Fyp List

Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode Conrol of an Inverted Pendulum Dr. Khoo Sui Yang The problem of balancing an inverted pendulum has been a benchmark example in demonstrating and motivating various control design techniques. In this project, students are required to use the nonlinear robust sliding mode control technique to first design the control law to balance an inverted pendulum. However, it is well known that sliding mode control input is non-smooth. To reduce the chattering effects of the non-smooth switching control input, boundary layer control technique could be used in place of the conventional switching control law. Fuzzy logic is then used to tune the thickness of the boundary layer of the control law to guarantee the strong robustness property with respect to system uncertainties and the fast convergence of the system state.

An Accurate Time-lapse Controller for Cameras Dr Royan Ong Time lapse photography allows us to create stunning "videos" of very slow changing situations, such as the growth of a plant. Since many modern digital cameras – especially the single lens reflex (SLR) type – are capable of being externally controlled, they are an inexpensive method to produce very high quality “videos” that rival professional video cameras. The aim for this project is to develop a small microcontroller-based camera controller that could be programmed to capture still images at various intervals. Skills: Microcontroller development, analogue electronics,

Animal Tagging with Wireless Sensor Networks Dr Royan Ong Wireless Sensor Networks are ideally suited to track animals. Apart from recording information such as temperature and activity (motion), tags based on WSNs only require one tagged animal in a herd (assuming social animals) to come within range of a base station to transmit information of most (if not all) tagged animals in a herd. In addition, the interactions between tagged animals are also known, an added benefit for animal interaction studies. This project aims to develop the sensor nodes and base station. Skills: Embedded systems development, wireless design, communication

Application of RFID in hypermarkets Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. RFID tag is essentially a mini-transmitter. It sends out a sequence of radio-frequency pulses representing a unique number. We can use RFID tags to classify items sold in hypermarkets instead of barcodes. Each tag can be associated with a price. With this system, the price of many items in a trolley can be calculated at once without scanning them individually. An RFID tag can be built using metal coil, which acts as an antenna. If it’s passive, it can operate battery-free. The aim of this project is to build an RFID system that has a list of items with RFID tags and prices, and use that to scan and calculate the total price of at least 3 different items at a time. Depending on the successful completion of this part, the concept will be extended to more

items. Skills: Good background knowledge about the operation of RFID tags and readers.

Batteryless UV Exposure Meter Dr Royan Ong Skin cancer is one of the commonest forms of cancer. This project aims to develop a gadget that will give a warning when has recorded over an acceptable daily UV limit. The user should also be able to change this limit. This gadget should be (not surprisingly!) solar-powered, small and cheap to produce. Skills: Microcontroller development, analogue electronics,

Bit Error Injector for Testing Communication Robustness Dr Royan Ong, Ms Vineetha Kalavally Wired and wireless communication must be suitably robust and reliable to withstand electrical and electromagnetic interference in our environment. As we invent new gadgets and gizmos - the majority of which rely on wireless communication - it is vital that the protocols and standards developed to support them can withstand the harshest perceived working environment. This project aims to develop an electronic device that would inject errors into the transmission/reception bit stream. The Bit Error Injector would sit between the transmission/reception source/sink (typically and transceiver, modulating the outgoing/incoming bit stream with an error signal at a rate configurable through a PC. Skills: Microcontroller development, analogue electronics, Windows GUI-based programming (Visual C, Visual Basic, Delphi, etc.).

Construction of a Biped System Dr. Low Sew Ming The project aims to construct a walking biped system. This project consists approximately of 80% hardware and 20% software. Skills: The student should have a liking for hardware work and some mechanical engineering knowledge including mechanical drawing.

Construction of an autonomous aerial object Dr. Low Sew Ming To construct an autonomous aerial object. Three students will be accommondated to work on this project, for each of the three parts of this project. This involves mechanical and electronic construction of the object, electronic control for the object as well as base monitoring/control station. This object should not be one that is found in the toy shop. The respective student should have the required basic knowledge and interest before they engage themselves in this project.

Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent? Networks Dr. Khoo Sui Yang Collective behaviors of large numbers of autonomous individuals have been extensively studied from different points of view. Neighbor-based rules are widely applied in multi-agent coordination, inspired originally by the aggregations of groups of individual agents in nature. The motivation of this project is to expand the conventional observer design for a multi-agent system where an active leader to be followed moves in an unknown velocity. The continuous-

time agent models considered here are second-order, as opposed to those first-order ones. Finitetime control technique is combined with graph theory so as to ensure the achieve of consensus in finite time. In this project, the student is expected to first design the consensus control algorithm and then simulate the algorithm under Matlab environment to support the proposed algorithm. To the end of the project, students will understand the basic concept of Terminal Sliding Mode control, graph theory, and some modeling techniques of mobile robot. Strong mathematical background would be an advantage.

Designing Filter Array for Musical Frequency Analysis and Transcription Dr. Tin Win, Mr. Nader Kamrani Using Fourier Transform or Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) is the usual method to obtain frequency spectra of (audio) signals. The segmentation of the signal and FFT calculation time slow down the process of determining frequencies in the signal. The alternative would be using a band of filters, if the frequencies contain in a time series signal are fixed, such as musical signals from the instruments. This method is faster to record the frequencies and the audio intensity of each note while the music is playing. The frequencies and the intensities at the outputs of the filters could be recorded quickly by multiplexing. Skills: Knowledge in active and passive filters, audio amplifiers, multiplexers, periphery interface controller (PIC), programming in C or C++ would be very helpful in carrying out the project. Understanding music symbols and notes would also be helpful but student may learn music notes reading during the project.

Developing a Futuristic Optical Network for Malaysia Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Optical networks are high-capacity telecommunication networks based on optical technologies and components that provide routing, grooming, and restoration at the wavelength level as well as wavelength-based services. There are algorithms available to dimension these types of network, if we know population density of different cities of a country, Internet penetration rate and the average access rate per user. In this project, we gather information about the population density of various Malaysian cities and Internet penetration rate. We use this information and modify the existing algorithms to develop a futuristic optical network for Malaysia. We already have our own software that can do a similar job for other countries such as Australia. We want to extend these features to Malaysia. The students aiming for an HD should also build optical networks with different traffic grooming schemes for Malaysia and investigate the effect of these schemes on the overall network cost. Skills: Good command of Malay language, good Programming skills, reasonable knowledge about optical networks

Fixed-point interpolation of function Dr. Kuang Ye Chow Radial basis interpolation has wide ranging applications in signal processing and numerical algorithms. This project aims at building a Matlab toolbox for multidimensional function interpolation using radial basis functions. Implementation of the interpolation using fix-point arithmetic enables us to predict the performance of interpolation scheme when the computational resources are limited.

The tasks of this project are: 1. Build tree structure to storedata points 2. Implement existinginterpolation algorithms using fixed-point arithmetic 3. Performance analysis Skills: Matlab programming

Fluid Probe Dr. Royan Ong The study of fluids is extremely important from aerodynamics to zoology. This project aims to develop a neutrally (water) buoyant, miniature probe that would measure the fluid flow (or more accurately, its flow with the fluid) and temperature over a short period in the aim of studying oceanographic currents. The Fluid Probe would be equiped with micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) gyrocopes and accelerometers to record its movement through the fluid. This project could include the intepretation and plotting of the recorded data. Skills: Embedded Systems development, low power electronics, dynamics.

Fuel Efficiency Meter Dr. Royan Ong Fuel prices have recently skyrocketed, and are predicted to increase with the weak US Dollar. As the majority of us depend on our own cars, it is incresingly important to economise our driving. One aspect that can significantly affect fuel consumption is our own driving habits. Hence, this project aims to develop a meter that measures acceleration /decelleration and the amount of fuel used (indirectly) to give the driver an indication of his/her driving efficiency. Skills: Embedded Systems development, physics, signal processing.

Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility Dr. Low Sew Ming and Mr. S. Y. Lee This is an industrial project to be done at Freescale. To perform GRR on one specific product and generate the improvement plan base on the GRR result. Study into test software, hardware, process, equipment and product specific improvement plan. Skills: The student should have a good analytical skills, knowledge in software, hardware, equipment and six sigma

Hand and face tracking for ASLT Dr. Kuang Ye Chow Monash Malaysia is currently engaged in a research on Automatic sign language translator (ASLT). One of the key steps in the translation is to visually identify and tracking the motion of the hands and face. Some work have been done to successfully track the hands and face movements, however there are techniques that will potentially improve the tracking performance under noisy environment, complex background and colour distortion. The tasks of this project are: 1. Explore the techniques toimprove tracking performances. 2. Verify and quantify theperformance of each technique explored. Skills: Matlab programming

