Search results for: cost estimation
1871 The Virtual Container Yard: Identifying the Persuasive Factors in Container Interchange
Authors: L. Edirisinghe, Zhihong Jin, A. W. Wijeratne, R. Mudunkotuwa
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The virtual container yard is an effective solution to the container inventory imbalance problem which is a global issue. It causes substantial cost to carriers, which inadvertently adds to the prices of consumer goods. The virtual container yard is rooted in the fundamentals of container interchange between carriers. If carriers opt to interchange their excess containers with those who are deficit, a substantial part of the empty reposition cost could be eliminated. Unlike in other types of ships, cargo cannot be directly loaded to a container ship. Slots and containers are supplementary components; thus, without containers, a carrier cannot ship cargo if the containers are not available and vice versa. Few decades ago, carriers recognized slot (the unit of space in a container ship) interchange as a viable solution for the imbalance of shipping space. Carriers interchange slots among them and it also increases the advantage of scale of economies in container shipping. Some of these service agreements between mega carriers have provisions to interchange containers too. However, the interchange mechanism is still not popular among carriers for containers. This is the paradox that prevails in the liner shipping industry. At present, carriers reposition their excess empty containers to areas where they are in demand. This research applied factor analysis statistical method. The paper reveals that five major components may influence the virtual container yard namely organisation, practice and culture, legal and environment, international nature, and marketing. There are 12 variables that may impact the virtual container yard, and these are explained in the paper.
Keywords: Virtual container yard, imbalance, management, inventory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8391870 Normalizing Logarithms of Realized Volatility in an ARFIMA Model
Authors: G. L. C. Yap
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Modelling realized volatility with high-frequency returns is popular as it is an unbiased and efficient estimator of return volatility. A computationally simple model is fitting the logarithms of the realized volatilities with a fractionally integrated long-memory Gaussian process. The Gaussianity assumption simplifies the parameter estimation using the Whittle approximation. Nonetheless, this assumption may not be met in the finite samples and there may be a need to normalize the financial series. Based on the empirical indices S&P500 and DAX, this paper examines the performance of the linear volatility model pre-treated with normalization compared to its existing counterpart. The empirical results show that by including normalization as a pre-treatment procedure, the forecast performance outperforms the existing model in terms of statistical and economic evaluations.
Keywords: Long-memory, Gaussian process, Whittle estimator, normalization, volatility, value-at-risk.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16881869 A Distributed Cognition Framework to Compare E-Commerce Websites Using Data Envelopment Analysis
Authors: C. lo Storto
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This paper presents an approach based on the adoption of a distributed cognition framework and a non parametric multicriteria evaluation methodology (DEA) designed specifically to compare e-commerce websites from the consumer/user viewpoint. In particular, the framework considers a website relative efficiency as a measure of its quality and usability. A website is modelled as a black box capable to provide the consumer/user with a set of functionalities. When the consumer/user interacts with the website to perform a task, he/she is involved in a cognitive activity, sustaining a cognitive cost to search, interpret and process information, and experiencing a sense of satisfaction. The degree of ambiguity and uncertainty he/she perceives and the needed search time determine the effort size – and, henceforth, the cognitive cost amount – he/she has to sustain to perform his/her task. On the contrary, task performing and result achievement induce a sense of gratification, satisfaction and usefulness. In total, 9 variables are measured, classified in a set of 3 website macro-dimensions (user experience, site navigability and structure). The framework is implemented to compare 40 websites of businesses performing electronic commerce in the information technology market. A questionnaire to collect subjective judgements for the websites in the sample was purposely designed and administered to 85 university students enrolled in computer science and information systems engineering undergraduate courses.Keywords: Website, e-commerce, DEA, distributed cognition, evaluation, comparison.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17061868 Free Fatty Acid Assessment of Crude Palm Oil Using a Non-Destructive Approach
Authors: Siti Nurhidayah Naqiah Abdull Rani, Herlina Abdul Rahim, Rashidah Ghazali, Noramli Abdul Razak
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Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has always been of great interest in the food and agriculture industries. The development of prediction models has facilitated the estimation process in recent years. In this study, 110 crude palm oil (CPO) samples were used to build a free fatty acid (FFA) prediction model. 60% of the collected data were used for training purposes and the remaining 40% used for testing. The visible peaks on the NIR spectrum were at 1725 nm and 1760 nm, indicating the existence of the first overtone of C-H bands. Principal component regression (PCR) was applied to the data in order to build this mathematical prediction model. The optimal number of principal components was 10. The results showed R2=0.7147 for the training set and R2=0.6404 for the testing set.
