P300-based EEG signal interpretation system for robot navigation control

In recent years, Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) research has provoked an enormous interest among researchers from different fields. The most popular approach is a non-invasive method, using Electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis which acquires signals from the brain. The aim of this project is to develop a brain signal interpretation system that can convert one thought into multiple movements for mobile robot navigation. A signal interpretation system is designed and developed to receive the EEG signal via User Datagram Protocol (UDP) transmission, converts the signal to several robot commands that are pre-programmed according to the robot’s programming software and send the commands to the robot through the operating computer. Using signals from four electrodes to evaluate the signal interpretation system, a success rate of 75-80% is received, while a total response time of only 61 seconds needed by the system from the start of the stimuli until the robot has finished all commands sent by the system, as compared to the conventional method of one-thought-one-movement which can take around 30 seconds per command. With this system, user can expect faster execution of the robot commands, less thinking therefore less exhausting, making BCI a pleasant experience for all users regardless of their health conditions

Performance of Ultra High Frequency Gen2 Passive Tags Radio Frequency Identification in chemical laboratory environment

This research analyzes the performance of Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Gen2 Passive Tags Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology as sensing device in chemical laboratory environment. The purpose of this paper is to verify the effectiveness of using RFID for tracking chemical bottles during inventory process in a laboratory. In most laboratories, the chemical tracking process is still being done manually which is very time consuming. The advantages of RFID operaton will help to enhance the effectiveness of chemical inventory management and reduce the process time. An experiment in a laboratory was done to verify the performance of detection rate according to the specifications stated in the manual data sheet. Pre-programmed RFID passive tags were affixed onto chemical bottles and then scanned using RFID reader to detect all output data in a controlled environment. The result showed that certain conditions such as material of the container, tag-reader orientation and the size of chemical bottles play important role to get detected for this type of RFID. From the result, the paper suggested some guidelines to be taken care of during scanning process to get higher percentage of reading rates

RFID-enabled web-based interface for chemical storage management system

The management of a chemical inventory is necessary for safety purposes as well as for fulfilling regulatory compliance. In most academic laboratories, the management of chemicals is still being done manually, which is time-consuming. As a result, data are not updated and expired chemicals are unintentionally used. This research proposes that UHF Class 1 Gen 2 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology be used in the development of a chemical inventory information system to ease chemical tracking as well as to shorten the inventory process time. An information system integrating RFID data and a web-based rule identification interface was developed. WAMP 2.2.17, PHP 5.3.5 and MySQL 5.5.8 were downloaded and a programming language was written to check the expiration date of the chemicals as well as to produce alert notification status. Wireless technology through GSM modem helped in producing alert messages using the Short Message System (SMS) of the nearly expired chemicals to the handphone of the person in charge in real time

RFID-enabled web-based interface for a chemical storage management system

The management of a chemical inventory is necessary for safety purposes as well as for fulfilling regulatory compliance. In most academic laboratories, the management of chemicals is still being done manually, which is time-consuming. As a result, data are not updated and expired chemicals are unintentionally used. This research proposes that UHF Class 1 Gen 2 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology be used in the development of a chemical inventory information system to ease chemical tracking as well as to shorten the inventory process time. An information system integrating RFID data and a web-based rule identification interface was developed. WAMP 2.2.17, PHP 5.3.5 and MySQL 5.5.8 were downloaded and a programming language was written to check the expiration date of the chemicals as well as to produce alert notification status. Wireless technology through GSM modem helped in producing alert messages using the Short Message System (SMS) of the nearly expired chemicals to the handphone of the person in charge in real time

Motorcycle image tracking and edge detections based on Simulink software

A visual driver support system was developed to reduce accidents involving motorcyclist. The system used Matlab software as a platform to detect motorcycle image. The detection system was designed to detect still images and moving objects images for different resolutions. A motorcycle was defined as the target object in this case. The results showed that the visual driver support system is able to detect image of motorcycle in still and in moving condition. The percentage of correct detection of motorcycle image is 83.3% and 50% for low and high image resolutions respectively