Home Security and Climatic Control with Wireless Sensor Networks

Dr Royan Ong Wireless Sensor Networks are ideally suited for domotic (home automation), especially for older homes, as one can implement security and climatic control without needing to reqire the house. This project aims to develop wireless sensor nodes that would measure the environment and transmit the information to a master node, possibly via other sensor nodes, using the MiWi? (or Zigbee) ad-hoc wireless network protocol. Skills: Embedded systems development, wireless design, communication

How to write a quality paper? Dr. Rajendran Parthiban A citation or bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. A citation index is an index of citations between publications, and is used as one measure of the quality of a paper. In general, a recently published paper tends to be cited less than a paper that is published 5-10 years ago. Similarly, a journal paper or a book chapter is cited more than a conference paper. Is there any other ingredient that makes a paper to be cited a lot? If there are more than one ingredient, which ingredient tends to influence more in getting a good citation index? In this project, we use the scholar.google.com resource to look into both papers with a citation index of more than 30 and those with less than 10 to answer the questions mentioned above. Students aiming for a distinction should identify successful ingredients using at least 100 Electrical and Electronic related papers. If they can classify these ingredients for different fields such as Communications, Control and Electronics successfully, then they can get an HD. Skills: love for reading papers, having a flair for identifying ingredients such as depth of mathematics, real life applications etc.

Improved Face Database and Auto-Detection? Algorithm Melanie Ooi Previous work on the database yielded excellent results in obtaining a face database for Malaysian context. This project will expand the previous work by putting the database online. To attract users, an auto-detection algorithm will be implemented and tested out in real-time. Skills: Programming - Student may use whichever programming environment that they are comfortable with.

Incoherently Pumped Raman Amplifiers Ms Vineetha Kalavally This project involves the study and analysis of gain and noise in incoherently pumped Raman amplifiers. Raman amplifiers are a class of optical amplifiers which are replacements for electronic amplifiers in the past in an optical communication network. As this technology matures, we look at different ways to optimize its performance and make it suitable for modern broadband applications. The major milestones in this project 1. Understand and be able to improvise on work done on Raman amplifier modeling thus far 2. Research on incoherently pumped Raman amplifiers 3. Include incoherent pumping into the existing Raman amplifier model

4. Forward design solutions for incoherently pumped Raman amplification 5. Compare cost of this method versus other traditional methods Skills: Willingness to learn from easily available resources. A basic understanding of optical communication theory and programming ability (MATLAB and C++) will be an advantage. Student will be required to use numerical and analytical techniques for modeling the physical phenomena.

Internet-based feedback control of helicopter systems Prof Man Zhihong A final year student is required to do the project of the internet-based feedback control of helicopter systems with uncertain dynamics. The nonlinear system dynamics of a helicopter system is studied and system parameter uncertainties are identified. A feedback controller is then designed to drive a helicopter system to asymptotically follow the designed trajectory. Also the closed-loop stability should be guaranteed under the condition that a large transmission delay exists. The project includes both the theoretical analysis and the real-time computer control design.

Laser Power Controller for TDM Pump Lasers Dr. Tin Win, Ms. Vineetha Kalavally Time-Division-Multiplexed? Pumping is a method in exploration to get the flattened gain curve and optical signal-to-noise ratio profile in Raman Fibre Amplifiers. Depending on the wavelength range (total bandwidth of interest) to cover in flattening the gain curve, two to four pump laser sources are used. To turn the pump lasers in an ordered sequence and periodically, a constant current laser power controller with adjustable pump periods and pump frequencies is required. Skills: Good knowledge in electronic hardware and electronic design, PIC and programming in C or C++ would be very helpful. Knowledge in lasers and Raman FiberAmplifier? would be good to understand the required laser power controller.

Mains Monitor Dr. Royan Ong It is commonly believed that mains powered and rechargable electrical/electronics equipment failures are due to the user and/or equipment itself. What about the effects of the mains power supply? How often is the power supply itself the culprit due to poor regulation? This project aims to develop a non-intrusive, low-power, long-term data logger to record (with timestamp) voltage spikes, dips and frequency deviations. The Mains Monitor should raise an alert if one of the unwanted conditions occur. As far as possible, the Mains Monitor should be inductively mains powered. Skills: Embedded Systems development, low power electronics.

