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In general, inspection routine at power plant industry can be significantly improved by implementing integrated inspection system of which offer various advantages in term of ease of use, reliability, safety, cost and efficiency. Our research center have developed few inspection robots namely MK-01 and LS-01 to inspect boiler header inner surface condition. The robots is specifically designed for inspection of inner surface of boiler header. However, the robots are not suitable for boiler tube inspection due to the size constraint. Later, much smaller robots with magnetic wheels namely ND-01 and ND-02 are developed for boiler tube inspection. In this paper, the design and development of integrated modular borescope guide with acquisition and localization system is presented. The modular borescope guides are able to transverse in 28mm tube with straight, wavy or bended tube arrangement. The guides use spring as passive support and wall press element to overcome buckling effect. The user can manipulate the robot movement and visually inspect the inner tube surface via developed GUI. The embedded localisation system enable the user to pinpoint the exact location of defects inside the boiler tubes. Inspection aspects include checking for cracks, inspecting the coating layer on the inner surface, welded joints, inlet and outlet tubes etc. The testing result on comparing actual distance and distance measured by the encoder shows 0.9% accuracy, of which considered reasonable for the application.

This paper describes the development of nylon-based artificial muscles that is intended to be used in prosthetic limb for young amputees. Prosthetic limbs are very expensive and this situation is further compounded for young amputees who are very quickly out-grow their prosthesis. The proposed artificial muscles are made of nylon fishing strings from various size such as 0.45mm, 0.55mm, 0.65mm and 1.00mm. These fishing strings were twisted into coils to create Super Coiled Polymers (SCP) and tested using hot air blower. These artificial muscles react counterintuitively, where when it is exposed to heat, contracts, and when cooled, expands. Peltier devices, when switched-on acts as heat pump, where one side is hot and the other is cold. This phenomenon, when affixed in between 2 SCP’s, creates tandem motion similar to triceps and biceps. As initial study, the hot side of the Peltier module was tested using these artificial muscles. The string was measured for both its force production, length contraction, ...

Student who intends to pursue bachelor engineering program at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) must undergo a one-year foundation program. For mechanical (ME) and electrical (EE) engineering students, Physics courses are among the main subjects that they need to take during their foundation study. Physic 1 generally focuses more on mechanical topics, while Physics 2 focuses more on electrical topics. This paper describes the study that was carried out in the engineering foundation programs at UNITEN to see the performance of two different students' groups (ME and EE) taking the same subject. The results from the past four years were analysed. It was found that, for Physics 1, there is no significant different between mechanical engineering and electrical students (t(636)=−1.044, p=.297 >0.05). Similarly for Physics 2, no significant different was also found ((596)=−1.929, p=.054 >0.05). This finding provides a new insight on and ongoing process to improve the teaching and learning approach for Physic courses.

This paper describes the work done in developing a simple low-cost system for tracking upper human limb motion system with relatively satisfactory accuracy and repeatability. The system mainly uses two inertial measurements units (IMU)-based sensor, connected to an Arduino Uno microcontroller, which are plugged to a personal computer (PC). An open source 3D visualization code is used to display the result motion. A prototype was built, which cost less than USD 50, and tested. The results from yaw, pitch and roll values show that the range of error percentage is between 0.17 to 6.24% with a relatively repeatable pattern.

In the past five years, researchers have improvised the existing in-pipe inspection robots by developing hybrid locomotion by combining two or more propulsion mechanism in achieving robust but yet flexible robot platform. In this paper, several hybrid robots have been reviewed and categorized according to their implemented locomotion system. The hybrid locomotion systems are caterpillar wall-pressed type, wheeled wall-pressed type and wheeled wall-pressing screw type. Each hybrid locomotion system is developed according to distinct design requirements for specific environment and might be not suitable for other application. The aim of this review is to highlight the current innovation of in-pipe robot for inspection. Based on the study, wall pressed type is the most popular main locomotion system in in-pipe robot development. Most of the prototypes are able to travel into branches with the same diameter as the pipe. Integration of caterpillar wheel gives more advantage in preventing motion singularity problem while surpassing branches. On the other hand, wheeled wall-pressed type provides advantage in high speed mobility. Wheeled wall pressing screw type gives the best navigation in curved pipe. None of these inventions show their ability in navigating bigger pipe to smaller branches.

