Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology

6

Authors: Shadab Kalhoro; Fahim Aziz Umranil; Mustahsan Ali Khanzada; Liaquat Ali Rahoo

Modern and fast developments of wireless technologies have directed to a great demand for resources. It can be seen in the study that the range of existing spectrum is not used effectively, therefore the frequency band should be observed to ensure proper usage and to have the information of primary or licensed user is very much essential. In this research work uplink of LTE (Long-Term Evolution) is observed through MF (Matched Filter) spectrum sensing technique of CR (Cognitive Radio) network. This method examines the existence of signals in minimum possible time, reduces the hindrances between secondary users, increases accurateness of sensing and provides finest choice of threshold. In Uplink the System model which is used is known as SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access). Entire simulation/results are prepared in MATLAB environment. This study also provides graphical contrast of simulated and theoretical results of matched filter and energy detection technique.

8

Authors: Gulzar Ahmad; Asif Sultan; Tariqullah Jan; Majid Ashraf; Muhammad Sarim

A novel low-profile and miniaturized patch antenna on a substrate material of high dielectric constant has been designed, fabricated and tested in an indigenous laboratory. It is highly important to reduce the size of patch antenna as it limits the reduction of the sizes of the devices using this antenna. A number of techniques have been given for the size reduction of patch such as DGS (Defected Ground Structure), use of fractals and the use of metamaterials but in this paper the technique of high permittivity substrate has been implemented. The substrate as well as this conventional antenna has been prepared locally in Pakistan. A ceramic material of chemical composition {(Sr0.5Pb0.25Ca0.25)-Tio3-3Bi2O3.TiO2} having a high dielectric constant has beenused in the substrate of the antenna. The fabricated prototype was investigated experimentally for important parameters using Vector Network analyzer. The total measure of the antenna is 20.5x26.5x1.5 mm3. The antenna presented a large bandwidth of 186 MHz (1070-1256 MHz)in L-Band with a Return Loss of 21.10 dB at resonance. The VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) remained under the standard value of 2 in the whole operating range. The proposed antenna may be employed in GPS (Global Positioning System) devices, Amateur Radio, Terrestrial Mobile Communication, Aeronautical and Maritime Mobile and other Military and Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communications.

10

Authors: Nida Tariq; Iqra Ijaz; Muhammad Kamran Malik; Zubair Malik; Faisal Bukhari

Urdu literature has a rich tradition of poetry, with many forms, one of which is Ghazal. Urdu poetry structures are mainly of Arabic origin. It has complex and different sentence structure compared to our daily language which makes it hard to classify. Our research is focused on the identification of poets if given with ghazals as input. Previously, no one has done this type of work. Two main factors which help categorize and classify a given text are the contents and writing style. Urdu poets like Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Iqbal and many others have a different writing style and the topic of interest. Our model caters these two factors, classify ghazals using different classification models such as SVM (Support Vector Machines), Decision Tree, Random forest, Naïve Bayes and KNN (K-Nearest Neighbors). Furthermore, we have also applied feature selection techniques like chi square model and L1 based feature selection. For experimentation, we have prepared a dataset of about 4000 Ghazals. We have also compared the accuracy of different classifiers and concluded the best results for the collected dataset of Ghazals.

10

Authors: Muhammad Adil Khan; Mahboob Ali Chowdhry; Asjad Javed; Mohammad Laeeque Ahmed; Hummaira Kanwal

The most important property of concrete is its compressive strength, which is carried out after 28-days proper curing of concrete. This test is affected by other factors like the condition of curing, water to cement ratio, method of transportation, handling of the concrete, extent of vibrations and quality of the ingredients of mix proportion. This research study is an attempt to develop a simple Mathematical equation also known as mathematical model, by using linear regression analysis to estimate the 28-day fc’ (Compressive Strength) of concrete from the test results carried out atearly age. This simple linear equation develops a relationship of 28.5 hours accelerated cured compressive strength with normal cured compressive strength after 28-days. These results show that most of the predicted values of compressive strength, calculated via equations, lies within permissible range difference for compressive strength achieved by experimental method, which is clear indication of credibility of the equations obtained for compressive strength at different age of concrete. The results showed that compressive strength of concrete increases with the increase in content of FA (Fly Ash) upto 30% replacement, and the compressive strength of the concrete starts decreasing beyond 30% FA substitution. This argument is totally in line with all the literature carried out for this research.

10

Authors: Sadaf Noshin; Sabahat Arif; Muhammad Arif Khan

Daylight is the occupied-range of light that is appropriate to the human visual response. Thus, it can contribute to human health, performance and productivity. Energy consumption can be reduced by improving in energy efficiency. The study emphaseson the design of lighting system that will be energy efficient. The basic purpose of this paper describes how to reduce the mounted lighting load and improve the illumination level as per international standards. A good lighting scheme should be based on more energy efficient & longer life and maintenance free equipment. In this research paper,a hypothetical study space is selected for the daylight analysis on the Ecotect and the Radiance software on summer solstice and winter solstice days under over cast sky condition. Ecotect software is used to determine lighting demand inside the selected study space and the obtained data is exported on Radiance for detailed and more accurate daylight analysis. It is pragmatic that illuminance level is varied with respect to date and time that are clearly expressed by the daily sun path and shadow range. It is also perceived that the installed artificial luminaries does not provide the required illuminance on the working plane and consume more energy. The major aim of this research is to reduce the lighting load by introducing energy efficient artificial luminaries into the room that provide the required illuminance level on the working plane. Lumen method is used to explain the energy saving which is carried out according to existing energy consumption compared with the proposed one. At the end cost comparison of energy consumption and payback period is alsocalculated. This study shows that overall cost saving in energy consumption is approximately 34.37% and the calculated payback period for the newly installed lights is comprising of approximately 11 months.

12

Authors: Aamir Akram; Muhammad Shahzad Sarfraz; Umar Shoaib

Distributed computer simulation systems use a general-purpose architecture known as HLA (High Level Architecture). HLA aims to provide common architecture for all types of distributed modeling and simulations by providing interoperability and reusability among simulations. A middleware known as RTI (Run Time Infrastructure) provides distributed simulation services under HLA. RTI offers a communication framework which is necessary for federates to interact during simulation process. Many RTI implementations are available commercially and are open source to achieve reusability and interoperability by implementing HLA. However, functionality and performance of RTI is based on its structure. This review presents the performance analysis of multiple RTI implementations, so that the best suitable RTI can be selected for a given simulation scenario and provides the structural comparison of central and service distributed RTI. It also presents the performance analysis of multiple RTI implementations and provides the structural comparison of CeRTI (Central Run Time Infrastructure) and SDRTI (Service Distributed Run Time Infrastructure). Many simulations use HLA, and RTI as basic part of these simulations. This comparative study describes characteristics of different RTIs, their comparisons and implementations that will help the reader to select suitable RTI according to environment and requirements.