Memory Management for Large Simulation Models in MATLAB Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Physical Memory in a standard computer is a limited resource that needs to be managed carefully. Failure to do so will result in memory overflow and spectacular system crashes. This is one of the biggest bottlenecks in performing large simulations using MATLAB in a standard computer. MATLAB stores all of the simulation data in the memory, which eventually limits the

depth and breadth of simulation experiments. As a solution, we proposed the idea of transferring simulation data to the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) such that memory is free to continue the simulation activities. This idea has been tested for 1-D arrays successfully. In this project, we are looking forward to extend the current research to a new level while addressing certain problems encounter during initial experiments. This includes, 1. Integrating multi-dimension arrays 2. Improving random storing/reading algorithms 3. Optimizing all algorithms to achieve minimum latency 4. Improving user-experience Skills: High programming skills in MATLAB (knowledge in C/C++ are a plus0, good knowledge in topics covered in ECE 2701/2071, ECE 4705/4075, enthusiastic in programming, testing and debugging, innovative ideas on optimizing algorithms and ability implement/test them.

Micromouse Dr Royan Ong This project aims to build a maze solving robot (the Micromouse!). The maze is made up of 16 by 16 cells, each measuring 180mm by 180mm. The white walls of the maze are 50mm high, 12mm thick. The base of the maze is painted black. This project is open to a maximum of 2 students. The goal is to build upon the robots developed by previous students to solve the maze in the quickest time. Four students attempted the Micromouse project in S2 2007 but were unable to create a final version that would solve the maze. This project aims to continue and improve their work to develop a smaller micromouse that would successfully solve the maze. Up to two students can take this project (each developing their own micromouse). Skills: Microcontroller development, analogue electronics, mechanical, control theory, a good imagination.

Optimal Placement of Amplifiers and Regenerators in Optical Networks Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Optical networks are high-capacity telecommunication networks based on optical technologies and components that provide routing, grooming, and restoration at the wavelength level as well as wavelength-based services. Signals through the optical networks become attenuated as they travel through fiber, and must be periodically regenerated. Amplifiers are used to re-amplify the power of these signals, and regenerators are used to reshape, re-time and retransmit the signals. These signals may have to be monitored regularly to check their bit-error-rate performance. In the first stage of this project, we do a case-study on how amplifiers and regenerators are currently placed in optical backbone network architectures. In the second stage, we implement the algorithms in in-house developed software. Finally, we develop an algorithm to place these network elements in order to minimize the overall network cost. The students aiming for an HD should complete this final stage successfully. Skills: Good programming skills, reasonable knowledge about optical networks.

Optimising radial basis function interpolation Dr. Kuang Ye Chow Radial basis function interpolation is a very useful tool in practical computations. One of the latest uses of the interpolation is so called “meshless methods” to solve partial differential equations in the place of traditional finite element methods. However it is well known that the approximation accuracy will reach its limit very quickly when adeterministic algorithm is used. The tasks of this project are: 1. Reproduce a hierarchical approximation scheme (well-documented) using deterministic algorithm. 2. Modify the algorithm in part 1 so that the approximation can be optimised by particle swarm algorithm. Skills: Matlab programming, love for algorithms!

Multi-surface Sliding Mode Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Dr. Khoo Sui Yang The well known difficulty with the control of UAVs is that they have six degrees-of-freedom and only four control inputs. The controller design could be made easy when the degrees-of-freedom is equal to the number of control inputs. Using the multi-surface sliding mode control (MSSC), the system state can be treated as a virtual controller, hence simplified the controller design. In this project, students will first model the UAV and then design the nonlinear control law based on the MSSC approach. The final control algorithm will be simulated under MATLAB environment to support the proposed control scheme.

Noise in TDM pumped Raman Amplifiers Ms Vineetha Kalavally This project involves the study and analysis of Noise in Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) pumping of Raman amplifiers. Raman amplifiers are a class of optical amplifiers which are replacements for electronic amplifiers in the past in an optical communication network. TDM is a pumping method proposed to eliminate pump-to-pump interactions and this project will conduct a detailed study of noise in such Raman amplified systems The major milestones in this project 1. Understand and be able to improvise on work done on Raman amplifier modeling thus far 2. Research on TDM pumped Raman amplifiers. 3. Identifying and analyzing sources of noise in TDM pumped Raman amplifiers 4. Forward optimized design for TDM pumped Raman amplifiers 5. Compare cost of this method versus other traditional methods Skills: Willingness to learn from easily available resources. A basic understanding of optical communication theory and programming ability (MATLAB and C++) will be an advantage. Student will be required to use numerical and analytical techniques for modeling the physical phenomena.