Keywords: Palm oil, fatty acid, NIRS, regression.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 43721867 Modeling and Identification of Hammerstein System by using Triangular Basis Functions
Authors: K. Elleuch, A. Chaari
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This paper deals with modeling and parameter identification of nonlinear systems described by Hammerstein model having Piecewise nonlinear characteristics such as Dead-zone nonlinearity characteristic. The simultaneous use of both an easy decomposition technique and the triangular basis functions leads to a particular form of Hammerstein model. The approximation by using Triangular basis functions for the description of the static nonlinear block conducts to a linear regressor model, so that least squares techniques can be used for the parameter estimation. Singular Values Decomposition (SVD) technique has been applied to separate the coupled parameters. The proposed approach has been efficiently tested on academic examples of simulation.Keywords: Identification, Hammerstein model, Piecewisenonlinear characteristic, Dead-zone nonlinearity, Triangular basisfunctions, Singular Values Decomposition
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19201866 An Overview of Islanding Detection Methods in Photovoltaic Systems
Authors: Wei Yee Teoh, Chee Wei Tan
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The issue of unintentional islanding in PV grid interconnection still remains as a challenge in grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper discusses the overview of popularly used anti-islanding detection methods, practically applied in PV grid-connected systems. Anti-islanding methods generally can be classified into four major groups, which include passive methods, active methods, hybrid methods and communication base methods. Active methods have been the preferred detection technique over the years due to very small non-detected zone (NDZ) in small scale distribution generation. Passive method is comparatively simpler than active method in terms of circuitry and operations. However, it suffers from large NDZ that significantly reduces its performance. Communication base methods inherit the advantages of active and passive methods with reduced drawbacks. Hybrid method which evolved from the combination of both active and passive methods has been proven to achieve accurate anti-islanding detection by many researchers. For each of the studied anti-islanding methods, the operation analysis is described while the advantages and disadvantages are compared and discussed. It is difficult to pinpoint a generic method for a specific application, because most of the methods discussed are governed by the nature of application and system dependent elements. This study concludes that the setup and operation cost is the vital factor for anti-islanding method selection in order to achieve minimal compromising between cost and system quality.Keywords: Active method, hybrid method, islanding detection, passive method, photovoltaic (PV), utility method
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 97601865 Small Scale Solar-Photovoltaic and Wind Pump-Storage Hydroelectric System for Remote Residential Applications
Authors: Seshi Reddy Kasu, Florian Misoc
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The use of hydroelectric pump-storage system at large scale, MW-size systems, is already widespread around the world. Designed for large scale applications, pump-storage station can be scaled-down for small, remote residential applications. Given the cost and complexity associated with installing a substation further than 100 miles from the main transmission lines, a remote, independent and self-sufficient system is by far the most feasible solution. This article is aiming at the design of wind and solar power generating system, by means of pumped-storage to replace the wind and /or solar power systems with a battery bank energy storage. Wind and solar pumped-storage power generating system can reduce the cost of power generation system, according to the user's electricity load and resource condition and also can ensure system reliability of power supply. Wind and solar pumped-storage power generation system is well suited for remote residential applications with intermittent wind and/or solar energy. This type of power systems, installed in these locations, could be a very good alternative, with economic benefits and positive social effects. The advantage of pumped storage power system, where wind power regulation is calculated, shows that a significant smoothing of the produced power is obtained, resulting in a power-on-demand system’s capability, concomitant to extra economic benefits.Keywords: Battery bank, photo-voltaic, pump-storage, wind energy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 41211864 Detecting the Capacity Reserve in an Overhead Line
Authors: S. Berjozkina, A. Sauhats, V. Bargels, E. Vanzovichs
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There are various solutions for improving existing overhead line systems with the general purpose of increasing their limited capacity. The capacity reserve of the existing overhead lines is an important problem that must be considered from different aspects. The paper contains a comparative analysis of the mechanical and thermal limitations of an existing overhead line based on certain calculation conditions characterizing the examined variants. The methodology of the proposed estimation of the permissible conductor temperature and maximum load current is described in detail. The transmission line model consists of specific information of an existing overhead line of the Latvian power network. The main purpose of the simulation tasks is to find an additional capacity reserve by using accurate mathematical models. The results of the obtained data are presented.
