Robert A. Sowah

Hardware module design of a real-time multi-sensor fire detection and notification system using fuzzy logic

Notwithstanding massive fire safety campaigns being carried out, incidents of fire outbreaks continue to increase annually. The alarming rate of these fire outbreaks requires an engineered solution system that detects fire in its early stages and contributes to the firefighting effort. Current research efforts have been directed towards the development of multi-sensor fire detection algorithms to increase the sensitivity of fire detection devices and reduce nuisance alarms. This paper presents the design and implementation of a multi-sensor fire detection and notification system using fuzzy logic. The microcontroller processes data from an MQ2 smoke sensor, a TMP102 temperature sensor and a DFRobot flame sensor using a fuzzy logic algorithm to determine the fire status.

Rotational energy harvesting to prolong flight duration of quadcopters

This paper presents a rotational energy harvester using a brushless dc (BLdc) generator to harvest ambient energy for quadcopter in order to prolong it flight duration. For a quadcopter, its endurance is essential in order to achieve operational goals such as scientific research, security, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Because quadcopters have a limitation on size and mass, they cannot carry a large mass of on-board energy thereby having short flight time. In this paper, BLdc generators are coupled with the propellers of the quadcopter to transfer kinetic energy from the propellers to the generator. Taking into consideration the power requirement of quadcopter, the output of the generator is amplified using dc–dc boost, and is regulated to power and charge the on-board battery. The BLdc generator is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. A final prototype of the rotational energy harvesting system is built, and this comprises a quadcopter, power management system, and a battery charging system.

Design and implementation of a fire detection and control system for automobiles using fuzzy logic

The immense benefits of fire in road transport cannot be overemphasized. However more than two thousand vehicles are damaged by unwanted fire on a daily basis. On a global scale, incendiary losses to the automobile and insurance industries have ran into billions of dollars over the last decade. A not-so-distant contributory factor is the lack of a sophisticated fire safety system on the automobile. This has been addressed by designing and implementing fuzzy logic control system with feedback over an Arduino micro-controller system. The automatic system consisting of flame sensors, temperature sensors, smoke sensors and a re-engineered mobile carbon dioxide air-conditioning unit was tested on a medium sized physical car. Results show that the automobile fire detection and control system devoid of false alarms, detects and extinguishes fire under 20 seconds. An innovative, very promising solution module for hardware implementation in fire detection and control for automobiles has been developed by using new algorithms and fuzzy logic.

Hardware Design and Web-Based Communication Modules of a Real-Time Multisensor Fire Detection and Notification System Using Fuzzy Logic

This paper presents the design and development of a fuzzy logic based multisensor fire detection system and a web-based notification system. Until recently, most consumer grade fire detection systems relied solely on smoke detectors. The protection provided by these has been established to be limited by the type of fire present and the detection technology at use. The problem is further compounded by the lack of adequate alert and notification mechanisms. A typical system relies on the physical presence of a human being to act on the alert. In developing countries, poor planning and addressing negatively affects the fire and rescue crews response time. To address this problem, a fuzzy logic system was implemented using an Arduino development board with inputs from an MQ2 smoke sensor, a TMP102 temperature sensor, and a DFRobot flame sensor. The output of the detection system is sent over short message service (SMS) using a SIM900 global system for mobile communication (GSM) module to the web-based system and the house owner or caretaker in real-time. With access granted to the web-based system, the fire and rescue crew also get notified in real-time with location information. A comparison between the efficiency of the notification system employed by standard fire detectors and the multisensor remote-based notification approach adopted in this paper showed significant improvements in the form of timely detection, alerting, and response.

Rotational Energy Harvesting To Prolong Flight Duration of Quadcopters

This paper presents a rotational energy harvester using brushless direct current (BLDC) generator to harvest ambient energy for quadcopter in order to prolong it flight duration. For a quadcopter its endurance is essential in order to achieve operational goals such as scientific research, security, surveillance and reconnaissance. Because quadcopters have a limitation on size and mass they cannot carry a large mass of onboard energy thereby having short flight time. In this paper BLDC generators are coupled with the propellers of the quadcopter to transfer kinetic energy from the propellers to the generator. Taking into consideration the power requirement of quadcopter, the output of the generator is amplified using DC-DC boost and regulated to power and charge the on-board battery. The BLDC generator is simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK. A final prototype of the rotational energy harvesting system is built and this comprises a quadcopter, power management system and a battery charging system.

A web-based communication module design of a real-time multi-sensor fire detection and notification system

This paper presents the design and implementation of a web-based communication module of a multi-sensor fire detection system and notification system. A SIM900 Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) module is used to send fire alerts to building owners and the web-based fire notification subsystem in real-time. The web-based notification system is intended for remote notification of fire alerts, allows fire and rescue crew to receive notifications of a fire outbreak in real time. Also implemented was a map based navigation system to guide the fire and rescue crew to the location of a fire outbreak. This component is crucial in areas and situations with less than ideal planning to improve the response times during a fire outbreak. A comparison between the efficiency of the notification system employed by standard fire detectors and the multi-sensor remote based notification approach adopted in this paper showed significant improvements in the form of timely detection, alerting and response.