Search results for: distributed automation system

Authors: Andreas D. Jansson

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The availability of inexpensive, yet competent hardware allows for increased level of automation and self-optimization in the context of Industry 4.0. However, such agents require high quality information about their surroundings along with a robust strategy for collision avoidance, as they may cause expensive damage to equipment or other agents otherwise. Manually defining a strategy to cover all possibilities is both time-consuming and counter-productive given the capabilities of modern hardware. This paper explores the idea of a model-free self-optimizing obstacle avoidance strategy for multiple autonomous agents in a simulated dynamic environment using the Q-learning algorithm.

Keywords: autonomous vehicles, industry 4.0, multi-agent system, obstacle avoidance, Q-learning, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Ahmad Abdul-Razzak Aboudi Al-Issa

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Thermal is the main important aspect in any hydraulic system since it is affected on the hydraulic system performance. Therefore must be simulated the hydraulic system -that was designed- in this aspect before constructing it. In this study, an existed expert system was using to simulate the thermal aspect of a designed hydraulic system that will be used in an industrial field. The expert system which is used in this study is (Hydraulic System Calculations), and its symbol (HSC). HSC had been designed and coded in an interactive program userfriendly named (Microsoft Visual Basic 2010).

Keywords: fluid power, hydraulic system, thermal and hydrodynamic, expert system

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Authors: Damtew Samson Zerihun

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This paper primarily describes the concept of a hierarchical safety control (HSC) in discrete manufacturing to up-hold productivity with human intervention and machine failures using a systematic approach, through increasing the system availability and using additional knowledge on machines so as to improve the human machine collaboration (HMC). It also highlights the implemented PLC safety algorithm, in applying this generic concept to a concrete pro-duction line using a lab demonstrator called FATIE (Factory Automation Test and Integration Environment). Furthermore, the paper describes a model and provide a systematic representation of human-machine collabora-tion in discrete manufacturing and to this end, the Hierarchical Safety Control concept is proposed. This offers a ge-neric description of human-machine collaboration based on Finite State Machines (FSM) that can be applied to vari-ous discrete manufacturing lines instead of using ad-hoc solutions for each line. With its reusability, flexibility, and extendibility, the Hierarchical Safety Control scheme allows upholding productivity while maintaining safety with reduced engineering effort compared to existing solutions. The approach to the solution begins with a successful partitioning of different zones around the Integrated Manufacturing System (IMS), which are defined by operator tasks and the risk assessment, used to describe the location of the human operator and thus to identify the related po-tential hazards and trigger the corresponding safety functions to mitigate it. This includes selective reduced speed zones and stop zones, and in addition with the hierarchical safety control scheme and advanced safety functions such as safe standstill and safe reduced speed are used to achieve the main goals in improving the safe Human Ma-chine Collaboration and increasing the productivity. In a sample scenarios, It is shown that an increase of productivity in the order of 2.5% is already possible with a hi-erarchical safety control, which consequently under a given assumptions, a total sum of 213 € could be saved for each intervention, compared to a protective stop reaction. Thereby the loss is reduced by 22.8%, if occasional haz-ard can be refined in a hierarchical way. Furthermore, production downtime due to temporary unavailability of safety devices can be avoided with safety failover that can save millions per year. Moreover, the paper highlights the proof of the development, implementation and application of the concept on the lab demonstrator (FATIE), where it is realized on the new safety PLCs, Drive Units, HMI as well as Safety devices in addition to the main components of the IMS.

Keywords: discrete automation, hierarchical safety controller, human machine collaboration, programmable logical controller

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Authors: Mohamed Bin Alhaj, Hexu Liu, Mohammed Sulaiman, Osama Abudayyeh

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An effective facility maintenance management (FMM) system plays a crucial role in improving the quality of services and maintaining the facility in good condition. Current FMM heavily relies on the quality of the data collection function of the FMM systems, at times resulting in inefficient FMM decision-making. The new technology-based crowdsourcing provides great potential to improve the current FMM practices, especially in terms of timeliness and quality of data. This research aims to investigate the feasibility of using new technology-driven crowdsourcing for FMM and highlight its opportunities and challenges. A survey was carried out to understand the human, data, system, geospatial, and automation characteristics of crowdsourcing for an educational campus FMM via social networks. The survey results were analyzed to reveal the challenges and recommendations for the implementation of crowdsourcing for FMM. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by synthesizing the challenges and opportunities of using crowdsourcing for facility maintenance and providing a road map for applying crowdsourcing technology in FMM. In future work, a conceptual framework will be proposed to support data-driven FMM using social networks.

