Search

This paper explores the barriers which hamper the utilization and the routinization of product lifecycle management (PLM) practices in manufacturing organizations. The paper aims to confirm the barriers and their rank in order to improve the PLM institutionalization status in firms. Core barriers have been explored in an automotive firm by applying multicriteria decision-making techniques. Further, the significance of these barriers were corroborated with the executives in the broader PLM domain through a t-test. This study confirmes the “lack of advanced IT infrastructure,” “lack of integration and interoperability,” and “training on the PLM systems” as the top three barriers to PLM utilization and routinization in manufacturing firms in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gyrotrons are high-frequency, high-power microwave sources with potential applications in plasma generation, energy generation, spectroscopy, and security. The Department of Science and Technology initiated the development of a 42 GHz, 200 kW, continuous wave (CW) gyrotron for the Indian Tokamak system through a multi-institutional project. The activity is targeted toward indigenous development of India’s first high-power gyrotron. In gyro-devices, frequency of operation is determined by the cyclotron frequency, and thereby the magnetic field. The development of a high-field intensity normal conducting cavity magnet was an imperative step during the testing and integration of the gyrotron tube assembly to achieve the desired beam transmission with a moderate operating cost. A high and spatially homogeneous magnetic field (1.61 T) is required to be established in the beam–wave interaction region by the cavity magnet. The desired magnetic field, as a function of axial distance from the gun to the collector, is governed by the requirements of gun optics, focusing field in the interaction region, and the adiabatic expansion of the beam into the collector. A water cooled electromagnet has been designed to produce the requisite magnetic field in the cavity region over an axial length of 40 mm with field homogeneity better than ±0.35%. Magnet design was optimized to meet the field requirements in the cavity and cathode gun. Magnetic field simulations were carried out in conjunction with the electrostatic field and space charge analysis. This paper presents finite element computations, design optimization, development and testing of a continuous duty iron core electromagnet for a first harmonic interaction mode (TE03) gyrotron cavity. Magnetic, electrical, thermal, and hydraulic design of the electromagnet is discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multi-MW three-level neutral point clamped back-to-back (3L-NPC) power converters, power semiconductor devices are considered as most vulnerable components due to its thermo-mechanical fatigue stress. Particularly, rotor side converter (RSC) in doubly fed induction machine (DFIM) experiences high thermal stress during its operation around synchronous speed. It degrades the performance of power converter and reduces the lifetime availability of the drive. In practice, stabilization of temperature fluctuation across each power semiconductor device improves the efficiency and reliability of power converter. With respect to this prime aim, this paper proposes a carrier-based active thermal control method to regulate temperature fluctuation across power semiconductor devices in a multi-MW (5 x 5 MW) 3L-NPC power converters serving to a 250 MW asynchronous hydro-generating unit. To test the proposed active thermal control method, different operating conditions of a 250 MW DFIM hydro-generating unit (to be commissioned in Tehri pumped storage plant, India) are examined in MATLAB/PLECS environment. The designed active thermal control method effectively regulates mean junction temperature and temperature fluctuation of power semiconductor devices within a safe operating limit. The practical feasibility and adoptability of proposed active thermal control is examined through a 2.2-kW DFIM laboratory prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a novel power system laboratory at Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya (B.V.M.) Engineering College, Gujarat, India, where every experiment was designed, wired and commissioned through senior design projects. The experiments on power system protection are especially unique in terms of their design and implementation and will be highlighted in this paper. They provide a real substation-like operating environment. Through these projects, the students, in addition to getting familiar with the fundamentals of protection, learned how different protection schemes are wired and how they operate in a real power system. For the institute, a quality laboratory was established at a low cost, which is a crucial issue for most colleges in many parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a clustering technique to rank the dominant modes of low frequency oscillations in power systems under model order uncertainty of the signal. The rotational invariance property of the signal subspace is utilized to obtain the modes of oscillations. Rotational invariance of the signal under multiple shifts is considered to obtain the preliminary estimates of the modes. Subsequently, the modes are clustered to obtain the dominant modes that belong to the signal subspace. A signal subspace participation index (SSPI) is used to rank the modes according to their dominance in signal subspace. Thereafter, the convex combination of the preliminary modes, estimated from the multiple shifts of the signal subspace, is used to obtain the final mode estimates. The simulation results are presented for signal generated using the modes obtained from a two-area system. Additionally, the methodology is also tested on field data obtained from the PMU installed at a generating station in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enable a variable-speed operation in existing synchronous-machine-based fixed-speed pumped-storage power plant (PSPP), full-scale power converters are required. But it is not economical in case of large-size PSPP. Furthermore, full-scale power converters lead to increase the complexity of civil construction in case of underground powerhouses. Therefore, a doubly fed induction machine (DFIM) with a slip power rated power converter is an acceptable option for the storage dams with wide variation in water head (for e.g., Tehri Dam, India). In view of the reliability of converters used in such projects, thermal stress across the power semiconductor devices is a major cause for the failure of power converters. It is reported that 55% of failures in electric drives are due to thermal cycling or temperature rise in semiconductor devices. In consideration of this