bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaporation lifetime and boiling curve on hemispherical stainless steel (304) surface
Authors: Illias S , Hussain S , Rosman N A , Abdullah N S , Shaiful A I M , Omar M N B , Ismail K A , Ani H
Published: December 2019

The purpose of this research is to study and investigate the evaporation lifetime and boiling curve on hemispherical heated surface. The selected material was stainless steel (304). A nearly perfect and smooth hemispherical surface was developed by using EDM die sinker. For the test liquid, distilled water was used during the experimental work. The average droplet temperature was 31.36 °C corresponding to liquid subcooling ΔT

sub
= 68.64K. Based on the theoretical calculation, the diameter of the water droplet was approximately 5.00 mm. Meanwhile, the impact height was approximately 65.0 mm corresponding to the theoretical impact velocity of 1.129 m/s. The material was heated using a digital hot plate which was able to give an accurate reading and stable temperature fluctuation during the heating process. The temperature ranged from a low temperature of T

w
= 100 °C to a high temperature of T

w
= 300 °C. As a result, the boiling curve showed a similar pattern of other experimental work that consists of two (2) important points which are Critical Heat Flux(CHF) and Leidenfrost temperature.
Frontal impact on bus superstructure as per UNECE R29 and NCAP
Authors: Afripin M A A , Zainudin A Z , Sahar M A H F M , Yusof M
Published: December 2019

Frontal crash for the large vehicle is less severe compared to the lightweight vehicle due to the height position of the driver compartment in the vehicle which sits well above the impact area in any accident involving a passenger vehicle. Due to this reason, most of the coachbuilder does not include crumple zone in their design as what the car’s manufacturer did. However, in the case of frontal collision between two large vehicles or with the rigid wall, the possibility of energy absorption of the structure is very low and the remaining energy will be transferred directly to the driver and occupants. In this respect, two prominent regulations for frontal impact, namely United Nation Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE) Regulation no. 29 and New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) is used to determine whether the structures are having enough strength to withstand the load produced by the impact. This paper deals with the finite element simulation of a frontal impact on bus superstructure by applying both of the regulations. Then, the results for both simulations are compared in terms of energy produced, structure deformations, maximum stress, and the corresponding plastic strains. It is found that the energy from the ECE R29 regulation is lower than NHTSA’s NCAP with 55 kJ and 142 kJ respectively. However, the deformation observed from R29 simulation, the front structures is severely deformed. Meanwhile, the structures in the NCAP simulation are still intact and the steering wheel structures are still not in contact with any body parts of the driver.
Evaluation of ΔJ-integral for a shallow crack in steel for pressure vessels under large scale yielding (LSY) condition
Authors: Muhamad Azmi M S , Fujii Tomoyuki , Tohgo Keiichiro , Hashim M S M , Ismail A H , Razlan Z M
Published: December 2019

Fracture mechanics studies on fatigue crack growth under elastic-plastic condition is usually characterized by J integral range, ΔJ determined by an approximation from area under load-displacement hysteresis loop developed by Dowling and Begley. Despite being supported by some experimental data which reported that fatigue crack growth rates under elastic-plastic conditions have good correlations with ΔJ, the applicability of ΔJ on crack growth in a material subjected to cyclic bending remains inconclusive. In this study, finite element analysis of a four point-bending rectangular plate model with an edge crack length a/W between 0.1 to 0.5 was carried out under displacement amplitude δ

a
between 0.1 to 1.5 mm to represent small to large scale yielding conditions. The elastic component was found to be the driven force of fatigue crack growth parameter in small scale yielding (SSY) condition while in large scale yielding (LSY) condition, the plastic component must be considered. It was also found that the simple method of ΔJ-integral calculation using load-displacement approach is overestimated for shallow crack under LSY condition.
CFD simulations on a phase change thermal energy storage integrated with conducting fins
Authors: Abdul Razak Muhammad Faris , Mohd Amin Nasrul Amri , Abdul Majid Mohd Shukry , Mohd Nasir Nashrul Fazli , Abdul Rahman MD Tasyrif , Rahman Anas Abdul
Published: December 2019

Global warming has become a major problem that leads to an abnormal climate change crisis. For most countries around the world, there be would be a rise in the average daily temperature. Therefore, many research works have been conducted in order to overcome this problem. One of the most viable solutions is to store thermal energy for later use. This can be done by integrating phase change material (PCM) into thermal energy storage (TES) system. To counter the increasing temperature problem in the residential house, PCM can be implanted in the wall of the house, for instance. This way, PCM can go through freezing process during the night and countering the heat through the wall by melting process during day time. However, due to the thermal resistance within these systems, the inadequate heat transfer problem had always become the problem of low thermal conductivity. Therefore, the integration of conducting fins is proposed to the system to increase the overall thermal conductivity.
Orthodontics Anchorage in Mandibular Angle Fractures –A Brief Review
Authors: Abdul Halim Siti Aisyah , Daud Ruslizam , Ibrahim Ishak , Mat Fauziah , Kamaruddin Nur Saifullah , Ismail Rohaizar
Published: December 2019