Keywords: capacity of an overhead line, mechanical conditions, permissible conductor temperature, thermal conditions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20031863 Using a Trust-Based Environment Key for Mobile Agent Code Protection
Authors: Salima Hacini, Zahia Guessoum, Zizette Boufaïda
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Human activities are increasingly based on the use of remote resources and services, and on the interaction between remotely located parties that may know little about each other. Mobile agents must be prepared to execute on different hosts with various environmental security conditions. The aim of this paper is to propose a trust based mechanism to improve the security of mobile agents and allow their execution in various environments. Thus, an adaptive trust mechanism is proposed. It is based on the dynamic interaction between the agent and the environment. Information collected during the interaction enables generation of an environment key. This key informs on the host-s trust degree and permits the mobile agent to adapt its execution. Trust estimation is based on concrete parameters values. Thus, in case of distrust, the source of problem can be located and a mobile agent appropriate behavior can be selected.Keywords: Internet security, malicious host, mobile agent security, trust management
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14131862 Estimating 3D-Position of A Stationary Random Acoustic Source Using Bispectral Analysis of 4-Point Detected Signals
Authors: Katsumi Hirata
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To develop the useful acoustic environmental recognition system, the method of estimating 3D-position of a stationary random acoustic source using bispectral analysis of 4-point detected signals is proposed. The method uses information about amplitude attenuation and propagation delay extracted from amplitude ratios and angles of auto- and cross-bispectra of the detected signals. It is expected that using bispectral analysis affects less influence of Gaussian noises than using conventional power spectral one. In this paper, the basic principle of the method is mentioned first, and its validity and features are considered from results of the fundamental experiments assumed ideal circumstances.
Keywords: 4-point detection, a stationary random acoustic source, auto- and cross-bispectra, estimation of 3D-position.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14371861 CMOS Solid-State Nanopore DNA System-Level Sequencing Techniques Enhancement
Authors: Syed Islam, Yiyun Huang, Sebastian Magierowski, Ebrahim Ghafar-Zadeh
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This paper presents system level CMOS solid-state nanopore techniques enhancement for speedup next generation molecular recording and high throughput channels. This discussion also considers optimum number of base-pair (bp) measurements through channel as an important role to enhance potential read accuracy. Effective power consumption estimation offered suitable range of multi-channel configuration. Nanopore bp extraction model in statistical method could contribute higher read accuracy with longer read-length (200 < read-length). Nanopore ionic current switching with Time Multiplexing (TM) based multichannel readout system contributed hardware savings.
Keywords: DNA, Nanopore, Amplifier, ADC, Multichannel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29321860 Facial Recognition on the Basis of Facial Fragments
Authors: Tetyana Baydyk, Ernst Kussul, Sandra Bonilla Meza
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There are many articles that attempt to establish the role of different facial fragments in face recognition. Various approaches are used to estimate this role. Frequently, authors calculate the entropy corresponding to the fragment. This approach can only give approximate estimation. In this paper, we propose to use a more direct measure of the importance of different fragments for face recognition. We propose to select a recognition method and a face database and experimentally investigate the recognition rate using different fragments of faces. We present two such experiments in the paper. We selected the PCNC neural classifier as a method for face recognition and parts of the LFW (Labeled Faces in the Wild) face database as training and testing sets. The recognition rate of the best experiment is comparable with the recognition rate obtained using the whole face.
Keywords: Face recognition, Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW) database, Random Local Descriptor (RLD), random features.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10131859 Video-Based System for Support of Robot-Enhanced Gait Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients
Authors: Matjaž Divjak, Simon Zelič, Aleš Holobar
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We present a dedicated video-based monitoring system for quantification of patient’s attention to visual feedback during robot assisted gait rehabilitation. Two different approaches for eye gaze and head pose tracking are tested and compared. Several metrics for assessment of patient’s attention are also presented. Experimental results with healthy volunteers demonstrate that unobtrusive video-based gaze tracking during the robot-assisted gait rehabilitation is possible and is sufficiently robust for quantification of patient’s attention and assessment of compliance with the rehabilitation therapy.
