A critical review of MANET testbed using mobile robot technology

This paper is a continuation of our previous paper under the same topic, MANET testbed using mobile robot technology. In our previous paper, we studied the topic by scrutinizing all the technical aspects and presented it as a technical review. However in this paper, we study the topic and presents it as a critical review that dwells into four aspect, namely (i) purpose, a ccessibility and s cope of testbed facilities, (ii) usability and c ontrollability of robot mobility in t estbed facilities, (iii) repeatability and r e producibility of real m obility in t estbeds, and (iv) tools for MANET implementation, deployment and d ebugging for experiments. With the wealth of information on the topic provided in this paper, the content of this paper is expected to be a source of reference for MANET researchers who are at a crossroad when selecting the preferred mobi le robot technology and approach to sui t thei r own speci f ic needs

A critical review of MANET testbed using mobile robot Technology

This paper is a continuation of our previous paper under the same topic, MANET testbed using mobile robot technology. In our previous paper, we studied the topic by scrutinizing all the technical aspects and presented it as a technical review. However in this paper, we study the topic and presents it as a critical review that dwells into four aspect, namely (i) purpose, a ccessibility and s cope of testbed facilities, (ii) usability and c ontrollability of robot m obility in t estbed facilities, (iii) repeatability and r e producibility of real m obility in t estbeds, and (iv) tools for MANET implementation, deployment and d ebugging for e xperiments. With the wealth of information on the topic provided in this paper, the content of this paper is expected to be a source of reference for MANET researchers who are at a crossroad when selecting the preferred mobile robot technology and approach to suit their own specific needs

Ovary ultrasound image edge detection analysis: a tutorial using MATLAB

Ultrasound imaging has been used over several years and has an excellent safety record. The problem of edge detection is fundamental to many image processing systems. Besides that, the existing of the sparkle noise creates difficulties in a diagnosis image captured by the ultrasound modality. The purpose of this study is to overcome the boundary problem by using several methods in image processing. The methods include image segmentation, morphological technique and image filtering. The ovary image captured from the ultrasound modality is used in this study. The results show that, by combining the region of interest method with threshold and morphological method, the edges and the border of the ovary can be detected

Force variability as an objective measure of surgical skill

This study investigated the force variability of subjects with different level of surgical skills for different force levels. Twelve participants were recruited from three different levels of surgical experiences: A group of surgeon (N = 4), medical student (N = 3) and engineering student (N = 5) underwent a simple finger force control task using a custom developed ‘Force Matching’ module. Three different levels of target force were used: 2 N, 4 N, and 6 N. The task was performed simultaneously using right and left hands. The mean error of force was measured to compare the performance between the three group using Kruskal-Wallis test. A statistically significant difference was detected among the three groups at 2 N when using right hand. We also found that the surgeon group made less error compared to the two other groups at force level 4 N and 6 N for both hands. This finding has important implication for developing a parametric assessment model to evaluate basic skill level in surgical procedures. However, for most accurate result, a big sample size of subject is require

Newly Developed Nonlinear Vehicle Model for an Active Anti-roll Bar System

This paper presents the development of a newly developed nonlinear vehicle model is used in the validation process of the vehicle model. The parameters chosen in a newly developed vehicle model is developed based on CARSIM vehicle model by using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm version II (NSGA-II) optimization method. The ride comfort and handling performances have been one of the main objective to fulfil the expectation of customers in the vehicle development. Full nonlinear vehicle model which consists of ride, handling and Magic tyre subsystems has been derived and developed in MATLAB/Simulink. Then, optimum values of the full nonlinear vehicle parameters are investigated by using NSGA-II. The two objective functions are established based on RMS error between simulation and benchmark system. A stiffer suspension provides good stability and handling during manoeuvres while softer suspension gives better ride quality. The final results indicated that the newly developed nonlinear vehicle model is behaving accurately with input ride and manoeuvre. The outputs trend are successfully replicated

Linear and Non-Linear Predictive Models in Predicting Motor Assessment Scale of Stroke Patients Using Non-Motorized Rehabilitation Device

Various predictive models, both linear and non-linear, such as Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Partial Least Squares (PLS), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), were frequently employed for predicting the clinical scores of stroke patients. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of these predictive models is somewhat impacted by how features are selected from the data to serve as inputs for the model. Hence, it's crucial to explore an ideal feature selection method to attain the most accurate prediction performance. This study primarily aims to evaluate the performance of two non-motorized three-degree-of-freedom devices, namely iRest and ReHAD using MLR, PLS and ANN predictive models and to examine the usefulness of including a hand grip function with the assessment device. The results reveal that ReHAD coupled with non-linear model (i.e. ANN) has a better prediction performance compared to iRest and at once proving that by including the hand grip function into the assessment device may increase the prediction accuracy in predicting Motor Assessment Scale (MAS) score of stroke subjects. Furthermore, these findings imply that there is a substantial association between kinematic variables and MAS scores, and as such the ANN model with a feature selection of twelve kinematic variables can predict stroke patients' MAS scores

Linear and Non-Linear Predictive Models in Predicting Motor Assessment Scale of Stroke Patients Using Non-Motorized Rehabilitation Device

