Ching-Yuen Chan

A heuristic algorithm for machine assignment in cellular layout

This paper presents a heuristic algorithm that addresses problems of machine allocation in cellular manufacturing (CM). The focus is on the intra-cell machines allocation, because the inter-cell material flows should be minimal in CM. The algorithm tackles one cell at a time with a maximum of 9 machines, which will be assigned into a 3 × 3 grid space according to the ranking result. The proposed algorithm uses an adoptive approach to relate machines in a cell by examining the merged part flow weights of machine pairs. The establishment of the part flow weight includes practical constrains, such as the part-handling factor and the number of parts per transportation. Then, an objective function is employed to determine the total travelling score in which the travelling distance is covered. The procedures of the proposed heuristic algorithm will be presented in this paper and data used in Yamans cases are used to illustrate the operation. In comparison to other approaches, the proposed algorithm provided near-optimum layouts.

Chaotic hybrid algorithm and its application in circle detection

An evolutionary circle detection method based on a novel Chaotic Hybrid Algorithm (CHA) is proposed. The method combines the strengths of particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithms and chaotic dynamics, and involves the standard velocity and position updating rules of PSO with the ideas of GA selection, crossover and mutation. In addition, the notion of species is introduced into the proposed CHA to enhance its performance in solving multimodal problems. The effectiveness of the Species based Chaotic Hybrid Algorithm (SCHA) is proven through simulations and benchmarking, and finally, it is successfully applied to solve circle detection problems.

A novel 3D model retrieval approach using combined shape distribution

With the rapid development of 3D digital shape information, content-based 3D model retrieval has become an important research field. 3D models are likely to be as prevalent as other multimedia data types in the future. There is a pressing need for effective content-based 3D model retrieval methods. In this paper, a novel combined shape distribution (CSD) descriptor is proposed for 3D model retrieval based on principal plane analysis and group integration. Firstly, based on principal plane analysis, the second principal plane is obtained by using sequential quadratic programming. Secondly, two novel 3D shape descriptors are proposed by introducing the plane normal vectors to other shape distributions. Thirdly, since the histogram of the proposed descriptors can be classified as belonging to one of three types: positive, negative, or crossed with each principal plane, further improvements to the descriptors are presented by integrating these three types of histograms. Finally, a CSD descriptor based on the synthesis of the above descriptors is proposed. Several retrieval performance measures and visual experimental results show that the new methods achieved good retrieval performance.

An improved species based genetic algorithm and its application in multiple template matching for embroidered pattern inspection

This paper describes an improved genetic algorithm (GA) using the notion of species in order to solve an embroidery inspection problem. This inspection problem is actually a multiple template matching problem which can be formulated as a multimodal optimization problem. In many cases, the run time of the multiple template matching problem is dominated by repeating the similarity calculations and moving the templates over the source image. To cope with this problem, the proposed species based genetic algorithm (SbGA) is capable to determine its neighborhood best values for solving multimodal optimization problems. The SbGA has been statistically tested and compared with other genetic algorithms on a number of benchmark functions. After proving its effectiveness, it is integrated with multi-template matching method, namely SbGA-MTM method to solve the embroidery inspection problem. Furthermore, the notion of bounded partial correlation (BPC) is also adopted as an acceleration strategy, which enhances the overall efficiency. Experimental results indicate that the SbGA-MTM method is proven to solve the inspection problem efficiently and effectively. With the proposed method, the embroidered patterns can be identified and checked automatically.

An enhanced MPS solution for FMS using GAs

Presents the master production scheduling (MPS) problem of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). Earliness/tardiness production scheduling and planning (ETPSP) is one of the solutions used to integrate MRP and JIT effectively. Previous researches on ETPSP have only applied to problems of single/parallel machines with earliness and tardiness penalties on a common due date and capacity. Proposes a revised ETPSP for the purpose of developing an MPS that can fit into the FMS environment where a multiple machine capacity on multi‐processes and batch sizes is included. Outlines the application of an enhanced ETPSP method using a genetic algorithm (GA) solution to solve a multi‐product FMS production problem. Shows that the use of the improved ETPSP model can represent a real life FMS environment and that a solution can be effectively and efficiently obtained using the GA approach.

Fast multi-template matching using a particle swarm optimization algorithm for PCB inspection

Template matching is one of the image comparison techniques which is widely applied to determine the existence and location of a component within a captured image in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry. In this research, an efficient auto-detection method using a multi-template matching technique for PCB components detection is described. In many cases, the run time of template matching applications is dominated by repeating the similarity calculation, locating multi-templates, and exploring of the optimum result. A new approach using accelerated species based particle swarm optimization (SPSO) for multi-template matching (MTM) is proposed. To test its performance, our proposed SPSO-MTM algorithm is compared with other approaches by using the real captured PCB image. The SPSO-MTM method is proven to be superior to the others in both efficiency and effectiveness.

Design and development of an RFID-based HIS - a case study

The Healthcare industry involves critical activities where small mistakes could cause huge loss of life and incur massive financial losses. Improving operational efficiency and enhancing data correctness of patients are the prime targets of using hospital information system (HIS). Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, with a unique ability to perform automatic data collection without any human intervention, has gained great interest in the healthcare industry. In this research, an RFID-enabled HIS is proposed for improving operations in a hospital. This research presents the fundamentals of RFID, the benefits and its challenges, and also demonstrates three improved signature applications. It aims at providing the healthcare industry with a comprehensive understanding of RFID and its suitability for healthcare applications. The proposed system is considered to be suitably operational, practical, and affordable for healthcare organizations not only in China and Hong Kong, but also in other countries.

The Design of a Lightweight RFID Middleware

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) middleware is often regarded as the central nervous system of RFID systems. In this paper, a lightweight RFID middleware is designed and implemented without the need of an Application Level Events (ALE) structure, and its implementation process is described using a typical commerical enterprise. A short review of the current RFID middleware research and development is also included. The characteristics of RFID middleware are presented with a two-centric framework. The senarios of RFID data integration based on the simplified structure are provided to illuminats the design and implementation of the lightweight middleware structure and its development process. The lightweight middleware is easy to maintain and extend because of the simplified and streamlined structure and the short development cycle.

A real time quality monitoring system for the lighting industry : a practical and rapid approach using computer vision and image processing (CVIP) tools

In China, the manufacturing of lighting products is very labour intensive. The approach used to check quality and control production relies on operators who test using various types of fixtures. In order to increase the competitiveness of the manufacturer and the efficiency of production, the authors propose an integrated system. This system has two major elements: a computer vision system (CVS) and a real-time monitoring system (RTMS). This model focuses not only on the rapid and practical application of modern technology to a traditional industry, but also represents a process innovation in the lighting industry. This paper describes the design and development of the prototyped lighting inspection system based on a practical and fast approach using computer vision and imaging processing (CVIP) tools. LabVIEW with IMAQ Vision Builder is the chosen tool for building the CVS. Experimental results show that this system produces a lower error rate than humans produce in the quality checking process. The whole integrated manufacturing strategy, aimed at achieving a better performance, is most suitable for a China and other labour intensive environments such as India.

A case study on multimedia e-tailing services: can watermarks help build customer relationships?

Digital watermarking is widely discussed as a promising technique for digital good protection sold in the internet. Copyright information can be embedded directly into media files. However, few researchers have studied any possible contribution brought by watermarks in e-customer relationship building. Through a survey of 185 e-customers who had purchased multimedia products online, the hypothesised model was validated using LISREL. All hypotheses are supported. This study has contributed to both theory and practice by building a model to realise the e-customer relationship building in buying multimedia product and suggesting watermarks can help relationship building and retain e-customer to obtain multimedia products from legal channel. Two schemes have been suggested which are suitable for applying watermarking techniques in the e-market.