Khawaja M. Yahya

RFAIDE — An RFID based navigation and object recognition assistant for visually impaired people

In this paper, we have presented a system utilizing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for the assistance of blind people. The proposed system incorporates a mobile RFID reader module with an integrated ZigBee transceiver [1] for transmitting the tags information. Utensils and other objects in the house or building are embedded with passive RFID tags (transponders) along with an audio file, recorded for and unique to each object, residing on the server. This system further takes in the way finding technique by employing an RFID tag grid [4] using an ample separation area. The reader reads the tags and transmits the data wirelessly to the server PC which in turn scans for the particular ID in the database and plays the corresponding audio file. A self designed coordinates system with a server side routing application is used for routing the person to a particular room requested, based on his current tag coordinates. The audio playback is relayed wirelessly using an FM transmitter to either a headset with FM receiver or a Smart Phones FM radio. The feasibility and reliability of the developed system was tested by deploying the proposed system at Government Institute for Blind, Peshawar, Pakistan [6].

Leader-Follower Approach using Full-State Linearization via Dynamic Feedback

In this work, the leader-follower control problem is solved by using full-state linearization via dynamic feedback. This approach has certain advantages over the well known input-output linearization such as no relative point selection, simple extension to n-robots formation and representation of all dynamics in case of car-like robot model. Simulation results verify the validity and limitation of these controllers by Matlab. The new 3-D robot simulator Gazebo with robot server Player is also used to verify the results

A Swift and Memory Efficient Hough Transform for Systems with Limited Fast Memory

This paper focuses on implementation of a speedy Hough Transform (HT) which considers the memory constraints of the system. Because of high memory demand, small systems (DSPs, tiny robots) cannot realize efficient implementation of HT. Keeping this scenario in mind, the paper discusses an effective and memory-efficient method of employing the HT for extraction of line features from a gray scale image. We demonstrate the use of a circular buffer for extraction of image edge pixels and store the edge image in a manner that is different from the conventional way. Approximation of the two dimensional Hough Space by a one dimensional array is also discussed. The experimental results reveal that the proposed algorithm produces better results, on small and large systems, at a rapid pace and is economical in terms of memory usage.

Web based poultry farm monitoring system using wireless sensor network

In this paper, we have proposed and developed a Poultry Farm Monitoring System based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) using Crossbows TelosB motes integrated with commercial sensors capable of measuring temperature and humidity values. The data collected from the sensors is uploaded to an online database using an agent program and afterward accessed via the internet using web analysis applications. The feasibility of the developed system was tested by deploying the proposed system at N-W.F.P. Agricultural Universitys research poultry farm in Peshawar in the North-Western Frontier Province of Pakistan. To emulate the proposed idea, the data collected during a daylong experiment was put to test, evaluating the WSNs reliability and its ability to detect and report anomalies in the environment. This paper is the first step towards WSN based poultry farm monitoring systems. We have provided an online monitoring solution for poultry farms and tested its feasibility and reliability by presenting a thorough data analysis of our pilot deployment.

Cell phone jammer

This paper describes the design and implementation of two alternative techniques for jamming cell-phone communication, noise attack and spectrum distortion technique. Foreign leading electronic companies have already introduced the first technique of jamming through noise attack or denial of service, in market. Our aim is to come up with a new technique which is more robust and cost effective. In this research paper, we have compared the performance of old jamming technique with the new technique in various aspects like cost, power consumption, design complexity, robustness, coverage area, components availability and performance.

Architecture supporting network discovery in future heterogeneous networks

The aim of this research paper is to critically analyze one of the integrated WLAN-cellular network architecture which third generation partnership project (3GPP) has also included in its release 6 i.e. generic access network (GAN) formally called unlicensed mobile access (UMA). This article analyzes the limitations of the above mentioned solution and present an architecture for future heterogeneous networks using a novel hybrid approach of network discovery, where the network will broadcast the updated network information using cell broadcast center (CBC) to the mobile station/user equipment (MS) and the MS may also enquire from the network the additional information regarding the available networks, as opposed to centralized technique used in the existing cellular networks. The proposed solution suggests a network information repository (NIR) embedded in the core network, being populated with information of all the available radio access networks (RANs) in a specific location. The information obtained from NIR will help the MS to identify the network elements ahead of time and communicate with these elements in advance. This will help the MS to fetch the general information about the available networks and select the desired network ahead of time and thus seamless connectivity/ handover will be possible for the end user.