issue, this paper analyses active-thermal-control-based reactive power circulation in a five-channel parallel-connected back-to-back power converter fed 250-MW DFIM system (data collected from a 4 × 250 MW PSPP under construction at Tehri dam, India). The allowable limit of reactive power range is calculated in consideration of an operational strategy to be adopted, and the reactive power among the converters is circulated using the vector control technique. It is concluded that because of reactive power circulation among parallel-connected converters, temperature fluctuation is effectively stabilized. PLECS Blockset in MATLAB/Simulink software is used for this analysis. Experimental validation is carried out through a 2.2-kW scale-down DFIM laboratory prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a category theoretic ontology of Carnatic music. Our goals here are twofold. First, we will demonstrate the power and flexibility of conceptual modeling techniques based on a branch of mathematics called category theory (CT), using the structure of Carnatic music as an example. Second, we describe a platform for collaboration and research sharing in this area. The construction of this platform uses formal methods of CT (colimits) to merge our Carnatic ontology with a generic model of music information retrieval tasks. The latter model allows us to integrate multiple analytical methods, such as hidden Markov models, machine learning algorithms, and other data mining techniques like clustering, bagging, etc., in the analysis of a variety of different musical features. Furthermore, the framework facilitates the storage of musical performances based on the proposed ontology, making them available for additional analysis and integration. The proposed framework is extensible, allowing future work in the area of rāga recognition to build on our results, thereby facilitating collaborative research. Generally speaking, the methods presented here are intended as an exemplar for designing collaborative frameworks supporting reproducibility of computational analysis and simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the U.S. Wide Area Augmentation System, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, and Indian Global Positioning System Aided Geo Augmented Navigation, a near real-time grid-based single-shell model is proposed to correct the ionospheric delay at the user aircrafts. The single-shell model is based on the assumption that the whole ionosphere is compressed at a fixed altitude at 350 km. This assumption may not be appropriate for the Indian region, which falls in the Equatorial Ionospheric Anomaly belt. In this paper, a two-shell model which incorporates two different shells, at 300- and 500-km altitudes, having different weights at different time domains has been implemented. A statistical comparison between single- and two-shell models has been done for all quiet days of year 2005. Based on the results, it is observed that there is at least 60% improvement in the performance of the two-shell model in comparison to the single-shell model for the Indian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human identification and monitoring are critical in many applications, such as surveillance, evacuation planning. Human identification and monitoring are not an easy task in the case of a large and densely populated crowd. However, none of the existing solutions consider seamless localization, identification, and tracking of the crowd for surveillance in both indoor and outdoor environments with significant accuracy. In this paper, we propose a novel and real-time surveillance system (named, SmartISS) which identifies, tracks and monitors individuals’ wireless equipment(s) using their MAC ids. Our trackers/sensing units (PSUs) are the portable entities comprising of Smartphone/Jetson-TK1/PC which are enough to capture users’ devices probe requests and locations. PSUs upload collected traces on the cloud server periodically where cloud server keeps finding the suspicious person(s). To retrieve the updated information, we propose an algorithm (named, LLTR) to select the optimal number of PSUs for finding the latest location(s) of the suspicious person(s). To validate and to show the usability of SmartISS, we develop a real prototype testbed and evaluate it extensively on a real-world dataset of 117,121 traces collected during the technical festival held at IIT Roorkee, India. SmartISS selects PSUs with an average selection accuracy of 95.3 percent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid deployment of information and communications technology (ICT) across the globe has led to a network of high-density computer data centers to store, process and transmit information. These large-scale technology warehouses consume vast amounts of energy for running the compute infrastructure and auxiliary cooling resources. Recent literature [7] has suggested the possibility of globally staggering compute workloads to take advantage of local climatic conditions as a means to reducing cooling energy costs. This paper further explores this premise by performing an in-depth analysis of the environmental and economic burden of managing the thermal infrastructure of a globally connected data center network. The paper examines a case study where the potential energy savings achievable by staggering workloads across arbitrarily chosen data centers in the U.S., India, and Russia are examined. The results show that the environmental benefit of such off-shoring is mostly dependent on the fuel mix of the grid to which the workload is transferred and the energy consumption in each location. Further, we show that dynamic optimization of the thermal workloads based on local weather patterns can reduce the environmental burden by up to 30%. The paper concludes with a detailed economic assessment. For the case study in this paper, we find that such global workload staggering can potentially reduce operational costs by nearly 35%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfires are one of the most destructive disasters on the planet. They also significantly impact the land surface. Satellite data have been widely used to detect the outbreak and monitor the expansion of fire incidents for damage assessment and disaster management. Polar-orbiting satellite data have been used for several decades but data from geostationary satellites, which can provide observations with a high temporal resolution, have received much less attention. This paper utilizes data from FengYun-2G, a Chinese geostationary satellite, to detect wildfires in two selected research regions in January 2016. The detection algorithm systemizes image-based analysis to filter out obvious nonfire pixels and temporal analysis to confirm the true detections. Fire detection is based on comparisons