Keywords: crowdsourcing, facility maintenance management, social networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Valeria M. Bastos, Myrian A. Costa, Matheus Ambrozio, Nelson F. F. Ebecken

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In this paper a very simple and effective user administration view of computing clusters systems is implemented in order of friendly provide the configuration and monitoring of distributed application executions. The user view, the administrator view, and an internal control module create an illusionary management environment for better system usability. The architecture, properties, performance, and the comparison with others software for cluster management are briefly commented.

Keywords: big data, computing clusters, administration view, user view

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Authors: Parveen K. Saini, Tarun Agarwal

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An investigation into the effect of countersunk depth, plate thickness, countersunk angle and plate width on the stress concentration around countersunk hole is carried out with the help of finite element analysis. The variation of stress concentration with respect to these parameters is studied for three types of loading viz. uniformly distributed load, uniformly varying load and functionally distributed load. The results of the finite element analysis are interpreted and some conclusions are drawn. The distribution of stress concentration around countersunk hole in isotropic plates simply supported at all the edges is found similar and is independent of loading. The maximum stress concentration also occurs at a particular point irrespective of the loading conditions.

Keywords: stress concentration factor, countersunk hole, finite element, ANSYS

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Authors: Endrick Barnacin, Jean-Luc Henry, Jack Molinié, Jimmy Nagau, Hélène Delatte, Gérard Lebreton

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Palynology is a field of interest for many disciplines. It has multiple applications such as chronological dating, climatology, allergy treatment, and even honey characterization. Unfortunately, the analysis of a pollen slide is a complicated and time-consuming task that requires the intervention of experts in the field, which is becoming increasingly rare due to economic and social conditions. So, the automation of this task is a necessity. Pollen slides analysis is mainly a visual process as it is carried out with the naked eye. That is the reason why a primary method to automate palynology is the use of digital image processing. This method presents the lowest cost and has relatively good accuracy in pollen retrieval. In this work, we propose a system combining recognition and grouping of pollen. It consists of using a Logistic Model Tree to classify pollen already known by the proposed system while detecting any unknown species. Then, the unknown pollen species are divided using a cluster-based approach. Success rates for the recognition of known species have been achieved, and automated clustering seems to be a promising approach.

Keywords: pollen recognition, logistic model tree, expectation-maximization, local binary pattern

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Amir Alani, Mojtaba Mahmoodian, Anna Romanova, Asaad Faramarzi

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Pipelines are extensively used engineering structures which convey fluid from one place to another. Most of the time, pipelines are placed underground and are encumbered by soil weight and traffic loads. Corrosion of pipe material is the most common form of pipeline deterioration and should be considered in both the strength and serviceability analysis of pipes. The study in this research focuses on concrete pipes in sewage systems (concrete sewers). This research firstly investigates how to involve the effect of corrosion as a time dependent process of deterioration in the structural and failure analysis of this type of pipe. Then three probabilistic time dependent reliability analysis methods including the first passage probability theory, the gamma distributed degradation model and the Monte Carlo simulation technique are discussed and developed. Sensitivity analysis indexes which can be used to identify the most important parameters that affect pipe failure are also discussed. The reliability analysis methods developed in this paper contribute as rational tools for decision makers with regard to the strengthening and rehabilitation of existing pipelines. The results can be used to obtain a cost-effective strategy for the management of the sewer system.

Keywords: reliability analysis, service life prediction, Monte Carlo simulation method, first passage probability theory, gamma distributed degradation model

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Authors: Heidi von Korff

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The electricity grid is changing in terms of flexibility. Distributed generation (DG) policy is being discussed worldwide and implemented. Developers and utilities are seeking a pathway towards Zero Net Energy (ZNE) communities and the interconnection to the distribution grid. Using the VISDOM platform for establishing a method for managing and monitoring energy consumption loads of ZNE communities as a capacity resource for the grid. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy security are primary policy drivers for incorporating high-performance energy standards and sustainability practices in residential households, such as a market transformation of ZNE and nearly ZNE (nZNE) communities. This research investigates how load data impacts ZNE, to see if there is a correlation to the daily load variations in a single ZNE home. Case studies will include a ZNE community in California and a nearly ZNE community (All – Electric) in the Netherlands, which both are in measurement and verification (M&V) phases and connected to the grid for simulations of methods.

