Operational dashboard: Accelerator for shop floor workers

Executing job tasks faster is essential for employees working in the operation section of manufacturing organizations nowadays in order to achieve target profit and gain customer satisfaction. Thus, having a tool to assist them in performing their work faster is necessary. Existing IT system does exist to supply the data they need. However, the entire process is invisible because there is no real-time information available. This causes delay in decisions that they need to make for the operation of the section. To address these issues, this paper presents the Operational Dashboard (OD) for the workers in the operation section of the manufacturing firm. The workers' needs were first identified to ensure that a right dashboard is being constructed, which is the OD. The OD system was then implemented in the manufacturing firm following the users' requirements. The implementation of the OD had shown its effectiveness in shortening the time of the data analysis by the employees in the section. This eventually led to improvement in the decision making process in such a way that the process was done faster as compared to the previous practice

A training monitoring system for cyclist based on wireless sensor networks

This paper presents a training monitoring system for cyclist that is based on the technology of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). A stable and reliable wireless cyclist monitoring system is vital to establish a smart and efficient sports management program. A training monitoring system has been developed and tested in a real cyclist training environment in a velodrome. The system is designed is such a way that the packet loss rate is minimum. Using TelG mote as the basis, customized sensor nodes that function as a forwarder node and the relay nodes are developed to form the WSN. This WSN is linked to the cloud network on the Internet. The cloud network is then established and end users application for data accessing is designed. Several experiments have been conducted in a real scenario in a velodrome to measure the reliability of the system architecture. It is shown from the experiments that the proposed system is reliable even when the cyclist is moving at a high speed. The packet loss is less than 2% which does not give a huge impact to the data transmission

Maximum power point tracking of partial shaded photovoltaic array using an evolutionary algorithm: a particle swarm optimization technique

 Partial shading is one of the unavoidable complications in the field of solar power generation. Although the most common approach in increasing a photovoltaic (PV) array’s efficiency has always been to introduce a bypass diode to the said array, this poses another problem in the form of multi-peaks curves whenever the modules are partially shaded. To further complicate matters, most conventional Maximum Power Point Tracking methods develop errors under certain circumstances (for example, they detect the local Maximum Power Point (MPP) instead of the global MPP) and reduce the efficiency of PV systems even further. Presently, much research has been undertaken to improve upon them. This study aims to employ an evolutionary algorithm technique, also known as particle swarm optimization, in MPP detection. VC 2014 Author(s)

A study of frequency and pulses for stepper motor controller system by using programmable logic controller

The stepper motor movement process produced different frequency and pulses. This research explained about the frequency and pulses for the stepper motor movement by using Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as research method. The study was done to find the suitable frequency and pulses for stepper motor movement by developing a prototype stepper motor controller system. The pulse frequency used did not affected the distance of moving load in the stepper motor operations. The increasing number of pulse frequency only will affect the time taken for the stepper motor to complete its operations. The result showed that number of pulse frequency at high operation was 5000 Hz. Pulse number reacted as a manipulated variable that affected both factor which is time taken of stepper motor operation and the distance of moving load

Time Based Intrusion Detection on Fast Attack for Network Intrusion Detection System

In recent years network attack are easily launch since the tools to execute the attack are freely available on the Internet. Even the script kiddies can initiate a sophisticated attack with just a basic knowledge on network and software technology. To overcome this matter, Intrusion Detection System (IDS) has been used as a vital instrument in defending the network from this malicious activity. With the ability to analyze network traffic and recognize incoming and ongoing network attack, majority of network administrator has turn to IDS to help them in detecting anomalies in network traffic. The gathering of information and analysis on the anomalies activity can be classified into fast and slow attack. Since fast attack activity make a connection in few second and uses a large amount of packet, detecting this early connection provide the administrator one step ahead in deflecting further damages towards the network infrastructure. This paper describes IDS that detects fast attack intrusion using time based detection method. The time based detection method calculates the statistic of the frequency event which occurs between one second time intervals for each connection made to a host thus providing the crucial information in detecting fast attack

Superparamagnetic iron oxide as photocatalyst and adsorbent in wastewater treatment - a review

Superparamagnetic iron oxide has been applied in different fields for various reasons. Its abundant availability, non-toxic properties, environmentally friendly and good chemical stability in aqueous medium are beneficial for water treatment applications. In addition, its low bad gap (2.3 ~ 2.4 eV) has contributed to highly possible electrons-holes activation under the visible light spectrum. On the realization of iron oxide capabilities as a promising alternative to conventional anatase TiO2 photocatalysts, this review is presented to critically discuss the photocatalytic behaviour of organic water pollutants as a function of iron oxide properties. The concluding remarks in terms of the way forward in the opportunities of iron oxide superparamagnetic properties can benefit towards the photocatalytic activities including recycling, retrieving and controlling in wastewater treatment

ARPES Study of the Metal-Insulator Transition in Bismuth Cobaltates

We present an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study of a Mott-Hubbard-type bismuth cobaltate system across a metal-insulator transition. By varying the amount of Pb substitution, and by doping with Sr or Ba cation, a range of insulating to metallic properties is obtained. We observe a systematic change in the spectral weight of the coherent and incoherent parts, accompanied by an energy shift of the incoherent part. The band dispersion also shows the emergence of a weakly dispersing state at the Fermi energy with increasing conductivity. These changes correspond with the changes in the temperature-dependent resistivity behavior. We address the nature of the coherent-incoherent parts in relation to the peak-dip-hump feature seen in cuprates superconductors

Flexographic printing of ultra-thin semiconductor polymer layers

Methods of fabricating and controlling organic light emitting diode (OLED) or photovoltaic layers effectively are paramount for achieving a functional and durable device. The deposited film needs to be uniform and homogeneous to avoid non-uniform luminescence in the OLED. Although methods of depositing the ultra-thin sub 100 nm layers within OLED are effective, they are relatively slow and expensive. This paper therefore demonstrates flexography as an alternative method for depositing the semiconductor layer for OLED onto glass substrate. In this case a proprietary semiconducting polyflourine dispersed in xylene was used. This material functions as the hole injecting layer. The low polymer concentration and requirement for aromatic solvent presented challenges for the process; conventional photopolymer printing plates degraded rapidly on contact with xylene and rubber printing plates were found to be sufficiently resilient. Through optimisation of printing parameters and surface modification of both the printing plate and substrate with UV/ozone exposure, a consistent sub-100 nm film was achieved. Flexographic printing will enable a substantial reduction in layer fabrication time, as well as allowing roll to roll mass production at lower cost. The research indicated within this paper will aid the progression of flexography as a viable cost effective method for OLED or display technology application through continuous printing of ultra-thin layers

Quality of life satisfaction among converted Kelantan Chinese Muslims

This article investigates the quality of life of the Kelantan Chinese Muslim community before and after conversion to Islam, focusing on their level of satisfaction in term of economic aspect. This research was carried out using the sequential explanatory mixed method design involving 75 respondents selected for quantitative and five respondents for qualitative. The sampling method adopted was convenience and snowball samplings. The research data was collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that respondents were moderately satisfied before conversion and satisfied after conversion. Besides that, there is no significant difference of quality of life before and after conversion to Islam (F = 0.868, p = 0.355) and it was not influenced by the period of conversion to Islam (F = 0.832, p = 0.589). This analysis indicates numerous respondents are still moderately satisfied in their quality of life even though the average data shows they are satisfied after conversion

Rehabilitation Of Ex-Mining Pond And Existing Wetland For Integrated Stormwater Management.

A study on rehabilitation of ex-mining pond and existing wetland for integrated storm water facilities has been carried out in Malaysia