This thesis reports the process of design and development of a low cost small sized in-pipe inspection robot. Problem of a pipe inspection operation surfaces when the robot only has a limited coverage of the inner surfaces of the pipe. Moreover, current solutions are largely sized and are not appropriate for smaller sized pipelines. Feasibility study completed produced a set of design requirements to be met for the final design to be able to operate inside a pipeline with inner diameter ranging from 80 mm to 180 mm. The use of magnets was decided as an adhesion system to allow the robot a full range of motion inside the pipe. Technical analyses were completed in parallel with the design work to ensure the design remains up-to-date in case there are changes in the off-the-shelf components used. A prototype of the final design was fabricated. Tests completed successfully demonstrated the robot traversing vertically and upside down on ferromagnetic surfaces, further proving the feasibility of the motor selection analysis. Moreover, the final design prototype managed to successfully satisfy the main objective of the project by being able to fit in a pipe environment with inner diameter ranging from 80 mm to 180 mm.

This paper presents the algorithms for controlling the torque of a DC motor via a motor driver. Controlling the torque of the DC motor is achieved via PWM variations. The core of the project lies in the capability of the algorithm to regulate PWM to the motor by sensing the average current flow. This algorithm, when implemented on a DC motor that is coupled to a gripping actuator will enable the actuator to have torque control to grasp an object. Torque control algorithm in a gripping actuator will allow sufficient force to be exerted to the object grasped without damaging the object. Apart from that, this algorithm will also protect the hardware of the actuator to ensure it is operating within the continuous current rating of the motor and driver. This is possible by taking in the magnitude of the current drawn by the load as the feedback to the system and set appropriate action to protect the system from damage when a certain setpoint of current is reached. In implementing the project, several algorithms were tested to achieve the torque control algorithm requirement including on-off algorithm, P algorithm, PI algorithm, PD algorithm and PID algorithm. Using the same hardware configuration, the different algorithms produced different outcomes on the output of the controller. The output of the controller is monitored on a computer via serial communication. The serial communication over the USB port on the computer is done by utilizing the Processing programming language and integrated development environment (IDE). This software will enable the output of the controller to be mapped on the computer monitor to provide a real-time graphical view of the output values to the user. These graphical outputs of the controller was evaluated based on the response time, degree of overshooting, and steady-state error to determine the most optimal method of control to be implemented in torque control scheme. The advantage of this method is the minimal cost incurred and the system built does not involve complex feedback system. The application of this system for now is limited to controlling motors connected directly to the load (gripper) without passing through any gear conversions.

This paper discusses the design of an RS-485 interface for Boiler Header Inspection Robot (BHIR) prototype. BHIR is a robot developed for inspection of boiler headers in thermal power plants which are enclosed pipes and can range from 3 to 20 meters in length. They are horizontal in configuration and have boiler tubes inlets and outlets. The current prototype is tether based and requires cables up to 20 meters. RS-485 interface is presented in this paper which is used to develop a communication link between PC-based control (GUI interface) with the BHIR Prototype on-board controller. Since RS-485 is reliable and stable in monitoring and controlling system, BHIR Prototype can work effectively throughout the length of the boiler header.

Offline boiler header inspection is a tedious process if done manually since the opening is very small to insert big instruments and tools while the length can range up to 20 m. The geometry can also be complex since boiler tubes are connected to these headers from different directions. Designing of robots to assist in offline boiler header inspections can be made easier if a simulator is available for deciding the parameters of the robot. This paper describes the development of a 3D boiler header pipe environment template for boiler header inspection robot (BHIR) using Webots. The purpose is to use it as a simulator for the development of BHIR prototypes. Firstly, 3D boiler header pipe environment is constructed by using Pro Engineer (Pro\E). Next, Virtual Reality Modeling Language or VRML97 is used to convert file from Pro\E world file to Webots world file. Finally, simulations are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the developed 3D boiler header environment template. Results show the advantages of having the simulator for modeling and designing of BHIR prototypes.