Processor-less Wireless Sensor Network Node

Dr. Royan Ong Most, if not all, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) slave nodes to date are based on some form of processor, typically a microcontroller. This project aims to replace the microcontroller with an FPGA to greatly increase the flexibility, integration and reprogrammability of the WSN nodes as well as reduce its size and (hopefully) power consumption. The WSN node could contain a "soft" processor for flexibility, but the processing of communication and signal filtering (these require significant processing) should be done in hardware. Skills: FPGA and Embedded Systems development.

RF Uni-dimensional Ranging Dr. Royan Ong The main hurdle preventing the widespread implementation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is the cost associated with deploying the WSN nodes at known locations, especially in environmentally hostile and/or mobile environments. Although GPS and inertial navigation systems could be used for position location, they are unsuitable for the majority of WSN implementations due to their high power consumption. This project aims to provide a stepping stone in surmounting this hurdle by developing a transceiver and transponder that would measure (to 5m accuracy) the time of flight of an electromagnetic signal. Skills: Embedded Systems development, high speed electronics, RF.

Robust control of helicopter systems (1) Prof Man Zhihong A helicopter is a complex nonlinear system. A final year ECSE student is required to design a robust controller for a toy helicopter system. The mathematical model of a toy helicopter system is studied first, and a robust optimal controller is then designed to drive the system to follow the prescribed trajectory and guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system. The student should have a good background of control systems and engineering mathematics.

Robust Fault-Tolerant? Leader-Follower? Control of Four-Wheel-Steering? Mobile Robots Dr. Khoo Sui Yang Many results are available in the literature on actuator failure compensation control systems. However, few results are reported on the sliding mode control technique related to actuator failure compensation. In this project, a four-wheel-steering mobile robot is undergoing both known and unknown actuator failure, which causes the steering systems to deteriorate in performance or to be stuck at some observable angles. The students are required to design a control law that is able to guarantee robust asymptotic tracking stability in the presence of actuator failures.

Robust optimal control of helicopter systems Prof Man Zhihong A final year student is required to do the project of optimal control of helicopter systems with uncertain dynamics. The nonlinear system dynamics of a helicopter system is studied and system parameter uncertainties are identified. An optimal controller is then designed to drive a helicopter system to asymptotically follow the designed trajectory. Also the closed-loop stability should be

guaranteed. The project includes both the theoretical analysis and the real-time computer control design.

Secure Localization Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are composed of a large number of sensor nodes that cooperate among themselves to monitor an area of interest. Several physical properties can be monitored by a WSN: temperature, humidity, pressure, ambient light and movement. Usually, the collected information and sensor nodes must be localized in space to identify the location of an event. Localization systems can be setup to run algorithms to accomplish this positioning task. Due to the key role played by localization systems in WSNs, they could be the target of an attack that could compromise the functionality of WSNs. In this project, we develop techniques to make the existing localization algorithms more secure to withstand from these kinds of attacks. In order to get an HD, students should implement at least two different algorithms successfully. Skills: Good programming and hardware skills, reasonable knowledge about wireless sensor networks.

Sliding mode control of helicopter systems Prof Man Zhihong A final year student is required to do the project of sliding mode control of helicopter systems with uncertain dynamics. The nonlinear system dynamics of a helicopter system is studied and system parameter uncertainties are identified. The sliding mode control technique is then used to design a controller to control the motion of helicopter systems such that the effects of system uncertainties can be eliminated, good tracking performance can be obtained, and the closed-loop stability can be guaranteed. The project includes both the theoretical analysis and the real-time computer control design.

Sliding mode control of inverted pendulum systems Prof Man Zhihong A final year student is required to do the project of sliding mode control of inverted pendulum systems with uncertain dynamics. The nonlinear system dynamics of an inverted pendulum system is studied and system parameter uncertainties are identified. The sliding mode control technique is then used to design a controller to control the motion of the pendulum such that the effects of system uncertainties can be eliminated and good tracking performance can be obtained. The project includes both the theoretical analysis and the real-time computer control design.