Keywords: zero net energy, distributed generation, renewable energy, zero net energy community

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Authors: Stanislav Perepechko

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Industrial companies - one of the major sources of harmful substances to the atmosphere. The main cause of pollution on the concrete plants are cement dust emissions. All the cement silos, pneumatic transport, and ventilation systems equipped with filters, to avoid this. Today, many Russian companies have to decide on replacement morally and physically outdated filters and guided back to the electrostatic filters as usual equipment. The offered way of a cleaning of waste-free filtering of air differs in the fact that a filtering medium of the filter is used in concrete manufacture. Basalt is widespread and pollution-free material. In the course of cleaning, one part of basalt fiber and cement immediately goes to the mixer through flow-control units of initial basalt fiber and cement. Another part of basalt fiber goes to filters for purification of the air used in systems of an air lift, and ventilating emissions passes through them, and with trapped particles also goes to the mixer through flow-control units of the basalt fiber fulfilled in filters. At the same time, regulators are adjusted in such a way that total supply of basalt fiber and cement into the mixer remains invariable and corresponds to a given technological mode.

Keywords: waste-free air filtration, concrete, basalt fiber, building automation

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Authors: S. Cobos-Guzman

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This paper presents the results of a mechatronic design based on a 4-wheel omnidirectional mobile robot that can be used in indoor logistic applications. The low-level control has been selected using two open-source hardware (Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ and Arduino Mega 2560) that control four industrial motors, four ultrasound sensors, four optical encoders, a vision system of two cameras, and a Hokuyo URG-04LX-UG01 laser scanner. Moreover, the system is powered with a lithium battery that can supply 24 V DC and a maximum current-hour of 20Ah.The Robot Operating System (ROS) has been implemented in the Raspberry Pi and the performance is evaluated with the selection of the sensors and hardware selected. The mechatronic system is evaluated and proposed safe modes of power distribution for controlling all the electronic devices based on different tests. Therefore, based on different performance results, some recommendations are indicated for using the Raspberry Pi and Arduino in terms of power, communication, and distribution of control for different devices. According to these recommendations, the selection of sensors is distributed in both real-time controllers (Arduino and Raspberry Pi). On the other hand, the drivers of the cameras have been implemented in Linux and a python program has been implemented to access the cameras. These cameras will be used for implementing a deep learning algorithm to recognize people and objects. In this way, the level of intelligence can be increased in combination with the maps that can be obtained from the laser scanner.

Keywords: autonomous, indoor robot, mechatronic, omnidirectional robot

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Authors: Ahmad Shukri Mohd Noor, Emma Ahmad Sirajudin, Rabiei Mamat

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Pertaining to a particular Marine interest, the process of data sampling could take years before a study can be concluded. Therefore, the need for a robust backup system for the data is invariably implicit. In recent advancement of Marine applications, more functionalities and tools are integrated to assist the work of the researchers. It is anticipated that this modality will continue as research scope widens and intensifies and at the same to follow suit with current technologies and lifestyles. The convenience to collect and share information these days also applies to the work in Marine research. Therefore, Marine system designers should be aware that high availability is a necessary attribute in Marine repository applications as well as a robust backup system for the data. In this paper, the approach to high availability is related both to hardware and software but the focus is more on software. We consider a NABTIC repository system that is primitively built on a single server and does not have replicated components. First, the system is decomposed into separate modules. The modules are placed on multiple servers to create a distributed system. Redundancy is added by placing the copies of the modules on different servers using Neighbor Caring Environment System(NCES) technique. NCER is utilizing parallel replication components mechanism. A background monitoring is established to check servers’ heartbeats to confirm their aliveness. At the same time, a critical adaptive threshold is maintained to make sure a failure is timely detected using Adaptive Fault Detection (AFD). A confirmed failure will set the recovery mode where a selection process will be done before a fail-over server is instructed. In effect, the Marine repository service is continued as the fail-over masks a recent failure. The performance of the new prototype is tested and is confirmed to be more highly available. Furthermore, the downtime is not noticeable as service is immediately restored automatically. The Marine repository system is said to have achieved fault tolerance.

Keywords: availability, fault detection, replication, fault tolerance, marine application

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Authors: Bilal Haider, Farhan Aadil

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A Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) provides various services to end-users traveling on the road at high speeds. However, this high-speed mobility of mobile nodes can cause frequent service disruptions. Various mobility management protocols exist for managing node mobility, but due to their centralized nature, they tend to suffer in the VANET environment. In this research, we proposed a distributed mobility management protocol using software-defined networks (SDN) for VANETs. Instead of relying on a centralized mobility anchor, the mobility functionality is distributed at multiple infrastructural nodes. The protocol is based on the classical Proxy Mobile IP version 6 (PMIPv6). It is evident from simulation results that this work has improved the network performance with respect to nodes throughput, delay, and packet loss.

