Inter-area oscillations are, by far, the most detrimental to the synchronous integrity of interconnected power systems. This detriment comes from their wide frequency spectrum and the large numbers of the participant generators. The inherent poor damping associated with the inter-area oscillations leaves open wide probabilities for irrevocable widespread blackouts with the consequent eventual devastating outcomes measured in terms of the huge economic casualties and the possible human fatalities. This article explores the influences of the Interval Type-2 fuzzy logic-based strategized dynamic braking interventions of dual brake models, namely Thyristor Controlled Braking Resistors (TCBRs), for neutralizing the jeopardy of negatively damped inter-area power oscillations in Kundur’s two-area test system, using MATLAB™/Simulink environment. The relative inner generator's speed deviation is employed in this work as a control signal to the proposed controller. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is authenticated by considering four case studies with different severity degrees. By analyzing the performance repercussions due to four disturbances, without the implementation of the proposed scheme, the unstable nature of the system responses is clearly noticed. With the implementation of the proposed scheme, the system oscillatory behavior is stabilized in an appropriate manner. The performed comparative non-linear time-domain simulation results emphasize the great potential of the proposed scheme in mitigation of inter-area power oscillations according to the considered disturbances. The proposed scheme is simple yet effective in treating the inter-area oscillations appropriately under the considered case studies.

Traditional methods of irrigation and fertilizing is very time consuming for farmers. Over-irrigation as well as leaching of fertilizers below the root zone, erosion, and transport of soil and chemical particles to the drainage ditches can increase energy and water consumption in farming. A single systems combining irrigation and fertilizing will greatly reduce the cost and time needed in farming. There are two types of fertilizers available for home gardener – granular and water-soluble fertilizers. Generally, granular fertilizers release nutrient gradually but can last longer than water-soluble fertilizers. This project will provide an automated system for irrigation and fertilizing for plantation using Arduino as the microcontroller. This system will include a mobile application to control the amount of water during the irrigation and fertilizing processes. The microcontroller communicates with the mobile application via internet using the Wi-Fi modulator. Then, the microcontroller processes the information and operates the irrigation and fertilizing pumps which supplies water and fertilizer through the sprinkler system in the field. Any feedback will be sent to the user through the mobile application.

Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) is one of the widely used non-conventional machining processes for complex and difficult-to-machine materials. EDM technology has been improve significantly and has been developed in many ideas especially in the manufacturing industries that yielded enormous benefits in economic as well as generating keen interest in research area. A major issue in EDM process is how to obtain accurate results of the machining performance measurement value at optimal point of cutting conditions. Thus, this study proposed harmony search algorithm approach for optimization of surface roughness (Ra) in die sinking electric discharge machining (EDM). The mathematical model was developed using regression analysis based on four machining parameters which are pulse on time, peak current, servo voltage and servo speed. The result shows that the optimal solutions for Ra can be found with the minimum values of 1.3031 µm.

Electricity supply in Nigeria has been far below the estimated demand and the installed capacity of the plants. Hence, there has been continuous research on improving the performance of the existing plants, but the government mainly focuses on increasing the installed capacity. This paper presents the determination of the optimal release of water to maximize the energy generation potential of the cascaded Kainji-Jebba hydroelectric power station in Nigeria. The problem was formulated as an optimal control problem with an objective of minimizing the deviation of the head of the Jebba reservoir within a set limit. A conjugate gradient algorithm was then used as a direct solution to the optimal control problem. The computed control law and the resulting state trajectories of 2% error affirm the solution to be genuine and reliable. The algorithm is recommended for use in the design of a real-time optimal controller for the system and a decision guide for the operators.

In this study, optimal distribution network protection coordination scheme with directional over current relays is developed. In addition, impact of optimally placed Distribution Generation (DG) on the protection coordination scheme is subsequently evaluated using relay Coordination Time Interval (CTI). As such, the study is carried out in two stages. In the first stage, optimal relays settings (time dial settings and pickup current) are determined. While in the second stage, the maximum DG penetration level with changes in the protection coordination is evaluated. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, due to its faster convergence speed, is applied in both stages. The technique is implemented on the distribution section of the IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus systems and simulated in MATLAB. The simulation results obtained are compared with that obtained using hybrid Genetic Algorithm (GS) – Nonlinear Programming (NP) approach using relays pickup current and operating times as performance metrics. For the IEEE 14 bus system, the developed PSO-based relay coordination has reduced the relays pickup current and operating times by roughly 28% and 32% respectively compared with the hybrid GA-NLP technique. The optimal locations of the DGs are found to be bus 5, 8 and 12 which result in CTI of 0.233sec. While in the IEEE 30 bus system, the developed relay coordination has reduced the relays pickup current and operating times by roughly 31% and 34% respectively compared with the hybrid GA-NLP technique. Similarly, the optimal locations and sizes of the DGs are found to be bus 19, 26 and 30, which result in CTI of 0.462sec.