Maxillofacial fracture could be a quite common injury these days particularly in jaw angle. The healing process is physiologically complicated including each biological and mechanical aspects. Over the past decade, mandibular angle fracture simulation and modeling has been used to understand its details and mechanisms, to analyze specific clinical inquiry and to style healing approches. This paper aims to review the history and also the most recent work on biological and mechanical properties of miniplate . This paper provides a short review of mandibular angle fracture, miniplate evolution, biomaterials utilized in miniplates, structure of miniplates and finite element analysis of miniplate in three dimensional (3D) model.
A short review on the extraction of kenaf fibers and the mechanical properties of kenaf powder composites
Authors: Shahar F S , Sultan M T H , Shah A U M , Safri S N A
Published: December 2019

Kenaf fibers are rapidly growing in the global market and currently being used as a composite to replace other expensive composite materials available in the market. Kenaf powder has the potential to replace other traditional fillers due to its low cost, eco-friendliness, and renewability. The aim of this paper is to review on the mechanical properties of Kenaf fibers, and its powder composites. This paper discusses on the Kenaf plants itself, extraction process, physical properties of kenaf fibers, and finally the mechanical properties of the kenaf powder composites. It can be concluded that Kenaf powder composite has more opportunity for further growth with new methods and technologies which keeps on evolving.
Thermal properties of pineapple leaf/kenaf fibre reinforced vinyl ester hybrid composites
Authors: Mazlan A A , Sultan M T H , Shah A U M , Safri S N A
Published: December 2019

In this modern technology era, the usage of natural fibres has been widely used in various field of applications such as aerospace, maritime, military, automotive as well as structural building. This is due to the reason that they are lightweight, cheap, good sustainability and biodegradable. Only a small amount of research work being conducted on the hybridization of pineapple leaf and kenaf fibres reinforced with vinyl ester (PALF/KF/VE) hybrid composites. Thus, in this present work, the PALF/KF/VE hybrid composites are presented. The thermal properties of PALF, KF, VE as well as hybrid composites were investigated based on their structural components. PALF was in long fibre form while kenaf fibre was in woven form fabricated to form hybrid composites by using the hand lay-up and hot compression moulding. TGA testing was conducted to determine their respective thermal properties. From the experimental testing, the results showed that the thermal stability of hybrid composites enhanced rather than fibres themselves. The thermal degradation of PALF and KF occurred at the range temperature of 250-370°C while neat VE, PALF/VE and PALF/KF/VE occurred at 300-450°C. Thus, these composites can be used for various application such as automotive, aerospace, structural and others.
Charpy and Izod impact properties of natural fibre composites
Authors: Abidin N M Z , Sultan M T H , Shah A U M , Safri S N A
Published: December 2019

Low velocity impact can be divided into several types of evaluation. Charpy and Izod impact testing are two types of testing that mostly used by the industry as it was known as an economical quality control method. In this short review, previous studies on the charpy and izod impact testing on natural fibre composites will be discussed. It was found that the percentage fibre loading is the mostly factors being analysed, besides the treatment applied and size of fibre. It was suggested that the range of 10-30 % fibre loading were the mostly applied in short fibre natural composites.
Mechanical properties evaluation of nonwoven industrial cotton waste produced by needle punching method
Authors: Husain S N H , Rashid A H A , Shaari M F , R M N , Hassan N N M , Ahmad M R , Rashid R A
Published: December 2019

This paper describes the fabrication method and mechanical characterization of nonwoven fabrics from industrial fabric wastes by different machine variables. Cotton waste fibres underwent the mechanical recycling methods, needle punching process and worked into a continuous web of nonwoven fabrics. The measurement method of full factorial design of experiment was implemented in this study as a systematic and efficient way to distinguish between the interaction of more than one factor which are the fibre feeder speed and the number of stacking layers, respectively. Three different fibre feeder speed of 1.8 m/s, 2.2 m/s and 2.8 m/s and three levels of stacking layer (4, 5 and 6 layers) were examined. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significant factors that influenced the mechanical properties of the web nonwoven fabrics. The mechanical properties of nonwoven web were measured by bursting strength test and puncture resistance test. The results displayed that the difference in fibre feeder speed and number of stacking layer significantly affect the puncture resistance performance. S26L web resisted the highest load during puncture resistance test which is 70.5 N while S14L resisted the lowest load of 25.5 N. Whereas, bursting strength performance was only affected by the fibre feeder speed. Lower fibre feeder speed produced stronger nonwoven fabric. Hence, the faster the fibre feeder speed and the higher number of stacking layer give good puncture resistance properties of nonwoven fabrics while the bursting properties of nonwoven fabrics shows the opposites results.
Performance of composite sand cement brick containing paddy husk
Authors: Ahmad M H , Arib M N , Mat F , Kassim U
Published: December 2019

