Search results for: mathematical model of heat radiation
6083 Implementation of Renewable Energy Technologies in Rural Africa
Authors: J. Levodo, A. Ford, I. Chaer
Abstract:
Africa enjoys some of the best solar radiation levels in the world averaging between 4-6 kWh/m2/day for most of the year and the global economic and political conditions that tend to make African countries more dependent on their own energy resources have caused growing interest in renewable energy based technologies. However to-date, implementation of modern Energy Technologies in Africa is still very low especially the use of solar conversion technologies. This paper presents literature review and analysis relating to the techno-economic feasibility of solar photovoltaic power generation in Africa. The literature is basically classified into the following four main categories. Techno-economic feasibility of solar photovoltaic power generation, design methods, performance evaluations of various systems and policy of potential future of technological development of photovoltaic (PV) in Africa by exploring the impact of alternative policy instruments and technology cost reductions on the financial viability of investing solar photovoltaic in Africa.
Keywords: Africa Solar Potential, Policy, Photovoltaic, Technologies.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 31786082 E-government Adoption in Romania
Authors: Sofia Elena Colesca, Dobrica Liliana
Abstract:
The Romanian government has been making significant attempts to make its services and information available on the Internet. According to the UN e-government survey conducted in 2008, Romania comes under mid range countries by utilization of egovernment (percent of utilization 41%). Romania-s national portal www.e-guvernare.ro aims at progressively making all services and information accessible through the portal. However, the success of these efforts depends, to a great extent, on how well the targeted users for such services, citizens in general, make use of them. For this reason, the purpose of the presented study was to identify what factors could affect the citizens' adoption of e-government services. The study is an extension of the Technology Acceptance Model. The proposed model was validated using data collected from 481 citizens. The results provided substantial support for all proposed hypotheses and showed the significance of the extended constructs.Keywords: e-government, citizen's adoption, TechnologyAcceptance model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24336081 Artificial Accelerated Ageing Test of 22 kVXLPE Cable for Distribution System Applications in Thailand
Authors: A. Rawangpai, B. Maraungsri, N. Chomnawang
Abstract:
This paper presents the experimental results on artificial ageing test of 22 kV XLPE cable for distribution system application in Thailand. XLPE insulating material of 22 kV cable was sliced to 60-70 μm in thick and was subjected to ac high voltage at 23 Ôùª C, 60 Ôùª C and 75 Ôùª C. Testing voltage was constantly applied to the specimen until breakdown. Breakdown voltage and time to breakdown were used to evaluate life time of insulating material. Furthermore, the physical model by J. P. Crine for predicts life time of XLPE insulating material was adopted as life time model and was calculated in order to compare the experimental results. Acceptable life time results were obtained from Crine-s model comparing with the experimental result. In addition, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for chemical analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM) for physical analysis were conducted on tested specimens.Keywords: Artificial accelerated ageing test, XLPE cable, distribution system, insulating material, life time, life time model
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 36796080 A Decision Support Model for Bank Branch Location Selection
Authors: Nihan Cinar
Abstract:
Location selection is one of the most important decision making process which requires to consider several criteria based on the mission and the strategy. This study-s object is to provide a decision support model in order to help the bank selecting the most appropriate location for a bank-s branch considering a case study in Turkey. The object of the bank is to select the most appropriate city for opening a branch among six alternatives in the South-Eastern of Turkey. The model in this study was consisted of five main criteria which are Demographic, Socio-Economic, Sectoral Employment, Banking and Trade Potential and twenty one subcriteria which represent the bank-s mission and strategy. Because of the multi-criteria structure of the problem and the fuzziness in the comparisons of the criteria, fuzzy AHP is used and for the ranking of the alternatives, TOPSIS method is used.Keywords: MCDM, bank branch location, fuzzy AHP, TOPSIS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 49686079 Hidden State Probabilistic Modeling for Complex Wavelet Based Image Registration
Authors: F. C. Calnegru
Abstract:
This article presents a computationally tractable probabilistic model for the relation between the complex wavelet coefficients of two images of the same scene. The two images are acquisitioned at distinct moments of times, or from distinct viewpoints, or by distinct sensors. By means of the introduced probabilistic model, we argue that the similarity between the two images is controlled not by the values of the wavelet coefficients, which can be altered by many factors, but by the nature of the wavelet coefficients, that we model with the help of hidden state variables. We integrate this probabilistic framework in the construction of a new image registration algorithm. This algorithm has sub-pixel accuracy and is robust to noise and to other variations like local illumination changes. We present the performance of our algorithm on various image types.