Usage of robotic technology in power industry applications is gaining a lot of interest. Current method of using borescope for inspection by Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the main electricity utility company in Malaysia has several limitations. The usage and development of inspection robot should be expanded to overcome the limitations. Thus, this paper presents the design and development of a small boiler tube inspection robot that is capable of operating in boiler tube with nominal diameter of 1 inch and capable to move in 90° elbow tube. The developed prototype consists of two modules; one for the camera to perform visual inspection and one for the locomotion. Magnetic wheels are adopted to allow vertical movement inside the pipes. Analysis had been done before fabrication and assembly. The final dimensions for the developed inspection robot are 70mm in length, 15mm in height 21mm in width. The total weight of inspection robot is 18g. Different types of tests have been conducted to test the developed prototype. The results obtained show that the inspection robot is fully functional and met the objectives. The prototype is able to move horizontally and vertically steadily. It is also capable to move in 90° elbow tube. More flexible wiring and locking system for magnetic wheel should be developed for future improvements.

Most children with cerebral palsy (CP) have difficulties in standing and walking. They would normally require assistive device to help in standing and walking. This paper describes the process that was carried out to design a wearable brace for the lower limb. This brace is intended to provide support during standing and walking for ambulant CP children. Design requirements were drawn up by conducting surveys and interviews with parents, CP child caregivers, and CP children. Safety is very crucial for the device, where special care is made to ensure it would not pose any hazard to the children and also the caregivers. Based on these information and the anthropometric measurements, the device has been designed and analyzed using 3D CAD software. From the analysis, the device shown to function as expected.

The periodical inspection of boiler header and tube is considered important to avoid power plant shutdown due to failures caused by degradation, creep, corrosion, thermo-mechanical loading and others. The boiler header inspection robots developed by our research center, namely “MK-02” and “LS-01”, are only able to inspect the boiler header but unable to travel in and examine the boiler tube condition. This paper introduces a boiler tube inspection robot with magnetic wheeled which is able to inspect the inner surface of 45 mm ferromagnetic tube. The detailed design and analysis of Boiler Tube Inspection Robot “ND-01”are presented. The experimental results proved that the proposed system was able to work efficiently. With further research, the proposed design is expected to improve the inspection of boiler tube or small pipe efficiency.

Boiler header is the backbone of piping system inside thermal power plant which is used to tie multiple steam mains to one boiler. It is important to check the header for any signs of defects. This paper presents an image based approach to detect cracks and corrosions inside a boiler header using LabVIEW software. After an image of the boiler header inner wall is captured, thresholding technique is applied to manage background variation of the acquired image. Then, the boundaries of the corroded area are identified by using edge detection algorithm. The last step is to apply particle analysis for parameters measurement. Experiments are carried out on a 360° view of a cross-section of a boiler header for inspecting the surface defects of the boiler headers. The result from the experiment shows a reasonable success rate of correctly identifying corrosion inside the header.

This paper presents the development of a small and simple dual robot system for pipe inspection activity. The objective is to propose small and simple dual robot in navigating perpendicular entry with sudden change in pipe diameter. Sudden change in diameter is referred to the drastic difference in size of the entry (80 mm in diameter) and the pipe (250 mm in diameter and above). The robot consists of two rectangular-shaped modules linked with a connector. The size of the body is 38 mm (width) × 55 mm (length) × 44 mm (height). Each module is driven by two micro metal gear motors. It uses caterpillar base for locomotion to provide larger surface contact to the pipe wall. The 2 degree-of-freedom (DoF) connector allows the robot to bend in pitch and yaw axes without any drive force required. Preliminary test result shows its ability to navigate through the expected geometry.

This paper discusses the development and actual site testing of an inspection robot designed for boiler header inspections in thermal power plants in Malaysia owned by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). The purpose of boiler headers are to tie up multiple boiler tubes together. Boiler headers are enclosed cylindrical pipes made of carbon steel, horizontal in nature, can range up to 25 m (from TNB database). These boiler headers are highly pressurized and high in temperature during operation, where the pressure goes up to a few bars and the temperature ranges between 500°C until 800°C. Due to the severe working conditions, these boiler headers are exposed to threats of possible failure due to corrosion, pitting and cracks. During outage, after acquiring approval from Department of Safety and Health (DOSH), a small cut is made on the entry point and a boiler header inspection robot (BHIR) is then deployed into the boiler header, carrying a fiber optic camera. BHIR is developed to visually inspect the inner wall of boiler headers and check for signs of failures. This paper discusses the limitations and requirements of the robot, the prototype and also the procedures for actual site testing. Lastly, the site testing results is explained.

