging for the bankers to meet the customer expectation. By reviewing the study, banking sector can have direction to understand the major factors of service quality that influence customers’ satisfaction. It also provides understanding that building long term and a strong customer relation is critical for the banking industry. This study provides insight of service quality impact on customer satisfaction in banking sector of Pakistan. This study is based on the core dimensions of service quality i.e. tangibility, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and reliability. To highlight the significance of service quality, customer satisfaction this study based on Karachi market,  four hundred branch banking customers district wise were chosen from the branches of four leading banks (HBL, SCBPL, MBL and NBP)  to represent four main sectors (Private, International, Islamic and Public) as respondents. A questionnaire instrument based modified SERVPERF scale was used to collect the data. The results of the study suggest customer satisfaction based on service quality dimensions such as tangibility, empathy and assurance having positive and significant relationship. But reliability and responsiveness was not useful estimator for customer satisfaction whereas assurance, responsiveness, tangibility and empathy depict significant impact and positive relationship with customer loyalty. However reliability once again not found as useful estimator of customer loyalty.Keywords. Customer satisfaction, Service quality, Perceived quality, Performance, Customer expectation.JEL. L84, L15, L25

Classification of Phonocardiogram using an Adaptive Fuzzy Inference System

Abstrac

Cardiovascular Aspects of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and End-Stage Renal Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a globally recognized public health concern. Multiple studies have shown the association of CKD with cardiovascular mortality that persists after adjustment for traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. CKD causes accelerated coronary artery disease (CAD). In this chapter, we discuss the pathophysiological mechanisms that play a role in increasing CVD risk in patients with CKD. Further we delve into some commonly encountered challenges related to CVD in patients with CKD. These include revascularization challenges, contrasted induced nephropathy and alterations in traditional risk factors for CVD in renal transplant patients

Decompressive Craniotomy Verses Conservative Management in Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries

Materials and Methods: Study design; prospective study, department of neurosurgery SZH, Rahim Yar Khan. Study Duration: 2 years and 1 month from 1 st June 2011 to 31 July 2013. Study Subject: 100 patients were divided into two groups i.e. I and II Group. Group I patients were managed conservatively and group II patients were managed surgically. Follow up was done at 3, 6, 9, 12 months after discharge and outcome in terms of improvement in GCS was compared between these two groups. Results: Improvement in GCS to 11 or above was achieved in 60% patients of group I and in 68% patients of group II who were discharged with GCS 12 or above. Conclusion: Our study suggests that operative measures for TBI gives better outcome as compared to conservative management. Abbreviations: GCS = Decompressive craniotomy, duraplasty. ICP = Intracranial hypertension. TBI = Traumatic brain injury. ICU = Intensive Care Unit

Mitigating Urban Visual Pollution through a Multistakeholder Spatial Decision Support System to Optimize Locational Potential of Billboards

Urban visual pollution is increasingly affecting the built-up areas of the rapidly urbanizing planet. Outdoor advertisements are the key visual pollution objects affecting the visual pollution index and revenue generation potential of a place. Current practices of uninformed and uncontrolled outdoor advertising (especially billboards) impairs effective control of visual pollution in developing countries. Improving this can result in over 20% reduction of visual pollution. This article presents a spatial decision support system (SDSS) to facilitate all the stakeholders (development control authorities, advertisers, billboard owners, and the public) in balancing the optimal positioning of billboards under the governing regulations. In terms of its technical implementation, SDSS is based on well-known geospatial open source technologies and uses an analytical hierarchy process AHP-inspired approach in spatial decision-making. It can help users through its category-specific user interface to identify potential sites to position new billboards and the selection of boards from existing sites based on a wide variety of characteristics. The observations of all stakeholders have been recorded through panel feedback to assess the system’s initial effectiveness. The proposed system has been found functional in identifying hot spots for the focused management and exploration of the best suitable sites for new billboards. So, it helps the advertising agencies, urban authorities, and city councils in better planning and management of existing billboard locations to optimize revenue and improve urban aesthetics. The system can be replicated in other countries irrespective of spatial boundaries by incorporating jurisdictional rules and regulations

Application of the Online WhatIf? Planning Support System in Peri-urban Spatial Planning; Case study of Muzaffargarh, Pakistan

Out of South Asian countries, Pakistan is experiencing the fastest urbanization rate where more than half of the population will reside in urban areas after next seven years. Such a rapid transformation in urban areas calls for an extraordinary response from spatial planning agencies. Handling of complex urban phenomena with precision and time efficiency has created the dire need for shifting from manual planning processes to computer-assisted planning approaches. Although, previous studies on spatial planning practices in Pakistan have highlighted the stages and processes where adoption of planning support systems (PSS) can help improve the planning outcomes. However, the use of geospatial technologies and PSS have been quite limited in adoption and undertake by the planning profession. With the advent of Smart Cities renewed awareness and support of data driven approach and tools such as PSS have assisted in bridging this utilization gap. To improve the adoption of PSS in spatial planning, many researchers have emphasized the need for research into understandintg and documenting real world use cases in ofg PSS supported planning. This research documents the case study of Muzaffargarh as the first spatial planning practice in the country’s context where the Online WhatIf? PSS has been synchronized in the plan preparation process and used for the development of planning proposals. While documenting the detailsabout the employment of OWI in the preparation of peri-urban structure plan (PUSP), it captures the processes, opportunities and challenges along with the user feedback. The country context specific procedural details covering the datasets, planning factors and assumptions have been comprehensively explained. It has been ensured that the details are sufficient enough to act as a guide for future plan preparation tasks of similar nature. Similarly, challenges and opportunities have been documented as part of the lessons learnt. This research concludes that the Online WhatIf? (OWI) has demonstrated to be a very good fit in PUSP preparation. This PSS has shown to provide a consistent and structured process to interactively explore, future land development options, which is considered a useful approach in PUSP preparation

Alleviation of salinity effects by exogenous applications of salicylic acid in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) seedlings

Experiments for the study of alleviation of salt stress effects by exogenous applications of salicylic acid (SA) in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) seedlings were conducted in soil filled earthen potshaving size 12 inches with 7 kg soil. Three treatments comprising, control (T0), 50-mol m-3 NaCl (T1) and T2 are having NaCl (50 mol m-3) + SA (50 mg l-1). Pots were arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) with 6 replicates. NaCl significantly reduced the plant and root lengths, plant fresh and dry weights. In contrast, NaCl did not show any adverse effect on plants treated with NaCl plus SA. Salicylic acidtreated pearl millet plants under NaCl salinity strongly reduced accumulations of Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Cl− and glycinebetaine (GB) and total soluble carbohydrates (TSC) as compared to NaCl treatments. Higher N and relative water contents (RWC) was noted in T2 (NaCl + SA) but it reduced in T1 (NaCl) as compared to control. It was concluded that SA could be used as a potential growth regulator to improve salt tolerance in plants.Keywords: Exogenous, salicylic acid, growth, ion contents, salt tolerance, pearl mille