12

Authors: Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti; Manzoor-ul-haq Rajput; Ghulamullah Maitlo; Zulfiqar Ali Solangi; Ghulam Sarwar Shaikh

Due to environmental concerns and the rising prices of petroleum products, usually bio-ethanol is being produced in greater amount from sugar cane molasses in Pakistan. In this work various properties related to molasses are being analyzed by performing experiments at the Distillery Plant, AASML (AlAbbas Sugar Mills Limited), Mirpurkhas, Sindh, Pakistan. Brix, Sucrose, pH, ethyl alcohol, RS (Reducing Sugar), TSI (Total Sugar as an Invert), TS (Total Sugar), purity and presence of micro-organisms are scrutinized. In addition, the effects of quality parameters of pre-fermentation and fermentation for ethyl alcohol production, time impact on stored molasses and consequences of rain on quality of molasses are studied. It was observed from the study that good quality molasses which is the raw material for alcohol production should be used in fermentation process. Molasses must be stored in steel tanks to prevent it from contamination and loss of fermentable sugars. The prefermenters need to steam sterilized, cleaned and washed before inoculation of yeast cells so that the yeast grows healthy to produce maximum ethyl alcohol in fermenters. The water used for hydrolysis of molasses in fermentation should be clean, filtered and good quality nutrients must be used for the growth of yeasts. Finally, efficiency and yield are calculated and t-test has been performed to depict a direct relationship of the fermentable sugar with efficiency.

12

Authors: Masroor Ali Jatoi; Ghulam Shabir Solangi; Fahad Ali Shaikh; Sarosh; Shabir

This study was aimed to determine the effect of LFA (Lakhra Fly Ash) as partial replacement of cement in concrete. To conduct this study, a total of 72 standard concrete cylinders were cast with 1:2:4 proportions at 0.5 water-binder ratios. Cement was partially replaced by weight with LFA and the percentage replacements of FA (Fly Ash) were kept as 0, 5, 15, 25, 40 and 50%. In addition to that, workability of each mix was determined by Slump Cone test and Compaction Factor test. Out of 72 cylinders, 36 cylinders were tested to determine the compressive strength while the remaining 36 cylinders were tested to determine the tensile strength of concrete, at 7 days curing period, by using UTM (Universal Testing Machine). The results revealed that 25% replacement of binder with LFA, determined an increase in compressive strength of concrete up to 15% as compared to normal cement concrete. Moreover, the tensile strength of concrete also increased up to 16% for the same percentage replacement. Furthermore, it also increased the workability, cohesiveness and surface finishes of concrete. This finding can help to reduce the admixture dosage or the water content of the mix. On the contrary, the compressive strength as well as the tensile strength of concrete decreased in case of 40 and 50% replacements of the cement with FA.

14

Authors: Muhammad Asghar; Ghulam Mustafa

A simplest way is introduced to generate a generalized algorithm of univariate and bivariate subdivision schemes. This generalized algorithm is based on the symbol of uniform B-splines subdivision schemes and probability generating function of Binomial distribution. We present a family of binary approximating subdivision schemes which has maximum continuity and less support size. Our proposed family members P4, P5, P6, and P7, have C7, C9, C11 and C13 continuities respectively. In fact, we use Binomial probability distribution to increase the continuity of uniform B-splines subdivision schemes up to more than double. We present the complete analysis of one family member of proposed schemes and give a visual performance to check smoothness graphically. In our analysis, we present continuity, Holder regularity, degree of generation, degree of reproduction and limit stencils analysis of proposed family of subdivision schemes. We also present a survey of high continuity subdivision schemes. Comparison shows that our proposed family of subdivision schemes gives high continuity of subdivision schemes comparative to existing subdivision schemes. We have found that as complexity increases the continuity also increases. In the last, we give the general formula for tensor product surface subdivision schemes and also present the visual performance of proposed tensor product surface subdivision schemes.

16

Authors: Muhammad Janas Khan; Rafiq Ahmad Khan

Requirements elicitation is one of the important and major activities within the Requirements Engineering phase. There are different techniques used for requirement elicitation process. Selection of any requirements elicitation technique depends on complexity, size, time and other resources of proposed software project. Selection of suitable technique for requirements elicitation is not a trivial process and if it is done properly then it can reduce time, budget, and risk constraints of system being developed. Sometimes researchers have found a gap between theory and practice that is gap between literature and industry practices. Therefore, goal of this paper is to find out the gap between literature and industry practice about requirements elicitation practices in PSI (Pakistani Software Industry). This paper shows the usage and impact of prototyping technique of requirements elicitation on product quality in Pakistani software companies. 29 Software companies following prototyping technique practice were surveyed using questionnaire, to investigate about usage of prototyping technique of requirements elicitation in industry, and impact of prototyping technique of requirements elicitation on product quality in term of schedule, cost and the customer Satisfaction. The appropriate practice of prototyping technique of requirements elicitation can reduce the project failure rate in PSI.

8

Authors: Farooq Azam; Shahid Bashir; Muhammad Ammar Sohaib

5G (Fifth Generation) is the next generation of data network, offering faster speeds and reliable connections on smart phones and other devices than ever before. These networks are still under development and expected to operate on 28 and 38GHz bands. However, multiple antennas required for these 5G devices will increase the overall system size. Single antenna which can switch to operate on multiple bands is the solution to this problem. A novel frequency reconfigurable antenna for 5G communication networks is presented in this paper. The antenna was designed on a Roger R5880 substrate having dielectric constant 2.2 and loss tangent 0.0009. The proposed antenna consists of simple radiator on top layer and two slots in the ground layer. The frequency re-configurability is achieved by placing three PIN diodes in each slot of the ground. The operating frequency band of antenna is controlled by switching states of PIN diodes. The proposed antenna covers a wide band from 25.6-39.3 GHz by simply switching the diodes ON/OFF. Thus it can cover 28 and 38 GHz bands that are anticipated to be the two working bands for 5G communication. The overall size of the antenna is 10x7 mm2. In addition to being small this antenna has a good gain ranging from 6.5-8.4 dB as well as 85% efficiency in the two 5G bands. All simulations have been done in CST (Computer Simulation Technology) Studio Suite. This reconfigurable antenna can find applications in future 5G communication networks.