This paper reviewed several previous papers on work that have been done on the development of in-pipe inspection robot for the last 20 years. By sorting the types of the inspection robots they can be divided into several groups according to their locomotion. Each prototype has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on its design requirements and purpose of inspection. The prototypes have been tested in several experiments in order to verify its functionality and efficiency of inspection task. Some of the researchers ran simulations to validate the kinematic and modeling the mechanism of their own prototype. Developing in-pipe inspection robot can overcome the issues of human factor in labour intensive or dangerous work and also to act in inaccessible environment during repair and maintaining inside the pipeline.

Robotik telah menjadi satu subjek yang biasa ditawarkan dalam kebanyakan institusi pengajian tinggi di negara ini. Walaupun terdapat banyak robot–robot yang boleh dibeli di pasaran, kebanyakannya adalah untuk kegunaan perindustrian dan berkos tinggi. Terdapat keperluan untuk menghasilkan robot berkos rendah untuk kegunaan mahasiswa dan mahasiswi di institusi pengajian tinggi negara dalam mempelajari elemen–elemen robotik seperti reka bentuk, kinematik, dinamik, penderiaan dan kawalan. Kertas kerja ini membentangkan proses merekacipta dan membangunkan satu robot SCARA dengan 4 darjah kebebasan berkos rendah yang boleh digunakan untuk tujuan pembelajaran, penyelidikan dan juga pameran. Kertas kerja ini membincangkan kaedah yang digunakan dalam reka bentuk dan pembangunan robot SCARA termasuk definisi spesifikasi, reka bentuk konseptual, pembangunan produk, dan uji kaji. Dalam fasa definisi spesifikasi, parameter robot SCARA akan ditetapkan terlebih dahulu. Selepas itu, reka bentuk konseptual terbaik akan dipilih selepas membuat penilaian terhadap semua konsepkonsep dalam fasa reka bentuk konseptual. Kemudian, dalam fasa penghasilan produk, reka bentuk yang terpilih akan disempurnakan lagi. Kemudian, analisis tegasan menggunakan analisis unsur terhingga akan dijalankan sebelum prototaip dihasilkan. Kinematik langsung dan songsang, dinamik robot kemudiannya dikaji. Komponen–komponen akan dipilih berdasarkan parameter–parameter hasil analisa dan pengiraan. Komponen elektronik seperti pengesan dan pengawal menggunakan pengawal mikro kos rendah kemudiannya dipasang. Akhirnya, robot SCARA yang dihasilkan akan diuji untuk melihat sama ada ia menepati sasaran parameter–parameter yang telah ditetapkan. Kata kunci: Robot SCARA; RRPR; kinematik dan dinamik; robot Robotics have become a common course in a lot of higher institutions. Although there are many robots available in the market, most of them are for industrial purposes and are costly. There is a need to develop low cost robots for students in higher institutions to learn the elements of robotics such as design, kinematics, dynamics, sensing and control.The aim of this project is to design and develop a mechanical structure of a SCARA robot that can perform certain tasks for educational, research and exhibition purposes such as pick and place operation. The paper discusses the steps used in design and development of a 4 degree of freedom (DOF) SCARA robot which includes specification definition, conceptual design, product development, and testing. In specification definition phase, the specifications of the SCARA robot are first determined. After that, the best conceptual design of the SCARA robot is chosen after making concept evaluation in the conceptual design phase. Then, in third phase which is the product generation, the chosen design of the SCARA robot is fine–tuned. Stress analysis using finite element analysis is carried out before a prototype is developed. The direct and inverse kinematics, dynamics of the robot are then modeled. Off shelf parts are also selected based on the derived parameters from calculations. Electronic parts such as sensors and dedicated controller using low cost microcontroller are then developed. Finally, the developed SCARA robot is tested to see whether it fits the targeted specifications. Key words: SCARA robot; RRPR; kinematics and dynamics; educational robotics; microcontroller

The department of Mechanical Engineering in Universiti Tenaga Nasional decided to test and implement a new Final Year Project title selection system because of perceived weaknesses in the existing system which employs a first come first served mechanism to allocate titles to students. The new system, dubbed the Preference Based system, uses a computer algorithm to allocate titles to students based on students' submissions of their 10 most preferred titles in order of preference. Three algorithms were developed for this allocation purpose, and they were evaluated by calculation and comparison of the costs of their selection. The Network Flow Optimization algorithm, which was able to produce a selection with the lowest cost, was selected and used to allocate titles for students from Semester 1 of the 2009/2010 academic year. The algorithm was able to ensure that each student got one of their 10 preferred titles and 78.5% of the students got titles that were ranked in their top 3. A survey carried out after the selection exercise confirmed the students' satisfaction and preference of the new system over the previous first come first served system.