With the emergent of biometric technology, people are no longer afraid to keep their important things in the safe box or room or even facility. This is because; human beings have unique features that distinguish them with other people. The scheme is based on an information theory approach that decomposes face images into a small set of characteristic feature images called ‘Eigenfaces’, which are actually the principal components of the initial training set of face images. In this report, thorough explanation on design process of face recognition on bags locking mechanism will be elucidated. The results and analysis of the proposed design prototype also presented and explained. The platform for executing the algorithm is on the Raspberry Pi. There are two artificial intelligent techniques applied to manipulate and processing data which is fuzzy logic and neural networks. Both systems are interdependent with each other, so that it can calculate and analyse data precisely. The receive image from the camera is analysed through the Eigenfaces algorithm. The algorithm is using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method which comprise of artificial neural network paradigm and also statistical paradigm.

The introduction of new Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme in 2016 in Malaysia is seen as an improvement from the previous FIT scheme. NEM allows a user to generate, use and export the net excess energy to the grid instead of selling all the generated energy as in FIT scheme. However, the NEM scheme (NEM 2016) still have a problem which is small size residential customers will not get benefited from the scheme in term of electricity bill savings. Therefore, the Malaysian government introducing a new NEM scheme (NEM 2019) to replace previous NEM scheme (NEM 2016) to overcome drawbacks of NEM 2016. This paper will investigate the performance of NEM 2019 overcome the previous problem by comparing the performance of NEM 2019 and against NEM 2016 in term of NPC (net present cost) and electricity cost savings by using HOMER software. The analysis is conducted on three different size of residential customers; small, medium and large with different PV panel sizes from 1kWp to 8kWp. The results show that NEM 2019 will produce lower NPC compared to NEM 2016 for most cases.

In this paper, graphene oxide (GO) was doped into SU-8 polymer to examine the functionalities of polymer waveguide material via dopant inclusion. In material preparation, step by step processes starting from cyclopentanone mixing will be explained. It is shown that doped material's refractive index can be tailored by having different weight percentage of GO. Finally, a single mode ridge waveguide loss of GO doped SU-8 has been characterized to be 1.9 dB/cm at 1550 nm wavelength.

This paper presents analyses of the model for the optimum design of standalone hybrid microgrid. The model is developed with the aim of optimizing system component sizing that can reliably satisfy isolated loads. The objective function is to minimize the annual cost of the plant while taking all constraints into consideration. Mixed integer linear programming technique is used to solve the optimization problem. By applying some approximations, the output power of the wind energy conversion system is expressed as a linear function of wind speed. Effects of different PV technologies and the rated power of each unit have been investigated. The results have shown the ability of the proposed model by reducing the cost of energy by 89.35%, 90.26%, 88.3530%, and 89.99% for AP120, ASE 300, KC120 and SAPC165 respectively. In the same way the carbon dioxide emission is reduced by 83%, 82.82%, 82.51% and 73.48 in the same order of the PV modules. Also, the optimal design is sensitive to the rated power of the WECS and SECS, while the benefit-to-cost ratio and payback period are sensitive to the storage technology.

Different from the past, in recent years, an increasing number of technology solutions have been started to be designed for the data acquisition in industries and it is applications due to the fast development in the field of industrial control and recently the increase of the demand of high quality, accurate and fast devices working together with controllers such as programmable logic controllers. These devices are meant to be used and designed foe multiplexing a number of analogue signals into PLCs and industrial processors based data gathering devices. In Industries, Machines become more autonomous by letting controllers acquire and process several various industrial variables at a short time by keeping tabs from afar. Recently, designed PLC modules are developed and fabricated with additional input and output devices, cost effective and user friendly because there is significant interest from industries owners who prefer to have faster data acquisition and faster processing in a short time rather than using a conventional external modules for PLCs. Besides, the interest of using multiplexing devices has increased since these devices are cheaper and faster than normal PLC’s modules. Accordingly, in this study, full design of the enhanced analogue input module to acquire more number of industrial variables using small PLCs limited by its input capacity together with a sample software application of industrial control are presented using PLC programmer and SCADA system. In the presented software application, a group of sensors and actuators are used to simulate an autonomous industrial plant. Although the presented software application is just a simple example of how industrial process can be used, it has the potential of affecting all areas improving day to day life of the operators and engineers.