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The dairy industry in India has more economic importance, therefore need to be taken care by using modern technologies. The milk is transported from various milk collection centers to the dairy processing plant, through the insulated milk tankers. Where milk is tested and checked whether it is spoiled or not. The probability of the milk spoilage will increase during transportation, because of the rise in milk temperature plus the transportation time taken to reach at the dairy. The temperature is important because the rate of growth of harmful bacteria increases with an increase in temperature and that will spoil the milk. Also the transportation time mainly depends on the traffic on the road and the driver's punctuality. If there is no cooling system available on the tanker transportation time is of very much importance. The milk spoilage causes huge economic losses to the dairy and it affects every stakeholder, hence there is a need of a system which will monitored milk tanker during transportation. In this paper, the development of an Internet of Things (IoT) technology based Intelligent Tracking, Early-warning & Management (ITEM) tool is elaborated, which is used to track the route of the tanker and temperature of the milk. This tool also helps to minimize the chances of milk spoilage by sending early warning messages. Moreover, tool will greatly assist to tackle the problems in milk transportation, avoid economic losses and helps for the betterment of the dairy industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for radio spectrum usage is increasing day by day with recent advancements in wireless system. But there is limited amount of spectrum available. So that for solving this problem Cognitive Radio (CR) is used for purpose of the spectrum utilization properly. Basically the Licensed users use the licensed bands but the unlicensed users should always check spectrum with the help of CR technology. The main aim of cognitive radio is to sense the spectrum continuously, Communication during and immediately after a disaster situation is an important component of response and recovery, in that it connects affected people, families, and communities with first responders, support systems, and other family members. Reliable and accessible communication and information systems also are key to a community's resilience. Cognitive Radio utilize immediately after a disaster situation. In this paper, we propose a real-time transmission and reception voice communication for disaster response using a Software Defined Radio (SDR)/cognitive radio (CR) test bed based on Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) and Lab-VIEW, The experimental test comprised of the national instrument (NI) universal software radio peripheral (USRP) 2943 R that is controlled by the LabVIEW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth in consumption of residential sectors has increased concern towards limited energy resources and high electricity pricing. The recent trend has occurred for improvement in energy efficiency through Demand Side Management (DSM) in which intelligent monitoring systems plays a significant role to optimize energy use. In this paper, the consumption of household electrical appliances was studied using centralized Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) with detailed analysis of power consumption. The consumption in residential sector has been increased to a very great extent due to continuous growth in population. A residential load mostly operates at specific time so consumption can be reduced by taking correct measurement feedback from intelligent monitoring system to the consumers to adjust peak and non-peak power usage. The deployment of SCADA system has benefits of more reliable data acquisition system, centralize server, powerful database and informative graphical user interface which not only provide real time data of consumption of each appliance but also create an opportunity to manage power consumption during high demand. The accurate consumption data can be useful to get future demand requirement; this essentially brings economic benefit to residential consumers and to optimize available appliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non-contact fiber-optic fuel level sensor for an automobile fuel tank is demonstrated. The sensor consists of a trifurcated asymmetric configuration of transmitting and receiving fibers. The Fiber-optic sensor has a linear angular range of 13°. The linear range is extended using a bevel gear arrangement to measure full-scale range of liquid in automobile tank. The sensitivity of the developed sensor is 0.1353/°. The sensor is located outside the fuel tank to avoid the flow of current in the fuel tank hence it increases the safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of illumination causes alertness and mental activity. Research has shown that the behavioral aspects of living species are significantly affected by type of illumination, level of intensity and Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT). Continuous Electroencephalograph (EEG) is electrical activity of brain and it is a complex signal, detected with the help of several electrodes on scalp. EEG data consists of low frequency signals and main five different rhythmus - delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. Stimulus brain activity is the Event Related Potential (ERP). EEG and ERP are the main tools to study the role of brain in different activities. Present study examines the effect of intensity of light and CCT of a LED source on the subject with the help of EEGLAB a software tool available for MATLAB toolbox. The signal processing is carried out for time- frequency analysis and independent component analysis (ICA). Experiments are conducted on five different subjects in age group from 25 to 50 years. EEG measurements are carried out in dark scene, and in an enlightened scene with the help of NeXus-10 physiological monitoring system. It is observed that event related potential rises and shows a peculiar pattern when light intensity and CCT change. Subjective response shows that cool white light and neutral white light are more comfortable. Alertness is more in warm white