Keywords: SDN, VANET, mobility management, optimization

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Authors: Vitalijs Lusis, Andrejs Krasnikovs

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Fiber reinforced concrete is important material for load bearing structural elements. Usually fibers are homogeneously distributed in a concrete body having arbitrary spatial orientations. At the same time, in many situations, fiber concrete with oriented fibers is more optimal. Is obvious, that is possible to create constructions with oriented short fibers in them, in different ways. Present research is devoted to one of such approaches- fiber reinforced concrete prisms having dimensions 100 mm×100 mm×400 mm with layers of non-homogeneously distributed fibers inside them were fabricated. Simultaneously prisms with homogeneously dispersed fibers were produced for reference as well. Prisms were tested under four point bending conditions. During the tests vertical deflection at the center of every prism and crack opening were measured (using linear displacements transducers in real timescale). Prediction results were discussed.

Keywords: fiber reinforced concrete, 4-point bending, steel fiber, construction engineering

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Authors: Dalia Salem, Detlef Schulz

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As Germany pursues its ambitious plan towards a power system based on renewable energy sources, the necessity to establish steady, robust microgrids becomes more evident. Inside the microgrid, there is at least one grid-forming inverter responsible for generating the coupling voltage and stabilizing the system frequency within the standardized accepted limits when the microgrid is forced to operate as a stand-alone power system. Grid-forming control for distributed inverters is required to enable steady control of a low-inertia power system. In this paper, a designed droop control technique is tested at the controller of an inverter as a component of a hardware test bed to understand the microgrid behavior in two modes of operation: i) grid-connected and ii) operating in islanding mode. This droop technique includes many current and voltage inner control loops, where the Q-V and P-f droop provide the required terminal output voltage and frequency. The technique is tested first in a simulation model of the inverter in MATLAB/SIMULINK, and the results are compared to the results of the hardware laboratory test. The results of this experiment illuminate the pivotal role of the grid-forming inverter in facilitating microgrid resilience during grid disconnection events and how microgrids could provide the functionality formerly provided by synchronous machinery, such as the black start process.

Keywords: microgrid, grid-forming inverters, droop-control, islanding-operation

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Authors: Ionel Zagan, Vasile Gheorghita Gaitan, Adrian Brezulianu

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This paper presents the contributions in designing a mobile system named Tele-ECG implemented for remote monitoring of cardiac patients. For a better flexibility of this application, the authors chose to implement a local memory and multiple communication interfaces. The project described in this presentation is based on the ARM Cortex M0+ microcontroller and the ADAS1000 dedicated chip necessary for the collection and transmission of Electrocardiogram signals (ECG) from the patient to the microcontroller, without altering the performances and the stability of the system. The novelty brought by this paper is the implementation of a remote monitoring system for cardiac patients, having a real-time behavior and multiple interfaces. The microcontroller is responsible for processing digital signals corresponding to ECG and also for the implementation of communication interface with the main server, using GSM/Bluetooth SIMCOM SIM800C module. This paper translates all the characteristics of the Tele-ECG project representing a feasible implementation in the biomedical field. Acknowledgment: This paper was supported by the project 'Development and integration of a mobile tele-electrocardiograph in the GreenCARDIO© system for patients monitoring and diagnosis - m-GreenCARDIO', Contract no. BG58/30.09.2016, PNCDI III, Bridge Grant 2016, using the infrastructure from the project 'Integrated Center for research, development and innovation in Advanced Materials, Nanotechnologies, and Distributed Systems for fabrication and control', Contract No. 671/09.04.2015, Sectoral Operational Program for Increase of the Economic Competitiveness co-funded from the European Regional Development Fund.

Keywords: Tele-ECG, real-time cardiac monitoring, electrocardiogram, microcontroller

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Authors: Maxat Bokambayev, Bella Tussupova, Aisha Mamyrova, Erlan Izbasarov

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Optimization of business processes in trading companies is reviewed in the report. There is the presentation of the “Wholesale Customer Order Handling Process” business process model applicable for small and medium businesses. It is proposed to apply the algorithm for automation of the customer order processing which will significantly reduce labor costs and time expenditures and increase the profitability of companies. An optimized business process is an element of the information system of accounting of spare parts trading network activity. The considered algorithm may find application in the trading industry as well.