8

Authors: Sallahuddin Panhwar; Abdul Razaque Sahito; Ghulam Shabir Solangi; Rasool Bux Mahar; Jawahar Lal

DSW (Distillery Spent Wash) is superfluous residual liquid waste produced during the process of alcohol production. It is one of the most critical environmental issues which cause pollution. Despite strictness of standards imposed on effluent quality, partially or untreated effluent very often finds access to surface and groundwater. The distillery wastewater becomes a serious risk to the water quality in several regions around the globe. The ever-increasing generation of DSW lead to take an attempt to investigate a few aspects of anaerobic digestion of spent wash collected from a distillery. In the present study CSTR (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor) was used at laboratory scale. The study was carried out to evaluate the performance of CSTR after the effective startup and the gradual increment in the OLR (Organic Loading Rate). The maximum methane gas (CH4) of 71.68 ml at the OLR of 1.0g of COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)/L was observed. The optimum COD removal efficiency of the CSTR was 91% corresponding to OLR of 1g of COD/L. The pH ranges from 7.1-7.3 gave better performance and maximum stability of the process. By increasing the ORL, the VFA (Volatile Fatty Acids) content was also increased and reached to the 1.5g COD/L. However, the removal efficiency of TS (Total Solids) increased at an accelerated rate of OLR.

10

Authors: Mushtaq M.I.; Siddiq A.; Tariq M.O.;, Ali A.; Zahra A.

Energy management in home is one of the major issue now-a-days. There are different types of load like shiftable, non-shiftable, seasonal loads and auxiliary loads. In this research article, an energy management system is proposed for home which helps to schedule different loads on the basis of their types and price. It will help to minimize the cost of electricity by shifting load from peak time to off peak time. Emission will be minimized by charging penalty by adopting multi-objective optimization. Each source of energy has its own price of penalty with respect to time. Penalty is charged to minimize the use of sources like commercial supply and diesel generators which emits hazardous gases. In proposed model, user will get electricity from commercial supply, diesel generators and solar panels to provide continuous supply of electricity to fulfil the energy demand. The shiftable loads will be shifted from peak time to off peak time and higher price source to lower price source to minimize the overall price. In this research, we have proposed an EEIR (Economically Effective and Intelligently Responsive) HEMS (Home Energy Management System) by solving multi-objective optimization problem from BILP (Binary Integer Linear Programming) using branch and bound algorithm.

10

Authors: Khawaja Adeel Tariq; Muhammad Moeen Soharwardy; Nadeem Ahmed Tabessum

This study deals with the evaluation of soil engineering characteristic along the proposed route of Jalalpur irrigation project. The proposed JIP (Jalalpur Irrigation Project) is located along the right bank of Jhelum River in Tehsil PDK (Pind Dadan Khan) and Tehsil Khushab of District Khushab. JIP is funded by ADB (Asian Development Bank). The JIP will enhance crop production in Tehsil PDK and Khushab. Famers will be benefited through JIP as they will get regular supply of water through canal. It will also create job opportunities for local people and will lead to the prosperity of the Project area.Detailed soil investigation along proposed route was carried out by M/S GEOBAND. Straight rotary method of drilling was used. The recovered soil samples and water samples were tested in laboratories.The detailed engineering analysis was performed and soil parameters along with bearing capacities are suggested. Results have indicated variations in SPT values along the proposed route. The top layer of soil along proposed route is mostly Silty Clay with variation along the depth. The proposed bearing capacity for shallow foundation is 1.25 ton/ft2 (120 kN/m2) at depth of 5ft (1.5 m) beneath footing, and for bored piles having diameter of 2.5 ft (0.76 m) at a depth of 50 ft (15 m) is recommended as 70 ton (685 kN). The results presented in this study will be helpful in deciding the detailed foundation design of the engineering structures along the proposed route of JIP.

12

Authors: Muhammad Imran; Saeed Badshah; Rafiullah Khan

Composites are one of the rapidly consuming materials due to their utmost attractive applications ranging from the aerospace to the agricultural products. The composite structures usually experience vibration during service. Experiments showed that presence of delamination in composite structures is one of the major causes of failures in laminated structures. Presence of delamination in a structure not only significantly impacts the stiffness of the structure with declining trends but also affect their vibration properties. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature studies on the effect of vibration on composite delaminated structures subjected to different boundary conditions. The literature studies have been classified on the basis of methodology adpated to analyze the problem i.e experimental work, analytical approaches and finite element methods. In this review particular attention has been given to the study of results attained from the analytical analysis, finite element and experimental works. Comparison of the results conducted by other researchers in the field of the free and forced vibration behavior of the composite laminates subjected to delamination or cracked structures has also been studied. Studies have shown that the location and size of delamination in composite structures significantly impacted the natural frequencies and mode shapes.

12

Authors: Abdul Rauf Jamali; Waseem Khan; Ali Dad Chandio; Zubai Anwer; Muhammad Hayat Jokhio

From last epoch till to date, AISI 4340 and AISI 4140 have been widely used in different engineering applications. These applications include bolt, screws, gears, drive shafts, crane shaft and piston rods for engines due to its upright mechanical properties, cost-effective and easily available in market. In present work, deep cryogenic treatment effect on the mechanical properties of AISI 4340 and AISI 4140 have been studied. Present work was carried out at laboratory scale and can be extended for mass production. Our work is simple, straight forward safe and economical. In our work, samples were heat treated in simple muffle furnace and followed by cryogenic treatment in liquid nitrogen. Before cryogenic treatment, all samples were normalized at 860°C to obtain homogenized microstructure. Samples were also compared conventionally heat treatment with quenched in oil quenchant. Experimental results showed that after cryogenic treatment with tempering treatment, one could easily increase the tensile strength, impact toughness and hardness. Advanced optical microscopy (IMM 901) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), FIT Quanta 200 methods have also been deployed to reveal and interpret the internal structure of samples. It was found from microstructure that cryogenic treated sample increases the impact strength, hardness and tensile strength as compared conventional heat treated quenching approaches.

14

Authors: Muhammad Farhan Khan; Syed Muhammad Ghazanfar Monir; Imran Naseem

Zero-watermarking of digital images is a powerful method with respect to transparency in the watermarked image. However, robustness is still a challenging characteristic for researchers. The proposed method of zero-watermarking provides a novel solution for increasing robustness by obtaining resident features of grayscale image that are robust against common signal processing operations. The proposed solution is based on image scanning to produce NDD (NeighboringDistance Difference) profile. This scheme is used to extract image features for generating redundancy binary profile with the help of image scanning and identification of robust image areas for embedding a binary watermark. Redundant areas from binary profile show perceptually insignificant regions of grayscale image according to human visual system. Resident features from robust areas of image are collected to generate the zerowatermarking binary key image using reversible XOR operation. The binary key is used for extraction of binary watermark. Experimental results of the proposed method have been compared with the results of various zero-watermarking schemes as well as traditional watermarking methods and found much better at slightly higher computational cost. The comparison analysis for testing robustness has been carried out against image processing attacks like Gaussian filtering, block average filtering, motion blur filtering, image resizing, image rotation, image compression and cropping. For each attack maximum correlated watermark from the set of recovered watermarks is selected to evaluate the performance of proposed zero-watermarking scheme. It has been recorded that perfect matching is observed between original and extracted watermarks for a number of signal processing attacks.