Keywords: Complex wavelet transform, image registration, modeling using hidden state variables, probabilistic similaritymeasure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13826078 Remarks Regarding Queuing Model and Packet Loss Probability for the Traffic with Self-Similar Characteristics
Authors: Mihails Kulikovs, Ernests Petersons
Abstract:
Network management techniques have long been of interest to the networking research community. The queue size plays a critical role for the network performance. The adequate size of the queue maintains Quality of Service (QoS) requirements within limited network capacity for as many users as possible. The appropriate estimation of the queuing model parameters is crucial for both initial size estimation and during the process of resource allocation. The accurate resource allocation model for the management system increases the network utilization. The present paper demonstrates the results of empirical observation of memory allocation for packet-based services.Keywords: Queuing System, Packet Loss Probability, Measurement-Based Admission Control (MBAC), Performanceevaluation, Quality of Service (QoS).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17746077 Cursor Position Estimation Model for Virtual Touch Screen Using Camera
Authors: Somkiat Wangsiripitak
Abstract:
Virtual touch screen using camera is an ordinary screen which uses a camera to imitate the touch screen by taking a picture of an indicator, e.g., finger, which is laid on the screen, converting the indicator tip position on the picture to the position on the screen, and moving the cursor on the screen to that position. In fact, the indicator is not laid on the screen directly, but it is intervened by the cover at some intervals. In spite of this gap, if the eye-indicator-camera angle is not large, the mapping from the indicator tip positions on the image to the corresponding cursor positions on the screen is not difficult and could be done with a little error. However, the larger the angle is, the bigger the error in the mapping occurs. This paper proposes cursor position estimation model for virtual touch screen using camera which could eliminate this kind of error. The proposed model (i) moves the on-screen pilot cursor to the screen position which locates on the screen at the position just behind the indicator tip when the indicator tip has been looked from the camera position, and then (ii) converts that pilot cursor position to the desirable cursor position (the position on the screen when it has been looked from the user-s eye through the indicator tip) by using the bilinear transformation. Simulation results show the correctness of the estimated cursor position by using the proposed model.
Keywords: Bilinear transformation, cursor position, pilot cursor, virtual touch screen.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16326076 Multiple Crack Identification Using Frequency Measurement
Authors: J.W. Xiang, M. Liang
Abstract:
This paper presents a method to detect multiple cracks based on frequency information. When a structure is subjected to dynamic or static loads, cracks may develop and the modal frequencies of the cracked structure may change. To detect cracks in a structure, we construct a high precision wavelet finite element (EF) model of a certain structure using the B-spline wavelet on the interval (BSWI). Cracks can be modeled by rotational springs and added to the FE model. The crack detection database will be obtained by solving that model. Then the crack locations and depths can be determined based on the frequency information from the database. The performance of the proposed method has been numerically verified by a rotor example.Keywords: Rotor, frequency measurement, multiple cracks, wavelet finite element method, identification.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16316075 The Conceptualization of Integrated Consumer Health Informatics Utilization Framework
Authors: Norfadzila, S.W.A., Balakrishnan, V., A. Abrizah
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated consumer health informatics utilization framework that can be used to gauge the online health information needs and usage patterns among Malaysian women. The proposed framework was developed based on four different theories/models: Use and Gratification Theory, Technology Acceptance 3 Model, Health Belief Model, and Multi-level Model of Information Seeking. The relevant constructs and research hypotheses are also presented in this paper. The framework will be tested in order for it to be used successfully to identify Malaysian women-s preferences of online health information resources and health information seeking activities.Keywords: Consumer Health Informatics, Consumer Preferences, Information Needs and Usage Patterns, Online Health Information, Women Studies
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17276074 An Adaptive Memetic Algorithm With Dynamic Population Management for Designing HIV Multidrug Therapies
Authors: Hassan Zarei, Ali Vahidian Kamyad, Sohrab Effati
Abstract:
In this paper, a mathematical model of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is utilized and an optimization problem is proposed, with the final goal of implementing an optimal 900-day structured treatment interruption (STI) protocol. Two type of commonly used drugs in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTI) and protease inhibitors (PI), are considered. In order to solving the proposed optimization problem an adaptive memetic algorithm with population management (AMAPM) is proposed. The AMAPM uses a distance measure to control the diversity of population in genotype space and thus preventing the stagnation and premature convergence. Moreover, the AMAPM uses diversity parameter in phenotype space to dynamically set the population size and the number of crossovers during the search process. Three crossover operators diversify the population, simultaneously. The progresses of crossover operators are utilized to set the number of each crossover per generation. In order to escaping the local optima and introducing the new search directions toward the global optima, two local searchers assist the evolutionary process. In contrast to traditional memetic algorithms, the activation of these local searchers is not random and depends on both the diversity parameters in genotype space and phenotype space. The capability of AMAPM in finding optimal solutions compared with three popular metaheurestics is introduced.Keywords: HIV therapy design, memetic algorithms, adaptivealgorithms, nonlinear integer programming.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16286073 ANFIS Modeling of the Surface Roughness in Grinding Process
Authors: H. Baseri, G. Alinejad
Abstract:
The objective of this study is to design an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for estimation of surface roughness in grinding process. The Used data have been generated from experimental observations when the wheel has been dressed using a rotary diamond disc dresser. The input parameters of model are dressing speed ratio, dressing depth and dresser cross-feed rate and output parameter is surface roughness. In the experimental procedure the grinding conditions are constant and only the dressing conditions are varied. The comparison of the predicted values and the experimental data indicates that the ANFIS model has a better performance with respect to back-propagation neural network (BPNN) model which has been presented by the authors in previous work for estimation of the surface roughness.Keywords: Grinding, ANFIS, Neural network, Disc dressing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24166072 The Role of Object Oriented Simulation F Modeling in Maintenance Processes
Authors: Abdulsalam A. Al-Sudairi
Abstract:
Object-oriented simulation is considered one of the most sophisticated techniques that has been widely used in planning, designing, executing and maintaining construction projects. This technique enables the modeler to focus on objects which is extremely important for thorough understanding of a system. Thus, identifying an object is an essential point of building a successful simulation model. In a maintenance process an object is a maintenance work order (MWO). This study demonstrates a maintenance simulation model for the building maintenance division of Saudi Consolidated Electric Company (SCECO) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The model focused on both types of maintenance processes namely: (1) preventive maintenance (PM) and (2) corrective maintenance (CM). It is apparent from the findings that object-oriented simulation is a good diagnostic and experimental tool. This is because problems, limitations, bottlenecks and so forth are easily identified. These features are very difficult to obtain when using other tools.
Keywords: Object oriented, simulation, maintenance, process, work orders
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14976071 Microscopic Emission and Fuel Consumption Modeling for Light-duty Vehicles Using Portable Emission Measurement System Data
Authors: Wei Lei, Hui Chen, Lin Lu
Abstract:
Microscopic emission and fuel consumption models have been widely recognized as an effective method to quantify real traffic emission and energy consumption when they are applied with microscopic traffic simulation models. This paper presents a framework for developing the Microscopic Emission (HC, CO, NOx, and CO2) and Fuel consumption (MEF) models for light-duty vehicles. The variable of composite acceleration is introduced into the MEF model with the purpose of capturing the effects of historical accelerations interacting with current speed on emission and fuel consumption. The MEF model is calibrated by multivariate least-squares method for two types of light-duty vehicle using on-board data collected in Beijing, China by a Portable Emission Measurement System (PEMS). The instantaneous validation results shows the MEF model performs better with lower Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) compared to other two models. Moreover, the aggregate validation results tells the MEF model produces reasonable estimations compared to actual measurements with prediction errors within 12%, 10%, 19%, and 9% for HC, CO, NOx emissions and fuel consumption, respectively.Keywords: Emission, Fuel consumption, Light-duty vehicle, Microscopic, Modeling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20066070 Obtaining Constants of Johnson-Cook Material Model Using a Combined Experimental, Numerical Simulation and Optimization Method
Authors: F. Rahimi Dehgolan, M. Behzadi, J. Fathi Sola
Abstract:
In this article, the Johnson-Cook material model’s constants for structural steel ST.37 have been determined by a method which integrates experimental tests, numerical simulation, and optimization. In the first step, a quasi-static test was carried out on a plain specimen. Next, the constants were calculated for it by minimizing the difference between the results acquired from the experiment and numerical simulation. Then, a quasi-static tension test was performed on three notched specimens with different notch radii. At last, in order to verify the results, they were used in numerical simulation of notched specimens and it was observed that experimental and simulation results are in good agreement. Changing the diameter size of the plain specimen in the necking area was set as the objective function in the optimization step. For final validation of the proposed method, diameter variation was considered as a parameter and its sensitivity to a change in any of the model constants was examined and the results were completely corroborating.