Keywords: Video-based attention monitoring, gaze estimation, stroke rehabilitation, user compliance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17821858 Estimating Regression Parameters in Linear Regression Model with a Censored Response Variable
Authors: Jesus Orbe, Vicente Nunez-Anton
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In this work we study the effect of several covariates X on a censored response variable T with unknown probability distribution. In this context, most of the studies in the literature can be located in two possible general classes of regression models: models that study the effect the covariates have on the hazard function; and models that study the effect the covariates have on the censored response variable. Proposals in this paper are in the second class of models and, more specifically, on least squares based model approach. Thus, using the bootstrap estimate of the bias, we try to improve the estimation of the regression parameters by reducing their bias, for small sample sizes. Simulation results presented in the paper show that, for reasonable sample sizes and censoring levels, the bias is always smaller for the new proposals.
Keywords: Censored response variable, regression, bias.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14761857 Explicit Delay and Power Estimation Method for CMOS Inverter Driving on-Chip RLC Interconnect Load
Authors: Susmita Sahoo, Madhumanti Datta, Rajib Kar
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The resistive-inductive-capacitive behavior of long interconnects which are driven by CMOS gates are presented in this paper. The analysis is based on the ¤Ç-model of a RLC load and is developed for submicron devices. Accurate and analytical expressions for the output load voltage, the propagation delay and the short circuit power dissipation have been proposed after solving a system of differential equations which accurately describe the behavior of the circuit. The effect of coupling capacitance between input and output and the short circuit current on these performance parameters are also incorporated in the proposed model. The estimated proposed delay and short circuit power dissipation are in very good agreement with the SPICE simulation with average relative error less than 6%.Keywords: Delay, Inverter, Short Circuit Power, ¤Ç-Model, RLCInterconnect, VLSI
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16921856 Predicting Dispersion Coefficient in Free-Flowing Zones of Rivers by Genetic Programming
Authors: Rajeev Ranjan Sahay
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Transient storage zones along the flow paths of rivers have great influence on the dispersion of pollutants that are either accidentally or otherwise led into them. The speed with which these pollution clouds get transported and dispersed downstream is, to a large extent, explained by the longitudinal dispersion coefficients in the free-flowing zones of rivers (Kf). In the present work, a new empirical expression for Kf has been derived employing genetic programming (GP) on published dispersion data. The proposed expression uses few hydraulic and geometric characteristics of a river that are readily available to field engineers. Based on various performance indices, the proposed expression is found superior to other existing expression for Kf.
Keywords: Dispersion, parameter estimation, rivers, transient pollutant.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17211855 Failure Criterion for Mixed Mode Fracture of Cracked Wood Specimens
Authors: Mahdi Fakoor, Seyed Mohammad Navid Ghoreishi
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Investigation of fracture of wood components can prevent from catastrophic failures. Created fracture process zone (FPZ) in crack tip vicinity has important effect on failure of cracked composite materials. In this paper, a failure criterion for fracture investigation of cracked wood specimens under mixed mode I/II loading is presented. This criterion is based on maximum strain energy release rate and material nonlinearity in the vicinity of crack tip due to presence of microcracks. Verification of results with available experimental data proves the coincidence of the proposed criterion with the nature of fracture of wood. To simplify the estimation of nonlinear properties of FPZ, a damage factor is also introduced for engineering and application purposes.
