Browsing by Author "Nihmiya, A.R."

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Automated Attendance System Using Webcam Based Barcode Reader
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Kulathilaka, S.H.S.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    Maintaining attendance of the employee's and hours worked require an accurate means for the effective operation of any business or government agency. So they necessitate the use of simpler and effective systems as a replacement to the existing ones according to the ongoing growth of technology. Automated attendance system using webcam based barcode reader is one of the relevant solution for existing system, which can extract and decode the sequence of the barcode on a cluttered background and store the decode value with time and date. It is composed of four functions: barcode localization from the raw image, transformation of the localized barcode, decoding the sequence and storing the decoding data with other relevant data of employer attendance. The localization method is based on detecting the areas with the maximum density difference in two normal directions. The transformation method, capable of identifying any orientation, is based on the Hough line detection method. Using a variation of the Hough transformation noise is removed and distortions are reduced. This results in a more robust barcode scanning system. The decoding method is based on mathematical modelling of the EAN-13 barcode type and the database handling method is based on the ADO.NET technology in Visual Basic for interacts with the Microsoft Access database. The algorithms used in the barcode reader have been tested on number of images with an accuracy of more than eighty present. The system finds quite an important application in Payroll calculation and also viability in commercial applications. Primary application that has focused on is to maintain attendance of employees in an office. Key words: Barcode Localization, Barcode Reorganization, Webcam, Hough Transformation, EAN-13 barcode
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    Automatic Counting for Entry Point
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Fairoos, M.A.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    An automated occupant counter is a device used to count the number of people walking through a door. Most of the time, this system is used at the entrance of a building so that the total number of people occupied can be recorded. This occupant counting system will be useful for many sectors. Especially, it may be important for marketing research, pedestrian traffic management, tourist flow estimation or in security application in an emergency situation and more. For example in case of an evacuation need it is possible to know how many people are trapped inside a building to execute a prompt evacuation plan. The system has two sensing elements and two signal processing channels arranged such that a PIC16F84 microcontroller produces signals of opposite polarities in the two channels. A method of monitoring a passageway and an alarm management unit associated with an integrated system are also provided. An alarm signal is delivered only in the event that the two signals of opposite polarities are cutting simultaneously. Disturbances, such as component noise, which affect only one channel cannot give rise to an alarm, nor can power supply disturbances which produce signals of the same polarity in both channels. There will be also provided an automated occupant counter system for determining a direction of travel of human including first and second human detection devices and a controller. The controller provides an output representative of a direction of travel in response to the outputs of the first and second human detection devices and then that will display on LCD. Further, there will be a rotating gate set up to control the passengers to move one by one in an overcrowded situation. Key words: Microcontroller, Occupant counter, Signal processing
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    An Autonomous Assistant Service Robot for an Office Environment
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Kulathunga, A.G.R.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    Recently, Autonomous humanoid robotics technology is being expected to provide various services in human living environments. But the commercial availability of these types of robots is still not considerable, due to many unsolved problems in this research area. Self-localization and navigation of mobile robots are most challenging problems. So researchers have introduced many advanced navigation systems. This paper presents a system of pre defined map base indoor navigation robot for known environment. The robot operates on a floor tile grid and uses sensor base technique for path planning. There is an array of reflective IR sensors for tracing line and counting the grid edges. The robot considers starting position as an absolute reference point. While navigating, processing unit updates the x, y coordinates and verify with defined map, thus it can obtain accurate path to the destination. Robots' linear motion control was done by comparing speeds of the main wheels using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique. A closed loop Proportional Integral (PI) control system was used to synchronize speed of dual wheels. Omni directional wheel was used to reduce slip. The destination selection and robot navigation were controlled by a control panel with a graphical display. The robot delivers documents while keeping them inside a password secured cabin. Speaking ability enhance user friendliness of robot. Further the Current Date, Time, Temperature and Location were displaying to more favorable in the office environment. The control unit consists of a set of PIC Microcontrollers which were programmed in C Language by using I2C and RS232 communication protocols. The algorithm of this robot was designed to demonstrate inside an office building. Its' maximum linear velocity is 0.26 ms-lby navigating on a 5mm grid line .The minimum position error is within one tile. In this method the navigation errors wouldn't be cumulative. Key words: Robot localization and navigation, Autonomous service robot, grid based navigation, closed loop feedback system
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    Development of an Infra Red Beam Controlled Relay
