Analysis and implementation of a solar tracking rack system

Solar energy is the most feasible source of renewable energy especially in sun rich regions like Africa. In particular, electrically epileptic country like Nigeria with current power output of only about 3.5GW of energy has a relatively long sunny period for about 90% of the year, making Nigeria very rich in solar power. Maximally harnessing solar energy into usable electricity however, is still a fundamental problem as the existing models can harness only about 70% of the available energy. To maximally harness solar energy, a solar panel must be perpendicular to the energy source for all 12hours of sunlight availability, and must be able to follow the sun’s movement all day long. Accordingly, this work considers the analysis, construction, and implementation of a single axis solar tracking dynamic system. Experimental result show that the proposed system outperforms the conventional static solar tracking system. Keywords: solar energy, single axis, harvesting-solar energy

Analysis and implementation of electricity generation of 1000VA using wind turbine

The project involved the design and construction of a three-blade wind turbine, selection of generator by consideration of the available wind speed and the maximum generated voltage per revolution, and assembly of the pulse width modulated inverter with microontroller based status display and low battery shutdown system. On completion of the work, tests were conducted and the result shows that the design work was very good, the output of the generator was good enough to charge the batteries and the inverter performed an excellent task of converting the direct current (DC) voltage available in the battery to alternating current (AC) at 230V 50Hz 20”. Furthermore, results from the discharge characteristics of the battery shows that as the battery is being used up, the output voltage remains constant. Keywords: wind, blade, turbine, magnetic field, battery, oscillator, inverter, controlle

Comparison of the reliability of programmable logic controller and electromagnetic relay control in industrial production line

This paper is aimed at determining the reliability of Industrial Production Line using Programmable Logic Controller. Production lines in the manufacturing sector are automated using Programmable Logic Controller module, which is programmed using programming software. The programming software used is the Siemens S7-200 while the programming language is the Ladder Programming language. Most manufacturing industries in Nigeria today still use relays for control purposes. The wirings from the control panel are so massive that any fault from the machine usually takes hours to trace and replace using the traditional electromagnetic relay. Alternative and better control methods use Programmable Logic Controller. Research articles on the reliability of PLC in a food production line are scarce. This paper is written to address this gap. The study uses the statistical analytical method, which provides useful and higher accuracy of the result as it allows high tolerance to uncertainties. The study determines the failure rate, the mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to failure (MTTF), and availability as a means of determining the reliability of the network. Accordingly, the study showed that the mean availability of the Production line using PLC for three consecutive years is 84% while the reliability is 86%. Consequently, the use of PLC should be encouraged in industrial automation as the fault can be detected easily, thereby reducing downtime as compared to the use of electromagnetic relay in the control circuitry.Keywords: Programmable logic controller, availability, reliability, ladder programming language, relay logi

Design analysis of a microcontroller based Irrigation system

This work considers the design analysis of a low-cost microcontroller-based irrigation controller capable of managing irrigation for a small area of land based on real-time values of soil moisture and temperature. The method employed is to continuously monitor the soil moisture level to decide whether irrigation is needed, and how much water is needed in the soil. In particular, the microcontroller based circuit device performs the action of irrigation management. Specifically, it does this by continuously monitoring the moisture content of the soil, and comparing the values with two set reference values; the upper-limit, and lower-limit moisture content values, and then induces the corresponding action required. When the soil moisture content goes below the lower-limit value set by the user, the system observes this and begins irrigation action. Results obtained show that this design is cost-effective, and guarantees efficient water supply and effective labor management. Also, irrigation test results show that the duration of spray largely depends on the soil texture, grass identity and moisture content. In particular, sprinkler irrigation method in loamy soil took longer than in sandy soil, while clay soil irrigation took the longest time. Keywords: Automatic-Irrigation Controller, Irrigation, Microcontroller, Water-suppl

Design and development of biometric voting system using fingerprint and facial recognition

The election process adopted in Nigeria is mostly paper based or manual. This manually handled process can be time-consuming, and prone to security breaches and electoral fraud. Consequently, this work proposes a biometrically authenticated voting system to provide inexpensive solution to the electoral process in Nigeria. In particular, the biometric database is constructed by filling it with the audio fingerprints and the associated metadata of many audio clips, and then the fingerprint of an unknown clip (or the distorted version of the clip brought by compression or standard audio processing) is extracted and compared to that of the clip in the database. If the fingerprint of the unknown clip is in the database, it will be correctly identified by the matching procedures. The project is implemented with biometric system i.e. fingerprint scanning and facial recognition. Accordingly, this is used to ensure enhanced security, and to avoid fake, repeated voting. Results obtained showed that the proposed system is fast, accurate, reliable, and cost effective, thus a viable option to replace the manual voting process. Keywords: Biometrics, electoral process, facial recognition, finger print scannin

Performance evaluation and monitoring of a mobile telecommunication network

This study aims to determine both qualities of service provided by the network service provider as well as developing a monitoring technique of overseeing mobile telecommunication network in Nigeria. Key performance indicators of call setup success rate, call drop rate and call block rate, receive quality level and the receive signal level are used to determine the quality of service of the various service provider of Mtn, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile(then Etisalat). This research uses Unison mobile software, telemonitoring segment to improve performance and was carried out in Ifo metropolis, Ogun State, Nigeria. The telemonitoring segment is achieved using an IP camera which is networked using a wide area network (WAN). The IP camera is connected to a mobile phone module which contains a mobile signal measurement application that measures the received signal strength level of the neighbouring base station. The information of the signal strength can be obtained remotely and quality of service determined. The result of the quality of service shows that receive signal level of ≥ 65dBm was highest for Airtel with 83.5% while the lowest of 14% was recorded for Globacom network. The studies also incorporate methods of remotely obtaining signal strength measurement in any part of the Country using networking. Keywords: Key performance indicator, quality of service, network operators, cellular mobile, subscriber