Keywords: Fracture criterion, mixed mode loading, damage zone, microcracks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15531854 Neural Network Imputation in Complex Survey Design
Authors: Safaa R. Amer
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Missing data yields many analysis challenges. In case of complex survey design, in addition to dealing with missing data, researchers need to account for the sampling design to achieve useful inferences. Methods for incorporating sampling weights in neural network imputation were investigated to account for complex survey designs. An estimate of variance to account for the imputation uncertainty as well as the sampling design using neural networks will be provided. A simulation study was conducted to compare estimation results based on complete case analysis, multiple imputation using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo, and neural network imputation. Furthermore, a public-use dataset was used as an example to illustrate neural networks imputation under a complex survey design
Keywords: Complex survey, estimate, imputation, neural networks, variance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19721853 Predictive Maintenance of Industrial Shredders: Efficient Operation through Real-Time Monitoring Using Statistical Machine Learning
Authors: Federico Pittino, Dominik Holzmann, Krithika Sayar-Chand, Stefan Moser, Sebastian Pliessnig, Thomas Arnold
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The shredding of waste materials is a key step in the recycling process towards circular economy. Industrial shredders for waste processing operate in very harsh operating conditions, leading to the need of frequent maintenance of critical components. The maintenance optimization is particularly important also to increase the machine’s efficiency, thereby reducing the operational costs. In this work, a monitoring system has been developed and deployed on an industrial shredder located at a waste recycling plant in Austria. The machine has been monitored for several months and methods for predictive maintenance have been developed for two key components: the cutting knives and the drive belt. The large amount of collected data is leveraged by statistical machine learning techniques, thereby not requiring a very detailed knowledge of the machine or its live operating conditions. The results show that, despite the wide range of operating conditions, a reliable estimate of the optimal time for maintenance can be derived. Moreover, the trade-off between the cost of maintenance and the increase in power consumption due to the wear state of the monitored components of the machine is investigated. This work proves the benefits of real-time monitoring system for efficient operation of industrial shredders.
Keywords: predictive maintenance, circular economy, industrial shredder, cost optimization, statistical machine learning
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6401852 State-Space PD Feedback Control
Authors: John Florescu
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A challenged control problem is when the performance is pushed to the limit. The state-derivative feedback control strategy directly uses acceleration information for feedback and state estimation. The derivative part is concerned with the rateof- change of the error with time. If the measured variable approaches the set point rapidly, then the actuator is backed off early to allow it to coast to the required level. Derivative action makes a control system behave much more intelligently. A sensor measures the variable to be controlled and the measured in formation is fed back to the controller to influence the controlled variable. A high gain problem can be also formulated for proportional plus derivative feedback transformation. Using MATLAB Simulink dynamic simulation tool this paper examines a system with a proportional plus derivative feedback and presents an automatic implementation of finding an acceptable controlled system. Using feedback transformations the system is transformed into another system.Keywords: Feedback, PD, state-space, derivative.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20241851 Dempster-Shafer Information Filtering in Multi-Modality Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: D.M. Weeraddana, K.S. Walgama, E.C. Kulasekere
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A framework to estimate the state of dynamically varying environment where data are generated from heterogeneous sources possessing partial knowledge about the environment is presented. This is entirely derived within Dempster-Shafer and Evidence Filtering frameworks. The belief about the current state is expressed as belief and plausibility functions. An addition to Single Input Single Output Evidence Filter, Multiple Input Single Output Evidence Filtering approach is introduced. Variety of applications such as situational estimation of an emergency environment can be developed within the framework successfully. Fire propagation scenario is used to justify the proposed framework, simulation results are presented.
Keywords: Dempster-Shafer Belief theory, Evidence Filtering, Evidence Fusion, Sensor Modalities, Wireless Sensor Networks
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22361850 An Inflatable and Foldable Knee Exosuit Based on Intelligent Management of Biomechanical Energy
Authors: Jing Fang, Yao Cui, Mingming Wang, Shengli She, Jianping Yuan
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Wearable robotics is a potential solution in aiding gait rehabilitation of lower limbs dyskinesia patients, such as knee osteoarthritis or stroke afflicted patients. Many wearable robots have been developed in the form of rigid exoskeletons, but their bulk devices, high cost and control complexity hinder their popularity in the field of gait rehabilitation. Thus, the development of a portable, compliant and low-cost wearable robot for gait rehabilitation is necessary. Inspired by Chinese traditional folding fans and balloon inflators, the authors present an inflatable, foldable and variable stiffness knee exosuit (IFVSKE) in this paper. The pneumatic actuator of IFVSKE was fabricated in the shape of folding fans by using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fabric materials. The geometric and mechanical properties of IFVSKE were characterized with experimental methods. To assist the knee joint smartly, an intelligent control profile for IFVSKE was proposed based on the concept of full-cycle energy management of the biomechanical energy during human movement. The biomechanical energy of knee joints in a walking gait cycle of patients could be collected and released to assist the joint motion just by adjusting the inner pressure of IFVSKE. Finally, a healthy subject was involved to walk with and without the IFVSKE to evaluate the assisting effects.