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Rikaz, M.F.M.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayaka, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    Wireless communication applications are increasing rapidly day by day. It has attracted a lot of developers and researchers for its wide range of ability to control the embedded systems. With digital technology, it is possible to manufacture fully automated systems for industry, mining, security, space and house. This project involves with controlling alternative current through a remote controller. Any IR remote controller can be used for this system to operate. Any button of that particular remote controller can be used also. This makes user to control the equipments easier, faster and with out moving. This system also can be implemented easily as well. There is no need of any expertise. Switching the device, instruments or machines are important in home, industry and workshop. Basically switching means we can control the machines or instruments by applying electricity. We can control the devices or machines by various kinds of methods, depending on the applications. Relays are more efficient than normal mechanical switches. In traditional controlling method (manual), it is inefficient when performing the tasks. Their drawbacks include loss of energy, higher response time, complicated wiring systems and difficulties in maintenance. To overcome these kinds of problems, this project targeted reducing these problems and give better service for customers. Keywords: Wireless communication, Remote control, Embedded systems
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    Development of Low cost 3D Scanner for Surface Registration of Simple Objects
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Ranasinghe, N.A.N.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    Three-dimensional scanning has been widely used for many years for reverse engineering, quality control and part inspection applications. Use of the technique has recently expanded into the entertainment industry for character animation, toys, computer games, and feature films. Other applications include archaeological applications and forensic assessment. 3D laser scanners are high tech devices that have the ability to accurately capture the surface of objects and provide real 3D data back to the user. It analyzes a real-world object or environment to collect data on its shape and possibly its appearance. The collected data can then be used to construct digital, 3D models useful for a wide variety of applications. However, they can only obtain a partial representation of the scene while the human mind is able to imagine and extrapolate all the information from the object. The goal of this research is to study the different techniques used and propose convenient and fast mechanism to register 3D acquisitions. This study detects the complexity of the existing techniques and presents a new classification in 3D real time registration. Historically, devices that could be used in 3D scanning have been prohibitively expensive. Large scale devices can cost in excess of $20,000 with desktop units, with limited capability costing more than $1,500. Therefore this research focused on acquiring 3D models for computer graphics and animation applications using low-cost 3D laser scanning' system. The primary advantage of laser scanning is that the process is non-contact, fast and generates coordinate locations that lie directly on the surface of the scanned object. This research describes a low-cost hardware and software system for construction of digital, three dimensional, computer aided model of simple real-world objects, that will be useful for a wide variety of applications. Key words: 3D laser scanners, Computer graphics, Animation applications
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    Light Intensity Controller for Tissue Culture Applications
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Tharshan, K.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    Still there are a few Important sectors in our country where automation has not been adopted or not been put to a full-fledged use, because of several reasons. One such reason is high cost. Bio laboratory forms an important part of the tissue cultural sectors in our country as they can be used to grow plants under controlled climatic conditions for optimum produce, so the model of constant light Intensity instruments has been developed. By using led panel light Intensity was controlled between 0 to 1000 lux in an enclosed environment. A Microcontroller-based circuit was built to monitor the value of light of the natural environment continuously and controlled in order optimize them to achieve maximum tissue culture performance. An integrated Liquid crystal display (LCD) is also used as the real time display of data, acquired from the sensors. Also, the use of control systems (LED panels) reduces the manufacturing and maintenance costs. The design is quite flexible as the software can be changed a t any time. Constant light intensity instruments makes the proposed system to be economical, portable, power-efficient and an easy to maintain solution for tissue culture applications in biology laboratories. The main aim of implementing a constant light intensity at biology laboratory has been accomplished successfully. The prototype can measure light, using LDR. The design uses a set of PIC microcontrollers as the microcontroller was programmed in C language using a Micro C compiler. Simulations were performed in PROTEUS software. Key words: LDR sensors, LED panel, Microcontroller application processor
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    Low Cost Microcontroller Based Metal Detector
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Attanayake, A.T.J.C.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    In many manufacturing processes, especially in the food industry, mixing of metal particles with the major product is a problem. Therefore, metal detectors are widely used for this kind of detection purposes in the industry. Some of the drawbacks with the commercially available metal detectors include, their higher cost, low discriminating power, and when they are in operation they give a lot of false alarms. Generally, the ratio between the detection of a metal and getting a false alarm varies in the region of 1:100 to 1:1000 depending on the location. The aim of this study is to introduce an Electromagnetic Induction Device that can detect small metal particles with low false alarm rate Detailed studies on Pulse Induction (P1) type Metal Detectors have shown that, the presence of a ferromagnetic object changes the phase of the signal induced in the receiving coil. This phase change heavily depends on the type of the alloy. This property was used to classify ferromagnetic alloys in the proposed methodology. The field survey shows that the processing speed of the system should be fast and accurate. The aliased signal from the detector receiver coils was used in this study to reduce the processing time. At the first level a high frequency signal was generated and switched using a transistor. After that, it was fed to the search coil. The induced analog signal was then amplified and converted to a digital signal using the microcontroller and displayed the digital value on the LCD display together with an output LED array and a speaker. The result shows that different metals could be classified with 5% significance, same material but different size could be classified with 10% significance and alloys could be classified into different classes. These results depend on the templates used in the environment. Further by changing the classification algorithm, the detected objects could be classified into different groups. Key words: Metal detector, Microcontroller, Discrete wave analysis, Electromagnetic induction.