Keywords: business processes, discrete-event simulation, management, trading industry

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Authors: Jeryes Danial, Yosi Ben Asher

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Algorithms for controlling a swarm of robots is an active research field, out of which cattle herding is one of the most complex problems to solve. In this paper, we derive an independent herding algorithm that is specifically designed for a swarm of quadcopters. The algorithm works by devising flight trajectories that cause the cows to run-away in the desired direction and hence herd cows that are distributed in a given field towards a common gathering point. Unlike previously proposed swarm herding algorithms, this algorithm does not use a flocking model but rather stars each cow separately. The effectiveness of this algorithm is verified experimentally using a simulator. We use a special set of experiments attempting to demonstrate that the herding times of this algorithm correspond to field diameter small constant regardless of the number of cows in the field. This is an optimal result indicating that the algorithm groups the cows into intermediate groups and herd them as one forming ever closing bigger groups.

Keywords: swarm, independent, distributed, algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Haowei Lu, Anaya Aaron

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Understanding historical solar generation and forecasting future solar generation from interconnected Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is crucial for utility planning and interconnection studies. The existing methodology, which relies on solar radiation, weather data, and common inverter models, is becoming less accurate. Rapid advancements in DER technologies have resulted in more diverse project sites, deviating from common patterns due to various factors such as DC/AC ratio, solar panel performance, tilt angle, and the presence of DC-coupled battery energy storage systems. In this paper, the authors review 10,000 DER projects within the system and analyze the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) data for various types to demonstrate the impact of different parameters. An updated methodology is proposed for redefining historical and future solar generation in distribution feeders.

Keywords: photovoltaic system, solar energy, fluctuations, energy storage, uncertainty

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Authors: Guo Wenyu, Qu Youli

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A practical and simple self-indexing data structure, Partitioned Elias-Fano (PEF) - Compressed Suffix Arrays (CSA), is built in linear time for the CSA based on PEF indexes. Moreover, the PEF-CSA is compared with two classical compressed indexing methods, Ferragina and Manzini implementation (FMI) and Sad-CSA on different type and size files in Pizza & Chili. The PEF-CSA performs better on the existing data in terms of the compression ratio, count, and locates time except for the evenly distributed data such as proteins data. The observations of the experiments are that the distribution of the φ is more important than the alphabet size on the compression ratio. Unevenly distributed data φ makes better compression effect, and the larger the size of the hit counts, the longer the count and locate time.

Keywords: compressed suffix array, self-indexing, partitioned Elias-Fano, PEF-CSA

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Authors: Bhaargav Gupta P., Vignesh N., Nithish Kumar R., Rahul J., Nivetha Ruvah D.

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Delivering essential medical supplies to rural and underserved areas is challenging due to infrastructure limitations and logistical barriers, often resulting in inefficiencies and delays. Traditional delivery methods are hindered by poor road networks, long distances, and difficult terrains, compromising timely access to vital resources, especially in emergencies. This paper introduces an autonomous drone system engineered to optimize last-mile delivery. By utilizing advanced navigation and object-detection algorithms, such as region-based convolutional neural networks (R-CNN), our drones efficiently avoid obstacles, identify safe landing zones, and adapt dynamically to varying environments. Equipped with high-precision GPS and autonomous capabilities, the drones effectively navigate complex, remote areas with minimal dependence on established infrastructure. The system includes a dedicated mobile application for secure order placement and real-time tracking, and a secure payload box with OTP verification ensures tamper-resistant delivery to authorized recipients. This project demonstrates the potential of automated drone technology in healthcare logistics, offering a scalable and eco-friendly approach to enhance accessibility and service delivery in underserved regions. By addressing logistical gaps through advanced automation, this system represents a significant advancement toward sustainable, accessible healthcare in remote areas.