light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality monitoring using the Internet of Things (IoT) based wireless sensor nodes play a significant role in the identification and reporting of quality of water resources and hence can enable detection of water pollution in real-time. Such a system can serve as an early warning system by updating the concerned authorities about the sudden changes in the physicochemical characteristics of water resources leading to critical situations. Advance knowledge of such kind may support initiating suitable measures in time to minimize heavy losses. This research work highlights the design and development of sensor nodes with wireless connectivity to suitable cloud servers, promoting remote data access, analyses, and storage. This project has a social significance since it can create public awareness through the web-based knowledge of water pollution status of any water source, allowing them to know its impact and consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports design, construction and calibration of X-band noise source using Neon gas fluorescent argon gas discharge tube. Neon fluorescent gas discharge tube is mounted axially with 15° angle bored into E-plane of WG-16 X-band rectangular wave-guide. Gas discharge tube excited with trigger and regulated DC power supply of 700/20mA produces steady gas discharge plasma to generate excess noise in microwave X-band (8.2 GHz To 12.4 GHz) region. By measuring generated noise power using comparison method, ENR is calculated. Calibrated gas discharge noise head using Neon gas Fluorescent tube could be used as noise standard for various noise related measurements in X-band microwave electronic circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retro reflective extrinsic Fiber optic sensors (FOS) have been studied, modelled mathematically and analyzed for performance due to its inherent advantages. This paper reports easy pathway to study, analyze and optimize the retroreflective extrinsic type FOS as a software tool 'FOS Explore'. This tool is developed on the basis of generalized mathematical model of FOS using ray tracing technique. Various geometries of sensor can be configured and analyzed it performance parameters. The software, developed using MATLAB, has facility to input different fiber parameters and geometrical parameters to decide the configuration of the sensor. The simulated results are in the form of tabular display, specific plots and cross sectional views of sensor geometry for easy understanding. In addition to basic configuration, this software tool is used to analyze and optimize different architectures as per the performance parameters viz. Sensitivity and linear operating range at specific non linearity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles showing anisotropic structures remains at the forefront due to its wide range of applications such as magnetic recording, catalysis, biomedical applications etc. Morphology of the nanoparticles also contribute notably thus modulating their electronic properties. Here, we have reported the hydrothermal synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles, where iron chloride hexahydrate precursor reacts with reducing agent hydrazine hydrate in presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone surfactant at basic pH thus resulting in formation of rod shaped iron oxide nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were characterized using Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microsopy, X-Ray Diffarction and Attenuated Transmission Reflectance-Infrared Spectroscopy. XRD reveals that, it is the mixture of γ-Fe2O3 maghemite and Fe3O4 magnetite. The length of the iron oxide nanoparticles ranges from 138 nm to 250 nm, whereas width is in the range 38 nm to 50 nm, thus aspect ratio is in the range 3.63 nm to 5.00 nm. Low cost and high yield are some of the striking features of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The best individual stellar parameters of the close visual binary system "HIP 57894" using the synthetic photometric solution based on Al-Wardat's complex method are presented. The best match between the synthetic and observed stellar photometry is presented based on the best entire and individual synthetic spectral energy distributions which are constructed by utilizing Atlas9 model atmospheres and two special subroutines of Al-Wardat's method. From the best synthetic photometric solution, we determine the individual masses and radii as: MA = 1.22 ± 0.18 M⊙, RA = 1.328 ± 0.04 R⊙ and MB = 0.99 ± 0.14 M⊙, RB = 0.975 ± 0.03 R⊙ for the primary and secondary components of the system, respectively. The system depend on the recently published Gaia parallax and the isochrones tracks of the component's system are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sn doped ZnO nanostructured thin films are deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method on glass substrate at 400°C temperature with Sn doping of 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 mol% in ZnO. The thin films are characterized by XRD, SEM, and UV-Visible spectroscopy. For all the films, XRD analysis show the polycrystalline nature with hexagonal wurtzite structure. With the variation of Sn concentration in ZnO thin films, morphology changes from nanowires to nanoflakes. For 10 mol% Sn doped ZnO thin films, nanoflakes morphology is evidently observed. The value of optical gap obtained from UV-Visible spectroscopy shows the decrease in the band gap with Sn doping in ZnO. The band gap decreases from 3.1 eV to 2.94 eV. Improvement in electrical properties with dopant concentrations is observed. Further, the sensitivity of the Sn doped samples investigated towards CO and CO2 gases at room temperature. Sn doped ZnO thin films show higher sensitivity towards CO gas as compared to that of CO2 gas. 10 mol% of Sn doped ZnO thin film show the highest sensitivity towards CO and CO2 gases among all concentrations as well as compared to that of ZnO thin film. The concentration dependent morphological variations are playing important role in sensing mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat exchanger system is one of the important components for many of the non-conventional power-producing system. These