16

Authors: Cao W.; Bukhari A.A.S.; Aarniovuori L.

EVs (Electric Vehicles) have been rejuvenated over the last decades while the motor drive technologies are still evolving. This paper provides a review of electrical motor drive technologies used in EV applications, with a performance comparison of candidate machines and their drive topologies. EV applications demand high efficiency, high torque density, high reliability, and wide speed range while reducing weight, complexity, total costs and environmental impact. In the literature, DC (Direct Current) motors, IMs (Induction Motors) and PM (Permanent Magnet) motors can be generally found in marketplace whilst RMs (Reluctance Motors) have been researched for some time and are nearing commercial availability. This paper evaluates the performance of these four main types of electrical motor drives for EV propulsion applications using analytical methods. PM motors may offer the best performance in terms of torque density and compactness but the cost is the highest (primarily dominated by rare-earth permanent magnets), limiting their widespread application in mass production EVs. DC motors have their own merits but suffer from limited power density and necessity for maintenance. Induction motor drives are a mature and proven technology. In particular, squirrel-cage IMs are robust, reliable and inexpensive, striking a balance between system cost and complexity, power density and extended speed range. Reluctance motors can provide a good torque density and cost effective EV drive solutions. Their drawbacks can also be overcome by the use of power electronic converters and advanced control strategies. Induction and reluctance motor drives are well suited for cost sensitive mass production EV applications. Looking to the future, increased hybridization may be a way forward in industry which combines attractive features of different electrical machines and control algorithms and still offer much promise in performance and total cost. At last, reliability study on EVs requires historical information and driving patterns, demanding research expertise in eco-sociology, human behaviors as well as human-machine interface.

16

Authors: Tajwali Khan; Ihtzaz Qamar

Optimum characteristic length of the combustion chamber of liquid rocket engine is very important to get higher energy from the liquid propellants. Characteristic length is defined by the time required for complete burning of fuel. Combustion reactions are very fast and combustion is evaporation dependent. This paper proposes fuel droplet evaporation model for liquid propellant rocket engine and discusses the factors which can affect the required size of characteristic length of the combustion chamber based on proposed model. The analysis is performed for low temperature combustion chamber. A computer code based on proposed model is generated, which solve analytical equations to calculate combustion chamber characteristic length under various input conditions. The analysis shows that characteristic length is affected by combustion chamber temperature, pressure, fuel droplet diameter, chamber diameter, mass flow rate of propellants and relative velocity of the droplet in the combustion chamber.

16

Authors: Tania Ali Soomro; Mohsin Ali Soomro; Hummaira Kanwal

Karachi being the first born city of the colonial architecture in Sindh Pakistan has the honour of housing very important and diverse ornamental architectural master pieces. Along with the commercial nucleus; Karachi emerged as a regional educational hub after the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 with several hostel structures and studio apartments. These structures are among the better examples of the pre-colonial and post-colonial architectural influence in the region. Few of them (still surviving) are incorporated in the national list of protected heritage under Sindh Cultural Heritage Preservation Act 1994. This research paper is focused on “the lost importance of the three different hostel (boys’ hostels only) premises in the historic core of the city of Karachi”. Despite possessing similar functions in the past and having the same status of the declared protected heritage at present, each of them has different use and conservation status at present. None of the buildings have endured the original function. This research focuses the reasons of the non-continuation of the original function and the impairments caused to the buildings due to this reason. Methodology followed for the research includes analysis of available archives, physical observation, photographic documentation and interviews with the local inhabitants of the neighbourhood. The results and the findings of this research portray that eroding hostel culture has subjected those structures to slow and painful death of their original purpose. These buildings, once popular in the area, are now fading fast and perhaps will cease to exist in the near future unless the immediate precautionary measures are taken. The main conclusion drawn in this paper is that “it is important to preserve those historic premises as they are of significant historic character that remained associated with a number of key political and social personalities of the region. Moreover, they play a vital role in the general architectural value of the region”.

16

Authors: Abdul Salam Khan

Sustainable production systems require optimal utilization of resources. Raw material acquisition is one of the costly processes in a production system. EOL (End-of-Life) products re-manufacturing through reverse logistics can help in decreasing excessive raw material cost. In this study, we consider production system of closed loop supply chain in which both forward and reverse production systems are active. DOE (Design of Experiments) methodology is incorporated which is a statistical approach adopted in dealing with complex workplace problems. We employ L9 orthogonal array using Taguchi experiment in Minitab 17 and DOE for plotting the results. Dependent variables used in this study are productivity, P (number of forward and reverse products produced per period) and quality accuracy of product (measured in percent deviation from reference standards). A trade-off analysis between the control variables is presented on the basis of SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio). Control variables used in the analysis are tools employed in production system (tu), number of machines being used (m) and dedicated manufacturing cells (dc). We use three levels of analysis for each control factor. Optimum result conditions are calculated using signal to noise ratio with larger-the-better-criteria as well as smaller-the-better criteria and study is concluded with main effects of the mean plots. DOE optimization analysis for productivity suggests combination set of 32, 8, and 6 for tools, machines in use and manufacturing cells, respectively. Similarly, for optimal dimensional accuracy, tools used are 24; number of machines in use is 14 with 3 manufacturing cells. All result indices are accomplished within a confidence interval of 95% with p-values less than 0.05. MILP (Mixed Integer Linear Programming) analysis considers cost function of production and transportation between tools, machines and levels and Taguchi based experimental findings are validated by mathematical optimization findings.

18

Authors: Nida Saddaf khan; Muhammad Sayeed Ghani

The increasing use of social media offers researchers with an opportunity to apply the sentiment analysis techniques over the data collected from social media websites. These techniques promise to provide an insight into the users’ perspectives on many areas. In this research, a sentiment analysis model is proposed based on HMC (Hidden Markov Chains) and K-Means algorithm to predict the collective synchronous state of sentiments for users on social media. HMC are used to find the converged state while K-Means is used to find the representative group of users. For this purpose, we have used data from a well-known social media site, Twitter, which consists of the tweets about a famous political party in Pakistan. The time series sequences of sentiments, of each user are passed on to the system to perform temporal analysis. The clustering with three and four number of clusters are found to be significant giving the representative groups. With three clusters, the representative group constitute of 82% of users and with four clusters, two representative groups are found having 45 and 36% of users. Analyzing these groups helps in finding the most popular behavior of users towards the concerned political party. Moreover, the groups perhaps tend to influence the opinion of other users in the network causing changes in their sentiments towards this party. The experimental results show that the proposed model has the power to distinguish behavior patterns of different individuals in a network.