Various predictive models, both linear and non-linear, such as Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Partial Least Squares (PLS), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), were frequently employed for predicting the clinical scores of stroke patients. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of these predictive models is somewhat impacted by how features are selected from the data to serve as inputs for the model. Hence, it's crucial to explore an ideal feature selection method to attain the most accurate prediction performance. This study primarily aims to evaluate the performance of two non-motorized three-degree-of-freedom devices, namely iRest and ReHAD using MLR, PLS and ANN predictive models and to examine the usefulness of including a hand grip function with the assessment device. The results reveal that ReHAD coupled with non-linear model (i.e. ANN) has a better prediction performance compared to iRest and at once proving that by including the hand grip function into the assessment device may increase the prediction accuracy in predicting Motor Assessment Scale (MAS) score of stroke subjects. Furthermore, these findings imply that there is a substantial association between kinematic variables and MAS scores, and as such the ANN model with a feature selection of twelve kinematic variables can predict stroke patients' MAS scores

Antidiabetic Activity of Wogonin Isolated from Tetracera indica Merr. Leaves Extract in Streptozotocin-Nicotinamide Induced Diabetic Rats

The leaves of Tetracera indica Merr. (Dilleniaceae) have been used to treat diabetes in Malaysia. However, the active principles responsible for the leaf’s antidiabetic effect are yet to be confirmed and evaluated through an in vivo investigation. Hence, a phenolic compound as a flavonoid (wogonin) was isolated as a major compound from the leaves methanol extract and subjected to antidiabetic evaluation. Initially, the powdered leaves were macerated with methanol for 72 h. The resultant methanol extract was subjected to column chromatography to isolate the pure wogonin. Its structure was elucidated through 1H- & C-13 NMR spectral analysis. Finally, the wogonin was orally given to streptozotocin-nicotinamide (STZ-NA) induced diabetic rats at three different doses (25, 40, 80 mg/kg b.w.). The histological alteration of vital organs, insulin release, biochemical assays, and blood glucose serum were evaluated and compared to standard hypoglycaemic drug i.e., metformin (0.5 mg/kg b.w.). Data of the blood glucose serum of rats treated with wogonin at 40 and 80 mg/kg b.w. revealed a significant decrease in blood glucose when compared to the diabetic control (p<0.05). Biochemical analyses for all doses displayed no significant difference when compared to the normal group and positive control (p>0.05) for triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density, and low-density lipoprotein. However, the results were significantly different for triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density, and low-density lipoprotein when compared to diabetic control (p<0.05). In addition, wogonin at 40 mg/kg b.w. was found to enhance insulin secretion by day 30. The histopathology data of the pancreas showed that wogonin at 40 and 80 mg/kg b.w. was observed to regenerate pancreatic β-cells in diabetic rats without demonstrating any liver and kidney toxicities. The results indicated that wogonin possesses an in vivo antidiabetic property and therefore might provide a lead for the synthesis of a safe natural product-based antidiabetic agent

Force Control for One Degree of Freedom Haptic Device using PID Controller

Haptics has been used as an additional feedback to increase human experience to the environment over years and its application has been widening into education, manufacturing and medical. The most developed haptic devices are for rehabilitation purpose. The rehabilitation process usually depends on the physiotherapist. But, it requires repetitive movements for long-term rehabilitation, thus haptic devices are needed. Most of the rehabilitation devices are included with haptic feedback to enhance therapy exercise during the rehabilitation process. However, the devices come with multiple degrees of freedom (DOF), complex design and costly. Rehabilitation for hand movement such as grasping, squeezing, holding and pinching usually does not need an expensive and complex device. Therefore, the goal of this study is to make an enhancement to One DOF Haptic Device for grasping rehabilitation exercise. It is improved to perform a force control mechanism with few types of conventional controller which are Proportional (P) controller, Proportional-Integral (PI) controller, Proportional-Derivative (PD) controller and Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. The performance of the haptic device is tested with different conventional controller to obtain the best proposed controller based on the lowest value of Mean Square Error (MSE). The results show that PID Controller (MSE = 0.0028) is the most suitable for the haptic device with Proportional gain (Kp), Integral gain (Ki) and Derivative gain (Kd) are 1.3, 0.01 and 0.2 respectively. The force control mechanism can imitate the training motion of grasping movement for the patient

Mobile ad hoc network testbed using mobile robot technology

MANET (Mobile Ad Hoc Network) researchers have shown increased interest in using mobile robot technology for their testbed platforms. Thus, the main motivation of this paper is to review various robot-based MANET testbeds that have been developed in previously reported research. Additionally, suggestions to heighten mobility mechanisms by using mobile robots to be more practical, easy and inexpensive are also included in this paper, as we unveils ToMRobot, a low-cost MANET robot created from an ordinary remote control car that is capable of performing a real system MANET testbed with the addition of only a few low-cost electronic components. Despite greatly reduced costs, the ToMRobot does not sacrifice any of the necessary MANET basic structures and will still be easily customizable and upgradeable through the use of open hardware technology like Cubieboard2 and Arduino, as its robot controller. This paper will also include guidelines to enable technically limited MANET researchers to design and develop the ToMRobot. It is hoped that this paper achieves its two pronged objectives namely (i) to facilitate other MANET researchers by providing them with a source of reference that eases their decision making for selecting the best and most suitable MANET mobile robots for real mobility in their MANET testbeds (ii) to provide MANET researchers with a prospect of building their own MANET robots that can be applied in their own MANET testbed in the future