Keywords: Constants, Johnson-Cook material model, notched specimens, quasi-static test, sensitivity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 36176069 Modified Genome-Scale Metabolic Model of Escherichia coli by Adding Hyaluronic Acid Biosynthesis-Related Enzymes (GLMU2 and HYAD) from Pasteurella multocida
Authors: P. Pasomboon, P. Chumnanpuen, T. E-kobon
Abstract:
Hyaluronic acid (HA) consists of linear heteropolysaccharides repeat of D-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. HA has various useful properties to maintain skin elasticity and moisture, reduce inflammation, and lubricate the movement of various body parts without causing immunogenic allergy. HA can be found in several animal tissues as well as in the capsule component of some bacteria including Pasteurella multocida. This study aimed to modify a genome-scale metabolic model of Escherichia coli using computational simulation and flux analysis methods to predict HA productivity under different carbon sources and nitrogen supplement by the addition of two enzymes (GLMU2 and HYAD) from P. multocida to improve the HA production under the specified amount of carbon sources and nitrogen supplements. Result revealed that threonine and aspartate supplement raised the HA production by 12.186%. Our analyses proposed the genome-scale metabolic model is useful for improving the HA production and narrows the number of conditions to be tested further.Keywords: Pasteurella multocida, Escherichia coli, hyaluronic acid, genome-scale metabolic model, bioinformatics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8166068 Numerical Analysis of the Effect of Geocell Reinforcement above Buried Pipes on Surface Settlement and Vertical Pressure
Authors: Waqed H. Almohammed, Mohammed Y. Fattah, Sajjad E. Rasheed
Abstract:
Dynamic traffic loads cause deformation of underground pipes, resulting in vehicle discomfort. This makes it necessary to reinforce the layers of soil above underground pipes. In this study, the subbase layer was reinforced. Finite element software (PLAXIS 3D) was used to in the simulation, which includes geocell reinforcement, vehicle loading, soil layers and Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GRP) pipe. Geocell reinforcement was modeled using a geogrid element, which was defined as a slender structure element that has the ability to withstand axial stresses but not to resist bending. Geogrids cannot withstand compression but they can withstand tensile forces. Comparisons have been made between the numerical models and experimental works, and a good agreement was obtained. Using the mathematical model, the performance of three different pipes of diameter 600 mm, 800 mm, and 1000 mm, and three different vehicular speeds of 20 km/h, 40 km/h, and 60 km/h, was examined to determine their impact on surface settlement and vertical pressure at the pipe crown for two cases: with and without geocell reinforcement. The results showed that, for a pipe diameter of 600 mm under geocell reinforcement, surface settlement decreases by 94 % when the speed of the vehicle is 20 km/h and by 98% when the speed of the vehicle is 60 km/h. Vertical pressure decreases by 81 % when the diameter of the pipe is 600 mm, while the value decreases to 58 % for a pipe with diameter 1000 mm. The results show that geocell reinforcement causes a significant and positive reduction in surface settlement and vertical stress above the pipe crown, leading to an increase in pipe safety.