20

Authors: Javeria Manzoor Shaikh; Khan Muhammad Brohi; Sabeen Qureshi

The built environment of hospital buildings are generally not accepted to be pleasant. In the design of healthcare facility, it is quite important that its design, spatial arrangement and areal distribution must respond to curative needs of people so as the outcome emerge in the form of healing environment in the physical spaces.This kind of healing environment is quite adequately available in the developed countries of the global north. However; in developing countries of the global south like Pakistan, the healing environment in healthcare facilities is neither documented nor evident in any available published literature. Whereas, it needs to be well documented and analyzed. Thus, this study aims to identify the healing environment in two selected hospital buildings in Pakistan that is ICP (Peshawar Institute of Cardiology) and FCP (FC Hospital Peshawar) by determining the percentage of wasted spaces within the building. The selected buildings are analyzed from the following aspects; circulation pattern in the hospital, accessibility, connectivity and barrier free movement within buildings, along with the walkability status of over stressed staff inside the hospital building while navigating, functionality of the schematic designs, the problem of the users concerning repetitiveness in their circulation pattern and the way to increase the efficiency of spaces, their spread and flow in the hospital building. In general, three key factors were investigated in this study, therefore, design determinents, areal distribution and adequate spatial organization. In this regard, total eight design determinants were investigated, i.e. entry, parking, waiting area, connectivity, visibility, walkability, accessibility, and way finding. Study approached the spatial simulation method therefore 3M analysis which is a Japanese model referred as Muda (waste), Muri (over burden), Mura (unevenness) based on the Kaizen theory for eliminating wasted spaces from Hospital buildings. Based on the findings and through the approached tools, the waste spaces within the hospital buildings were removed up to 40%.

6

Authors: Rashdi R., Ali Z., Larik J.R., Jamro L.A., Baig U.

Researchers have shown their interests in establishing miniature flying robots to be utilized for, both, commercial and research applications. This is due to that fact that there appears to be a huge advancement in miniature actuators and sensors which depend on the MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) NEMS (Nano-Electro Mechanical Systems). This research underlines a detailed mathematical model and controller design for a quadcopter. The nonlinear dynamic model of the quadcopter is derived from the Newton-Euler method and Euler Lagrange method. The motion of a quadcopter can be classified into two subsystems: a rotational subsystem (attitude and heading) and translational subsystem (altitude and x and y motion). The rotational system is fully actuated whereas translational subsystem is under actuated. However, a quadcopter is 6 DOF (Degrees of Freedom) under actuated system. The controller design of a quadcopter is difficult due to its complex and highly nonlinear mathematical model where the state variables are strongly coupled and contain under actuated property. Nonlinear controller such as SMC (Sliding Mode Controller) is used to control altitude, yaw, pitch, and roll angles.Simulation results show that the robustness of the SMC design gives a better way to design a controller with autonomous stability flight with good tracking performance and improved accuracy without any chattering effect. The system states are following the desired trajectory as expected.

6

Authors: Ahmad D., Sohail M., Hussain F., Siddiqui H., Yasir M.

Cu2O (Cuprous Oxide) is usually produced using expensive electrodes such as platinum, graphite, etc. In the present study, it is shown that Cu2O nanostructures can be synthesized by electrolysis using copper as both anode and cathode. In the present study, the effect of electrolyte pH on the morphology of the Cu2O nanostructures was studied. For this, the copper electrodes of 99.99% purity with 3x3x0.3 mm dimensions were dipped in the electrolytes of simple distilled and double distilled water and connected with the external power source. The synthesized products were analyzed using SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscope) and UV spectroscope. Results showed that Cu2O nanostructures of 67 and 150 nm size were developed when the pH of electrolyte was 6.4 and 5.7 respectively, otherwise not. From the course of experiments conducted in this work it is noted that pH play vital role in the production of Cu2O nanoparticles using simple electrolysis technique.

8

Authors: Tabbassum K., Talpur S., Narejo S., Laghari N.Z.

Consuming the conventional approaches, processors are incapable to achieve effective energy reduction. In upcoming processors on-chip memory system will be the major restriction. On-chip memories are managed by the software SMCs (Software Managed Chips), and are work with caches (on-chip), where inside a block of caches software can explicitly read as well as write specific or complete memory references, or work separately just like scratchpad memory. In embedded systems Scratch memory is generally used as an addition to caches or as a substitute of cache, but due to their comprehensive ease of programmability cache containing architectures are still to be chosen in numerous applications. In contrast to conventional caches in embedded schemes because of their better energy and silicon range effectiveness SPM (Scratch-Pad Memories) are being progressively used. Power consumption of ported applications can significantly be lower as well as portability of scratchpad architectures will be advanced with the language agnostic software management method which is suggested in this manuscript. To enhance the memory configuration and optimization on relevant architectures based on SPM, the variety of current methods are reviewed for finding the chances of optimizations and usage of new methods as well as their applicability to numerous schemes of memory management are also discussed in this paper.

8

Authors: Anjum N.A., Mehmood S., Anwar W., Sulman Z., Badshah S.

ECAP (Equal Channel Angular Pressing) is a technique used to enhance the strength of material by grain refinement. In this research, an aerospace grade aluminum alloy-6061 is investigated. The specimens were pressed through ECAP die channels, intersecting each other at an angle of 90oC where a shear plane of 45oC was developed, that results grains refinement. Fatigue strengths and CGR (Crack Growth Rate) for the stress ratio R 0.7 and 0.1 are found and compared with the as-received material.It was observed that the CGR is slower at stress ratio R=0.1, as compared to stress ration R=0.7. An electric furnace was embedded with ECAP die to regulate the material flow through this die. The temperature of the die was maintained at 450oC during ECAP pressing and the specimens were also preheated at this temperature using another furnace. The ECAP die consistsof two channels intersecting at 90o provided with safe inner and outer corner radius to avoid scaling.The microstructural observations revealed that the deformation was perfectly plastic. The ECAPed and as-received materials were also characterized by tensile tests, micro-hardness tests, and 3-point bend fatigue tests.

8

Authors: Malookani R.A., Sandilo S.H., Shaikh A.H.

