A Unified Call-to-Prayer Framework in Muslim World

In many Muslim countries there are many sounds that are fired at nearly the same time via loudspeakers. This sound is a call-to-prayer (Azan). Azan is fired from the so-called mosques in many countries where, theses mosques are still using its own timing to trigger such call and its own amplifier gain regardless of other mosques in the region. This results in an out of sync call-to-prayer firing and a very noisy and distracting mix of sounds in many places at the same region. In this paper, a unified call-to-prayer framework is proposed that sheds light on these issues and gives solution directions for the above mentioned issues in the currently used systems.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v4i3.575

Almost sure consensus for multi-agent systems with two level switching

In most literatures on the consensus of multi-agent systems (MASs), the agents considered are time-invariant. However in many cases, for example in airplane formation, the agents have switching dynamics and the connections between them are also changing. This is called two-level switching in this paper. We study almost sure (AS) consensus for a class of two-level switching systems. At the low level of agent dynamics, switching is determin- istic and controllable. The upper level topology switching is random and follows a Markov chain. The transition probability of the Markov chain is not fixed, but varies when low level dynamics changes. For this class of MASs, a sufficient condition for AS consensus is developed in this paper

Effect of polytetrafluoroethylene material on dynamic behaviour of an underactuated unmanned aerial vehicle

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft capable of flight without a human operator. This aircraft can be controlled remotely or autonomously via a preprogrammed flight path. A quadrotor UAV is one of the best unmanned aerial vehicles. It is an aircraft whose lift is generated by four DC motors and it is able to take off and land vertically. It also has the advantage that it can be controlled by varying the speeds of the four motors in a systematic manner. In this paper, we present the design, development, testing and implementation of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle. The primary goal of the research was to find a way of reducing the effect of the vibrations generated by the rotors in order to ensure that those vibrations are not transmitted to the electronic hardware. For this purpose, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was chosen for designing the hub and motor\u27s mount. PTFE is composed of carbon and fluorine and is suitable for absorbing the vibration generated by the rotors. A complete simulation was developed and used to tune a proportional controller in MATLAB. This controller was then implemented in hardware using a PIC 16F876 microcontroller. Experimental results show the effectiveness of this material in reducing the effects of the motor\u27s vibrations, and thus improving the measurement quality of the inertial measurement unit (IMU)

Performance Analysis of Mobile Ad Hoc Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Communication Networks with Directional Antennas

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential of creating an ad hoc communication network in the air. Most UAVs used in communication networks are equipped with wireless transceivers using omnidirectional antennas. In this paper, we consider a collection of UAVs that communicate through wireless links as a mobile ad-hoc network using directional antennas. The network design goal is to maximize the throughput and minimize the end-to-end delay. In this respect, we propose a new medium access control protocol for a network of UAVs with directional antennas. We analyze the communication channel between the UAVs and the effect of aircraft attitude on the network performance. Using the optimized network engineering tool (OPNET), we compare our protocol with the IEEE 802.11 protocol for omnidirectional antennas. The simulation results show performance improvement in end-to-end delay as well as throughput

EEG-based brain-computer interface for automating home appliances

An EEG-based brain-computer system for automating home appliances is proposed in this study. Brain-computer interface (BCI) system provides direct pathway between human brain and external computing resources or external devices. The system translates thought into action without using muscles through a number of electrodes attached to the user\u27s scalp. The BCI technology can be used by disabled people to improve their independence and maximize their capabilities at home. In this paper, a novel BCI system was developed to control home appliances from a dedicated Graphical User Interface (GUI). The system is structured with six units: EMOTIV EPOC headset, personal computer, Flyport module, quad band GSM/GPRS communication module, LinkSprite JPEG Colour camera, and PIC-P40 board. EMOTIV EPOC headset detects and records neuronal electrical activities that reflect user\u27s intent from different locations on the scalp. Those activities are then sent to the computer to extract specific signal features. Those features are then translated into commands to operate all appliances at home. The proposed system has been implemented, constructed, and tested. Experimental results demonstrates the feasibility of our proposed BCI system in controlling home appliances based on the user\u27s physiological states

Controlling an unmanned quad-rotor aerial vehicle with model parameter uncertainty and actuator failure

It is challenging to stabilise an unmanned quad-rotor aerial vehicle when a dynamic change in its model parameters or failure of its actuator occurs. In this paper, a quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is controlled based on model reference adaptive control (MRAC) and a linear quadratic regulator (LQR). The kinematics and dynamics of the quad-rotor are calculated, and Lyapunov\u27s direct stability method is used to design the MRAC. In order to evaluate the performance of the adaptive control algorithms in the presence of thrust loss that may occur due to component failure or physical damage, a real quad-rotor is built from scratch using commercial components. Both controllers are designed, implemented and tested using AVR microcontrollers. Comparison is made between the controllers under normal and faulty situations and the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified. Simulation and experimental results show that both controllers have satisfactory performance under normal conditions and even in the presence of the partial loss of thrust that may occur due to the loss of control effectiveness in one of the rotors or the damage of one propeller, superior system performance is observed using the proposed MRAC controller

AirServer: A Mind-Controlled Assistive Quadrotor Drone Aided by an Intelligent Fuzzy PD Controller

Paralysis is the result of a block in the information pathway between the brain and the limbs. Patients losing bodily control in this way are unable to move as they need to and are, therefore, unable to look after their own needs. The goal of this paper is to design a functioning quadrotor drone that will respond to a patient\u27s brain activity and accordingly enables them to have normal daily functions. We have designed an innovative brain computer interface (BCI) system to control the drone using only the power of thought. The drone has been designed and built using commercial components. An Emotiv EPOC headset was used to gather brain activity and communicate it to the computer which uses Emotiv software and a translation program to convert the signal pattern into a command that is able to be read by an OpenPicus FlyPort module installed on the quadrotor drone. Due to the non-linear nature of the quadrotor, an innovative control law was derived using the Fuzzy Proportional Derivative (FPD) technique. A complete simulation was used to tune the controllers in MATLAB Simulink. The controllers were designed and implemented using on-board microcontrollers and an inertial measurement system. The entire system was tested and verified in an actual flight test. The findings indicate the potential of BCI system for controlling quadrotor, and thus enabling paralyzed people to improve their life and maximize communication capabilities and independence

Improving the quality of experience in terms of SINR by modelling a millimetre wave pico-cellular network: a potential (5G) cellular network with a pico-cell technology deployment at 28 GHz operating frequency

Fifth generation technology (5G) is causing researchers to find ways to maximise the mobile telecommunication network capacity. This term has led to the discovery that there is a vast spectrum in the millimetre wave (mmWave) band between 3 GHz and 300 GHz which can be used to deploy small-cell technology over a highly populated service area. This paper proposes a 5G cellular system with a multi-pico cell deployment at 28 GHz operating frequency in order to reduce the signal-to-interference-noise ratio and thus improve the quality of user experience (QoE). Our study also provides a comparison between the suggested mmWave model and the cellular Fourth Generation/Long Term Evolution (4G/LTE) at 1900 MHz. We established and tested both systems over a 1.2 km² service area. Finally, we investigated that our proposed system enabled a cell throughput three times the maximum cell throughput of 4G/LTE1900