FUOYE Journal of Engineering and Technology (FUOYEJET - Federal University Oye-Ekiti)
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Mitigation of Ionospheric Scintillation on Global Positioning System (GPS) Using Hamming and Convolutional Coding Techniques
Get PDFThe Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based system that can be used to locate positions anywhere on the earth surface. Any person with a GPS receiver can access the system, and it can be used for application that requires location coordinates. Currently, ionospheric scintillation is the largest error source in GPS. Scintillation causes some effects such as degradation of receiver tracking performance and in extreme cases, total loss of navigation capabilities. Ionospheric scintillation is a problem for satellite communication because it affects the amplitude and phase of radio signals. A decrease in the amplitude of a radio signal reduces its power level which directly affects the signal to noise ratio, thus affecting a base station's ability to detect and receive the signal. Error correction codes techniques are applied in almost all digital systems as they provide better performance for dealing with the unwanted signal (noise). This research work has investigated the performance of hamming and convolutional coding techniques in mitigating error in GPS signal modeled in MATLAB/Simulink by transmitting randomly generated data through a Rayleigh fading channel. The performance metric employed in evaluating the system is Bit Error Rate (BER). The simulation results showed a comparison of the BER performance of the uncoded and coded signals (using Hamming and Convolutional coding techniques)
Electro-Mechanical Based Automated Whiteboard Wiper
Get PDFWhiteboards although not new, form the basis for an effective learning in organisations and the educational sector of technology.The most common technique of erasing a whiteboard is by the use of a whiteboard wiper which is a hand held object manually controlled by the student or teacher. Although the type of material used in wiping the board has evolved, the manual labour is still a constant factor. Technologically, improvements have been achieved in this area where we have the Interactive Whiteboards, However, the cost of acquisition and installation is on the high side for most institutions. The need to save time, funds and effort in schools, offices and various other areas where boards are applied is exceedingly growing and through the use of an automated whiteboard wiper, this can be wholly achieved. In this paper, we design and construct a white board wiper that will completely wipe clean the board after being used with the aid of a push button. The Whiteboard Wiper is a purely electro-mechanical automated whiteboard erasing system, which incorporates a logic gate based control circuit and a mechanical system that will allow for adaptability to various sizes and is reasonably affordable
Evaluation of the Effects of Independent Data Assignment (IDA) Method as a mean of Enhancing the Competence of Nigerian Engineering Students
Get PDFUnderstanding basic principles of engineering by students requires practise by hand calculation of simple problems which is usually accomplished through assignments. This paper reports the results of a method called Independent Data Assignment (IDA) which enables the teacher to generate multi-variables independent data for every student, many times in a teaching period, irrespective of the student population, in such a way that no two students have the same data set for any given assignment, by using the MS-Excel software package. Structural engineering was used as case study. The responses from the questionnaire administered were analysed from which it was found that 91.7% of the students agreed that it helped them in doing independent work and 95% said the method encouraged learning. It can thus be concluded that IDA is an effective tool for effective course delivery, and a model for teachers of courses in engineering with large clas
Determination of Shelf Life of Selected Sachet Water in Ogbomoso, Oyo State Nigeria
Get PDFWater is life and every living thing depends on it for existence. Sachet water has gradually become the most widely consumed liquid in Nigeria with varying qualities. This study investigates the temporal variation in water quality of Sachet water produced in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. Ten (10) brands of sachet water from Ogbomoso South and North Local government area were collected within 24 hours of production and stored at standard room temperature and conditions. Sub-samples were drawn from the stock samples on daily basis for physico-chemical measurements on the water samples Temperature, pH, colour, turbidity, Hardness, Total Alkalinity, Dissolve Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Nitrate values were determined in accordance with World Health Organization (W.H.O) analytical methods. Temperature, pH and Colour values ranged from (28.3 - 30.5) ̊C, (7.96 - 8.80) and (20-70) Hazen, respectively. The Total hardness EC and DO and BOD values varied from (45-105)mg/l, (11 - 184)µs, (2.83 - 12.24)mg/L and (18.2 - 28.4)mg/l, respectively. Shelf life for the selected sachet water in Ogbomoso is 12 weeks from the date of production under laboratory condition with partial exposure to sunlight
Corrosion Of NST60Mn And NST50 Steels Electroplated with Copper in Selected Water Environments
Get PDFSamples of mild carbon (NST50) and medium carbon (NST60Mn) steels were electroplated with copper using acid sulphate bath. Each of the samples was fully immersed into the four media [brine and in some selected water media (rain water, well water, and chlorinated municipal water)] and the corrosion rate (mg/mm2/day) was taken as a measure of degradation at every 2 days interval for 30 days immersion period. By comparison, as-received steel samples have greater levels of corrosion than the copper coated steels in four environments. Cu-coated steel has 3.06x10-3, 6.5x10-4, 5.72x10-4, 3.47x10-4 corrosion rates (mgmm-2day-1) in brine, chlorinated tap water, rainwater, well water respectively
Mud House Failures and Mitigation Options in Bauchi, North East Nigeria