This study investigates a linear homogeneous initial-boundary value problem for a traveling string under linear viscous damping. The string is assumed to be traveling with constant speed, while it is fixed at both ends. Physically, this problem represents the vertical (lateral) vibrations of damped axially moving materials. The axial belt speed is taken to be positive, constant and small in comparison with a wave speed, and the damping is also considered relatively small. A two timescale perturbation method together with the characteristic coordinate’s method will be employed to establish the approximateanalytic solutions. The damped amplitude-response of the system will be computed under specific initial conditions. The obtained results are compared with the finite difference numerical technique for justification. It turned out that the introduced damping has a significant effect on the amplitude-response. Additionally, it is proven that the mode-truncation is applicable for the damped axially traveling string system on a timescale of order ε -1

8

Authors: Mangi S.A., Jamaluddin N.B., Memon S.A., Mohd Haziman Bin Wan Ibrahim

SDC (Sawdust Concrete) was developed in 19th century. It has been well recognized due to its lightweight and cost-effectiveness. Presently, developed countries have created opportunities to use wood waste in the concrete construction to reduce the environmental burden. Although SDC has received little consideration as a lightweight masonry block in building works but it has been intensively investigated in many countries for decades. The aim of this review is to summarize the last five years (2012-2016) research work related to utilization of sawdust in concrete masonry. However, it is important to explore existing ideas and approaches developed by previous researchers as a reference and guidance for the future research. There are lots of opportunities to develop lightweight concrete especially throughutilizing sawdust as a fine aggregate replacement material in concrete. However, this review paper is focusing on utilization of sawdust, as to reduce environmental impacts poses by the waste products of furniture industry and a by-product of wood industry. As a conclusion, this review paper summary the existing important ideas and useful information for the fellow researchers, as to enhance the utilization of sawdust to produce lightweight masonry units. It is recommended that considerable research is required on the sawdust cement blocks, which can deliver more confidence on their utilization as a green building construction material.

10

Authors: Saeed K., Hafeez Y., Ali S., Shahid M.U., Iqbal N.

Many agile software development practices are promoted to improve the quality of software products. In recent years agile software development overlooked the usability features that effected system productivity.Usability is a main feature of interaction. Interaction is a way of a farming relationship between people and designed objects. An interactive model provides the way to band application together to achieve target user’s need. Usability gained attention of researchers and engineers because of its own importance. Agile software methods and usability engineering played a major role for producing better and reliable products, because both of them are concepts of methods as well as practices. The purpose of this research was to highlight the need of usability practices. The proposed model demonstrates that usability heuristics were much compatible with agile methodologies and would help to improve its productivity by reducing time and cost. Action research was applied for the development of framework proposed. The framework was evaluated using case study and further results were compared with existing related work.

10

Authors: Kumar K., Arain M., Channa A.

The water is disinfected through different techniques commonly used at domestic level, including boiling, chlorination, UV (Ultraviolet) disinfection, etc. These methods require extensive amount of chemicals, energy and trained manpower. The solar disinfection of drinking water found as best among all other disinfection techniques as it is easy to apply, economically feasible and environmentally friendly technique. In this study a series of experiments were conducted in order to characterize the bacterial inactivation process contained in FDS (Fabricated Disinfection Setup), consists of a stainless steel tub and glass covering, and TPB (Transparent Plastic Bottles). In this study the role of solar radiation in bacterial inactivation process is compared in transparent plastic bottles and stainless steel tub to determine the performance of both by simulating conditions of turbidity, temperature, and exposure time. The results showed that disinfection of water contained in a stainless steel tub promoted more successful inactivation of total Coliforms reduction about 80% than that of transparent plastic bottles about 70%.

10

Authors: Saleem L., Ulfat I.

Renewable technologies could be utilized to solve the energy crises of world’s sixth most populous country, Pakistan. Being rich in renewable resources of energy, the demand of electricity in household sector of Pakistan can easily be fulfilled which is otherwise scarce and have made the life of common people highly miserable. To formulate proper policies concerning the development of alternate energy sector it is essential to evaluate and prioritize the renewable technologies. In the present paper the aforementioned issue of evaluation and prioritization of renewable technologies has been addressed using AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) with the aim that the financial, technical, societal and environmental aspects are not compromised. Six alternatives (namely solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, ocean and hydel energies) have been prioritized. It has been concluded that to get around the crises of domestic electricity shortfall the choice of solar energy technology is the best among the alternatives highlighted above, followed by wind and biomass. With reference priority of the choice of alternate energy it is also emphasized that the financial aspect must be the decisive factor.

12

Authors: Memon A., Ansari K., Ashraf A., Babar M.M., Soomro A.G.

The present study indicates the potential projected variation of decadal mean rainfall over Kohistan region of Sindh Province, Pakistan. Precipitation variability is a crucial climatic factor that affects human health and their settlements. In this study, the precipitation variability associated with climate change in Kohistan region, Sindh, Pakistan is simulated using the PRECIS regional climate modeling system. The study analyses the precipitation variability in the future for two spells (2021-2050 and 20712099) with respect to the past (1961-1990) climate under the baseline ECHAM5 dataset for A1B Scenario at a resolution of 25x25 km. Based on this analyses, the precipitation scarcity is projected for 2021-2050 and 2071-2099 decades. The projected results showed a serious precipitation variation and shortfall of 12.60, 53.98, and 48.19% during 2031-2040,2041-2050 and 2081-2090 decades respectively as compared to baseline (1961-1990). The analyzed situation would be harmful to the water resources and agricultural production in the region during the shortfall, which imposes the adverse effect on the recharge of groundwater and quality. That might cause of long drought spell in the region. While during the 20212030 decade shown slight influence on the potential of hill torrents and groundwater recharge. However, the results reveal for the period of 2071-2080 and 2091-2099, the extreme floods with 60.50 and 70.50% are projected as compared to baseline 1961-1990. The increasing trend of precipitation indicates additional recharge of fresh groundwater and quality, with increasing level of aquifers, subsequently more agricultural production would be expected with alternate employment opportunities in the water sector. The projected results, indicating the decadal scenarios of the drought and wet spells in the region by the precipitation variation, which may impact on the hill torrents, groundwater and agricultural production, and employment opportunities. These quantitative projections should enable policymakers and stakeholders to plan for future measures.

14

Authors: Mohtashim Q., Rigout M.

The importance of sulphur dyes are realized due to the fact that they offer an economical method of achieving dyeing of good color strength and acceptable fastness on cellulosic substrates. However, the main limitations associated with this class of dye are the lack of availability of bright colors and it’s fading on exposure to laundering with detergent and perborates/peroxides formulations. In order to meet the growing requirements of customers regarding the higher wash fastness, garment traders are in turn demanding their suppliers to achieve these properties against single and multiple washes. In this study, sulphur black 1 dyed cotton fabric has been aftertreated with Fixapret CP, Bayprotect Cl and CC (Choline Chloride) with various sequential combinations to improve the wash fastnesss of the dyed fabric against the aggressive ISO-1O5 CO9 washing system. Sequential application of Bayprotect Cl followed by CC was found to offer a significant improvement causing a 12% reduction in percentage colour loss relating to the untreated fabric, which was comparable to the independent application of Fixapret CP with minimum deleterious effects on the hue, chroma and tensile strength of the fabric.

18

Authors: Khan M.A., Khan U.A., Ali A., Hussain F., Nisar W.