between predicted and observed values. The results show that the proposed method has some advantages compared with the use of polar-orbiting satellite data, including early detection and continuous observation. The validation work is conducted based on the collection 6.1 Global Monthly Fire Location Product generated from fire detections by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors. The average accuracy within the target time is 56%, while the omission error rate is over 78%. In detail, the algorithm has a lower omission error rate in Australia while it fails in detecting most of the fire pixels in India. The dominance of small fire incidents, as well as low spatial resolution greatly limit the detection ability. Many small fires were beyond the ability of Stretched Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (S-VISSR) data when no significant fire characteristics could be captured. Future development of the algorithm will focus on improving the results by enhancing the adaption to different regions, as well as, including multisource data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission currently provides three surface soil moisture products based solely on instrument measurements. The three soil moisture products are: 1) the radiometer-only 36 km gridded; 2) a radiometer-only enhanced product gridded at 9 km; and 3) a high-resolution (3 km) SMAP-Sentinel active–passive product. It is important to validate these released SMAP soil moisture products over various land covers and hydroclimatic domains before they are routinely used in scientific research and applications. This paper evaluates SMAP-based soil moisture products for typical Indian conditions of extreme seasonal variability that leads to changes from very wet to dry soil, especially for the paddy dominated region. The assessment metrics indicate that the enhanced passive-only soil moisture product meets the SMAP accuracy requirement of 0.04 m3/m3 during the nongrowing season (NGS) with unbiased root-mean-square error (ubRMSE) values ranging between 0.025 and 0.036 m3/m3. However, this product underperformed during the paddy growing season (GS) with ubRMSE values ranging between 0.063 and 0.097 m3/m3. In addition, the SMAP-Sentinel active–passive soil moisture product shows satisfactory performance during the NGS (ubRMSE, 0.017–0.051 m3/m3), but during the GS, ubRMSE ranged between 0.089 and 0.104 m3/m3. Use of the vegetation water content climatology and low clay fraction in SMAP baseline algorithm (auxiliary database) that mismatched with the actual values may be the possible source of errors and biases in the SMAP soil moisture products. The reported study provides guidelines for the application of enhanced SMAP soil moisture products in India, especially for the tropical region, and provides information that can be used to improve the retrieval algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, several experimental coastal aquaculture cages have been installed on sites along the Indian coast. Many of them have been commercially successful, while some have faced technical difficulties. The construction of the Indian coastal aquaculture cage is based on ad hoc designs adopted from other countries. The performance of the coastal aquaculture cage shows that there is a need for development of a cage design with a location-specific mooring system to withstand local wave conditions for a longer period in different coastal zones of the country. This requires that designs of the cages suiting Indian conditions be made based on sound engineering principles. To design the cage, the current- and wave-induced tensions in the mooring chain and net twine and the cage motions need to be estimated. In this study, a model cage was fabricated and tested in a towing tank under different waves and towing conditions. The tension on the mooring chain was measured during model experiments along with the towing speed and wave parameter. A prototype coastal aquaculture cage with single point mooring near the coast of Visakhapatnam in South East India was identified for measurement of forces and motions. On the prototype cage, measurements of cage motions, tensions on mooring chain, and net twine and cage orientation were carried out. Characteristics of the cage response, observed in model and prototype experiments, are presented in this paper. The model cage is not a geometrically scaled down version of the prototype cage. The diameter/depth ratios of the model and the prototype are different. The mooring pattern and net twine of the model cage is the same as that of the prototype. The data presented in this paper could be used as a reference for validating the numerical model for simulating the cage forces and motions under wave and current loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring reliable and affordable access to modern energy services, especially for the poorer and deprived section of the population, is a basic requisite for sustainable development. Given that a majority of the energy-deprived population lives in rural regions of developing countries, an effective rural electrification is critical for bridging the rural–urban divide. Building on energy access intervention, implementing productive energy services can influence the next stages of development through livelihood activities, microenterprises, lifestyle energy services, value-added activities, survival irrigation, and so on. Social benefits of access to healthcare, education, and longer productive hours have an equally important impact on sustainable development. In India, for example, 240 million people lack electricity access. While grid extension in India is on the rise through various government programs, specific rural problems of low energy demand, poor rural economy, inaccessible terrain, and low purchasing power can render grid extension expensive and inefficient. Microgrid electricity systems, especially with hybrid renewable energy resources, can be a good alternative for addressing above-mentioned challenges. India enjoys high solar intensity, and the predominantly agrarian rural society has enough biomass resources, abundant cattle dung, forest foliage, and agricultural waste. A solar–biomass hybrid electricity system can solve the problem of intermittency of solar. Such a hybrid electricity system is being implemented in a remote Indian unelectrified village for electricity access, livelihoods, and economic empowerment. In this paper, we report the technoeconomic feasibility and sustainability analysis of this hybrid system. The system consists of 30-kW solar photo voltaic (PV) and 20-kW biomass gasifier modules. Energy demand and resource availability are estimated with inputs from extensive stakeholder discussions and field surveys, and they account for daily and seasonal variations