Real time image registration based on feature tracking using a Digital Signal Processor

Image registration is a stepwise process of overlaying various images of a scene. Accurate image registration in a real time environment has always been a challenge involving the detection of analogous features and then construction of mosaic within plausible accuracy range. Digital Signal Processor is an asset in this regard; its advanced versions equipped with multiple cores can handle many processes at the same time. In this paper we have implemented an efficient algorithm, proposed in our previous research work, for real time image registration on a Dual Core Digital Signal Processor ADSP-BF561. The key technique employed for image registration is based on feature tracking. Our work includes division of main tasks into two groups and then implementation of each group on a different core of dual core Digital Signal Processor. The proposed solution is then put to test in a real time environment on various sequences of images and its time variation is also analyzed.

Optimized learning rate for energy waste minimization in a background subtraction based surveillance system

In this paper surveillance system employing background subtraction scheme is discussed. The aim of the work is to minimize the waste energy of the overall system due to false positives. Pixels in the foreground of a motion detection system remain non-zero even if a moving object has stopped due to the settling time associated with an adaptive background subtraction scheme as Mixture of Gaussians. Temporal variance in a visually static pixel region also triggers false positives. Optimal learning rate for different parameters as threshold values, ROI size and total number of frames in the scene has been derived in this paper.

Autonomous Vehicle Guidance and Control using OpenStreetMap and Advanced Integration Techniques

Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) or Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are in widespread use in many applications such as bomb disposal, underwater exploration, industrial transport, etc. Control and guidance are vital aspects of AV research and many techniques have been proposed in literature which range from fully autonomous and intelligent systems to laser and radar guided systems and line followers. This paper presents a new technique for guiding and controlling autonomous vehicles by using the OpenStreetMap (OSM) map library. An AV with a built-in GPS receiver can be controlled effectively from a central computer which has the OSM powered control mechanism installed. The system proposed in this paper can control the AV in an online-mode or offline-mode depending upon the quality of the link between the AV and the central computer. A sample implementation of the system is also given. Automated guided vehicle (AGV) or Autonomous Vehicle (AV) is a driverless mobile robot that can be controlled and navigated across a surface (terrestrial AGV) or through some medium (air or water) remotely. Automated vehicles and machinery are an essential part of todays industry. In any industrial setup, most of the machinery is automated, particularly that related to production. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are another common class of automated vehicles used for reconnaissance and attack by military forces. Terrestrial AGVs are still in evolution, although most of these vehicles are used by military these days for instance for bomb disposal, yet the notion that AGVs can replace many current transportation means is highly rated. Since the advent of Automation, the guidance and control of an AGV became the primary focus for research groups. Various algorithms have been developed for the guidance mechanism and different techniques have been implemented for the control of the autonomous vehicles. Some of the techniques use guide tape, laser (1) and even gyroscopic guidance. For instance, in a vision based lane detection of an autonomous vehicle (2), different algorithms were used to get the optimum guidance and navigation results. In another method (3), a path generation algorithm was developed using

Analysis of overclocked controller area network

The CAN protocol was originally introduced for distributed automotive applications in the 1980s, and is still widely used by the industry today. CAN provides the basis for many cost-effective distributed systems, and since its first inception has proved to be a continuous area of research. One major drawback that can severely limit the applicability of CAN in data-intensive real-time applications is related to the wired-AND nature of the physical layer that is used to manage message arbitration; a side effect of this is that it acts to severely limit both the maximum transmission speed and bus length of a given CAN network. This paper is concerned with over-clocking a CAN network to improve the data rate and information throughput, whilst simultaneously maintaining the priority-driven arbitration mechanism that is a major beneficial feature of the protocol. The paper will first describe briefly an already existing implementation of an overclocked CAN-controller done by the authors in a previous work. The paper then presents an analysis as to its expected performance in real-time applications. Specifically, the paper discusses the calculation of message transmission times, investigates the effects of the technique on message transmission jitter, and potential effects on the expected bit error rate.