An exponential growth in multimedia applications has led to fast adoption of digital watermarking phenomena to protect the copyright information and authentication of digital contents. A novel spatial domain symmetric color image robust watermarking scheme based on chaos is presented in this research. The watermark is generated using chaotic logistic map and optimized to improve inherent properties and to achieve robustness. The embedding is performed at 3 LSBs (Least Significant Bits) of all the three color components of the host image. The sensitivity of the chaotic watermark along with redundant embedding approach makes the entire watermarking scheme highly robust, secure and imperceptible. In this paper, various image quality analysis metrics such as homogeneity, contrast, entropy, PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio), UIQI (Universal Image Quality Index) and SSIM (Structural Similarity Index Measures) are measures to analyze proposed scheme. The proposed technique shows superior results against UIQI. Further, the watermark image with proposed scheme is tested against various image-processing attacks. The robustness of watermarked image against attacks such as cropping, filtering, adding random noises and JPEG compression, rotation, blurring, darken etc. is analyzed. The Proposed scheme shows strong results that are justified in this paper. The proposed scheme is symmetric; therefore, reversible process at extraction entails successful extraction of embedded watermark.

30

Authors: Hanif H., Ahsan A.

To attain project success in R&D (Research & Development) public sector environment, the aspects of an organizational structure play a vital role in the successful implementation of R&D projects. Nevertheless, not meeting proposed timelines and inadequate management of schedules of R&D projects is the intrinsic hurdle in R&D projects. However, the study gauging the impact of organizational structure on the schedule management of R&D projects has never been discussed before. Therefore, this study aims to gauge the effectiveness of organizational structure and schedule management dimensions upon each other by employing predictive modelling technique i.e. ANN (Artificial Neural Network). This study is based on a quantitative approach and the model followed is non-linear regression. A simple random sampling technique is used to collect data from 285 respondents (in two rounds) from various R&D public sector set-ups. The robustness and homogeneity of data is checked by carrying out F and Ttests. Subsequently, data is pre-processed; ANN model is trained and validated by choosing appropriate tuning parameters and quantitative performance measures like RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) and MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error) are analyzed. The results clearly indicated that formalization, decentralization and authority of managers are strongly correlated; differentiation, specialization, coordination mechanism, departmentalization are positively but weakly correlated with some subconstructs and centralization also constitutes positive but weakly correlated among all. The results also imply that decentralized organizational structures are more preferable than centralized structures for the execution of R&D projects when proposed timelines are to be met timely.

6

Authors: Mukesh Kumar, Muhammad Moazam Baloch, Muhammad Ishaque Abro, Sikandar Ali Memon, Ali Dad Chandio

Aluminum alloys have been attracted by several engineering sectors due to their excellent strength weight ratio and corrosion resistant properties. These are categorized into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7and 8xxx on the basis of alloying elements. Among these 6xxx series contains aluminum–magnesium–silicon as alloying elements and are widely used in extruded products and automotive body panels. The major advantages of these alloys are good corrosion resistance, medium strength, low cost, age hardening response no yield point phenomenon and Ludering. 6xxx series alloys generally have lower formability than other aluminum alloys which restrict their utilization for wide applications. Keeping in view of the shortcomings in the set of mechanical properties of 6xxx series the efforts were made to improve the tensile strength and toughness properties through age hardening. In present study heat treatment cycles were studied for 6061 aluminum alloy. Three different age hardening temperatures 160, 200 and 240oC were selected. The obtained results showed that 17.26, 7.69, and 10.51% improvement in tensile strength, toughness and hardness respectively was achieved with solution treatment at 380oC followed by an aging 240oC. Microstructural study revealed that substantial improvements in the mechanical properties of 6061 aluminum alloy under heat treatment were achieved due to precipitation of Mg2Si secondary phase.

8

Authors: Sanjha Khan, Bilal Athar

The aim of this research is to develop a decentralized communication system of multiple robots which have capability to communicate and coordinate with each other, by which all robots work individually while keeping connectivity among them. Decentralized communication between robots is the main part of this project. This type of communication shows great potential in many aspects. A decentralized system is the combination of both intelligent and decision making inspired from nature. To meet this object two identical robots are developed which successfully communicate with each other to complete an assigned task. A single task is given to both robots; to find specific object/target location. Once the target is found by any of the robot that robot will then communicate with second robot to guide the path of object/target location. Guiding path to the second robot is the challenging task as discussed in this paper. The Robots use Bluetooth devices to calculate and extract the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication)values for communication purpose.Both robots work together as a team. By working in communicated way their time is reduced to achieve the task and create synergy. Any task could be easily attained in team work than by the work of the single individual robot.

10

Authors: Samiullah Sohu, Abdul Fattah Chandio, Kaleem ullah

The problem of delay in construction industry is a regular phenomenon worldwide, and construction industry of Pakistan has no exception, particularly in highways projects. Delay can be described as the extension of time to complete the construction project. The aim of this paper is to identify main causes of delays in highway projects of Pakistan, and to determine mitigating measures for the identified causes. The research method of this study is based on literature review, questionnaire survey and semi structured interview. From in-depth literature review, twenty-six common causes of delay were found. A questionnaire survey was carried out among construction professionals of highway projects. The causes of delay in highways projects were ranked referring to their Mean values. A semi structured interview was carried out to determine mitigation measures for the top ten causes of delays. The data gathered from questionnaire survey was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) while, data collected through semi structured interviews was analyzed using Nvivo software. The findings of this study are expected to be useful for construction parties, to mitigate the delays in highway construction projects of Pakistan.

12

Authors: Sajid Mehmood, Faheem Butt

This study investigated the effects of steel fibers on the fresh and hardened properties, and heat of hydration of concrete containing FA (Fly Ash). A total of 192 samples were cast comprising cubes, cylinders, and prisms, for six concrete mixes with varying contents of steel fibers by volume and a fixed content of FA i.e. 15% by weight of cement. The semi adiabatic setup was used to monitor temperature rise due to the heat of hydration in the concrete mixes for fourteen days. The use of FA increased workability, and decreased early compressive strength, tensile strength and heat of hydration of concrete. However, an increase in the compressive strength of FA concrete was observed by the addition of steel fibers up to 0.9% whereas a consistent increase in the splitting tensile strength and modulus of rupture was observed with the addition of the steel fibers from 0.4-1.8%. Further the test results showed that increasing steel fibers content decrease the evolution of heat due to hydration. It was concluded that the FA concrete with steel fibers can be used in precast industry and mass construction projects due to the improved mechanical properties and lower heat of hydration.