in both supply and end uses and availability and productive hours. The expected temporal electricity demand is estimated for households, community, irrigation, and commercial needs. The technoeconomic feasibility is assessed using hybrid optimization model for electric renewable energy (HOMER). Furthermore, opportunities for the development of productive uses and their expansion through a sustainable business model are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increase penetration of intermittent renewable sources causes reduction and time variation in system inertia, forcing dynamic changes in system coherency status. Besides increased penetration levels, other factors like intermittent generation and change in distribution of renewables also influence the system coherency that needs to be addressed. This paper examines the impact of variability of renewables on system coherency and proposes a coherency identification method based on spectrum similarity approach. The proposed method uses discrete cosine Stockwell transform to derive multiple time-frequency (TF) features that captures pair-wise similarity between synchrophasor frequency signals. Thereafter, mean shift spectral clustering is used to cluster the buses with most homogeneous TF spectrum. The proposed method is validated with renewable generation in the IEEE-39 bus system and a real transmission system of India grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common information model (CIM) in vogue represents transmission and distribution components, and market operations in the perspective of electrical system, as unified modeling language (UML) objects. UML is object centric. CIM can offer interoperability and facilitate model exchange for large systems and is being adopted by many utilities. However, dealing effectively with multiple business processes is the backbone of the restructured power systems. Since CIM lacks chronological process sense, this has to be superimposed on CIM models, which is not easy due to inherent limitations of UML. To overcome this, this paper proposes to utilize business process modeling notation (BPMN) standards as a kind of pre-processor. BPMN is used to represent process centric interoperability requirements as business objects. UML object representation in CIM model is derived subsequently from it. The proposal is illustrated with an application use case—deriving CIM model of day-ahead market (DAM) transaction of distribution company, from its business process representation. Semantic model of DAM transaction using CIM IEC 62325 (Markets) and extensions required are presented with a sample Indian system. DAM models in BPMN and CIM can be utilized to build an efficient software application. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A review of the second annual IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing in Emerging Markets, held last October in Bangalore, India, provides key insights about this important and growing domain. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Conventional power system graphic applications use absolute coordinates approach, in which the objects are positioned with respect to a common origin. This can result in problems of re-adjustment and re-alignment in the network and substation diagrams when editing or merging the graphics. This paper introduces the notion of layouts and proposes a graphics model to facilitate positioning of graphical elements relative to each other in a hierarchy of layouts, thereby making the network diagrams flexible, sharable and extensible. This proposed graphics model, expressed in unified modeling language (UML), is shown to be compatible with the existing common information model (CIM) graphics model IEC 61970-453. Consequently, the need for extension of CIM graphics model is justified and an extension is proposed. Another key feature of the proposed model is configurability. Since the necessary parameters are explicitly modeled, the user only needs to provide configuration information describing the hierarchical connectivity of the substation or the network. The absolute coordinates can be calculated from the configuration and the power system diagrams can be auto-generated. This paper demonstrates the above benefits highlighting the technologies for implementation. Case study on 400-kV 20-substation diagrams of Maharashtra system in India is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To detect landslides by object-based image analysis using criteria based on shape, color, texture, and, in particular, contextual information and process knowledge, candidate segments must be delineated properly. This has proved challenging in the past, since segments are mainly created using spectral and size criteria that are not consistent for landslides. This paper presents an approach to select objectively parameters for a region growing segmentation technique to outline landslides as individual segments and also addresses the scale dependence of landslides and false positives occurring in a natural landscape. Multiple scale parameters were determined using a plateau objective function derived from the spatial autocorrelation and intrasegment variance analysis, allowing for differently sized features to be identified. While a high-resolution Resourcesat-1 Linear Imaging and Self Scanning Sensor IV (5.8 m) multispectral image was used to create segments for landslide recognition, terrain curvature derived from a digital terrain model based on Cartosat-1 (2.5 m) data was used to create segments for subsequent landslide classification. Here, optimal segments were used in a knowledge-based classification approach with the thresholds of diagnostic parameters derived from If-means cluster analysis, to detect landslides of five different types, with an overall recognition accuracy of 76.9%. The approach, when tested in a geomorphologically dissimilar area, recognized landslides with an overall accuracy of 77.7%, without modification to the methodology. The multiscale classification-based segment optimization procedure was also able to reduce the error of commission significantly in comparison to a single-optimal-scale approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sensitivity of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter to soil moisture has been adequately established. However, monitoring of soil moisture over large agricultural areas is still difficult because SAR backseatter is also sensitive to other target properties like surface roughness, crop cover, and soil texture (soil type), along with its strong sensitivity to soil moisture. Hence, to develop a methodology for large-area soil moisture estimation using SAR, it is necessary to incorporate the effects of surface roughness, crop cover, and soil texture in the soil moisture retrieval model. In this paper, a methodology for soil moisture estimation over a large area is developed using a pair of low- and high-incidence-angle RADARSAT-1 SAR data over parts of Agra, Mathura, and Bharatpur districts, India, during March 1999. The methodology requires acquisition of synthetic aperture radar data at low and high incidence angles, such that the soil moisture changes are negligible between the two acquisitions. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the developed methodology, the same was validated over a different area (parts of Saharanpur and Haridwar district.s, India) during March 2005. Both test sites provided the variety of agricultural heterogeneity required for development and validation of the methodology for large-area soil moisture estimation. The proposed methodology offers an approach to incorporate the effects of surface roughness, crop cover, and soil texture in the soil moisture retrieval model from the space platform, without making any assumptions on the distributions of these parameters or without knowing the actual values of these parameters on ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the data from seven wind farms at Muppandal, Tamil Nadu, India, collected for three years from April 2002 to March 2005 for the estimation of energy yield from wind farms. The model is developed with the help of neural network methodology, and it involves three input variables-wind speed, relative humidity, and generation hours-and one output variable, which give the energy output from wind farms. The modeling is done using MATLAB software. The most appropriate neural network configuration after trial and error is found to be 3-5-1 (3 input layer neurons, 5 hidden layer neurons, 1 output layer neuron). The mean square error for the estimated values with respect to the measured data is 7.6 × 10-3. The results demonstrate that this work is an efficient energy yield estimation tool for wind farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an expert system approach to short-term expansion planning (STEP). The rules which drive STEP can be classified into MW, MVAR, and ampacity management rules. MW and ampacity management rules are for alleviating transmission line congestion. Reactive power management is required for voltage control at load busses, conformity to the capacity curve of the generators, and containing the MW losses within acceptable limits. Embedding reactive power management in STEP is a challenging task since ac load flow may not converge in absence of proper reactive power planning and load modeling. Therefore, we also propose enhancements to the fast decoupled load flow algorithm for on-the-fly reactive power management. The enhanced algorithm not only can detect divergent load flow scenarios but also self-correct it by restarting the whole process with greater degree of freedom in reactive power controls. The proposed approach leads to development of an automated tool for STEP which has the capability to work, even with incomplete information. A simple method for evaluating location and requirement of shunt reactor is also proposed. By analysis and comparative evaluation, we show that the proposed system can arrive at a solution which is close to optimal. Results on the Western Regional Grid of India with an approximate load of 28000 MW and 1200 nodes are presented to demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an effective method of congestion management in power systems. Congestions or overloads in transmission network are alleviated by generation rescheduling and/or load shedding of participating generators and loads. The two conflicting objectives 1) alleviation of overload and 2) minimization of cost of operation are optimized to provide pareto-optimal solutions. A multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) method is used to solve this complex nonlinear optimization problem. A realistic frequency and voltage dependent load flow method which considers the voltage and frequency dependence of loads and generator regulation characteristics is used to solve this problem. The proposed algorithm is tested on IEEE 30-bus system, IEEE 118-bus system, and Northern Region Electricity Board, India (NREB) 390-bus system with smooth as well as nonsmooth cost functions due to valve point loading effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megawatt (MW) power flow tracing can assess the extent of network usage by the participants that can be effectively used for multiple objectives like transmission pricing, loss allocation, etc. MW power tracing, a post-facto analysis of power flow solution, is amenable to multiple solutions. This implies multiplicity of solution space of transmission cost and loss allocation problems. The conventional tracing methods enforce a ‘proportionate sharing rule’ to calculate the shares. These shares are sensitive to quantity and distance as against the postage stamp method, which is immune to distance. Any of these methods will result in penalizing a set of constituents, which raises a fairness issue. This is evident from the experiences of developing countries like India. In this paper, a new paradigm is suggested that attempts to capture the best of the two methodologies by exploring multiplicity of the solution space of the tracing problem, within the given constraints. We show that the tracing problem can be formulated as a linear constrained optimization problem. We propose a tracing compliant modified postage stamp allocation method that computes a traceable solution that minimizes overall deviation from the postage stamp allocation. Results on actual data of central transmission utility of Western Regional Grid of India demonstrate the claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel approach for modeling noise-induced annoyance using the fuzzy technique. The fuzzy approach offers a convenient way of representing the relationships between the inputs and outputs of a system in the form of simple IF-THEN rules. Annoyance, in the present model, is considered as a function of noise level, its duration of occurrence, and the socio-economic status of a person. The model has been implemented on the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox of MATLAB, using both Mamdani and Sugeno techniques. The results of the model are applicable to the urban areas of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the 10th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM) organised by the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) which was held in Bangalore, India from July 24-28, 2012. It states that U.S. professor Keith Nelson gave lecture on nanodielectrics while two plenary lectures were given by lecturers Toshikatsu Tanaka and Greg Stone. It also presents several photographs of people who participated in the conference.

