Prabhu Ramanathan

Development of ARM processor based electricity theft control system using GSM network

Electricity theft is a common practice in developing countries which cannot be controlled by the governments due to lack of technology. Emerging trends such as Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) eliminate the need of person visiting each house but this advancement further increases Non-Technical losses (NTL) because of no regular inspection at the residence. However traditional meter reading by human operator is inefficient to meet the future residential development needs. This paper proposes a new system based on ARM-Cortex M3 processor to protect the energy meter from phase line bypassing, neutral line disconnection, whole meter bypassing and meter tampering. A SMS automatically send to utility server through Global System for Mobile (GSM) network when these measures detected. In this paper a novel method is proposed to solve the problem with AMR systems without affecting its major advantage of remote monitoring. Integrating this new feature into smart meters provides a robust metering solution.

A novel and pedagogical approach to teach PID controller with LabVIEW signal express

A novel and Pedagogical approach for teaching the PID controller and its tuning parameters to the students and trainee engineers working in Control and Automation Engineering is presented. In short, a trainer/simulator for Proportional- Integral-Derivative Controller is developed. A third order system (Transfer Function) was used. However, there is no limiting factor in using the higher order system in the simulator. Ziegler- Nichols tuning method was used to obtain the optimum or initial values of the PID Controller. LabVIEW Signal Express software developed by NI was used. In specific, the control & design kit module was used. Graphical Interface along with the tuning knobs of the three term controller was highly helpful in finalizing the PID Parameters.

Study on Fuzzy Logic and PID Controller for temperature regulation of a system with time delay

Temperature plays an important role in determining the efficiency of any industrial process. Taking into consideration the demand for energy efficient and conservative system the industries are looking forward to implement the new systems to control the process. Fuzzy logic and PID are the most recognized approaches taken to effectively control the process. FLC system is gaining momentum as an alternative to replace current Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controllers, as PID constants are incorrect at times due to the lack of understanding of the temperature control process and its parametric changes making the system complex. Therefore in order to reduce the complexity of the system and to solve the problems related to temperature control process based on known and unknown parameters such as dead zone saturation and hysteresis, a unique FLC system using direct implementation involving less number of rules is proposed to be developed. In this paper we try to establish the performance levels of PID controller and Fuzzy Logic Controllers (FLC) for the same system. FLC is implemented using a smaller rule set and PID Controller is tuned and the parameters are calculated using the Ziegler Nichols method. The study is conducted using the help of MATLAB Simulink Software.

Non-destructive methods for the measurement of moisture contents - a review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moisture measurement techniques presently available, as accurate determination of the moisture content (MC) of grains or any food items at right time is very important for its processing, marketing and storing. Design/methodology/approach There are basically two types of MC measurement techniques – destructive method and non-destructive method. In the time-consuming destructive method, cleaning of the food items is done and shells of food items like peanuts are removed for which man power is required and so the technique becomes costly. A literature review of the existing non-destructive methods has been done, and the methodology of each approach is explained with the figure. The less time-consuming non-destructive technique used to measure MC require less man power, as grains or food items can be directly used without any process like cleaning or crushing so that the technique become economic. Findings Most of the techniques used magnetic or electric properties to measure the MC indirectly. The problem with existing non-destructive technique is that measurement of MC uses only few numbers or grams of grains or food items at a time. Research limitations/implications The farmers’ produce large quantity of grains. The small quantity of grains cannot be the representative sample for whole grains produced by the farmers. Most of the techniques use only small quantity of grains or food items at a time to measure the MC which is not accurate and representative of the produce. Also, the techniques are not simple and easily available. The cost of the techniques or arrangement to measure the MC is not reasonable. Social implications Most of the farmers in the developing countries are financially backward. To store the agricultural produce, MC of the commodities is a key factor influencing the quality of the storage. Measurement of the MC of the seeds is thus very important for the farmers. Originality/value This paper is a review of the previous research that happened in this area, and it would help the researcher to know the techniques already been used. To the knowledge of the authors, the review of the existing moisture measurement of seeds/agricultural commodities is available in the literature.