Keywords: Dynamic loading, geocell reinforcement, GRP pipe, PLAXIS 3D, surface settlement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15556067 Examination of Flood Runoff Reproductivity for Different Rainfall Sources in Central Vietnam
Authors: Do Hoai Nam, Keiko Udo, Akira Mano
Abstract:
This paper presents the combination of different precipitation data sets and the distributed hydrological model, in order to examine the flood runoff reproductivity of scattered observation catchments. The precipitation data sets were obtained from observation using rain-gages, satellite based estimate (TRMM), and numerical weather prediction model (NWP), then were coupled with the super tank model. The case study was conducted in three basins (small, medium, and large size) located in Central Vietnam. Calculated hydrographs based on ground observation rainfall showed best fit to measured stream flow, while those obtained from TRMM and NWP showed high uncertainty of peak discharges. However, calculated hydrographs using the adjusted rainfield depicted a promising alternative for the application of TRMM and NWP in flood modeling for scattered observation catchments, especially for the extension of forecast lead time.
Keywords: Flood forecast, rainfall-runoff model, satellite rainfall estimate, numerical weather prediction, quantitative precipitation forecasting.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16096066 Increase Success by Decreasing Admission for Maths– Fairytale or Reality?
Authors: L.A du Plessis
Abstract:
South Africa is facing a crisis with not being able to produce enough graduates in the scarce skills areas to sustain economic growth. The crisis is fuelled by a school system that does not produce enough potential students with Mathematics, Accounting and Science. Since the introduction of the new school curriculum in 2008, there is no longer an option to take pure maths on a standard grade level. Instead, only two mathematical subjects are offered: pure maths (which is on par with higher grade maths) and mathematical literacy. It is compulsory to take one or the other. As a result, lees student finishes Grade 12 with pure mathematics every year. This national problem needs urgent attention if South Africa is to make any headway in critical skills development as mathematics is a gateway to scarce skills professions. Higher education institutions initiated several initiatives in an attempt to address the above, including preparatory courses, bridging programmes and extended curricula with foundation provisions. In view of the above, and government policy directives to broaden access in the scarce skills areas to increase student throughput, foundation provision was introduced for Commerce and Information Technology programmes at the Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of North-West University (NWU) in 2010. Students enrolling for extended programmes do not comply with the minimum prerequisites for the normal programmes. The question then arises as to whether these programmes have the intended impact? This paper reports the results of a two year longitudinal study, tracking the first year academic achievement of the two cohorts of enrolments since 2010. The results provide valuable insight into the structuring of an extended programme and its potential impact.Keywords: Access, extended programmes, foundation provision, mathematics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15766065 Complex Method for Localized Muscle Fatigue Evaluation
Authors: Vasilescu M., Rusu L., Nestianu V., Romanescu F., Dragomir M
Abstract:
The research was designed to examine the relationship between the development of muscle fatigue and the effect it has on sport performance, specifically during maximal voluntary contraction. This kind of this investigation using simultaneous electrophysiological and mechanical recordings, based on advanced mathematical processing, allows us to get parameters, and indexes in a short time, and finally, the mapping to use for the thorough investigation of the muscle contraction force, respectively the phenomenon of local muscle fatigue, both for athletes and other subjects.Keywords: Electromyography, mechanomyography, musclefatigue
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14916064 A Xenon Mass Gauging through Heat Transfer Modeling for Electric Propulsion Thrusters
Authors: A. Soria-Salinas, M.-P. Zorzano, J. Martín-Torres, J. Sánchez-García-Casarrubios, J.-L. Pérez-Díaz, A. Vakkada-Ramachandran
Abstract:
The current state-of-the-art methods of mass gauging of Electric Propulsion (EP) propellants in microgravity conditions rely on external measurements that are taken at the surface of the tank. The tanks are operated under a constant thermal duty cycle to store the propellant within a pre-defined temperature and pressure range. We demonstrate using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations that the heat-transfer within the pressurized propellant generates temperature and density anisotropies. This challenges the standard mass gauging methods that rely on the use of time changing skin-temperatures and pressures. We observe that the domes of the tanks are prone to be overheated, and that a long time after the heaters of the thermal cycle are switched off, the system reaches a quasi-equilibrium state with a more uniform density. We propose a new gauging method, which we call the Improved PVT method, based on universal physics and thermodynamics principles, existing TRL-9 technology and telemetry data. This method only uses as inputs the temperature and pressure readings of sensors externally attached to the tank. These sensors can operate during the nominal thermal duty cycle. The improved PVT method shows little sensitivity to the pressure sensor drifts which are critical towards the end-of-life of the missions, as well as little sensitivity to systematic temperature errors. The retrieval method has been validated experimentally with CO2 in gas and fluid state in a chamber that operates up to 82 bar within a nominal thermal cycle of 38 °C to 42 °C. The mass gauging error is shown to be lower than 1% the mass at the beginning of life, assuming an initial tank load at 100 bar. In particular, for a pressure of about 70 bar, just below the critical pressure of CO2, the error of the mass gauging in gas phase goes down to 0.1% and for 77 bar, just above the critical point, the error of the mass gauging of the liquid phase is 0.6% of initial tank load. This gauging method improves by a factor of 8 the accuracy of the standard PVT retrievals using look-up tables with tabulated data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Keywords: Electric propulsion, mass gauging, propellant, PVT, xenon.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21896063 Modeling and Verification for the Micropayment Protocol Netpay