The effect of precipitation present in the path of earth-space communication links, in terms of fading of the signal, is well known. The calculation of fade margin required for 99.99% of the time availability of such links requires the knowledge of various location-specific meteorological parameters, amongst which rain height is prominent. This paper presents results from measurements conducted at Amritsar during a single rain event that took place on September 19, 2005, using a zenith-pointing Dicke-type radiometer at 29 GHz in the form of sky noise temperature. The output of the radiometer along with rain rate, derived from colocated tipping-bucket rain gauge, has been used to obtain a formula relating zenith path attenuation and rain rate. Further, the values of zenith path attenuation and rain rate along with specific attenuation coefficients a and b to obtain effective rain height. It was found that rain height cannot be taken as constant as it is dependent on rain rate. The average rain height during the event was estimated to be 3.54 km with root mean square error of 3.0 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of service aging on transformer insulating oil. Samples of 10 working power transformers of 16 to 20 MVA installed at different substations in Punjab, India have been taken. Various properties of transformer insulation oil such as breakdown voltage (BDV), moisture, resistivity, tan delta, interfacial tension and flash point have been measured using different national and international standards. In this paper, the various properties of insulating oil have been graphically presented with service aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a part of refurbishment of Steady-state Superconducting Tokamak-1 (SST-1) at the Institute for Plasma Research, India, all 16 toroidal field (TF) magnets of SST-1 have been individually tested in cold with nominal current in a dedicated experimental cryostat. The magnets were cooled down to 4.5 K using either supercritical or two-phase helium, after which they were charged up to 10 kA of transport current. Precise cryogenic temperature and magnetic field measurements in the experimental configuration were mandatory. Temperatures were required to be accurately measured at several locations in the magnet and hydraulic circuits, whereas the field measurements were carried out at few predefined locations on the magnet case. Highly accurate in-house modular signal conditioning electronics had been developed for low temperature and high magnetic field measurements for such large magnets. This paper describes the scheme of the measurement, precautions taken for enhanced reliability, precautions taken for long-term offset stability in cryogenic environment, and the results of SST-1 TF magnet tests. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The electrical transmission infrastructure worldwide has witnessed severe environmental hazards, accidents and in countries like Columbia and India malicious attacks leading to the sabotage of transmission towers. These events underscore the need to develop new techniques to ensure safe and reliable operation of the transmission infrastructure. This paper deals with an online monitoring technique based on mechanical state estimation of overhead transmission lines subjected to tower tilt. The proposed approach provides a quick assessment of the grid condition at the initial stages of an extreme mechanical event. A computational algorithm based on least squares state estimation is applied to transmission line sag-tension equations developed through a geometric transformation to determine conductor sag levels. The measurements of tower tilt, conductor tension, core temperature, inclination angle of conductor with the horizontal and other transmission line parameters are utilized for the purpose of state estimation. Appropriate warning alarms generated in the case of considerable changes in the sag levels or violation of limits enable operators to take designated actions during the initial stages of the physical disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A calendar of events is presented for Bangalore, India from February 28-March 3, 2010 titled "HPCA 2010, IEEE International Symposium" on High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA), for Long Beach, California from March 1-6, 2010, "ICDE 2010," International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), for Giza, Egypt from March 28-30, "INFOS 2010, IEEE International Conference," on Informatics and Systems.

The undergraduate program of electronics and communication engineering at the Chitkara Institute of Engineering and Technology (CIET), Punjab, India, has a course named Analog Electronics in its fourth semester. The usual approach has been to divide the course into lectures, tutorials, and practicals. The lecture plan is prepared beforehand by the faculty and the course duration in 16-18 weeks. The drawbacks to this usual approach have been many, the primary ones being the lack of attention given to the missing application and design part. As an alternative to the traditional method, problem-based learning (PBL) was introduced and practiced in Analog Electronics. While the mode of external evaluation remains the same-that of the university holding end-of-semester theory and practical examinations-a unique strategy has been worked out which integrates PBL and the traditional approach of Lecture, Tutorial, and Practical (L/T/P) classes. This paper describes this new approach, the design of problems to cover the subject matter, the preparation of students for PBL, the evaluation strategy, and the feedback that students give in support of PBL. A significant difference was seen between the attitudes of the treatment group (PBL based) and control group (L/T/P based). Additionally, presentation and teamwork skills were also greatly improved in the PBL class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is an extensively consumed beverage worldwide with an expanding market. The major