Detection Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Emplacement Using Infrared Image

This paper presents a method to detect an improvised explosive device (IED) by using infrared thermography (IRT) technology. The detection of IED will be done automatically and accurately even the IED detection expert is not present. Combining the advantage of IRT and image processing technique, the proposed method is very efficient and responsive to detect the existence of hidden IED. The captured images are filtered and segmented to extract the heat pattern before the decision is made. Based on the experimental result, the proposed system produced about 92 % of detection accuracy

Evaluating the Thermal Condition of Electrical Equipment Via IRT Image Analysis

The integrity of electrical power equipment is of paramount importance when itsupplies electricity throughout a facility. However, the reliability of the equipments will degraded after sometime, and appropriate maintenance has to be taken accordingly to avoid future faults. Infrared thermography (IRT) image analysis is a commonly used technique for diagnosing the reliability of electrical equipments. Conventionally, the analysis of infrared image is done manually and takes very long time for further analysis. This paper proposes an automatic thermal fault detection and classification system for evaluating thecondition of electrical equipment by analyzing its infrared image. First, the image is segmented to find the target region of interest (ROI). The detected regions which have the same region properties are grouped together in order to remove the unwanted regions. Finally, statistical features from each detected region are extracted and classified using the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. The thermal condition of electrical equipments is evaluated based on qualitative measurement technique. The experimental result shows that the proposed system can detect and classify the thermal condition of electrical equipments

Development of wireless vehicle remote control for fuel lid operation

Nowadays, the evolution of the vehicle technology had made the vehicle especially car to be equipped with a remote control to control the operation of the locking and unlocking system of the car’s door and rear’s bonnet. However, for the fuel or petrol lid, it merely can be opened from inside the car’s cabin by handling the fuel level inside the car’s cabin to open the fuel lid. The petrol lid can be closed by pushing the lid by hand. Due to the high usage of using fuel lever to open the fuel lid when refilling the fuel, the car driver might encounter the malfunction of fuel lid (fail to open) when pushing or pulling the fuel lever. Thus, the main aim of the research is to enhance the operation of an existing car remote control where the car fuel lid can be controlled using two techniques; remote control-based and smartphone-based. The remote control is constructed using Arduino microcontroller, wireless sensors and XCTU software to set the transmitting and receiving parameters. Meanwhile, the smartphone can control the operation of the fuel lid by communicating with Arduino microcontroller which is attached to the fuel lid using Bluetooth sensor to open the petrol lid. In order to avoid the conflict of instruction between wireless systems with the existing mechanical-based system, the servo motor will be employed to release the fuel lid merely after receiving the instruction from Arduino microcontroller and smartphone. As a conclusion, the prototype of the multipurpose vehicle remote control is successfully invented, constructed and tested. The car fuel lid can be opened either using remote control or smartphone in a sequential manner. Therefore, the outcome of the project can be used to serve as an alternative solution to solve the car fuel lid problem even though the problem rarely occurred

Design of Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) for Low-Power Application

Inductive power transfer (IPT) is preferred for numerous applications nowadays, ranging from microwatt bio-engineering devices to high power battery charging system. IPT system is based on the basic concept of electromagnetics induction which able to transfer the power from a source of electrical to the load without using any type of physical interconnection. This paper present a low-cost designed and implementation of IPT system via magnetic resonant coupling. NI Multisim 14.0 software was used to simulate the circuit diagram and the hardware prototype was developed for testing

Solar irradiance uncertainty management based on Monte Carlo-beta probability density function: case in Malaysian tropical climate

In recent years, solar PV power generation has seen a rapid growth due to environmental benefits and zero fuel costs. In Malaysia, due to its location near the equator, makes solar energy the most utilized renewable energy resources. Unlike conventional power generation, solar energy is considered as uncertain generation sources which will cause unstable energy supplied. The uncertainty of solar resource needs to be managed for the planning of the PV system to produce its maximum power. The statistical method is the most prominent to manage and model the solar irradiance uncertainty patterns. Based on one-minute time interval meteorological data taken in Pekan, Pahang, West Malaysia, the Monte Carlo-Beta probability density function (Beta PDF) is performed to model continuous random variable of solar irradiance. The uncertainty studies are needed to optimally plan the photovoltaic system for the development of solar PV technologies in generating electricity and enhance the utilization of renewable energy; especially in tropical climate region