Keywords: region-based convolutional neural network, one time password, global positioning system, autonomous drones, healthcare logistics

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Authors: Junze Li, M. Li

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Laser diodes fabricated from the III-nitride material system are emerging solutions for the next generation telecommunication systems and optical clocks based on Ca at 397nm, Rb at 420.2nm and Yb at 398.9nm combined 556 nm. Most of the applications require single longitudinal optical mode lasers, with very narrow linewidth and compact size, such as communication systems and laser cooling. In this case, the GaN based distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode is one of the most effective candidates with gratings are known to operate with narrow spectra as well as high power and efficiency. Given the wavelength range, the period of the first-order diffraction grating is under 100 nm, and the realization of such gratings is technically difficult due to the narrow line width and the high quality nitride overgrowth based on the Bragg grating. Some groups have reported GaN DFB lasers with high order distributed feedback surface gratings, which avoids the overgrowth. However, generally the strength of coupling is lower than that with Bragg grating embedded into the waveguide within the GaN laser structure by two-step-epitaxy. Therefore, the overgrowth on the grating technology need to be studied and optimized. Here we propose to fabricate the fine step shape structure of first-order grating by the nanoimprint combined inductively coupled plasma (ICP) dry etching, then carry out overgrowth high quality AlGaN film by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Then a series of gratings with different period, depths and duty ratios are designed and fabricated to study the influence of grating structure to the nano-heteroepitaxy. Moreover, we observe the nucleation and growth process by step-by-step growth to study the growth mode for nitride overgrowth on grating, under the condition that the grating period is larger than the mental migration length on the surface. The AFM images demonstrate that a smooth surface of AlGaN film is achieved with an average roughness of 0.20 nm over 3 × 3 μm2. The full width at half maximums (FWHMs) of the (002) reflections in the XRD rocking curves are 278 arcsec for the AlGaN film, and the component of the Al within the film is 8% according to the XRD mapping measurement, which is in accordance with design values. By observing the samples with growth time changing from 200s, 400s to 600s, the growth model is summarized as the follow steps: initially, the nucleation is evenly distributed on the grating structure, as the migration length of Al atoms is low; then, AlGaN growth alone with the grating top surface; finally, the AlGaN film formed by lateral growth. This work contributed to carrying out GaN DFB laser by fabricating grating and overgrowth on the nano-grating patterned substrate by wafer scale, moreover, growth dynamics had been analyzed as well.

Keywords: DFB laser, MOCVD, nanoepitaxy, III-niitride

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Authors: Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, Ahmad Shahril Mohd Ghani

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Agent-based systems technology has been addressed as a new paradigm for conceptualizing, designing, and implementing software systems. Agents are sophisticated systems that act autonomously across open and distributed environments in solving problems. Nevertheless, it is impractical to rely on a single agent to do all computing processes in solving complex problems. An increasing number of applications lately require multiple agents to work together. A multi-agent system (MAS) is a loosely coupled network of agents that interact to solve problems that are beyond the individual capacities or knowledge of each problem solver. However, the network of MAS still requires a main system to govern or oversees the operation of the agents in order to achieve a unified goal. We had developed a fleet management system (FMS) in order to manage the fleet of agents, plan route for the agents, perform real-time data processing and analysis, and issue sets of general and specific instructions to the agents. This FMS should be able to perform real-time data processing, communicate with the autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) agents and generate bathymetric map according to the data received from each ASV unit. The first algorithm is developed to communicate with the ASV via radio communication using standard National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) protocol sentences. Next, the second algorithm will take care of the path planning, formation and pattern generation is tested using various sample data. Lastly, the bathymetry map generation algorithm will make use of data collected by the agents to create bathymetry map in real-time. The outcome of this research is expected can be applied on various other multi-agent systems.

Keywords: autonomous surface vehicle, fleet management system, multi agent system, bathymetry

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Authors: Samuel Knox, Verdon Crann, Peyman Amiri, William Crowther

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There exists a shortage of open-source firmware for allowing researchers to focus on implementing high-level planning and control strategies for multi aerial robotic systems in simulation and experiment. Within this body of work, practical firmware is presented, which performs all supplementary tasks, including communications, pre and post-experiment procedures, and emergency safety measures. This allows researchers to implement high-level planning and control algorithms for path planning, traffic management, flight formation and swarming of aerial robots. The framework is built in Python using the MAVSDK library, which is compatible with flight controllers running PX4 firmware and onboard computers based on Linux. Communication is performed using Wi-Fi and the MQTT protocol, currently implemented using a centralized broker. Finally, a graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed to send general commands and monitor the agents. This framework enables researchers to prepare customized planning and control algorithms in a modular manner. Studies can be performed experimentally and in simulation using PX4 software in the loop (SITL) and the Gazebo simulator. An example experimental use case of the framework is presented using novel distributed planning and control strategies. The demonstration is performed using off-the-shelf components and minimal setup.