Keywords: Biomechanical energy management, gait rehabilitation, knee exosuit, wearable robotics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11651849 Fabrication Characteristics and Mechanical Behavior of Fly Ash-Alumina Reinforced Zn-27Al Alloy Matrix Hybrid Composite Using Stir-Casting Technique
Authors: Oluwagbenga B. Fatile, Felix U. Idu, Olajide T. Sanya
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This paper reports the viability of developing Zn-27Al alloy matrix hybrid composites reinforced with alumina, graphite and fly ash (solid waste bye product of coal in thermal power plants). This research work was aimed at developing low cost-high performance Zn-27Al matrix composite with low density. Alumina particulates (Al2O3), graphite added with 0, 2, 3, 4 and 5 wt% fly ash were utilized to prepare 10wt% reinforcing phase with Zn-27Al alloy as matrix using two-step stir casting method. Density measurement, estimated percentage porosity, tensile testing, micro hardness measurement and optical microscopy were used to assess the performance of the composites produced. The results show that the hardness, ultimate tensile strength, and percent elongation of the hybrid composites decrease with increase in fly ash content. The maximum decrease in hardness and ultimate tensile strength of 13.72% and 15.25% respectively were observed for composite grade containing 5wt% fly ash. The percentage elongation of composite sample without fly ash is 8.9% which is comparable with that of the sample containing 2wt% fly ash with percentage elongation of 8.8%. The fracture toughness of the fly ash containing composites was however superior to those of composites without fly ash with 5wt% fly ash containing composite exhibiting the highest fracture toughness. The results show that fly ash can be utilized as complementary reinforcement in ZA-27 alloy matrix composite to reduce cost.Keywords: Fly ash, hybrid composite, mechanical behaviour, stir-cast.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22671848 Functional Food Knowledge and Perceptions among Young Consumers in Malaysia
Authors: G. Rezai, P.K.Teng, Z. Mohamed, M.N Shamsudin
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Changing in consumers lifestyles and food consumption patterns provide a great opportunity in developing the functional food sector in Malaysia. There is only a little knowledge about whether Malaysian consumers are aware of functional food and if so what image consumers have of this product. The objective of this research is to determine the extent to which selected socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes influence consumers- awareness of functional food. A survey was conducted in the Klang Valley, Malaysia where 439 respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The result shows that most respondents have a positive attitude towards functional food. For the binary logistic estimation, the results indicate that age, income and other factors such as concern about food safety, subscribing to cooking or health magazines, being a vegetarian and consumers who have been involved in a food production company significantly influence Malaysian consumers- awareness towards functional food.Keywords: Binary logistic model, functional foods, knowledge and awareness, perception
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 57801847 Robust Adaptive Control of a Robotic Manipulator with Unknown Dead Zone and Friction Torques
Authors: Ibrahim F. Jasim, Najah F. Jasim
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The problem of controlling a two link robotic manipulator, consisting of a rotating and a prismatic links, is addressed. The actuations of both links are assumed to have unknown dead zone nonlinearities and friction torques modeled by LuGre friction model. Because of the existence of the unknown dead zone and friction torque at the actuations, unknown parameters and unmeasured states would appear to be part of the overall system dynamics that need for estimation. Unmeasured states observer, unknown parameters estimators, and robust adaptive control laws have been derived such that closed loop global stability is achieved. Simulation results have been performed to show the efficacy of the suggested approach.