This research concentrates on the performance of composite sand cement brick containing paddy husk also known as rice husk. The main objective of this research is to determine the mechanical properties possess by the composite sand cement brick containing rice husk, such as water absorption and compressive strength. The bricks were designed to contain 0- 4% of RH. The brick specimens were naturally sun dried and be cured for 28-days in protected space. The percentage of water absorbed increases from controlled specimen to 1% of RH and slightly decreases at 2% of RH. The value then increases significantly at 3% and 4% of RH. The optimum amount of the RH percentage in this research would be at 2% correspond to the water absorption of specimens. For the compressive strength, the results show steep decrease from controlled specimen to 1% of RH and began to increase from 2% till 3% of RH and significantly decrease again. The optimum amount of the RH percentage in this research would be at 3% of RH correspond to the compressive strength of specimens. Thus implies that the addition of rice husk into the brick causing the brick to have lower density, subsequently increase water absorption and decrease the compressive strength of the brick
Analysis of macro channel heat exchanger for fever relief cool cap using thermoelectric
Authors: Goh C Y , Rahman M N Y , Razlan Z M , Bakar S A , Wan W K , Zunaidi I , Harun A , Hashim M S M , Faizi M K , Ibrahim I , Kamarrudin N S , Azmi M S Muhamad
Published: December 2019

Fever is happened when the human having infection or other illness which the body temperature is higher than normal body temperature. The heat load released during the fever cause the uncomfortable condition to the human. Thermoelectric is used in the design of heat exchanger to provide cooling by using electricity which reliefs the fever uncomfortable. The thermal comfort zone for human and the analysis of the heat load from the human head surface are determined. The analysis focuses on the fever teenagers aged range from 15 to 25. The range of the thermal comfort zone is from 20 °C to 25 °C whereas the range for the total heat load from the head surface is from 10.56 W to 16.39 W. The findings from the analysis will be used in the design of heat exchanger that suites the requirement from the analysis result. The fluid flow effect of the working fluid and thermal effect of the heat exchanger are simulated by ANSYS Fluent. In addition, the different types of Peltier plate and fluid as well as the different materials of heat exchanger and tube have applied into heat exchanger design model for observing the effect of the fluid flow in heat exchanger. Using ANSYS Fluent, the temperature contours are compared and found that the combination of alumina Al2O3 nanofluid, copper heat exchanger have better performance due to high heat transfer rate while the tube materials show no effect. The best performance of cooling in the design of the heat exchanger is proposed. These design criteria include the selection of the material of heat exchanger, tube and fluid as well as the selection of the device such as Peltier plate, battery, cooler fan and pump.
The effect of graphene loading on natural rubber latex/graphene stretchable conductive material
Authors: Che W M , Teh P L , Yeoh C K , Jalilah A J
Published: December 2019

The demand for the soft and flexible stretchable electronic has been increased due to the flourish development of electronic field nowadays. This can be achieved by incorporating graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) into natural rubber latex (NRL). This paper was aimed to investigate the effect of the GNP content on the properties of the NRL/GNP composites. The incorporating of GNPs into NRL increased the density and modulus of the composite but reduced the tensile strength, elongation at break and crosslink density. On the other hand, the NRL/GNP has reached the percolation threshold at 7phr of GNP, at this content the composite became electrically conductive.
Characterisation of structural and physical properties of cellulose nanofibers from Pennisetum purpureum
Authors: Revati R , Majid M S Abdul , Ridzuan M J M , Nasir N F Mohd
Published: December 2019

Recently, cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and its applications gain immense attraction in both research and industrial areas due to its attractive properties such as excellent mechanical properties, high surface area, rich hydroxyl groups for modification, and natural properties with 100% environmental friendliness. Pennisetum purpureum, also known as Napier grass fibre is a newly-identify plant which is highly sustainable throughout Malaysia. In this study, the typical extraction of cellulose nanofiber from Pennisetum purpureum method is summarised, in which the cellulose nanofiber extraction concerning alkali treatment and planetary ball milling is mainly introduced. Cellulose nanofiber from Pennisetum purpureum also has been extracted using different concentration acid hydrolysis, such as 20% and 30% to observe the effect towards the fibre bonding. The morphology, chemical structure and crystallinity of the fibre were obtained using scanning electron microscopy SEM, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy FTIR, and X-ray diffraction XRD. SEM clarifies that the increment of acid hydrolysis lowers the fibre-fibre bonding upon freeze-drying of the cellulose nanofiber suspensions. The result of XRD and SEM shows that 30% of acid hydrolysis gives higher crystallinity and chemical effect towards the structure of cellulose nanofibers.
Optimization of micro-perforated sound absorber using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)
Authors: Tan W H , Haslina R , Lim E A , Chuah H G
Published: December 2019

This study investigates the acoustic properties of micro-perforated panel (MPP) as an alternative to passive noise control. In order to obtain high sound absorption over broad frequency band, the analysis of sound absorption performance of MPP sound absorber should be conducted based on 3 major design parameters, such as perforation diameter, d, air cavity depth, D, and distance between perforations, b, of MPP. Next, the optimization of sound absorption coefficient for MPP sound absorber need to be done by using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm and the optimum parameters of a single layer MPP sound absorber should be obtained for achieving higher sound absorption which the sound absorption coefficient, α + 0.5 with a wider frequency band. The PSO is used in order to optimize the panel construction to provide maximum sound absorption coefficient in a determined wide band frequency range. Experiments are carried out at normal sound incidence and plane waves. A good agreement is achieved between the theory and the experiments.
Optimise 3D printing parameter on the mechanical performance of PLA-wood fused filament fabrication
Authors: Khan S F , Zukhi M M , Zakaria H , Saad M A M
Published: December 2019