Characterization of zinc oxide on green carbon nanotube cotton

Recycling waste cooking palm oil (WCPO) as a source for alternative fuel such as biodiesel and valuable carbon materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) is a way to exploit it from waste to wealth. Carbon nanotubes cotton (CNTC) is one of the carbon nanostructures synthesized in high-temperature furnace. It resembles cotton candy, composed of low spatial density, ultra-long individual CNT, hydrophobic, oleophilic and exhibits good electrical and mechanical properties. CNTC from WCPO was synthesized using in-house chemical vapor deposition reactor. Ferrocene was used as catalyst with thiophene as a growth rate enhancer. The synthesis was carried out at temperature ranging from 1000 °C to 1200°C. The electrodeposition of ZnO was performed in a three electrode electrochemical cell with CNTC as the cathode. The result obtained showed that ZnO was successfully deposited on CNTC. The combination of ZnO and CNTC hybrid is a promising composite that can be further explored in the application of piezoelectric nanogenerator, sensors and high-performance electromagnetic absorbing material

Real time motorcycle image detection and analysis

This research investigated image tracking and edge detection for motorcycle in various lighting and weather conditions. The capability in different resolution and threshold level also evaluated. Comparison between hardware and software implementation of edge detection also been made. Develop framework showed great accuracy is segmentation of plate number from motorcycle image in daylight condition compared to rainy daylight and night condition. The aim of this project is to develop framework for motorcycle image detection and recognize for traffic offender. Analysis with histogram level and contrast stretching method showed performance in hardware is improved rather than software

Motorcycle image application on MATLAB Simulink and FPGA platform

This research investigated image tracking and edge detection for motorcycle in various lighting and weather conditions. The capabilities in different resolutions and thresholds level also evaluated. Comparison between hardware and software implementation of edge detection also been made. Developed framework showed great accuracy in segmentation of plate number from motorcycle image in daylight condition compared to rainy daylight and night condition

Effect of loading nickel zinc ferrite thick film to performance of microstrip patch antenna

The present work investigated the fabrication of nickel zinc ferrite thick (NZF) film layer as substrate inclusion to enhance the performance of microstrip patch antenna (MPA). In this paper, NZF nanopowder was mixed with organic vehicle which consists of linseed oil, m-xylene and α-terpineol. Then the mix was stirred at 150rpm for 3 hours at 40°C in order to obtain homogenous paste, followed by printing it onto FR4 substrate using the screen printing technique to form the YIG thick film layer before dried and later fired at 200°C. A patch antenna using silver paste was printed onto the NZF layer and was compared with another patch antenna which was been printed without the ferrite thick film layer. The results shown that the antenna with NZF thick film layer has return loss of -29.34dB, resonant frequency 5.64GHz, -10dB bandwidth of 0.48, which is significantly improved the performance of MPA compared to the antenna without the layer by 67.27%, 7.14%, and 84.61% respectively

The effect of acid leaching towards particle size of rice husk silica

Rice Husk (RH) is the outer layer of paddy grain and considered as agricultural waste in rice producing countries including Malaysia. Several research works have been done to turn these waste into something valuable as well as helping in the environmental pollution problem when these husks are burnt in the field. RH contains about 20% silica which is an oxide of silicon with a chemical formula of SiO2 besides other elements such as K2O, CaO, MgO and others. Silica is a basic raw material that can be used in many industries including electronics application. This project is done to study the effect of acid-leach towards silica derived from rice husk. Two samples are being prepared, one was washed using tap water. The other sample was washed with hidrocloric acid (HCl). For the first sample, RH was washed thoroughly with tap water several times and followed by distilled water to remove mud, soil, impurities and other contaminants present in the raw material. Then it was dried initially at room temperature for 12 hours followed by electrical oven at temperature 100oC to remove water content. For the second sample, RH was washed with 3M HCl acid through reflux technique in the fume cupboard for 2 hours. The RH was washed again to remove the acid and dried at room temperature for 12 hours. Both samples were then transferred into crucible and heated at 900°C for 6 hours in air by an electric furnace to produce WRHA. Then both samples were milled in a high energy milling machine for 20 minutes to turn them into nano sized particle powder. The morphology of the specimens were verified by scanning electron microscopy using a Nova Nanosem 230 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope. The elemental analysis of the sintered powder was measured by EDX. The particles size were then examined and analyzed using ImageJ software. The result from ImageJ software shows that for as-milled RH washed with tap water, the average size for particle size is 68 nm whereas for RH with acid leaching, the average size is 26 nm. The result shows that the acid-leached RH has smaller particle size which is about 62% compares to non-acid-leached technique. This RH contains more porosity and the RH pellets are more brittle. This is because the reaction of the chemical with the reactive elements contained in RH such as potassium, magnesium and calcium