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Electric vehicle realtime monitoring system using machine to machine communication
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 37-38.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Monitoring system design -- 4. Results and future work -- Appendices -- Bibliography.Vehicles are cemented in everyday life with people relaying on cars as a means of transport on a daily basis. Eve though cars are so vital in everyday functioning their data is not collected or utilised. Vehicle monitoring systems provide access to a range of data that enables logistics to be run on the collected data. This is even more prevalent for electronic vehicles as they possess a greater number of metrics that can be monitored and analysed. Due to high costs and increasingly outdated hardware, vehicle monitoring systems are not commonplace in most vehicles. The monitoring system in this thesis was designed to meet system requirements, the most crucial being that the system must be a realtime system as well as a machine to machine communication system. This thesis aims to design and develop a vehicle monitoring system that is more technologically up to date and more cost effective than any vehicle monitoring system commercially available.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xiii, 38 pages colour illustrations
Machining of titanium alloys using WC cutting tools: conventional vs. 3D printed Ti-6AI-4V
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: page 75.1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review -- 3. Experimental procedures -- 4. Results and discussion -- 5. Summary -- 6. Future work -- 7. References -- 8. Appendix.The advancement of material science ed to the introduction of 3D printing metals. One of these metals, titanium, is a material with the best weight to strength ration of any metal. As it is expensive to manufacture, 3D printing aims to create intricate components that would normally be uneconomically viable.3D printing does not yet produce parts with a good quality surface finish, hence requiring machining to get the desired finish. With little information on how to machine the 3D printed material, the thesis sets out to investigate whether the machining parameters typically used for commercial grade are suitable for 3D printed titanium.The project involves lathe machining both commercial grade and SLM 3D printed Ti-6AI-4V and using different cutting tools at different machining parameters to find trends and the most optimal cutting procedure. Electron microscopes (SEM) and compositional analysis (EDS) is used to analyse the specimens to confirm if any diffusion or premature wearing of the carbide occurred.As 3D printed titanium is a much harder material than commercial grade, the coating failed and large built up edges formed on the cutting tools. No diffusion was found on the uncoated cutting tools; the coating on the cutting tool, titanium is the same as the machined metal' it is inconclusive whether diffusion occurred.3D printing requires decades of innovation before it is at a standard where processing is no longer required. Until then machining will remain as a post processing method. Effective machining will introduce the widespread use of 3D printed specimens and minimise the downsides of such manufacturing methods.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (66 pages illustrations
The design of a coughing and sneezing machine
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 51-52.1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review -- 3. Experimental procedures -- 4. Methodology / setup -- 5. Results -- 6. Conclusion -- 7. Future work -- 8. References -- 9. Appendices.Virus transmission is an imminent threat to humans and animals. Influenza primarily spreads from an infected host via means of direct contact, but also airborne mediums such as coughing and sneezing. Currently there is very limited factual and numerical information that exists regarding airborne virus transmission. In this project, a novel machine is designed and constructed to accurately simulate human respiratory actions and physiological variables. Having the ability to accurately and repeatedly simulate human respiratory actions will allow physiological variables such as velocity, viscosity, droplet size and dispersed fluid volume to be analysed for their contribution to virus transmissibility. This thesis paper provides all work involved in designing, constructing and testing the machine prototype. This thesis project will be particularly useful for Macquarie University's industry partner, World Health Organisation.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (64 pages illustrations (some colour)
Machine vision simplified with distance and ranging sensors
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: page 51.1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review -- 3. Project methodology -- 4. Results and analysis -- 5. Time-line -- 6. Conclusions and future work -- Appendix -- References.Machine vision in industry is dominated by 2D cameras. These camera systems are very effective for object tracking, but are labour and skill intensive to implement and require powerful standalone controllers to process the images. 3D and 2D ranging distance sensors provide three-dimensional data which could easily be utilised to perform the same tasks, without the issues of ambient light changes which cripple a 2D camera's ability to function. Currently distance and ranging sensors are marginalised to quality control applications in the machine vision field, focusing on product fill completeness and profile consistency checking. These distance-based sensors have the potential to perform tasks currently done by 2D cameras in industrial vision application, but in a fundamentally different way. The sensors provide an enhanced way of looking at a scene that would be very useful in applications which require identification of shapes and object tracking. Implemented correctly, the ranging and distance sensors should provide better and more flexible performance. The ability for these sensors to detect the actual size and distance of these objects eliminates the need for estimating size and position, which currently requires an experienced programmer to teach the system what it is incapable of learning itself. Furthermore, if programmed correctly, a distance-sensor-based tracking system could be made far easier to implement than traditional cameras and therefore cheaper on labour and more accessible to less experienced users and companies. This thesis project will quantitatively compare the accuracy of multiple industrial distance and ranging sensors on a range of commercial consumer goods. It will also develop a program to automate the tests and feature a quick setup program to explore the viability of end-user self-installation.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xiii, 51 pages colour illustrations
Optical tactile sensor for slip detection of a grasped object