Authors: Kaylash Chaudhary, Ansgar Fehnker
Abstract:
There are many virtual payment systems available to conduct micropayments. It is essential that the protocols satisfy the highest standards of correctness. This paper examines the Netpay Protocol [3], provide its formalization as automata model, and prove two important correctness properties, namely absence of deadlock and validity of an ecoin during the execution of the protocol. This paper assumes a cooperative customer and will prove that the protocol is executing according to its description.Keywords: Model, Verification, Micropayment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13286062 Route Training in Mobile Robotics through System Identification
Authors: Roberto Iglesias, Theocharis Kyriacou, Ulrich Nehmzow, Steve Billings
Abstract:
Fundamental sensor-motor couplings form the backbone of most mobile robot control tasks, and often need to be implemented fast, efficiently and nevertheless reliably. Machine learning techniques are therefore often used to obtain the desired sensor-motor competences. In this paper we present an alternative to established machine learning methods such as artificial neural networks, that is very fast, easy to implement, and has the distinct advantage that it generates transparent, analysable sensor-motor couplings: system identification through nonlinear polynomial mapping. This work, which is part of the RobotMODIC project at the universities of Essex and Sheffield, aims to develop a theoretical understanding of the interaction between the robot and its environment. One of the purposes of this research is to enable the principled design of robot control programs. As a first step towards this aim we model the behaviour of the robot, as this emerges from its interaction with the environment, with the NARMAX modelling method (Nonlinear, Auto-Regressive, Moving Average models with eXogenous inputs). This method produces explicit polynomial functions that can be subsequently analysed using established mathematical methods. In this paper we demonstrate the fidelity of the obtained NARMAX models in the challenging task of robot route learning; we present a set of experiments in which a Magellan Pro mobile robot was taught to follow four different routes, always using the same mechanism to obtain the required control law.Keywords: Mobile robotics, system identification, non-linear modelling, NARMAX.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17226061 Design Analysis of a Slotted Microstrip Antenna for Wireless Communication
Authors: Norbahiah Misran, Mohammed N. Shakib, Mohammad T. Islam, Baharudin Yatim
Abstract:
In this paper, a new design technique for enhancing bandwidth that improves the performance of a conventional microstrip patch antenna is proposed. This paper presents a novel wideband probe fed inverted slotted microstrip patch antenna. The design adopts contemporary techniques; coaxial probe feeding, inverted patch structure and slotted patch. The composite effect of integrating these techniques and by introducing the proposed patch, offer a low profile, broadband, high gain, and low cross-polarization level. The results for the VSWR, gain and co-and cross-polarization patterns are presented. The antenna operating the band of 1.80-2.36 GHz shows an impedance bandwidth (2:1 VSWR) of 27% and a gain of 10.18 dBi with a gain variation of 1.12 dBi. Good radiation characteristics, including a cross-polarization level in xz-plane less than -42 dB, have been obtained.Keywords: Slotted antenna, microstrip patch antenna, wideband, coaxial probe fed.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29006060 Monte Carlo Estimation of Heteroscedasticity and Periodicity Effects in a Panel Data Regression Model
Authors: Nureni O. Adeboye, Dawud A. Agunbiade
Abstract:
This research attempts to investigate the effects of heteroscedasticity and periodicity in a Panel Data Regression Model (PDRM) by extending previous works on balanced panel data estimation within the context of fitting PDRM for Banks audit fee. The estimation of such model was achieved through the derivation of Joint Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test for homoscedasticity and zero-serial correlation, a conditional LM test for zero serial correlation given heteroscedasticity of varying degrees as well as conditional LM test for homoscedasticity given first order positive serial correlation via a two-way error component model. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out for 81 different variations, of which its design assumed a uniform distribution under a linear heteroscedasticity function. Each of the variation was iterated 1000 times and the assessment of the three estimators considered are based on Variance, Absolute bias (ABIAS), Mean square error (MSE) and the Root Mean Square (RMSE) of parameters estimates. Eighteen different models at different specified conditions were fitted, and the best-fitted model is that of within estimator when heteroscedasticity is severe at either zero or positive serial correlation value. LM test results showed that the tests have good size and power as all the three tests are significant at 5% for the specified linear form of heteroscedasticity function which established the facts that Banks operations are severely heteroscedastic in nature with little or no periodicity effects.