Analysis of EEG features for brain computer interface application

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) or Human-Machine Interface (HMI) is now becoming vital engineering and technology field which applies electroencephalography (EEG) signal to provide Assistive Technology (AT) to humans. This paper presents the analysis of EEG signals from various human cognitive or mental states to determine the suitable EEG features that can be employed in BCI field. Here, EEG features in term of power spectral density, log energy entropy and spectral centroid are selected to recognize human men- tal or cognitive state from 3 different exercises; i) solving math problem, ii) playing game and iii) do nothing (relax). The average power spectral density, average log energy entropy and average spectral centroid of EEG Alpha and Beta band for three mental exercises are calculated in order to determine the best features that can be used for BCI application. The results of the research shows that the EEG features in term of power spectral density, log energy en- tropy and spectral centroid can be used to indicate the change in cognitive states after exposing human to several cognitive exercises

Evaluation of Mobile Phone Wireless Charging System Using Solar and Inductive Coupling

The wireless charging system now becomes one of the emerging technologies especially in the application of communication systems and beneficial to the wireless electronic appliances. Among them are mobile phones, cameras, personal digital assistance (PDA), cooler, torchlight and drill. Those wireless devices require battery to store and provide power before the device can be used. Hence, in order to solve the problem of short life of the battery of mobile phone, this project proposes adding a solar charging system base on inductive coupling method to the mobile phone to improve the usage of mobile phone in term of standby time, talk-time, online applications and power consumption especially in the remote area. Inductive coupling is among the effective method in wireless charging system to charge electronics device and reduce the constraint of the power cord or wired system. Meanwhile, solar cell is among the energy harvesting devices that is widely employed in many electronics application. The outcome of the project describes the comparison of the power consumption between the wire charging systems with solar-based wireless charging system. From the analysis of the results, solar-powered mobile phone with inductive coupling produced 21 h 46 min standby time after charging for 13 h 15 min compared to the existing charging system (wired system) which produce 17 h 5 min standby time after charging for 2 h 30 min. In addition, proposed system has high power consumption in term of standby time, talk-time and online application. Based on the results of the project, it could suggest that the wireless solar-powered mobile phone can replace the existing charging system in term of standby time

Development of Smart Security System for Building or Laboratory Entrance based on human’s brain (EEG) and Voice Signals

The drastic increment in cyber-crimes and violent attacks involving our properties and lives made the world become much vigilant towards ill-intentioned peoples. Thus, it leads to the booming of smart security system industry which relies heavily on biometrics technology. However, due to certain circumstances, some users may find the existing biometrics technologies such as fingerprint, palm, iris and face recognition are unable to detect the necessary data precisely due to the physical injuries of the users. Furthermore, the fact that these biometrics technologies are easily retrieved from the user and be used as counterfeit to access to the security system undetected. Thus, in this research, in order to enhance the existing security system based on the biometric technologies, the combination of the human physiological signals such as brain and voice signals will be employed in order to unlock the magnetic door entrance to the laboratory, building or office. This research has utilized mobile Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset and voice recognizer to capture human’s brain and voice signals respectively. The extracted features from the captured signals then are analyzed, classified and translated to determine the device command for the microcontroller to control the door entrance’s locking system. The high rate of classification results of the selected features of EEG and voice signals at 96.7% and 99.3% respectively show that selected features can be translated to command parameters to control device

Midgut microbiota of the malaria mosquito vector Anopheles gambiae and Interactions with plasmodium falciparum Infection

The susceptibility of Anopheles mosquitoes to Plasmodium infections relies on complex interactions between the insect vector and the malaria parasite. A number of studies have shown that the mosquito innate immune responses play an important role in controlling the malaria infection and that the strength of parasite clearance is under genetic control, but little is known about the influence of environmental factors on the transmission success. We present here evidence that the composition of the vector gut microbiota is one of the major components that determine the outcome of mosquito infections. A. gambiae mosquitoes collected in natural breeding sites from Cameroon were experimentally challenged with a wild P. falciparum isolate, and their gut bacterial content was submitted for pyrosequencing analysis. The meta-taxogenomic approach revealed a broader richness of the midgut bacterial flora than previously described. Unexpectedly, the majority of bacterial species were found in only a small proportion of mosquitoes, and only 20 genera were shared by 80% of individuals. We show that observed differences in gut bacterial flora of adult mosquitoes is a result of breeding in distinct sites, suggesting that the native aquatic source where larvae were grown determines the composition of the midgut microbiota. Importantly, the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae in the mosquito midgut correlates significantly with the Plasmodium infection status. This striking relationship highlights the role of natural gut environment in parasite transmission. Deciphering microbe-pathogen interactions offers new perspectives to control disease transmission.Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); French Agence Nationale pour la Recherche [ANR-11-BSV7-009-01]; European Community [242095, 223601]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio