Haslina Jaafar

Design and simulation of high performance RF MEMS series switch

This paper describes the process, design the switch structures and simulate certain parameters to develop a high performance RF MEMS switch with low voltage, low loss and high isolation. The RF MEMS switches are series switches type and are designed using physical level approach by using 3D MEMS commercial software package, Intellisuite. These switch structures are first designed using 2D layout which then is converted to 3D model to simulate the actuation voltage. The optimization analysis also simulated to obtain the low voltage with the adjustment of air gap distance and top electrode design structure. The RF performance is then simulated using the electromagnetic analyzer, Emag to calculate the insertion loss and isolation value during the ON and OFF state conditions. Several designs are proposed and the best performance switch gives a low voltage actuation of 7V with low loss of0.083 dB and high isolation of −78.3 dB at 1.2 GHz.

Real-Time Monitoring System for Parking Space Management Services

Real-Time Monitoring System for Parking Space Management Services is the evolution of traditional parking system that it does not only provide live information to users in order to make it easy for them to look for vacant parking lot, it also give authority to operators to monitor and perform simulations to illustrate the real parking system. The purpose of this project is to apply the principles of queue theory into parking system modeling. The queue system model enables the predictions of arrival and service time in the system through analysis and calculations. Aside of it, Graphical User Interface (GUI) is also designed and integrated into the parking system in order to allow parking zone operators to monitor the status of the parking lots and view the statistics of arrival rate, service time and so on. This project focuses on the system modeling and software development and implementation. It is expected that this project will be able to assist parking zone operators in designing their system that will work efficiently and generate high income. It will also provide convenience to the operators in managing the parking zone remotely. Users will also experience a time-saving and stress-free parking zone.

Intelligent massage chair based on blood pressure and heart rate

Massage is one of the effective techniques used to relieve pain, reduce stress, and increase relaxation. Nowadays, massage methods have varied to an easier way by electronic massage chair massage which is able to control the massage mode according to specifications. Commercial massage chair can only be used on normal healthy people with no health complication, such as diabetes, heart problem or blood pressure problem. The purpose of this study is to develop a system of more advanced massage chair where it can have an impact on user health based on blood pressure and heart rate. The proposed massage chair equipped with blood pressure and heart rate sensors, where the therapy will automatically configured according to individuals blood pressure and heart rate readings. The proposed control system developed using the artificial intelligent of fuzzy logic for data classification. The complete model of this massage control system is then developed using SIMULINK software to simulate the whole system operation and verify the function as programmed. Upon the success of the investigation, the findings will be useful for rapid advances in the existing technology.

The demand model of electric field strength on microelectrode designed for AC electrokinetic applications

This paper presents an investigation of electric field strength using the Multi-Physics Finite Element Solution Environment for Partial Differential Equations, FlexPDE. It is to give an idea on the flow of particles in lab on a chip (LoC) and bioMEMS devices when they passed through the active microelectrode array using one of the AC electrokinetic techniques that is dielectrophoresis. The field strength regions can give an overview of particle motion either to high electric field strength or to low electric field strength in relation to the dielectrophoretic force. The results from this investigation will be used to justify the direction of particles flow in the LoC device during experimental work.

A wireless flipper robot using interface free controller

Robots have been developed by human to do various things to make our life easier. There are many approaches, systems and technologies can be applied to develop different types of robots depended on the usage. This paper presents the new approach of interfacing a wireless robot using IFC (Interface Free Controller). This controller offers a new concept of microcontroller embedded system developed for robotic application. IFC is an interfacing hardware and it configures the peripherals. This flipper robot is a fighting robot which previously participated in the robot war game. The complete design, interfacing, robot constructions, specification of the robot and testing processes are detailed out.

Implementation of triple data encryption algorithm using VHDL

Data security and authenticity are very important in many applications. They are used in our daily life such as in banking, smart card, business discussion and insurance. To prevent unauthorized access to the database or any transmitting process through communication mediums, the information should be securely encrypted. In this paper, it introduces the implementation of a triple data encryption algorithm using VHDL for data security and authenticity. The implementation of the single data encryption standard and the triple data encryption algorithm (TDEA) are tested successfully using VHDL, which is a hardware implementation of a block cipher. The system mainly consists of 3 parts: data execution, key execution and the control system. The entire design makes use of 1101 logic elements (LCs) and successfully fitted into a FLEX 10K PLD (EPF10K30BC356-3). The TDEA is more secure than the Single DES because it has longer key-length.

Fabrication and characterization of carbon-based flexible strain sensor

This research covers carbon-based strain sensors which are designed and printed onto flexible substrates. Conductive nanocomposite of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Carbon Black (CB) powder with 10% of CB have been used as the sensing element utilizing its flexibility and conductivity while silver conductive paste is used as the electrode for the strain sensor. Several designs with different length of strain sensors were printed using screen printing technology onto 0.75μm-Kapton HN film. Printed sensors were then cured at 85°C (for carbon printing) and 145°C (for silver printing). Parameters characterized are resistivity, conductivity and stretchability of the sensor using tensile test. The relationship between force, strain and resistance for all sensors designed are also discussed. The measured resistivity and conductivity of the sensor are 0.43 Ωm and 2.4 S/m respectively while the stretchability of the sensor on Kapton film has a maximum strain of 45%. This flexible strain sensor is very useful in many applications such as health monitoring systems, human motion detection and many more.

An amplitude independent muscle activity detection algorithm based on adaptive zero crossing technique and mean instantaneous frequency of the sEMG signal

In order to enhance the efficacy of the prosthetic and orthotic robotic devices controlled by surface electromyography (sEMG) signals, muscle activity detection algorithms need to be independent of the amplitude variation in the sEMG signal to make these devices more feasible and reliable for the disabled people. A new algorithm has been developed to detect the presence of muscle activities in weak and noisy sEMG signals. The algorithm does not employ any amplitude features in the detection process and employs only frequency features of the sEMG signal; therefore it is amplitude independent and can detect muscle activities in signals that have low signal to noise ratio. A new zero crossing technique has been developed as a new frequency feature called the Adaptive Zero Crossing (AZC) which is used to minimize false alarms and enhances the detection process. This new feature in addition to the mean of the Mean Instantaneous Frequency (MMIF) of the signal is used to detect the presence of the muscle activities in the sEMG signals.

Development of CMOS Imager Block for Capsule Endoscope

This paper presents the development of imager block to be associated in a capsule endoscopy system. Since the capsule endoscope is used to diagnose gastrointestinal diseases, the imager block must be in small size which is comfortable for the patients to swallow. In this project, a small size 1.5V button battery is used as the power supply while the voltage supply requirements for other components such as microcontroller and CMOS image sensor are higher. Therefore, a voltage booster circuit is proposed to boost up the voltage supply from 1.5V to 3.3V. A low power microcontroller is used to generate control pulses for the CMOS image sensor and to convert the 8-bits parallel data output to serial data to be transmitted to the display panel. The results show that the voltage booster circuit was able to boost the voltage supply from 1.5V to 3.3V. The microcontroller precisely controls the CMOS image sensor to produce parallel data which is then serialized again by the microcontroller. The serial data is then successfully translated to 2fps image and displayed on computer.

Process for the determination of thickness of polymeric microchannels for microfluidic applications

We have developed a technique of fabricating device channels for microfludics system by using high performance epoxy polymeric based dry film resists (DFRs). We will use the fabrication method originated in silicon microelectronics fabrication industry. This is because the interest in this industry has made the current microfluidic devices fabricated not only from silicon substrate but also to a range of polymers and glasses. Our observations are made on the effect of the thickness before and after curing and bonding mechanism of DFR on glass substrate. Therefore the thickness of the channels is recorded. The outcomes of the bonding procedure are captured. These channels are patterned and sandwiched in between two glass substrates. They can be used for handling continuous fluid flow and particle. In our advance, the channel was formed for dielectrophoretic (DEP) colloidal particle separation systems.