Keywords: Audit fee, heteroscedasticity, Lagrange multiplier test, periodicity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7396059 A Pattern Recognition Neural Network Model for Detection and Classification of SQL Injection Attacks
Authors: Naghmeh Moradpoor Sheykhkanloo
Abstract:
Thousands of organisations store important and confidential information related to them, their customers, and their business partners in databases all across the world. The stored data ranges from less sensitive (e.g. first name, last name, date of birth) to more sensitive data (e.g. password, pin code, and credit card information). Losing data, disclosing confidential information or even changing the value of data are the severe damages that Structured Query Language injection (SQLi) attack can cause on a given database. It is a code injection technique where malicious SQL statements are inserted into a given SQL database by simply using a web browser. In this paper, we propose an effective pattern recognition neural network model for detection and classification of SQLi attacks. The proposed model is built from three main elements of: a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) generator in order to generate thousands of malicious and benign URLs, a URL classifier in order to: 1) classify each generated URL to either a benign URL or a malicious URL and 2) classify the malicious URLs into different SQLi attack categories, and a NN model in order to: 1) detect either a given URL is a malicious URL or a benign URL and 2) identify the type of SQLi attack for each malicious URL. The model is first trained and then evaluated by employing thousands of benign and malicious URLs. The results of the experiments are presented in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.Keywords: Neural Networks, pattern recognition, SQL injection attacks, SQL injection attack classification, SQL injection attack detection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 28446058 Seismic Fragility for Sliding Failure of Weir Structure Considering the Process of Concrete Aging
Authors: HoYoung Son, Ki Young Kim, Woo Young Jung
Abstract:
This study investigated the change of weir structure performances when durability of concrete, which is the main material of weir structure, decreased due to their aging by mean of seismic fragility analysis. In the analysis, it was assumed that the elastic modulus of concrete was reduced by 10% in order to account for their aged deterioration. Additionally, the analysis of seismic fragility was based on Monte Carlo Simulation method combined with a 2D nonlinear finite element in ABAQUS platform with the consideration of deterioration of concrete. Finally, the comparison of seismic fragility of model pre- and post-deterioration was made to study the performance of weir. Results show that the probability of failure in moderate damage for deteriorated model was found to be larger than pre-deterioration model when peak ground acceleration (PGA) passed 0.4 g.Keywords: Weir, FEM, concrete, fragility, aging.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9206057 Investigation on the Bogie Pseudo-Hunting Motion of a Reduced-Scale Model Railway Vehicle Running on Double-Curved Rails
Authors: Barenten Suciu, Ryoichi Kinoshita
Abstract:
In this paper, an experimental and theoretical study on the bogie pseudo-hunting motion of a reduced-scale model railway vehicle, running on double-curved rails, is presented. Since the actual bogie hunting motion, occurring for real railway vehicles running on straight rails at high travelling speeds, cannot be obtained in laboratory conditions, due to the speed and wavelength limitations, a pseudo- hunting motion was induced by employing double-curved rails. Firstly, the test rig and the experimental procedure are described. Then, a geometrical model of the double-curved rails is presented. Based on such model, the variation of the carriage rotation angle relative to the bogies and the working conditions of the yaw damper are clarified. Vibration spectra recorded during vehicle travelling, on straight and double-curved rails, are presented and interpreted based on a simple vibration model of the railway vehicle. Ride comfort of the vehicle is evaluated according to the ISO 2631 standard, and also by using some particular frequency weightings, which account for the discomfort perceived during the reading and writing activities. Results obtained in this work are useful for the adequate design of the yaw dampers, which are used to attenuate the lateral vibration of the train car bodies.Keywords: Double-curved rail, octave analysis, lateral vibration, ride comfort, yaw damper, railway vehicle.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14586056 Unsteady Transonic Aerodynamic Analysis for Oscillatory Airfoils using Time Spectral Method