heat exchanger systems may be used effectively as absorbing and storing heat from say solar ducts/panels, exchanging the heat for solar assisted refrigeration systems, etc. However, developing a compact and high effective heat exchanger system is a challenge. It has also been seen that the heat transfer will be more for the turbulent flows or flows where mixing dominates with higher heat transfer coefficient values. In this paper, we have developed a small concentric annulus heat exchanger having a helical flow passage. This compact heat exchanger is utilized to replace the electric heat source supplied to the Electrolux refrigerator. The helical flow is produced by providing a helical metal baffle between the two concentric annulus pipes. The working medium through the helixchanger is nanoparticle blended with water. CuO and Al2 O3 are the two popularly nanomaterials are mixed with water and their effectiveness is compared. The discrete phase model (DPM) based numerical simulation of the three-dimensional flow through helixchangers is presented here. The DPM exactly mimics the actual flow scenarios where nanoparticles are injected/blended along with the flowing fluid and expected to provide a realistic solution. The flow-through helixchanger is simulated for various Reynolds numbers and corresponding pressure drop, the average heat transfer coefficient is studied and presented here. Due to added nanomaterial in the working medium, the heat transfer is found to be increased by 25-30% as compared to without nanomaterial blend. Also, there are negligible pressure changes hence indicating the same pump power requirements for pumping. At the last, the results are validated with experimental values and their matching is found good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work In2O3 nanocrystalline powder has been synthesized with cubic structure by simple, cost effective and eco friendly route using Aloe Vera barbadensis Miller species available in our region having orange colour flowers. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and EDAX confirmed that synthesis is viable and complete. The synthesized nano powder was used as functional materials for fabrication of thick films on alumina substrate using standard screen printing technique. The fabricated thick films were fired at temperatures 600,700 and 800°C respectively. The film fired at 700°C shows low resistivity and high response to H2S gas.XRD of powder and films confirmed base centered cubic phase with (222) plane orientation.SEM of powder shows cauliflower like structure. Electrical measurement of film showed n-type semiconductor. Thick films fired at 700°C showed highest sensitivity towards 100 ppm concentration of hydrogen sulphide gas at low temperature 150°C.The sensor exhibits quick response in ∼ 6 second. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To design motor drives for optimal motion control, and to obtain precise Brushless DC motor model, accurate measurement of motor parameters like phase current, speed and torque are required. Speed and current are also required to provide feedback between the BLDC motor and its controller to develop a robust BLDC motor control algorithm. In this paper, phase current, speed and torque measurement technique for Hub BLDC motor is presented to analyze its performance for low power electric vehicle applications. For the phase current measurement, the Hall-Effect current sensor ACS712 is used. The speed of the motor is calculated using an internal hall sensor that is connected to dsPIC33F's input capture pin that generates an interrupt whenever a change in the hall sensor signal value occurs. Further, an experimental setup is established in the laboratory to measure the torque at varying load and to determine the relationship between motor torque, input current, output power, speed and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study nanocrystalline Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film have been synthesized at room temperature by simple arrested precipitation technique (APT) via controlled release of ions from metal complex solution and used as photocathode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell application. The physico-chemical and optoelectronic performance of synthesized Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film have been studied thoroughly. A direct allowed transition with optical band gap 1.73 eV was observed for Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies verified that Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 crystallize in cubic crystal structure. The grain size calculated using Scherre's equation was obtained to be 32 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) studies depicted nanospherical formation. The elemental analysis confirmed the presence of Cu, Sn, S and Se elements in the synthesized thin film. A photoconversion efficiency of bare Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 photocathode was tested using two electrode cell configuration. A PEC efficiency of 0.13 % was obtained using cell configuration glass/FTO/Cu2Sn(S,Se)3/(I-/I3-)/graphite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental smart water distribution network that addresses the hydraulic parameters of water i.e. flow rate and pressure for leak detection. An experimental test rig was developed in CSIR-CEERI lab and data collected from all the sensors is sent to the SCADA software using PLC. Data of infield sensors (i.e. pressure, flow, temperature, and pump frequency) is collected. Detection of leakage is performed by two techniques (i) by monitoring change in pressure, flow rate, temperature trends using SCADA (ii) by using machine learning techniques - Logistic Regression and Support Vector Machine (SVM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the methods available for quality assessment of fruits are destructive. Some non-destructive methods like X-ray, MRI, Fluorescence spectroscopy are very expensive which adds to the selling price of the fruits, hence a cost-effective method to assess the quality of fruits becomes more important. Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an emerging imaging technique that has gained lot of popularity in recent years owing to its non-invasive, low cost and real time monitoring feature. In this paper we have discussed the potential of using EIT for non-destructive testing of fruits. Preliminary studies are carried out to image the inhomogeneities in fruits like watermelon, muskmelon etc. The application for EIT is further extended to detect raw tomatoes among ripe tomatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports a tunable interface electronics for High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) based Field Effect Transistor (FET) sensor. The approach presented in the work can estimate both the 'on resistance' and drain current of the FET sensor while maintaining a constant drain-source voltage (VDS). The interface electronics consist of a full Wilson current mirror with a floating voltage-controlled resistance which is controlled by the output of an integrator forming a closed-loop feedback control. The bias point for the sensor is set by the external voltage, Vbias and the difference between the sensor drain-source voltage, VDS and Vbias is fed to the integrator as an error signal. The output of the integrator, Vc varies the tunable resistance which in turn varies the current in the current mirror branch. This current is mirrored to the sensor branch and continues to vary until the drain-source voltage, VDS matches the applied external bias voltage, Vbias. At this point, the circuit is at the balanced state and the corresponding control voltage, Vc represents the sensor signal. The circuit is evaluated with SPICE simulation and experimentally verified using a prototype PCB. Experimental results revealed that the circuit can work for a range of 200Ω to 2000Ω with an absolute relative error of less than ±1%. The circuit can also be tuned for the desired working range and allows the user to apply external bias potential based on the sensor's requirement. The proposed circuit has great potential as a bio-chemical interface circuit for FET based sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The copper oxide (CuO) nanostructures have been successfully synthesized from copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO4.5H2O) and NaOH as a stabilizing agent using simple hydrothermal chemical route. The prepared samples were characterized using x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-visible spectroscopy. The x-ray diffraction study of CuO nanostructures shows a monoclinic structure with average crystalline size 22 nm as calculated from the Debye-Scherrer's equation. The hydrothermal technique used for the synthesis of CuO plays an important role in the formation of rod-like morphology. Optical study of CuO nanostructure facilitated estimation of bandgap to be 1.3 eV. The humidity sensing properties of CuO nanostructure are studied at a room temperature. The maximum sensitivity response was found to be 82.03 % which was stable and reproducible. The CuO nanostructures were successfully demonstrated as good candidate for humidity sensing application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcrystalline K2Ca2(SO4)3:Eu sample was prepared by the solid-state diffusion method using the precursors K2SO4 and CaSO4 in the molar ratio 1:2. The required quantity of the impurity (0.1 mol %) was doped in the form of EuCl2. The synthesized sample was crushed and sieved to get samples in the particle size range of 100–200 µm. The powder sample was then annealed at 700 °C for 2 h. The samples were made in the form of pellets. These pellets were irradiated with 6 MeV electrons at different fluences, varying from 2.5×1011 to 5×1013e/cm2. The samples were characterized by XRD technique and Thermoluminescence (TL) and Photoluminescence (PL) were studied. Photoluminescence studies of the K2Ca2(SO4)3:Eu microphosphor shows a single excitation band at 322 nm and emission at 425 nm, which could be assigned to Eu2+ emission. 6 MeV electron irradiated K2Ca2(SO4)3:Eu microphosphor shows increase in the PL emission intensity upto an electron fluence of 1×1012 e/cm2 and then decreases with further increase in the fluence. The thermoluminescence property of the synthesized phosphor was studied for 6 MeV electrons as well as 60Co gamma radiations. The thermoluminescence glow curves of K2Ca2(SO4)3:Eu microphosphor exposed to different electron fluences show a single glow peak at around 154 °C along with small hump at around 105 °C. Also, when irradiated with 60Co gamma radiations, it shows single glow peak at 152 °C and small hump at around 108 °C. The TL response curve of K2Ca2(SO4)3:Eu phosphor irradiated with electrons found to be linear in a fluence range from 2.5×1011 to 1×1012 e/cm2 and after which it shows a sub-linear behavior and that of irradiated with gamma dose shows linearity over 1 Gy to 500 Gy after which it starts saturating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural, electronic and optical properties of concentration dependent indium (In) doped ZnO monolayer are studied in the framework of density functional theory. We have considered the various concentration of In (6.25, 12.50 and 18.75 atomic (at.) %) in ZnO monolayer. We have used Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package (VASP) with Projected Augmented Wave (PAW) pseudopotentials and generalized gradient approximation - Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (GGA-PBE) functional. Substitution of Zn with In atom is energetically favorable. The large sized In atom as compared to that of Zn induces the stress in ZnO monolayer. To reduce the stress, In atom protrudes out from the plane of ZnO monolayer. The computational model under DFT calculations with ultrasoft pseudopotential and PBE exchange correlation functional, showed that In atom remains in the plane of ZnO monolayer. Similar behavior is observed with the use of full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW)-GGA approach. The effects of pseudopotential and exchange correlation functional are observed in terms of structural deformation in In-doped ZnO monolayer. It effectively modulates the band structure and optical properties. The computational codes, potentials, and exchange correlation functionals are playing major role in investigating the structural and electronic properties of various nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]