Keywords: aerial robotics, distributed framework, experimental, planning and control

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Authors: Y. Bai, M. Bodlak, V. Frolov, S. Huber, V. Jary, I. Konorov, D. Levit, J. Novy, D. Steffen, O. Subrt, M. Virius

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Modern experiments in high energy physics impose great demands on the reliability, the efficiency, and the data rate of Data Acquisition Systems (DAQ). This contribution focuses on the development and deployment of the new communication library DIALOG for the intelligent, FPGA-based Data Acquisition System (iFDAQ) of the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The iFDAQ utilizing a hardware event builder is designed to be able to readout data at the maximum rate of the experiment. The DIALOG library is a communication system both for distributed and mixed environments, it provides a network transparent inter-process communication layer. Using the high-performance and modern C++ framework Qt and its Qt Network API, the DIALOG library presents an alternative to the previously used DIM library. The DIALOG library was fully incorporated to all processes in the iFDAQ during the run 2016. From the software point of view, it might be considered as a significant improvement of iFDAQ in comparison with the previous run. To extend the possibilities of debugging, the online monitoring of communication among processes via DIALOG GUI is a desirable feature. In the paper, we present the DIALOG library from several insights and discuss it in a detailed way. Moreover, the efficiency measurement and comparison with the DIM library with respect to the iFDAQ requirements is provided.

Keywords: data acquisition system, DIALOG library, DIM library, FPGA, Qt framework, TCP/IP

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Authors: Sagir M. Yusuf, Chris Baber

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In this paper, we describe how Bayesian inferential reasoning will contributes in obtaining a well-satisfied prediction for Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DCOPs) with uncertainties. We also demonstrate how DCOPs could be merged to multi-agent knowledge understand and prediction (i.e. Situation Awareness). The DCOPs functions were merged with Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) in the form of situation, awareness, and utility nodes. We describe how the uncertainties can be represented to the BBN and make an effective prediction using the expectation-maximization algorithm or conjugate gradient descent algorithm. The idea of variable prediction using Bayesian inference may reduce the number of variables in agents’ sampling domain and also allow missing variables estimations. Experiment results proved that the BBN perform compelling predictions with samples containing uncertainties than the perfect samples. That is, Bayesian inference can help in handling uncertainties and dynamism of DCOPs, which is the current issue in the DCOPs community. We show how Bayesian inference could be formalized with Distributed Situation Awareness (DSA) using uncertain and missing agents’ data. The whole framework was tested on multi-UAV mission for forest fire searching. Future work focuses on augmenting existing architecture to deal with dynamic DCOPs algorithms and multi-agent information merging.

Keywords: DCOP, multi-agent reasoning, Bayesian reasoning, swarm intelligence

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Authors: Sanjay Rathee, Arti Kashyap

Abstract:

Extraction of useful information from large datasets is one of the most important research problems. Association rule mining is one of the best methods for this purpose. Finding possible associations between items in large transaction based datasets (finding frequent patterns) is most important part of the association rule mining. There exist many algorithms to find frequent patterns but Apriori algorithm always remains a preferred choice due to its ease of implementation and natural tendency to be parallelized. Many single-machine based Apriori variants exist but massive amount of data available these days is above capacity of a single machine. Therefore, to meet the demands of this ever-growing huge data, there is a need of multiple machines based Apriori algorithm. For these types of distributed applications, MapReduce is a popular fault-tolerant framework. Hadoop is one of the best open-source software frameworks with MapReduce approach for distributed storage and distributed processing of huge datasets using clusters built from commodity hardware. However, heavy disk I/O operation at each iteration of a highly iterative algorithm like Apriori makes Hadoop inefficient. A number of MapReduce-based platforms are being developed for parallel computing in recent years. Among them, two platforms, namely, Spark and Flink have attracted a lot of attention because of their inbuilt support to distributed computations. Earlier we proposed a reduced- Apriori algorithm on Spark platform which outperforms parallel Apriori, one because of use of Spark and secondly because of the improvement we proposed in standard Apriori. Therefore, this work is a natural sequel of our work and targets on implementing, testing and benchmarking Apriori and Reduced-Apriori and our new algorithm ReducedAll-Apriori on Apache Flink and compares it with Spark implementation. Flink, a streaming dataflow engine, overcomes disk I/O bottlenecks in MapReduce, providing an ideal platform for distributed Apriori. Flink's pipelining based structure allows starting a next iteration as soon as partial results of earlier iteration are available. Therefore, there is no need to wait for all reducers result to start a next iteration. We conduct in-depth experiments to gain insight into the effectiveness, efficiency and scalability of the Apriori and RA-Apriori algorithm on Flink.