12

Authors: Majeed Ahmed, Syed Anwar Ali Zaidi

The intent of study is to establish a criterion for the experimental setup of rasterstereography, one that is more efficient, simple, accurate and precise to examine and analyse the curvature of the object or the subject. Firstly, the setup is needed to be calibrated and for this purpose we considered a reference plane, eleven cylinders of different diameter ranging from 30-119mm were used for calibration of curvature maps of cylinders and cylindrical objects through the regression line. Further this model was tested on subjects and for that we reckoned cylindrical body parts of boys and a total of 30 college students were involved as subjects in this process. The body parts to be measured had curvature like cylinders of different diameters ranging from 42-120mm. The distortion of raster grid was observed, quantified and recorded with the help of different tools and results were established. The regression line was obtained between the measured (x) and computed (y). The standard error of the cylindrical object was 0.04 and that of cylindrical body parts of subjects was 0.0407. This technique was validated through the coefficient of correlation for objects and subjects which was found to be 0.99982 and 0.999141 respectively. Accuracy and Precision were also calculated for this model, which were 99.60% accurate and 99.49% precise. Curvature maps were found more than 99%. This technique is inexpensive, reliable, reproducible and may be installed easily in hospitals to examine appraise body shape, composition and deformities of young men

12

Authors: Bismah Hasan, Kamran Raza

Slotted circular printed layered patch antenna is designed, simulated and fabricated for 5G (Fifth Generation) wireless communication applications. The antenna consists of slots in the main radiating circular patch element for miniaturizing the size of the radiating element and providing dual band radiation characteristics. The feed line is separated on bottom substrate layer with EBG (Electromagnetic Band-Gap) embedded for enhancing the gain characteristics of the antenna. Superstrate layer is also used for improving the gain of the antenna where the distance from the radiating antenna element is optimized for maximizing the impedance bandwidth and radiation characteristics. The feed realization and impedance matching of the radiating slotted circular patch antenna is done by inducing slot at the middle ground plane of the slot embedded circular patch antenna system. The proposed configuration provides power radiation gain values of more than 5 dB for the Ka band of communications, whereas the impedance bandwidth of the antenna is verified for the dual resonances at 27.5 and 28.5 GHz. Dual band radiation characteristics are attained by embedding and optimizing the slot length and width in the circular patch radiator element that is placed on the upper face of the substrate RT Rogers Duroid 5880 layer. The length of the microstrip feed line embedded in the lower layer of the substrate is optimized for providing required bandwidth characteristics for the dual frequency point radiations. The antenna configuration is designed, modeled and simulated in CST (Central Standard Time) Microwave studio. The antenna is fabricated and measured vs simulated frequency response, gain patterns and current density plots are presented for the verification of antenna operation in the desired frequency bands.

14

Authors: Azka Maqsood, Imran Touqir, Adil Masood Siddiqui, Maham Haider

Wavelet based image processing techniques do not strictly follow the conventional probabilistic models that are unrealistic for real world images. However, the key features of joint probability distributions of wavelet coefficients are well captured by HMT (Hidden Markov Tree) model. This paper presents the HMT model based technique consisting of Wavelet based Multiresolution analysis to enhance the results in image processing applications such as compression, classification and denoising. The proposed technique is applied to colored video sequences by implementing the algorithm on each video frame independently. A 2D (Two Dimensional) DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) is used which is implemented on popular HMT model used in the framework of Expectation-Maximization algorithm. The proposed technique can properly exploit the temporal dependencies of wavelet coefficients and their non-Gaussian performance as opposed to existing wavelet based denoising techniques which consider the wavelet coefficients to be jointly Gaussian or independent. Denoised frames are obtained by processing the wavelet coefficients inversely. Comparison of proposed method with the existing techniques based on CPSNR (Coloured Peak Signal to Noise Ratio), PCC (Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient) and MSSIM (Mean Structural Similarity Index) has been carried out in detail.The proposed denoising method reveals improved results in terms of quantitative and qualitative analysis for both additive and multiplicative noise and retains nearly all the structural contents of a video frame

14

Authors: Kashif Rehman, Aftab Ahmed

The insufficiency of energy resources, increased cost of generation and rising load demand necessitate optimized economic dispatch. The real world ED (Economic Dispatch) is highly non-convex, nonlinear and discontinuous problem with different equality and inequality constraints. In this research paper, a novel hybrid MFO-SQP (Moth Flame Optimization with Sequential Quadratic Programming) is proposed to solve the ED problem. The MFO is stochastic searching algorithm minimizes by random search and SQP is definite in nature that refines the local search in vicinity of local minima. Proposed technique has been implemented on 6, 15 and 40 units test system with different constraints like valve point loading effect, transmission loss, prohibited zones, generator capacity limits and power balance. Results, obtained from proposed technique are compared with those of the techniques reported in the literature, are proven better in terms of fuel cost and convergence.

16

Authors: Sarwat Iqbal, Sanaullah, Kamran Ahsan, Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Azhar Hussain

Collection and delivery of laundry is an important process in the laundry business. The laundry businesses have adopted diverse models such as over the counter collection/delivery, online booking etc. The laundries are collected or delivered from customers’ doorstep or from customers’ desired location at a convenient time. In this paper, business process re-engineering concept has been incorporated to improve the collection and delivery process of laundry using RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) tagging and Automated Laundry Collection Drop Box. The Devil’s Quadrangle has been used as a tool for evaluation. The proposed model will result in reduction in cost, time and improvement in service quality. It ultimately results in customers’ loyalty, economic efficiency and gain of a competitive advantage over competitor. Other advantages for laundry business include automatic collection and delivery, enhanced customer convenience, enhanced flexibility and industry economic savings, enhanced customer satisfaction and decreased labor work. In the proposed automated laundry collection model, reputed laundry businesses will make a consortium and outsource collection and delivery process to a courier company. Different collection and delivery options are proposed in the model.

16

Authors: Muhammad Yousaf Ali Khan, Ehtasham Mustafa, Aamir Nawaz, Nasir Saleem, Usman Illahi

Autonomous navigation of the vehicles or robots is very challenging and useful task used by many scientists and researchers these days. By keeping this fact in mind, an algorithm for autonomous navigation of mobile robot in outdoor environment is proposed. This navigation track consists of colored border containing obstacles and some unplanned surfaces along with some specific points for GPS (Global Positioning System) alarms. The main goal is to avoid colored border and obstacles. For the vision problem webcam is used. First the colored border is detected by using OpenCV library by following HSI (Hue Saturation Intensity)technique. The Canny edge algorithm is used to find both edges of the border, then for detecting straight lines on both sides of track, Hough transformation is used. Finally, the closest border line is detected and its center point is calculated for which the mobile robot has to steer to avoid it. Second step is to avoid the obstacles, which is done by LRF (Laser Range Finder), first the range of LRF is defined, because not all obstacles have to be avoided, only those obstacles are detected and avoided which are in specified range as defined before, and finally GPS receiver is used to make alarms at some specific points. As a result, a successful navigation of the mobile robot in the outdoor environment is implemented.