Get PDFThe use of soil materials for sustainable construction in developing countries is a viable alternative to concrete based materials. The advantages include availability of soil (earth) materials, reduction of transportation cost, saved embodied energy, reduced environmental degradation and reduced material cost. Mud house collapse is a common yearly phenomenon in Nigeria. Much of this happens during rainy seasons due to flooding generated by heavy rainfall. Whenever this happened, people were rendered homeless and became Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), with the subsequent hardships and sufferings, and sometimes casualties. Sixty seven mud houses in three locations of Bauchi town, North East of Nigeria were investigated. From observations and returns from structured questionnaires filled by house owners and tenants, about 76% of the houses had failed in form of wall collapses alone. Other data collected included age of houses, composition of wall materials and foundations. Failures were generally severe and widespread for walls of full mud houses, however those plastered with cement/sand mortar had less failure counts. Older mud houses recorded higher failures as against new constructions. Soil samples collected from borrow pits used for the investigated mud houses were tested and their soil type compositions determined in the laboratory. They slightly fell short of the specified proportional limits of clay, silt and sand considered acceptable for construction purposes except stabilized. Sample bricks made from the soils were tested for compressive strength with an average value of 0.81N/mm2 which is far below the 2.5N/mm2 minimum value for sandcrete blocks specified by the Nigerian Standards Organization. Lack of good quality control measures and improper stabilization procedures, among others were considered responsible for the failed resistance to the environmental factors. Cement stabilization and good urban planning are some of the recommendations
Assessment of Medical Waste Management in Private Hospitals
Get PDFRecent happening globally especially in the developing country such as Nigeria has shown that there is need to conduct a survey on medical waste management due to direct or indirect adverse effect on the environment and human health. The medical waste management in private hospitals in Lagos State was assessed. Information on hospitals was collected from Lagos State Ministry of Health, Aluasa. Nine hospitals were visited and questionnaires and schedules were administered on the current status of medical waste management such as hospital generation information, waste amount, separation, collection, temporary storage and training.Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that the total medical wastes were 207.16 Kg/day. Of the total medical wastes produced in studied area in one day, 119.07 Kg consisted of hazardous-infectious wastes, 85.91 Kg municipal wastes and 2.18 Kg sharp wastes. The average generation rate of total medical waste was 1.14 ± 0.2 Kg/bed-day. However, these rates were 0.72 ± 0.01 Kg/bed-day, 0.47 ± 0.01 Kg/bed-day and 0.01 ± 0.002 Kg/bed-day for hazardous-infectious, municipal and sharp wastes respectively. The percentages of hazardous-infectious wastes, municipal wastes and sharp wastes were 60.00%, 39.10% and 0.83% respectively. The hospitals waste management was evaluated poor in terms of separation, collection, transportation, temporary storage and training aspects and good in the treatment aspect
Development of a Multipurpose Solar Dryer
Get PDFIn many parts of the world there is a growing awareness that renewable energy has an important role to play in extending technology to the farmers in developing countries to increase their productivity. Solar thermal technology is rapidly gaining acceptance as an energy saving technology in agriculture application. This article presents the design, construction and performance evaluation of a solar dryer for food preservation. In the dryer, heated air from a separate solar collector is passed through beds of grains. The design of the dryer makes provision for the attachment of additional mirrors on two opposite sides of the solar collection chamber. Overall, the dryer is of simple design, cost effective, and made from affordable available materials and require little or no skills for its fabrication and operation. The results obtained fromtests carried out on the dryer revealed that the temperatures inside the drying chamber and the solar collector were highest when the side mirrors were at 45o to the vertical, giving optimum performance under various experimental conditions
Product Temperature Response of a Locally Developed Extruder to Maize Processing
Get PDFProduct temperature is a very important system parameter as well as an indicator of extrusion process. In this study, the product temperature response of a single screw extruder developed locally was investigated for the extrusion process of the flour and starch of maize. A factorial experiment in completely randomized design was employed to study the effect of extrusion variables: feed moisture (30, 40, 50 %), extruder temperature (40, 70, 100oC) built up by varying the duration of sampling and screw speed (100, 150, 200 rpm) on product temperature. Product temperature increased with increase in duration of operation. A maximum temperature of 150oC was attained in 30 minutes through viscous dissipation Also, the study revealed that the product temperature is strongly related to the extrusion process parameters under study and the proximate composition of samples. Also, Product temperature increased at 100 and 150 rpm but decreased at 200 rpm. The equations relating the various dependent and independent variables were established to predict the extruder’s performance for maize processing. Quadratic coefficients fit the extrusion data very well, better than linear models
Drought Trend Analysis in Kano Using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)
Get PDFThe trend analysis was carried out using non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend test for Kano using a long term 100 years rainfall data. In other to assess the short term, seasonal, annual and long term droughts, the study employed the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 month time scales using the rainfall time series data. The SPI values computed for all the time scales revealed a non significant increasing trend for the entire study period (1911-2010), while period 1911-1995 revealed a significant decreasing trend especially in August, September and October. For comparison between different time periods, the 100 years series was sub-divided into 30 years overlapping time period. Period 1951-1980 and 1961-1990 revealed the highest number of statistically significant downward trend. The Z values from Mann-Kendall test ranges from 4.05 to -2.86, which shows how erratic the rainfall could be in Kano. All the analyzed months for periods 1911-1940, 1971-2000, 1981-2010 and 1941-1970 (except May in 1941-1970) showed a general increasing trend for all the time scales. However, periods 1971-2000 and 1981-2010 showed a significant increasing trend which implies that rainfall over the station is at the increase. The value of the slope ranges between -0.053 and 0.118 for all the time scales. High slope values were more prevalent in the higher time scales