The effect of printing parameter of tensile and compression specimens on production cost and mechanical performance of the material which is PLA with 20% wood content had been identified. The printing parameters selected are nozzle temperature, raster angle and printing speed. The raster angle and printing speed shows higher impact of tensile specimen on production cost while compression specimen only printing speed. Furthermore, for tensile experiment, raster angle gives highest impact than other parameter while for compression experiment each printing parameter giving an equal reaction to mechanical performance. By plotting the S/N ratio graph, higher nozzle temperature, lower raster angle and printing speed show the optimum printing parameters for tensile specimen. While optimum printing parameters for compression specimen are lower nozzle temperature, higher raster angle and printing speed.
Impact response of Napier fibre reinforced nanomodified epoxy composites
Authors: Ramli W M A Wan , Majid M S Abdul , Ridzuan M J M , Amin N A M
Published: December 2019

The effects of nanoclay filler content on the impact properties of Napier fibre reinforced epoxy composites were investigated. The natural fibre based composites were fabricated using either untreated or 5% alkali-treated Napier fibre along with nanomodified epoxy resin which consists of various nanoclay filler contents which were 0, 3, 5 and 10 wt%. The composites were manufactured using cold compression moulding process. Morphological analysis was then conducted to further analyse the fractured specimens following the impact test. The maximum impact properties were recorded by the treated Napier fibre reinforced nanomodified epoxy with 3 wt% of nanoclay filler content. The SEM image of the Napier fibre reinforced nanomodified epoxy composites at the optimal nanofiller content also exhibited excellent interfacial adhesion between the epoxy matrix and the fibre reinforcement.
The wettability characteristics of DLC coating for tribological engineering applications
Authors: Sulaiman M H , Farahana R N , Tajul L , Jaafar H
Published: December 2019

Hard coating deposited to tool steel surface can greatly improve wear resistance and reduce sticking. Since solid-liquid interactions are present in every lubricated tribological contact, the present study is aimed to understand the physical phenomena of contact interactions between the DLC coated surface and the liquid. In this study, double-layer DLC/TiAlN coating was prepared via Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) process. The anti-sticking properties were assessed using contact angle measurements using two liquids with distinctly different viscosity – water and oil. No significant differences found in the contact angle values for both liquid properties. The results revealed that the DLC/TiAlN coated tool steel surfaces exhibit hydrophobic behaviour with high contact angle values. With a lower surface energy of the DLC/TiAlN coating in comparison to uncoated surface, this suggests that the DLC/TiAlN coating is a good hard coating candidate since it has a lower adhesion resistance and an improved release performance.
Corrosion resistance of PVD hard coatings for tribological engineering applications
Authors: Sulaiman M H , Sheng A O C , Farahana R N , Bienk K
Published: December 2019

The present paper focuses on corrosion resistance of hard coatings deposited on tool steel via Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) process. Three coating types were investigated – TiN, TiCN and DLC/TiAlN. An immersion corrosion test was performed on the PVD coated tool steels in accordance to ASTM G31 standard. With immersion corrosion test in aggressive media of 3.5% NaCl solution at ambient temperature of 33°C and exposure duration of up to 72 hours, the presence of the PVD coatings on the tool steel surface have improved the corrosion resistance of the tool steel surfaces. The results showed that the DLC/TiAlN coated tool steel has the highest corrosion resistance with corrosion rate of 36.58 mm/year, followed by TiCN and TiN coatings with corrosion rate of 42.10mm/year and 96.86 mm/year, respectively. The uncoated tool steel exhibits the lowest corrosion resistance of 140.61 mm/year. The present study suggests that the DLC coating deposited on SKD11 tool steel substrate has better stability than that of TiCN- and TiN-coated surfaces because the DLC can prevent the corrosion more efficiently than TiCN and TiN.
Optimization of process parameters in fused filament fabrication (FFF) utilizing poly lactic acid (PLA)
Authors: Zakaria H , Khan S F , Zulkafli M I
Published: December 2019

This research was to find an optimum parameter in Fused Deposition Modelling, FDM. They are various type of printing parameter in 3D printing. The parameter that was focused on in this research are orientation, print head and layer thickness while other parameters will be fixed. This parameter was evaluated the mechanical properties of the printed parts. The mechanical properties will be performed on the specimen are tensile test and 3 point-bending tests. The data were analyzed using Taguchi’s Method with orthogonal array of 9 level and Analysis of Variance, ANOVA. The highest of ultimate tensile strength was 34 MPa where the parameter were 34.592 MPa. The highest of flexural strength was 95.542 MPa. The optimum parameter for the tensile test was 25-degree of orientation, 0.4 mm of print head and 0.2 for layer thickness. The optimum parameter for 3-point-bending test was 0-degree of orientation, 0.4 mm of print head and 0.15 mm of layer thickness. This parameter did the mechanical test again for the validation test. The average ultimate tensile strength value for 25-degree of orientation, 0.4 mm of print head and 0.2 for layer thickness was 30.558 MPa. While the average of flexural strength for 0-degree of orientation, 0.4 mm of print head and 0.15 mm of layer thickness was 95.557 MPa.
Pet food autofeeder by using Arduino
Authors: Ibrahim M , Zakaria H , Xian EE Wei
Published: December 2019

Automated pet feeder is a product that would replace manual feeding method which can be set at a required feeding amount and feeding time. Innovation of pet feeder is used to overcome forgetful of the pet owner to feed their pet and to avoid extra spending expenses by leaving them at a pet hotel. The objective of this project is to design and develop a mechanism for pet feeder. In this project, Arduino is used as the microcontroller to control the mechanism and to operate the system with a given of set time. Finite element analysis is used to analyze the maximum stress that the designed mechanism can withstand. Furthermore prototype testing on the mechanism with experimental and theoretical was conducted, the result of the analysis is analyzed. The analysis is providing the path to make sure the final concept of the pet feeder is reached.
Displacement response of femur with various deformity angles under vertical load: FEA and experiment
Authors: Zainul S , Basaruddin K S , Khan S F K Mohamad , Som M H Mat , Ridzuan M J M , Daud R
Published: December 2019

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a disease that affect the bone in terms of deformity and brittleness. It is known that after certain deformation angles, OI bone cannot sustain the excessive stress that resulting to bone fracture. Although several studies have been undertaken to analyse the fracture prediction on OI bone due to deformity angles using finite element analysis, however none of them has validated experimentally. Hence, the main objective of this study was to investigate the validity of finite element analysis in predicting the fracture risk of OI-affected femur. For experimental works, the bone specimens were prepared using polylactic acid material through Fuse Deposition Material method at 15°, 20° and 25°deformation angles. Findings of this study show a promising result as the deformation response for the FEA was agreed to experimental result. Hence, it proves that prediction of finite element analysis on bone fracture risk of OI is acceptable. This study also found that femur bone with 25° deformation angle tend to fracture under minimum load. Therefore, patients that have femur bone at 25°deformation angles should be advised to undergo surgical intervention.
Simulation of a diesel generator - battery energy system for domestic applications at Pulau Tuba, Langkawi, Malaysia
Authors: Mohamad Azizul , Mohd Amin Nasrul Amri , Razlan Zuradzman Mohamad
Published: December 2019

Design of micropower system that able to fulfil electrical energy demand is challenging due several factors, thus comprehensive and reliable simulation of such system is essential. This paper focuses on simulation of a diesel generator – battery energy system for domestic applications by using HOMER software. The simulation is based on electric load demand for 10 houses in Pulau Tuba, Langkawi, Malaysia. The simulation shows that the total cost of the energy (COE) of the system is $179,363 with more than half of it is due to the fuel cost. This system is enough to fulfil the load demand, and the battery could sustain the load independently for about 23.5 hours. Pollutant produces of the system is estimated to be as high as 32,874 kg of carbon dioxide emitted annually. These values would serve as baseline reference to compare the renewable energy systems subjected to the same electric load demands.
A Review on Frequency Selection in Grain Moisture Content Detection
Authors: Ramli N A M , Rahiman M H F , Kamarudin L M , Zakaria A , Mohamed L
Published: December 2019

A brief review on the dielectric properties of grain and their use in sensing moisture content is presented. Dielectric constant and loss factor were defined generally, and their correlation with grain permittivity from historical studies is presented. References are cited on dielectric measurement techniques using various frequency ranges from radio frequency through microwave frequencies. The described techniques including from the past decades until current studies.
Face recognition using machine vision for Security system
Authors: Saad F S A , Lee M V , Basah S
Published: December 2019

The aim of this project is to design and develop a face recognition based security system using machine vision. In this paper, a face recognition system using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Euclidean distance classifier is proposed. PCA is selected as it is less sensitive to noise and interference, besides reducing the number of variables in face recognition which reduce computational time and increase accuracy. A number of experiments were done to evaluate the performance of the face recognition system. A training database of 20 students is created and used in this project. Overall, the face recognition system on static face images has 86% success rate and 14% error rate which is mainly due to the variation of pose orientation. It is also found that the threshold value is an important factor for the performance of face recognition. The distance of the person to the camera play a role as the further the person is away from the camera, the more blur the face image captured. As for the anti-spoofing approach, the proposed detection of eye blinking is successfully tested with training eyes open and eyes close images.
F-ready: A support device that allows disabled people to play the guitar
Authors: Nishinohira Y , Ikeda M , Oshima C , Matsui H , Nakayama K
Published: December 2019

Although many people with disabilities have a strong desire to play a musical instrument, there are a few support devices that allow them to play it. We propose four considerations that have been identified for the development of such a support device and developed "F-ready," allowing people with disabilities in their upper limbs to play the guitar. We demonstrate the results of a trial in which a male with a cervical spinal cord injury practiced playing the guitar with F-ready for five weeks. He could make sounds with the guitar using F-ready, even from his first day of practice. Then, he could simultaneously engage in three movements: moving his left hand to the appropriate position on the strings, pressing the F-ready switch, and strumming the strings with his right hand. After only five weeks, he performed a musical piece at a research meeting on the harmonica and guitar using F-ready. In addition, he faced several tasks: deciding on an optimum posture, how to deal with arm pain, and learning the song’s chord progression. The experts solved these tasks together. The experiment demonstrated that F-ready supports players’ ability to play the guitar at will and enthusiastically.
Drag Assessment of Vertical Lift Propeller in Forward Flight for Electric Fixed-Wing VTOL Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Authors: Sahwee Z. , Mohd Kamal N. L. , Abdul Hamid S. , Norhashim N. , Lott N. , Mohd Asri M. H.
Published: December 2019

A fixed-wing UAV that is capable of vertical takeoff/landing is a hybrid aerial vehicle that could take off as helicopter and then transition into conventional airplane for forward flight. There are several powertrain configurations for the VTOL aircraft, one of them is called Separate Lift Thrust (SLT) configuration where the forward flight uses different powertrain compared to the hover phase. Without complex mechanism to store the inactive hover powertrain, the hover powertrain components added a significant amount of aerodynamic drag during forward flight. This paper presents the assessment of the drag caused by the inactive propellers during the forward cruising flight phase. For this research, 26 propeller samples with diameter from 5 inch to 9 inch were used with various configuration and materials. They were then tested in wind tunnel facility and the resultant drag was measured. The results from the wind tunnel test shows that for lowest drag penalty, smaller propeller diameter with low pitch blade provide the lowest drag. Interestingly, from the results, it shows that there is a flight speed that can provide an optimum drag from the chosen propeller. A selection of optimum motor and battery can be made in the future based on result presented in this paper to further improve the performance of the UAV.
Development of CAN Bus Converter for On Board Diagnostic (OBD-II) System
Authors: Din M A C , Rahman M T A , Munir H A , Rahman A , Hamid A F A
Published: December 2019

CAN-bus technology is adapted in various vehicles to reduce the wiring harness and controls the vehicle exploitation physical system. In this paper, Control Area Network (CAN)- bus protocol is enforced employing a Single Board Computer (SBC) and access with each other by set a sender and receiver to get the data transmission. A special CAN-bus application layer protocol is intended for the high reliable and high period management network of the vehicle system. However not all microcontroller that used for Computer module in vehicle network had CAN-bus communication port. Thus the CAN-bus Converter is used as tool for converting data from a computer into an understandable language. The CAN-bus converter can also be used in various ways to obtain the final results of the data sent to it. Although different methods may be used, the most appropriate method cannot be identified. This project is therefore designed to find and evaluate which method is suitable for obtaining accurate data results and for avoiding abnormal data and data transfer speed.
Cross-correlation analysis of isometric contraction for mechanomyography signals on forearm muscle
Authors: Mohamad Ismail M R , Lam C K , Sundaraj K , Fazalul Rahiman M H
Published: December 2019

This study examines the cross-correlation coefficient of Mechanomyography (MMG) signals recorded from Palmaris Longus (PL), Flexor Digitorum Superficialis (FDS), Extensor Digitorum (ED) and Extensor Carpi Ulnaris (ECU) of forearm muscles during isometric muscle action. Nine healthy participants using dominant hand (mean±SD: age=24.78±1.79 year) volunteered in this study to perform submaximal to maximal (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) isometric muscle actions with maximal voluntary contraction force of hand exercise gestures (grip strength supinated, grip strength pronated, finger flexion and pinch grip). During each isometric contraction, four-separated VMG sensor (TSD250A)-sensitive accelerometer type was used to record MMG signals on flexor and extensor side of forearm muscles. Maximum crosscorrelation coefficients at zero time lags were analyzed between flexor (PL & FDS) and extensor (ED & ECU) sides for each subject and force level to determine which sides show high level of association during isometric muscle action of forearm with different hand exercise gestures. The results showed maximum cross-correlation coefficients that range from Rxy
= 0.801 – 0.943 for all hand exercise gestures performed. In addition, from the results obtained between flexor and extensor side indicates that the maximum range of cross-correlation coefficient for extensor side muscle groups were slightly higher than the flexor side muscle groups.
Moving Cell Array Prediction for LORAWAN-Handover Based On Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) Algorithm
Authors: Zabidi M M M , Rahman M T A , Rahman A , Munir H A , Adom A H , Hamid A F A
Published: December 2019

This paper discusses the prediction of movement from the vehicles with Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) handover communication, based on Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) algorithm. The experiment consists of observation on three different environment area which is rural, sub-urban and urban at road in Kedah and Perlis state in Malaysia. This three-environment area measured based on the past studies. Handover session with a moving vehicle, predicted the movement based on direction of Global Positioning System (GPS) latitude and longitude. The communication session transferring from previous cell area network that pass by the vehicle to a new targeting cell area network with the base station connection. From this experiment and study, it is shown that the predictable or movement from one cell to another cell based on RSSI algorithm with base station connectivity can be achieved.
SLAM-GDM Implementation on Robot Operating System for Gas Source Localization
Authors: Soo K W , Kamarudin K , Bennetts V H , Visvanathan R , Ali Yeon A S , Mamduh S M , Zakaria A
Published: December 2019

Gas Distribution Mapping (GDM) can be defined as visualization for the spatial distribution of gas concentration in an unknown indoor environment. Recently, incidents of gas leakage have increased gradually worldwide. This will significantly increase the casualty rate at the workplace. This paper focusses on the implementation of Kernel DM based SLAM- GDM on Robot Operating System (ROS), a novel approach that will be useful in the effort of localizing the gas source during gas leakage inspection. This approach has been conducted successfully by using ROS-architecture implemented system, tested in simulation and on a mobile robot. The result shows that this implementation achieved average accuracy of 0.71m and 0.32m and therefore deemed suitable for gas source location prediction.
Study on the Mobility Performance of Wheelchair sing Smartphone Accelerometer
Authors: H’ng L K , Rahim M A , Rahim A
Published: December 2019

Wheelchair is very important as a means of transport by a person who is unable to walk as a result of illness or injury. On the other hand, smartphones have become common device that allow users to remotely control many electrical and electronic appliances. This paper presents a study on the mobility performance of wheelchair using smartphone accelerometer. The powered wheelchair is presented by a two-wheeled robot car which emphasized on the control layout platform for the smartphone’s tilting directions with suitable tolerance values. A basic motion’s algorithms for the movement of robot car have been developed, and its mobility performances on the cornering and straight-line direction are analysed.
Development of MOX Gas Sensors Module for Indoor Air Contaminant Measurement
Authors: Abdullah A N , Kamarudin K , Mamduh S M , Adom A H
Published: December 2019

This paper presents the development of gas sensor module consisting of metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors for indoor air contaminant measurement. The first phase of the studies involves the design of PCBs board for six different metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors particularly CCS803, MiCS5524, GM-402B, GM-502B, GM-702B and MiCS6814. Next, the main board consisting of temperature, humidity and another two MOX gas sensors (i.e TGS2600 and TGS2602) was developed for the acquisition of the sensors. A partially closed chamber was designed and fabricated to fit the main board and allows inflow and outflow of gases. The responses of the gas sensors were measured in a closed room, with the air conditioner turned on and off periodically. The results show that all the MOX gas sensor used are affected by temperature and humidity of the environment. Therefore, the sensor response drift needs to be corrected in order to obtain reliable indoor air contaminant measurement.
Facial expression recognition in JAFFE and KDEF Datasets using histogram of oriented gradients and support vector machine
Authors: Eng S K , Ali H , Cheah A Y , Chong Y F
Published: December 2019

This paper presents the used of histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) for facial expression recognition using support vector machine (SVM). In this work, the facial expression images are firstly preprocessed by face detection and cropped images. Then, HOG method is adopted as feature extraction on facial image. The ability of HOG to preserve the local information and orientation density distribution in facial images suitable as shape descriptor for facial expression. It divides the image into cell or patch that has magnitude and orientations. The extracted HOG was then concatenated into histogram bin to form one feature vector before feed into SVM classifier. Both JAFFE and KDEF datasets were employed to evaluate the performance of proposed method. Based on results, the average recognition rates of JAFFE and KDEF datasets are 76.19% and 80.95% respectively. The results show that the performance of expression surprise has outperformed compared to others expression while expression fear contributes the lowest recognition rate. Thus, utilization of HOG features with SVM classifier have shown the promising results in recognizing facial expression.
Analysis of Mobile Robot Indoor Mapping using GMapping Based SLAM with Different Parameter
Authors: Norzam W.A.S , Hawari H.F. , Kamarudin K.
Published: December 2019

Mapping is one of the elemental application of the mobile robot. The map is created using the mobile robot by employing sensors such as camera, sonar and laser sensor. One of the most popular mapping methods is the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). SLAM allows the map to be created while localizing the robot location in the map at the same time. GMapping is one of the widely used algorithms in SLAM which will be used in this project. The mobile robot is equipped with a Hokuyo Laser Range Finder sensor and netbook. The router is used for wireless communication between the mobile robot and the user. The GMapping is done in two different locations of different lab size and amount of features in the area. Three trial is conducted to investigate the effects of different parameters such as robot speed, mapping delay and particle filter on the mapping quality. The results show a significant difference in terms of mapping accuracy and the time taken to complete the process as the parameter changed from the three trial. As a result, the parameter used in the second trial, robot speed 0.1333m/s, mapping delay 1s and particle filter 30 is considered as the best based on the time taken and the map accuracy.
RSSI-based Localization Zoning using K-Mean Clustering
Authors: Wye Kenny Fong Peng , Kanagaraj Ericson , Zakaria Syed Muhammad Mamduh Syed , Kamarudin Latifah Munirah , Zakaria Ammar , Kamarudin Kamarulzaman , Ahmad Norhawati
Published: December 2019

This document discusses the novel approach to localize human location based on the current zone via k-mean clustering. A pilot experimental analysis of k-mean clustering to group similar RSSI pattern is compared to user defined zones. The dataset collected has demonstrated the difficulties of deploying trilateration and fingerprinting methods in dynamic conditions, as it introduces fluctuating RSSI measurements. The k-mean clustering was proposed to validate antenna placement to divide the testbed into zones, and to create a baseline accuracy which can be compared with other algorithms in the future. It was found that, for Zones 2, 3 and 4, the k-mean clustering of antennas agree with the planned antenna placement grouping. However, for Zone 1, there are differences, which may be attributed to a large metal obstacle occupying the zone. The k-mean clustering also recorded a peak accuracy of 79% with k=4, which agrees with the number of planned zones.
Particle Swarm Algorithm Sliding Mode Control on Spacecraft’s Attitude with Switching Function Method Thorough Error Feedback
Authors: Hassrizal H. B. , Rossiter J. A. , Othman Siti Marhainis , Ayob M. N.
Published: December 2019

Small spacecraft requires capable processors with energy efficiency, low cost and low computational burden while maintaining the output tracking accuracy. This paper presents the extension of work in [1], to enhance the transient performance using particle swarm optimization (PSO) on decaying boundary layer and switching function thorough error feedback (DBLSF) in Sliding Mode Control (SMC). Generally, SMC is known for having chattering as the main drawback which can introduce wear and tear to moving mechanical parts. As a solution, a DBLSF proposed in [1] and capable of eliminating the chattering in SMC while considering the essential requirements for small spacecraft operation. Then, the extension implemented on spacecraft’s attitude, which is one-of-six subsystems in spacecraft, used to orient the spacecraft referred to reference objects and control the dynamics of a spacecraft time-to-time according to the needs. However, the SMC’s transient response can be tuned using some coefficients in the SMC algorithm. The parameters in [1] were tuned using outputs observation technique. In this paper, then, an improvement is introduced to optimize the outputs by adding a PSO in the SMC-DBLSF in term of transient performances and accuracy while reducing the chattering permanently.
Development of Web-based Mobile Olfaction System for Confined Space Hazardous as Monitoring
Authors: Abdullah A.H. , Bakar M.A.A. , Saad F.S.A. , Sudin S. , Latif N.H.A. , Ahmad Z.A. , Elshaikh M. , Ismail K.A.
Published: December 2019

Hazardous gas in the confined space is an issue that often causes danger to the worker while doing the tasks i.e. installation, cleaning and maintenance. The nature of the area may exposure the worker to hazardous gas leakage. It is important to monitor the hazardous gas in the surrounding area before the worker start their task inside the confined space. This paper proposes a study of developing a web-based mobile olfaction system for confined space hazardous gas monitoring. The system is integration between a mobile robot and an electronic nose (e-nose). The system will reduce the danger faced by the worker from the hazardous gas. The e-nose consists of a sensor array, embedded controller, electronic components and wireless GSM communication. The instrument sensors i.e. hydrogen sulphide, oxygen, carbon monoxide and methane are used to acquire the confined space air sample. It will also acquire the environment temperature and humidity. The robot which piggyback the instrument will manoeuvre through the environment while acquires data. The data acquired were transmitted and monitored wirelessly to the web-based information system. The website layout is designed using HTML and JavaScript. Data received from e-nose will be stored into a database, MySQL server before being process by the website. The data will go through the conversion process from digital value to PPM. Then the data will be classified using ANN to obtain the Hazardous Gas Concentration Index (HGCI). The website will display the HGCI mapping of the area in real-time. Results show that the system performance is good and can be used to monitor the hazardous gas in the confined space.
Modeling Effect of Road Topology on Signal Analysis in Connected Autonomous Vehicle Communication
Authors: Turner J S C , Shahriman A B , Harun A , Razlan Z M , Hashim M S M , Wan W K , Fadzilla M A , Murad S A Z , Hambali N A M A , Phoon C Y
Published: December 2019

Connected car has become one of emerging technology in the automotive industries and vehicular communication studies on the other hand, has become one heavily researched topic in academia which focuses on the performance of various parameters upon vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication-based in the IEEE 802.11p vehicular communication studies. In urban environment, obstructions from existence of building, trees, street’s layout and other obstruction or objects can strongly influence the receive signal levels at 2.4 GHz frequency band. To ensure reliable and stable communication link for efficient future deployments of cooperative RSUs deployments, will require analyses on the signal strength upon environments that generally characterized by challenging propagation conditions. This article presents the results of experimental field testing of signal characteristics of different types of road topology such as grass, gravel and tar surface on open field environment. The results show that road topology or streets layout have an effect on V2I communication and the attenuation resulted from certain types of road’s surface can give significant impact on signal propagation.