quality attributes of tea are flavor, aroma, color, and strength. Out of these, flavor and aroma are the most important attributes. Human experts called "tea tasters" conventionally evaluate tea quality, and they usually assign scores to samples of tea that are under evaluation on a scale of 1 to 10, depending on the flavor, the aroma, and the taste of the sample. This paper presents a study where, first, the selection of appropriate sensors was carried out based on sensitivity with the major aroma-producing chemicals of black tea. Then, this sensor array was exposed to black tea samples that were collected from the tea gardens in India, and the computational model has been developed based on artificial neural network methods to correlate the measurements with the tea taster's scores. With unknown tea samples, encouraging results have been obtained with a more than 90% classification rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the Indian subcontinent, scintillations are quite frequent and intense and have a longer duration during a peak period of an 11-year solar cycle. This phenomenon quite significantly informs us about the performance of the Global Positioning System (GPS). A special experiment has particularly been conducted to study the effect of scintillations on GPS time. This paper discusses the findings of this experiment. A degradation of timing accuracy of the order of 60 ns has been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a study on the development and the use of a small autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) that automatically follows programmed mission transects, while measuring sensor outputs along the tracks. It discusses the mechanical construction of the ASV, the distributed architecture of controller area network (CAN)-based nodes for science and vehicle payloads, high-speed radio-frequency (RF) communications, the performance of the heading autopilot, global positioning system (GPS)-based guidance algorithm, and the mission programming technique. The field trials of the ASV, performed off the coast of Goa, India, are focused on retrieving the 2-D spatial distribution of surface chlorophyll, which is one of the useful parameters in characterizing the nature of calibration-validation (CALVAL) sites for ocean remote sensing needs. A further benefit of ASVs is that they can be built at a low cost and used in monitoring applications of diverse coastal ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports results on the LAI Retrieval and Validation Experiment (LRVE) that was conducted for two agricultural areas in Central India during the winter season of 2001–2002. The study aimed at relating field measurements of leaf area index (LAI) to spaceborne Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensor-III (LISS-III) data, preparation of site-level LAI maps, and validation of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 1-km LAI global fields. Measurements of field-level LAI, aerosol optical thickness and water vapor were carried out on the day of LISS-III overpasses. Empirical models based on the site-specific LAI-vegetation index relation were developed and used to generate 23-m resolution LAI maps for two sites (Indore and Bhopal) covering 30 km × 30 km. These LAI images were degraded to 1-km spatial resolution and used for validation of the version 3 and 4 MODIS LAI products (MOD15A2). The results indicate a positive correlation (r = 0.78) between LAI derived from LISS-III data and MODIS data. However an overestimate by a factor of 1.6 to 2.5 in the version 3 MODIS product is observed with root mean square error (RMSE) ranging from 0.20 to 1.26. The factor of overestimation reduces significantly by 50% and RMSE by 40% when version 4 MODIS LAI was analyzed. The improvement in accuracy was observed to be associated with the change in algorithm path adopted for retrieving version 3 and 4 MODIS LAI. Analysis of the MODIS land cover product that is an input in the MODIS LAI retrieval algorithm indicated errors in assigning land cover classes for the study sites, which could be one of the sources of error in MODIS LAI product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy policy of the Government of India aims to ensure adequate energy supplies at minimal cost, achieving self-sufficiency in energy supplies and protecting the environment from the adverse impact of using energy resources in an injudicious manner. To achieve its goals, the Indian Government invited the support of the private sectors as before for the development and exploitation of environmentally friendly new and renewable sources of energy. This paper proposes one such technology of generating electricity from municipal solid waste (MSW), to be implemented in Tamilnadu State. To do so, a complete feasibility survey has been conducted with a probable developer and the benefits of this project are compared with the existing wind farm project to attract more investors in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the optimum siting of wind turbine generators in India. Foundation of the analysis methodology in wind turbine generators; Use of Weibull statistical model in computing the capacity factors; Outcome of the Siting Analysis.

This section presents calls for computer-related articles for "Computer" and "IEEE Software" magazines, as well as a calendar of computer-related events, including HICSS 2011, or the Hawaii International Conferences on System Sciences (HICSS) in Honolulu in January and EAIT 2011, the 2nd International Conference on Emerging Applications of Information Technology in Kolkata, India in February 2011.

This section offers news briefs concerning the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as of January 2012. The 20th Asian Test Symposium was held in New Delhi, India, in November 2011. The 13th IEEE Latin American Test Workshop will be held in Quito, Ecuador, in April 2012. The "Test Technology TC Newsletter" is asking for ideas, contributions and information on awards, conferences and workshops.