Keywords: Adaptive Robust Control, Dead Zone, Friction Torques, Robotic Manipulators.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16251846 A Cost Effective Approach to Develop Mid-size Enterprise Software Adopted the Waterfall Model
Authors: M. N. Hasnine, M. K. H. Chayon, M. M. Rahman
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Organizational tendencies towards computer-based information processing have been observed noticeably in the third-world countries. Many enterprises are taking major initiatives towards computerized working environment because of massive benefits of computer-based information processing. However, designing and developing information resource management software for small and mid-size enterprises under budget costs and strict deadline is always challenging for software engineers. Therefore, we introduced an approach to design mid-size enterprise software by using the Waterfall model, which is one of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycles), in a cost effective way. To fulfill research objectives, in this study, we developed mid-sized enterprise software named “BSK Management System” that assists enterprise software clients with information resource management and perform complex organizational tasks. Waterfall model phases have been applied to ensure that all functions, user requirements, strategic goals, and objectives are met. In addition, Rich Picture, Structured English, and Data Dictionary have been implemented and investigated properly in engineering manner. Furthermore, an assessment survey with 20 participants has been conducted to investigate the usability and performance of the proposed software. The survey results indicated that our system featured simple interfaces, easy operation and maintenance, quick processing, and reliable and accurate transactions.Keywords: End-user Application Development, Enterprise Software Design, Information Resource Management, Usability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19591845 Web Driving Performance Monitoring System
Authors: Ahmad Aljaafreh
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Safer driver behavior promoting is the main goal of this paper. It is a fact that drivers behavior is relatively safer when being monitored. Thus, in this paper, we propose a monitoring system to report specific driving event as well as the potentially aggressive events for estimation of the driving performance. Our driving monitoring system is composed of two parts. The first part is the in-vehicle embedded system which is composed of a GPS receiver, a two-axis accelerometer, radar sensor, OBD interface, and GPRS modem. The design considerations that led to this architecture is described in this paper. The second part is a web server where an adaptive hierarchical fuzzy system is proposed to classify the driving performance based on the data that is sent by the in-vehicle embedded system and the data that is provided by the geographical information system (GIS). Our system is robust, inexpensive and small enough to fit inside a vehicle without distracting the driver.
Keywords: Driving monitoring system, In-vehicle embedded system, Hierarchical fuzzy system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24681844 Fighter Aircraft Selection Using Neutrosophic Multiple Criteria Decision Making Analysis
Authors: C. Ardil
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Fuzzy set and intuitionistic fuzzy set are dealing with the imprecision and uncertainty inherent in a complex decision problem. However, sometimes these theories are not sufficient to model indeterminate and inconsistent information encountered in real-life problems. To overcome this insufficiency, the neutrosophic set, which is useful in practical applications, is proposed, triangular neutrosophic numbers and trapezoidal neutrosophic numbers are examined, their definitions and applications are discussed. In this study, a decision making algorithm is developed using neutrosophic set processes and an application is given in fighter aircraft selection as an example of a decision making problem. The estimation of the fighter aircraft selection with the neutrosophic multiple criteria decision analysis method is examined.
Keywords: neutrosophic set, multiple criteria decision making analysis, fighter aircraft selection, MCDMA, neutrosophic numbers
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9351843 Estimating an Optimal Neighborhood Size in the Spherical Self-Organizing Feature Map
Authors: Alexandros Leontitsis, Archana P. Sangole
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This article presents a short discussion on optimum neighborhood size selection in a spherical selforganizing feature map (SOFM). A majority of the literature on the SOFMs have addressed the issue of selecting optimal learning parameters in the case of Cartesian topology SOFMs. However, the use of a Spherical SOFM suggested that the learning aspects of Cartesian topology SOFM are not directly translated. This article presents an approach on how to estimate the neighborhood size of a spherical SOFM based on the data. It adopts the L-curve criterion, previously suggested for choosing the regularization parameter on problems of linear equations where their right-hand-side is contaminated with noise. Simulation results are presented on two artificial 4D data sets of the coupled Hénon-Ikeda map.Keywords: Parameter estimation, self-organizing feature maps, spherical topology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15191842 Recognition by Online Modeling – a New Approach of Recognizing Voice Signals in Linear Time
Authors: Jyh-Da Wei, Hsin-Chen Tsai
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This work presents a novel means of extracting fixedlength parameters from voice signals, such that words can be recognized in linear time. The power and the zero crossing rate are first calculated segment by segment from a voice signal; by doing so, two feature sequences are generated. We then construct an FIR system across these two sequences. The parameters of this FIR system, used as the input of a multilayer proceptron recognizer, can be derived by recursive LSE (least-square estimation), implying that the complexity of overall process is linear to the signal size. In the second part of this work, we introduce a weighting factor λ to emphasize recent input; therefore, we can further recognize continuous speech signals. Experiments employ the voice signals of numbers, from zero to nine, spoken in Mandarin Chinese. The proposed method is verified to recognize voice signals efficiently and accurately.Keywords: Speech Recognition, FIR system, Recursive LSE, Multilayer Perceptron
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1417