Authors: Mohamad Reza. Mohaghegh, Majid. Malek Jafarian
Abstract:
This research proposes an algorithm for the simulation of time-periodic unsteady problems via the solution unsteady Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. This algorithm which is called Time Spectral method uses a Fourier representation in time and hence solve for the periodic state directly without resolving transients (which consume most of the resources in a time-accurate scheme). Mathematical tools used here are discrete Fourier transformations. It has shown tremendous potential for reducing the computational cost compared to conventional time-accurate methods, by enforcing periodicity and using Fourier representation in time, leading to spectral accuracy. The accuracy and efficiency of this technique is verified by Euler and Navier-Stokes calculations for pitching airfoils. Because of flow turbulence nature, Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model has been used at viscous flow analysis. The results presented by the Time Spectral method are compared with experimental data. It has shown tremendous potential for reducing the computational cost compared to the conventional time-accurate methods, by enforcing periodicity and using Fourier representation in time, leading to spectral accuracy, because results verify the small number of time intervals per pitching cycle required to capture the flow physics.Keywords: Time Spectral Method, Time-periodic unsteadyflow, Discrete Fourier transform, Pitching airfoil, Turbulence flow
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17706055 Towards Model-Driven Communications
Authors: Antonio Natali, Ambra Molesini
Abstract:
In modern distributed software systems, the issue of communication among composing parts represents a critical point, but the idea of extending conventional programming languages with general purpose communication constructs seems difficult to realize. As a consequence, there is a (growing) gap between the abstraction level required by distributed applications and the concepts provided by platforms that enable communication. This work intends to discuss how the Model Driven Software Development approach can be considered as a mature technology to generate in automatic way the schematic part of applications related to communication, by providing at the same time high level specialized languages useful in all the phases of software production. To achieve the goal, a stack of languages (meta-meta¬models) has been introduced in order to describe – at different levels of abstraction – the collaborative behavior of generic entities in terms of communication actions related to a taxonomy of messages. Finally, the generation of platforms for communication is viewed as a form of specification of language semantics, that provides executable models of applications together with model-checking supports and effective runtime environments.
Keywords: Interactions, specific languages, meta-models, model driven development.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18506054 Investigation of Syngas Production from Waste Gas and Ratio Adjustment using a Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Reactor
Authors: E.Darzi
Abstract:
In this study, a reformer model simulation to use refinery (Farashband refinery, Iran) waste natural gas. In the petroleum and allied sectors where natural gas is being encountered (in form of associated gas) without prior preparation for its positive use, its combustion (which takes place in flares, an equipment through which they are being disposed) has become a great problem because of its associated environmental problems in form of gaseous emission. The proposed model is used to product syngas from waste natural gas. A detailed steady model described by a set of ordinary differential and algebraic equations was developed to predict the behavior of the overall process. The proposed steady reactor model was validated against process data of a reformer synthesis plant recorded and a good agreement was achieved. H2/CO ratio has important effect on Fischer- Tropsch synthesis reactor product and we try to achieve this parameter with best designing reformer reactor. We study different kind of reformer reactors and then select auto thermal reforming process of natural gas in a fixed bed reformer that adjustment H2/CO ratio with CO2 and H2O injection. Finally a strategy was proposed for prevention of extra natural gas to atmosphere.Keywords: Fischer-Tropsch, injection, reformer, syngas, waste natural gas.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1732