One of the responses to the fight against climate change by the developing world has been the large-scale adoption of solar energy. The adoption of solar energy in countries like India is propagating mainly through the development of energy producing photovoltaic farms. The realization of solar energy producing sites involves complex decisions and processes in the selection of sites whose knowhow may not rest with all the stakeholders supporting (e.g., banks financing the project) the industry value chain. In this article, we use the region of Bangalore in India as the case study to present how open innovation using satellite imagery can provide the necessary granularity to specifically aid in an independent initial assessment of the solar photovoltaic sites. We utilize the established analytical hierarchy process over the information extracted from open satellite data to calculate an overall site suitability index. The index takes into account the topographical, climatic, and environmental factors. Our results explain how the intervention of satellite imagery-based big data analytics can help in buying the confidence of investors in the solar industry value chain. Our study also demonstrates that open innovation using satellites can act as a platform for social product development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: This study identifies the attributes of complexity that can be incorporated into engineering design problems at first-year undergraduate engineering projects. The findings are compiled as a set of guidelines to aid engineering educators in crafting design problems. Background: Engineering professionals solve complex problems like design problems, troubleshooting problems, system-analysis problems, and decision-making problems. To develop proficiency in solving such problems, accreditation bodies for engineering education mandate the development of knowledge and skills for solving complex problems. The literature presents several attributes of complexity, but it does not clearly state which of these attributes are relevant for first-year engineering problem-solving and incorporate them into the engineering curriculum. Research Question: This study qualitatively investigates the research question, “How to craft engineering design problems with known attributes of complexity for first-year undergraduate engineering education?” Methodology: The study is situated in a project-based learning course offered at first-year engineering at a university in India. It identifies the attributes of complexity in interdisciplinary (mechatronic) design projects (prototypes) through thematic analysis of faculty interviews. Further, this was validated by analyzing the prototypes. Findings: Several themes of complexity emerged; this article presents only two themes: 1) knowledge and 2) skills related to solving the engineering design problem and the types of relationships between the prototype’s functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracked vehicles capable of locomotion in the deep sea are used for manganese nodule mining. This requires specific technical solutions in various respects. Locomotion in the soft sea bed is one of them. For the Crawler to safely maneuver, an automatic drive mode with slip control of the driving tracks is essential. Based on experimental studies at IKS, University of Siegen, slip control for the NIOT-IKS mining machine has been developed and implemented. The experimental setup for the development of the slip control along with the logic of the automatic driving mode is described. The system is critically discussed and the test results and future work are briefly outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many developing countries have emphasis on distributed generation (DG) technology for their generation expansion planning. The planning considerations and judicious choice of attributes are dictated by prevailing conditions. The attributes considered are capital costs, energy not served per annum, and profits from injecting power into the grid at peak load, all of which are important for a developing country. The uncertain futures considered are three possible loading conditions, which can be low, medium and high. Different scenarios (plans) are generated by various combinations of configurations. DGs can be configured as stand-alone mode, hybrid operation, or micro-grid formation with or without grid connection. With the increased complexities in DG planning options along with the multiple attributes to be accounted, more sophisticated techniques other than conventional economic analysis are needed to arrive at correct decisions by decision makers. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used for obtaining relative weights in an objective way. Further, the statistical method like interval-based multi-attribute decision making with tradeoff analysis is used for shortlisting the feasible plans and identifying the most appropriate plan. It is proposed to use the weights obtained from AHP for finding the performance efficiencies in data envelopment analysis (DEA) for evaluating the plans. A new composite utility function is proposed to resolve cases where performance efficiency is insufficient for evaluation in DEA application. The sample system is derived with reference to a rural electrification scheme in India. The assessment of plans is presented and discussed. The comparative strengths and weaknesses of the methods are reported on the basis of the results obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the reuse of open source in commercial firms. Open source software provides organizations with new options for component-based development. As with commercial off-the-shelf software, project developers acquire open source components from a vendor and use them "as is" or with minor modifications. Researchers have proposed several structured, formal, or semiformal selection procedures that suggest various attributes to consider when choosing an open source component. To explore these issues from an empirical perspective, a study was conducted based on structured interviews with project developers in large and medium enterprises in the U.S. and India. The goal was to better understand the practices that successful commercial projects use when they incorporate open source components. Attempt here is not only to report the survey results, but also to develop a best-practice approach to open source development based on empirical analysis. The project sampling is limited, and doesn't represent the whole information technology industry. INSET: Example Applications..

Large-scale deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) is deleterious for distribution system operations. Unplanned installation of EV charging station (EVCS) deteriorates the voltage stability, reliability, and power quality of the distribution system leading to customer discontentment. This article proposes a novel approach for the proper placement of EVCS in a distribution network maintaining the system performance. The design of a test station with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability is outlined in this work. The test station is developed with five charging columns taking into consideration the standards and guidelines outlined in the Government of India EV policy. The charging station is connected to the power grid by a dc bus to which numerous EVs are attached. EVCS placement in the IEEE-33 bus radial distribution system is performed by developing six test scenarios. The test case results substantiate the potency of the reliability-index based approach for allocating EVCS both slow and fast chargers in a distribution network. Further, the maximal threshold value for placing the EVCS in various buses in a distribution system is determined using a novel electric vehicle placement index (EVPI). The novelty of the approach lies in the fact that it can include all operational parameters influenced owing to EV deployment, thereby maintaining the overall system performance without any physical restructuring of the network. The efficacy of the approach and the severity level of EVCS placement are validated for a real-time distribution system in Kerala, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on a study which considered operational performance statistics of all coal-based generating units belonging to the National Thermal Power Corp. of India. Application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate operational inefficiencies; Comparison of results.

Presents information on the ISTAS 2016 conference. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on news and developments concerning the Antenna Measurement Techniques Association (AMTA). The association co-hosted two events in India, the ICRS-2008 in Jodhpur and the AMTA INDIA 2008 in Bangalore. Technical presenters for ICRS-2008 include Eric Walton of the Ohio State University, Donald Bodnar of MI Technologies and Daniel Janse van Rensburg of NSI. The Bangalore conference was organized by AMTA and its sister organization, the Antenna Measurements and Techniques Society (AMTS).

Presents information on various APS Society chapters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]