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 56-57.1. Introduction -- 2. Background theory -- 3. Deformation component design -- 4. Infrared sensor -- 5. Mouse sensor -- 6. SG gripper -- 7. Slip detection system -- 8. Conclusions, improvements and future work -- 9. Abbreviations -- Appendix -- Bibliography.Intelligent grasping is required by autonomous robots to lift objects with unknown weight. This requires the gripper robot to have enough grasping force so that the object does not slip out of the gripper, but not too much force, for otherwise the object may be damaged. The development of an optical tactile sensor can be an approach to intelligent grasping for a robotic gripper. Initial results collected showed that using an infrared sensor in a deforming material will provide slip detection for the gripper robot. Combining this tactile sensor with the gripper robot will create a feedback system that can detect slip and adjust gripping strength for intelligent grasping. The low cost and the small size of the tactile sensor offers a cost efficient and adaptable tactile sensor design for an autonomous small gripper robot used to pick and place packages.The aim of this thesis is to improve an existing design and incorporate elements from other successful tactile sensor designs. Various issues are present with the proposed design which are solved. The infrared sensor will be affected by ambient lighting which can be controlled by placing the sensor in a cavity which no external light sources can affect. There is also the issue of choosing a deformable material which is not too soft otherwise it will always deform or too stiff otherwise it will not deform when the object is slipping. The system must also have a fast response time to detect slip in under one second as well as when slippage occurs at 1mm or less. This may be solved by using a mouse sensor which has a high response time in microseconds and can detect changes in position under 1 mm.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xiv, 57 pages illustrations (some colour)
Perfect boundaries in particle separation arrays through automated iterative geometry
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 109-110.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Known model comparison -- 4. Basic MATLAB input and feedback control -- 5. Construction of DLD array -- 6. Results and discussion : proposed DLD array -- 7. Advanced DLD array : introduction, background and results -- 8. Final conclusions -- 9. Abbreviations -- Appendices -- Bibliography.In the past few decades micro-fluidic separation devices have become more prominent in the world of particle and cell separation. Particularly in the last few years such devices have seen an increased spotlight in the public eye with companies like Theranos claiming to have accurate, cheap and portable blood analysis tools. This paper will focus on the micro-fluidic separation technique known as DLD ( deterministic lateral displacement) and attempt to solve a major issue with DLD arrays. The quality of fluid flow through the boundaries of DLD arrays is not ideal, leading to issues with concentrations of particles along these boundaries. A solution was achieved through the use of MATLAB and COMSOL 3.5a, in which two DLD arrays were constructed using previous literature as a basis. These arrays were then modified using a looping set of code which provides feedback into the system based on a number of quality factors which are compared to and approach ideal theoretical values. The adjusted arrays were then compared to the initial arrays and the quantity of flow throughout the arrays was then examined and discussed. This document provides a source of introductory information on DLD, provides a solution to the issue highlighted, and further provides a discussion of the effectiveness of this solution in the rectification of this problem.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xviii, 110 pages colour illustrations
Interactional mind-mindedness: measurement in caregiver-preschooler dyads before and after the Circle of Security 20-week intervention
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 73-89.Chapter 1. Overview -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Method -- Chapter 4. Results -- Chapter 5. Case study -- Chapter 6. Discussion -- References -- Appendices.This study had two related aims: to explore the validity of the interactional mind-mindedness measure for use with caregiver-preschooler dyads in an attachment-activating context; and to investigate whether mind-mindedness changed following the Circle of Security 20-week intervention. This involved measuring interactional mind-mindedness in 55 caregivers of preschool children (reported only once previously) using archived footage of theStrange Situation Procedure (not reported previously). Baseline scores for appropriate mind-related comments were significantly correlated with attachment security, caregiver reflective functioning and positive caregiving representations, and there was a significant negative correlation with attachment disorganisation. While most caregivers did not make non-attuned mind-related comments, the proportions were notably higher than in previous research. Baseline mind-mindedness scores did not differ significantly by demographic variables, but there were significant differences in proportions of appropriate mind-related comments according to psychosocial risk factors.Findings support the validity of the interactional mind-mindedness measure for use with caregivers of preschoolers in an attachment-activating context. They further suggest that mind-mindedness can be a useful construct when exploring the effects of attachment-based interventions. Results of pre-post analyses indicated no significant change in mind-mindedness scores after the intervention for the whole sample, but a significant interaction effect, whereby those with low mind-mindedness prior to the intervention made significant improvements. Results are discussed in relation to implications for the assessment of mind-mindedness in older children, the potential to change mind-mindedness using attachment basedinterventions, and the need for further research to explore whether mind-mindedness may be one pathway through which the Circle of Security intervention may bring about changes in parenting and thereby child attachment.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 112 pages
A theoretical model of guanxi, regional marketisation differences, perceived ethical climate, and organisational deviant behaviour among internal auditors in China