LQR PI Controller Design for First-Order Time-Delay Systems

In this paper, a linear quadratic regulator-based PI controller is designed to control the first-order time-delay systems. In most of the linear systems, the time delay is commonly found and this delay causes the performance of the system to deteriorate. So to achieve the good performance having delay, need to find the optimal PI controller gains. For this purpose, in this paper PI controller gains are find out by using the LQR, it gives the optimal gain values. In the design of LQR-based PI controller, the selection of Q matrices plays a vital role. So a skew symmetric matrix-based feedback gain matrix is used in selection of Q matrices. The proposed method is validated through various simulation examples. The results are compared to other existing techniques to show the better performance of the proposed method.

LQR based PI plus PD controller to control the Non-linear process

In this article the controller architecture of Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) based PI plus PD controller is designed and implemented for the level control in the conical tank. The proposed controller have a linear quadratic regulator to tune the gain parameters kp, ki and kd. The time domain specifications, Integral Absolute Error (IAE) and Integral Square Error (ISE) of level control of nonlinear process obtained using proposed LQR based PI plus PD controller. It is compared with the response obtained with LQR PI controller. The set point tracking experimentation was done with promising results for proposed LQR based PI plus PD controller. The design of proposed controller is very simple and it is effective with very low settling time, IAE and ISE.

Hybrid fuzzy-ZN PID control based grid interfaced distribution level renewable energy source with power quality

The power quality of interconnected grid is highly affected by the non linear loads and the interconnected renewable energy sources like wind and solar systems. The drastic changes in their input effectively change the grid parameters. This paper provides a novel method in which compensator continuously monitors the line parameters like voltage, currents, harmonics and reactive power to maintain the desired values at common connecting line (CCL). This paper utilizes the capabilities of hybrid Fuzzy and ZN PID Controlling of Dynamic Active Power Filter (DAPF) along with the Energy storage at dc link. The proposed model simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK and at the grid common connecting line, the power factor and Total Harmonic Distortion values are much improved.

A review on non-destructive methods for the measurement of moisture contents in food items

Moisture content [MC] in food items should be tracked at right time with high precision as it is important for processing and storage of food items. Moisture content in some of the food grains has to be reduced to avoid its damage. In this paper we go through different techniques used to measure MC in different food grains. There are destructive and non-destructive methods to measure MC. In destructive method peanuts or samples have to be cleaned and shells are removed, so that this method is time consuming and samples are wasted. In this paper we study different non-destructive technique, to measure moisture content in which grains or food items can be directly used without any process like cleaning or crushing. Time taken to measure moisture content using this method is less.

Need for development of dietary assessment device for free living environment-a survey

Currently more than 1 billion adults are overweight -and at least 300 million of them are clinically obese. Article from World Health Organisation mentioned that obese is the major cause for Diabetics, cardio vascular problem and cancer. Change in food habits and lack of physical activities are the main reason for obese. Daily food choices affect our short term and long term health. By monitoring food intake we can assess the person food habit, in this paper we discussed and analyse various method involving energy intake and energy expenditure and need for accurate long term dietary assessment technique for free living individuals.

OPTIMAL DESIGN AND FABRICATION STEPS OF ELECTRICAL CAPACITANCE TOMOGRAPHY SENSORS

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is a non destructive technique for obtaining the distribution of some physical quantity in a closed pipe by measuring the permittivity distribution. Several conducting plates are fixed around the circumference of the pipe so they do not disturb the flow or movement of materials. The imaging quality of an electrical capacitance tomography system depends upon many co-influential parameters such as number of electrodes, length and width of electrodes, axial guard electrodes, radial guard electrodes, and screen guard. Optimum selection of these variables coupled with advancements in sensing electronics and imaging algorithm provides the best inside view of a closed vessel/pipe. This, in turn, provides better process information for control. This article is intended to summarize such design rules for ECT electrodes and sensors. Numerical simulations were performed using commercially available finite element method (FEM) software to help verify the optimality of the design parameters chosen. Experimental verification was conducted using a fabricated capacitance sensing circuit that could measure capacitance in the range of 1 fF to 7999 femtofarads with a root means square noise level of 0.07 fF. Some parameters such as the thickness of the pipe are chosen as demanded by the process. This article will be useful for researchers to design the ECT Sensors with ease.