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    Modeling and Construction of a Mechatronic Frog
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Wijasooriya, P.N.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    Energy is a limited resource for almost every application in the world. Most of the researches are going on to introduce energy conserving solutions for many day to day applications. These new concepts are presented by applying to robotics which later are applied to machines and equipment of daily use. In this research the objective was to apply the concept of storing energy for a certain time period and release it instantly in order to perform some useful action. Accordingly, a jumping robot was constructed. Jumping is considered to be very efficient and energy conserving locomotion type for various robot applications, which is much suitable for rough unstructured terrain. There are many micro robots of this type. But this robot was constructed using junked items which can be easily found. A mechanism was modeled and constructed that could store energy effectively as well as release energy instantly to make the robot move. The robot motion undergoes four phases as Ground contact, Hind limb contraction, Take-off and Air borne phase. The proposed model has four limbs. Hind limbs are used for jumping, which is analogous to frog jumping. They contain two similar linear type springs that were used to store energy. The fore limbs were used for balancing the platform. A click mechanism was used to store energy linearly in the springs as well as release them instantly. It was a rotating cam actuated by a motor (12 V, 0.3 A). Its diameter is gradually increasing while it rotates. So the springs are compressed thus energy is stored. Finally it comes to a disengaging point where the releasing process takes place. There the springs are stretched out at once and the rod which has passed through the springs, hit the ground. Thus the robot takes the ground reaction force for its takeoff. Most of the robot parts were made from low weight materials such as aluminium and plastic base material. But some parts were necessarily to be made of iron (the cam). Though weight limits jumping performance it is a considerable factor to make a good ground reaction force. The robot weighs about 1.5 kg. For the stability of jumping and landing the center of mass was laid backwards which was experimentally decided. The hind limbs were fixed near to the center of mass for higher jumping performance. The robot has 20 degrees of incident angle. Theoretically for spring elongation of 0.1m about 2.5J amount of energy was stored in springs which then coverts into the Kinetic energy of the robot. Using a 12 V, 7 A DC battery robots can jump about 350 times. The modeling and result analysis were done using the MATLAB software. This mechanism would be advantages not only for robots but also for mechanical application in machines which need repulsive action. Key words: Jumping robot, Cam mechanism, Frog robot, Locomotion
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    Remote Operation of an Automated Greenhouse
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2010) Walpita, T.A.; Udawatta, L.; Piyathilaka, J.M.L.C.; Ekanayake, R.M.T.C.B.; Nihmiya, A.R.
    Environmental conditions have a significant effect on plant growth. All plants require certain conditions for their proper growth. Therefore, it is necessary to bring the environmental conditions under control, in order to have those conditions as close to the ideal as possible. In order to create an optimum environment, the major climatic and environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, light intensity and ground water need to be controlled. Greenhouses play a major role in agricultural sector as they can be used to grow plants under controlled climatic condition for optimum production. Automating a green house envisages monitoring and controlling of the climatic parameters which directly or indirectly govern the plant growth and hence their produce. Automation is the process of controlling industrial machinery and processes, there by replacing human operators. The information was obtained from multisensory station and was transmitted to the computer. Finally the information was sent to the actuation network. The aim of this project was to construct a greenhouse model, which can automatically control microclimatic parameters inside the greenhouse. This model was based on the sensor readings, which related to several factors in light intensity, humidity and temperature. An automated greenhouse brings about the precise control needed to provide the most proper conditions of plant growth. An Automated Greenhouse Monitoring System was implemented by three types of sensors namely photodiodes, a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. The values obtained from these systems were transmitted to the computer and the user can set the values through a computer interface. These sensors were interfaced to a microcontroller which functioned as the main control unit. According to the parameters set in the computer interface built controller maintains the greenhouse at the pre-set levels. Key words: Greenhouse, Automation