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 73-87.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Background -- Chapter 3. Literature review -- Chapter 4. Theoretical development and hypotheses formation -- Chapter 5. Research methodology -- Chapter 6. Results -- Chapter 7. Conclusions -- References -- Appendices.This paper extends internal auditors’ judgement and decision making (JDM) research by developing and empirically testing a theoretical model that links guanxi and regional marketisation differences to perceived ethical climate and organisational deviant behaviour (ODB) in China. Guanxi is selected because it permeates interpersonal relationships among Chinese people in every aspect of organisational and social life in contemporary China. Therefore, guanxi is an important cultural variable in understanding ethical climate and ODB in China. Guanxi is defined as intricate and pervasive networks whereby individuals are bound by implicit social and psychological contracts to follow norms such as maintaining long-term harmonious relationships, mutual commitment, loyalty, obligation, assurance, and understanding. Specifically, this theoretical model investigates three types of guanxi, namely rent-seeking, favour-seeking, and supervisor–subordinate guanxi as antecedents to perceived ethical climate. This model also incorporates regional marketisation differences as another important antecedent to perceived ethical climate. This study uses a Marketisation Index to measure various degrees of marketisation across three major economic regions, namely the Eastern, Central, and Western Regions of China. The Marketisation Index encompasses indicators measuring effectiveness and efficiency of regional compliance, enforcement, and accountability mechanisms. Moreover, this model includes ODB as an important consequence of perceived ethical climate. Most theoretical models pertaining to ethical climate are developed and empirically tested in Anglo-American countries driven by cultural values of individualism and independence. This study suggests that such models may not be applicable to collectivist and interdependent societies such as China, where dominant cultural values include implicit mutual obligation, reciprocity, and harmony within hierarchy. These dominant cultural values are embedded in guanxi. Internal auditors have been selected because they play a dominant role in enhancing ethical climate, as Chinese regulators place significant importance on internal auditors in designing internal control systems centred around preventing wrongdoing and enhancing ethical practices. Moreover, guanxi poses special challenges to Chinese internal auditors because they hold allegiance to both management and the internal audit profession. Findings from Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) support the theoretical model, which shows the importance of guanxi and regional marketisation differences in understanding ethical climate and mitigating ODB in China. Evidence shows a negative association between rent-seeking guanxi and perceived ethical climate and a positive association between favour-seeking guanxi and perceived ethical climate. In addition, internal auditors working in regions with a higher Marketisation Index perceive ethical climate to be stronger. The results further validate the theoretical model by showing that ethical climate is negatively associated with internal auditors’ ODB. These findings provide holistic insights into linkages among guanxi, regional marketisation differences, perceived ethical climate, and ODB. The findings in this study have a number of implications for global standard-setters, such as Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Chinese regulators, such as China Institute of Internal Audit (CIIA), Chinese firms, multinational enterprises operating in China, and international organisations with Chinese employees. The model shows that a country’s unique contextual factors cannot be ignored in enhancing ethical climate and mitigating ODB.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (ix, 87, [15] pages) diagrams table
Cash, control and commitment: evidence on female empowerment from the National Cash Transfer Program in Pakistan
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 80-84.1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review -- 3. Benazir income support program : an intervention for poverty alleviation and female empowerment -- 4. Methodology -- 5. Results and discussion -- 6. Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Appendix.We use a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the impacts of Pakistan’s National Cash Transfer Program (BISP) on empowerment of its recipient women using nationally representative program evaluation panel data on treatment and control households. As empowerment is a latent variable, it is operationalized using agency and its three domains, including access and control over resources, decision-making and mobility. We find that the recipient women in beneficiary households are making more sole and joint decisions and are more economically active in comparison to women who do not receive BISP, though we were unable to find significant impacts of the program on women’s mobility. On the whole, only modest changes in women’s access and control over resources, participation in decision-making and mobility among beneficiaries were estimated.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (v, 84, ix pages) table
Carbon capture and storage as a stepping-stone to negative emissions: an analysis of the factors impacting fossil energy CCS and the consequences for atmospheric carbon dioxide removal
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 56-75.Chapter 1. Introduction and overview -- Chapter 2. Brief history and current status of FECCS -- Chapter 3. The need for a stepping-stone -- Chapter 4. Economic stakeholdres -- Chapter 5. The prospects for fossil energy CCS -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- Bibliography.Whereas ten years ago Carbon Capture and Storage looked to have a lot of promise, today it may be a climate solution whose time has passed. In 2005 the IPCC had released a Special Report lauding the potential of CCS, major demonstration projects were being initiated and the G8 had announced that it expected CCS to play a major role in combatting climate change. Fast forward to 2016, and demonstration projects have stalled or been cancelled, the G8 has moved on and CCS is conspicuously absent from the Nationally Determined Contributions coming from the December 2015 Paris Climate meeting (COP21).This thesis questions if CCS should be abandoned so quickly. It is increasingly acknowledged that carbon dioxide removal will be required in the second half of the century and that bio-energy CCS is the primary candidate to provide this removal. This thesis argues that without the diffusion of fossil energy CCS over the coming decades, the ability to ramp up bio-energy CCS will be compromised.The factors that may shape the future of fossil energy CCS are analysed from the perspective of relevant stakeholders. It is shown that although feasible, it is not in any individual stakeholder’s interest to invest significant capital to ensure its success. This thesis contends that there is a strong case for further evaluation of CCS incorporating considerations of total cost of mitigation and the likely need for negative emissions.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vi, 75 pages) graphs, table