Keywords: apriori, apache flink, Mapreduce, spark, Hadoop, R-Apriori, frequent itemset mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: Mariem Saied, Jens Gustedt, Gilles Muller

Abstract:

We present Dido, a source-to-source auto-generation and optimization framework for multi-dimensional stencil computations. It enables a large programmer community to easily and safely implement stencil codes on distributed-memory parallel architectures with Ordered Read-Write Locks (ORWL) as an execution and communication back-end. ORWL provides inter-task synchronization for data-oriented parallel and distributed computations. It has been proven to guarantee equity, liveness, and efficiency for a wide range of applications, particularly for iterative computations. Dido consists mainly of an implicitly parallel domain-specific language (DSL) implemented as a source-level transformer. It captures domain semantics at a high level of abstraction and generates parallel stencil code that leverages all ORWL features. The generated code is well-structured and lends itself to different possible optimizations. In this paper, we enhance Dido to handle both Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel grid traversals. We integrate temporal blocking to the Dido code generator in order to reduce the communication overhead and minimize data transfers. To increase data locality and improve intra-node data reuse, we coupled the code generation technique with the polyhedral parallelizer Pluto. The accuracy and portability of the generated code are guaranteed thanks to a parametrized solution. The combination of ORWL features, the code generation pattern and the suggested optimizations, make of Dido a powerful code generation framework for stencil computations in general, and for distributed-memory architectures in particular. We present a wide range of experiments over a number of stencil benchmarks.

Keywords: stencil computations, ordered read-write locks, domain-specific language, polyhedral model, experiments

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Ahmed Abdulfatah Yusuf, Collins Oduor Ondiek

Abstract:

The automation of farming activities can have a transformational impact on the agricultural sector, especially from the emerging new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT). The system uses water level sensors and soil moisture sensors that measure the content of water in the soil as the values generated from the sensors enable the system to use an appropriate quantity of water, which avoids over or under irrigation. Due to the increase in the world’s population, there is a need to increase food production. With this demand in place, it is difficult to increase crop yield using the traditional manual approaches that lead to the wastage of water, thus affecting crop production. Food insecurity has become a scourge greatly affecting the developing countries and agriculture is an essential part of human life and tends to be the mainstay of the economy in most developing nations. Thus, without the provision of adequate food supplies, the population of those living in poverty is likely to multiply. The project’s main objective is to design and develop an IoT (Internet of Things) microcontroller-based Smart Irrigation System. In addition, the specific research objectives are to find out the challenges with traditional irrigation approaches and to determine the benefits of IoT-based smart irrigation systems. Furthermore, the system includes Arduino, a website and a database that works simultaneously in collecting and storing the data. The system is designed to pave the way in attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 1), which aims to end extreme poverty in all forms by 2030. The research design aimed at this project is a descriptive research design. Data was gathered through online questionnaires that used both quantitative and qualitative in order to triangulate the data. Out of the 32 questionnaires sent, there were 32 responses leading to a 100% response rate. In terms of sampling, the target group of this project is urban farmers, which account for about 25% of the population of Nairobi. From the findings of the research carried out, it is evident that there is a need to move away from manual irrigation approaches due to the high wastage of water to the use of smart irrigation systems that propose a better way of conserving water while maintaining the quality and moisture of the soil. The research also found out that urban farmers are willing to adopt this system to better their farming practices. However, this system can be improved in the future by incorporating it with other features and deploying it to a larger geographical area.

Keywords: crop production, food security, smart irrigation system, sustainable development goal

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Deepak Singh

Abstract:

AI technology is rapidly being integrated into the healthcare system, bringing many ethical and social implications. This literature review examines the various aspects of this phenomenon, focusing on the ethical considerations of using AI in healthcare, such as how it might affect patient autonomy, privacy, and doctor-patient relationships. Furthermore, the review considers the potential social implications of AI in Healthcare, such as the potential for automation to reduce the availability of healthcare jobs and the potential to widen existing health inequalities. The literature suggests potential benefits and drawbacks to using AI in healthcare, and it is essential to consider the ethical and social implications before implementation. It is concluded that more research is needed to understand the full implications of using AI in healthcare and that ethical regulations must be in place to ensure patient safety and the technology's responsible use.

Keywords: AI, healthcare, telemedicine, telehealth, ethics, security, privacy, patient, rights, safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 140