Evaluation of the attainment or achievement of Programme Outcomes (PO) is one of the essential parts in Outcome-Based Education (OBE) system. Direct and indirect assessment methods may be used in evaluating the achievement of PO. Direct assessment method normally uses data from final exams, test, quizzes, assignments or projects for the evaluation. Other methods that are used include course survey, peer review, lecturers' observation and industry survey. This paper discusses the strategy that the Mechanical Engineering Department employed to evaluate the PO for its Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering Programme. Initially the department only use direct measurement method to evaluate the programme outcomes. Upon receiving feedback from several constituencies, the department decided to revise and come up with a new strategy to evaluate the programme outcomes. In this strategy, only the courses that would contribute significantly to the PO are selected. Suitable measurement tools are identified and the attainment targets or the performance criteria are set. The relevant data is then collected, analysed and compared to the attainment target. If the target value is not attained, suggestions for improvement will be made and implemented. This method is expected to give a more reflective and accurate result while reducing the need to carry out too much data collection and analysis.

This paper describes the continuous quality improvement (CQI) process plan that was developed and implemented by the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DME), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia for its Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering Programme. The plan is part of the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) system that is required by the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) of Malaysia. DME has implemented OBE approach in the programme for the past 3 years. Throughout the implementation process, the Department has developed ongoing assessment and CQI plan to measure the outcomes and improve the teaching and learning process. This plan, which was first implemented at the end of 2006, has generally shown a positive trend in the teaching and learning process in the programme. This paper also discusses the assessment tools that are used in the continuous quality improvement (CQI) plan. Assessment is one of the important parts in the CQI plan. Direct and indirect measurement methods are used to gather the data which are to be analysed to measure the outcome attainment. The attainment results are used to identify the areas that need to be improved. The assessment plan has been continuously improved to be more effective in measuring the achievement of the OBE implementation in the department.

Power transmission line is used for power distribution purposes due to their cost effective measure compared to underlying cable. However, prolonged exposure to natural weather may cause fatigue stress to the lines as well as induce material failure. Therefore, periodical line inspection is considered uttermost important as a preventive measure to avoid power outage. However, transmission line inspection has always been a high risk and expensive work. Hazardous works that may harm operator as well as routine that requires precise handling can be performed by robots. Various types of robots have been designed and developed for line inspection but only perform well on a straight and continuous line. As these robots encounter an obstacle during the inspection, then the real problem in terms of robot stability and smooth operation arises. In this paper, conceptual design and evaluation for transmission line inspection robot is presented. The inspection robot mobile robot must be able to bypass or avoid obstacles as it travels along the power transmission line.

Inspection of boiler headers is routinely being performed in Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) thermal power plants. It is very important to inspect boiler header from time to time to check for signs of possible failures because they are thick walled and exposed to various operating conditions. The currently used method is to insert a fiber optic camera probe into the boiler header entry manually by human. This work is very tedious and the inspector often has difficulties to acquire full coverage of the inner wall images. Therefore, it is proposed that a robotic system is developed to carry the fibre optic probe into the boiler headers and assist in a more efficient and reliable boiler header inspection. The developed robot prototype must be small enough to enter the header and must also have the capability to traverse the whole length of boiler header while carrying the existing fibre optic probe as well as cater for boiler header with different diameters. LS-01, presented in this paper, is the first boiler header inspection robot prototype developed, equipped with semi-intelligent system and adjustable entry platform, and is capable of traversing inside boiler headers with various tube configurations. It has been tested in accordance with the engineering requirements set by TNB. Testing has shown the potential of the robot to be applied in a real boiler header inspection processes.

This paper reports the design of walkway rig system for gait motion tracking of children with cerebral palsy (CP) at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia. The walkway rig consists of a modular walkway platform, adjustable parallel bar, and overhead gantry with body support harness system. The rig has been designed to support different modes of walking assistance depending on a subject’s walking capability. The modes of walking assistance are body weight support system, parallel bars along walkway, usage of walker, and human assisted. The key feature of this system lies in the flexibility of it to enable more options during gait motion tracking for CP children. System design and stress analysis were done using CAD software. The design is evaluated using virtual mannequins to check the functions and suitability for CP children. The evaluation shows that the proposed system is feasible to be implemented for CP children gait motion tracking.