Speech Enhancement Dr. Low Sew Ming The project aims to develop a system to reduce noise in recorded speeches. This project consists approximately of 70% software and 30% hardware. Skills: The student should have a good knowledge of MATLAB, Simulink, signal processing theory, and hands-on electronics.

Structured Methodology to model Defect Clusters for CMOS Technology

Melanie Ooi, Chris Chan (Freescale) Defects tend to cluster in a particular pattern after wafer fabrication process. Ability to model defect clusters will allow for sophisticated die screening methods to be applied based on the locality of defects. Implementation of a novel methodology will allow overall test cost to be reduced. NOTE: Student who applies for this project must take ECE4064 as an ellective and be prepared to conduct their industrial training in Freescale Semiconductor during the summer break.

Terminal sliding mode control of helicopter systems Prof Man Zhihong A final year student is required to do the project on terminal sliding mode control of helicopter systems with uncertain dynamics. The student will first establish the mathematical model which describes the nonlinear system dynamics of a helicopter system and then identify the system parameter uncertainties. The terminal sliding mode control technique is then used to design a controller to control the motion of helicopter systems such that the effects of system uncertainties can be eliminated and the finite error convergence can be achieved. The project includes both the theoretical analysis and the real-time computer control design

Ultrasonic 3-Dimensional Position Location System Dr Royan Ong The Position Location System project aims to determine the position of a transponder (a transceiver that responds when a particular signal is received) in 3D space using ultrasound. By measuring transponding delay with multiple ultrasonic receivers situated at known coordinates (trilateration), the coordinates of the transponder could be determined. By repeating the trilateration process, the position of a transponder could be visualised on a PC in real-time. In a nutshell, PLS is akin to an inverted GPS. Skills: Microcontroller development, analogue electronics, geometry mathematics, Windows GUI-based programming (Visual C, Visual Basic, Delphi, etc.).

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Environmental Sensing and Aerial Photography: Avionics Dr Royan Ong, Dr Edwin Tan Aerial environmental sensing and photography with fixed or rotary wing aircraft is generally expensive due to fuel cost and maintenance. The cost is generally prohibitive and unfeasible if environmental sensing/photography are necessary over prolong periods over a specified area. Blimps have the distinct advantage of requiring little propulsion power to stay afloat. On the other hand, they do require control schemes for autonomous spatial orientation and maintaining a fixed spot, to counteract atmospheric forces. This project aims to develop the controller and avionics that would allow a user to: 1. Command the blimp to autonomously fly from one location to another 2. Be stationary 3. Read some analogue inputs, read/control some digital inputs/outputs. The blimp should use a GPS receiver and a six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) inertial measurement unit (IMU) for low and high resolution spatial orientation. It will have a differential propulsion

system for each of the two horizontal axis. The blimp must be capable of wireless control, and could possibility provide a video feed to a PC. The student starts with choosing a suitable processor platform and wireless communication devices. (S)he would need to develop, implement and integrate the necessary power supply, propulsion and communication electronics. In addition, the student would have to develop a Windows-based GUI to control the UAV and display real-time flight parameters (and possibly the video feed). Skills: Microcontroller development, power electronics, analogue electronics, wireless communication, Windows GUI-based programming (Visual C, Visual Basic, Delphi, etc.).

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Environmental Sensing and Aerial Photography: Control Dr Edwin Tan, Dr Royan Ong Aerial environmental sensing and photography with fixed or rotary wing aircraft is generally expensive due to fuel cost and maintenance. The cost is generally prohibitive and unfeasible if environmental sensing/photography are necessary over prolong periods over a specified area. Blimps have the distinct advantage of requiring little propulsion power to stay afloat. On the other hand, they do require control schemes for autonomous spatial orientation and maintaining a fixed spot, to counteract atmospheric forces. This project aims to develop the controller and avionics that would allow a user to: 1. Command the blimp to autonomously fly from one location to another 2. Be stationary 3. Read some analogue inputs, read/control some digital inputs/outputs. The blimp should use a GPS receiver and a six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) inertial measurement unit (IMU) for low and high resolution spatial orientation. It will have a differential propulsion system for each of the two horizontal axis. The blimp must be capable of wireless control, and could possibility provide a video feed to a PC. The student starts by modelling the blimp and estimating the propulsion power necessary to be stationary at wind speeds of up to 3 knots (any direction). (S)he is responsible for choosing the suitable GPS, IMU and propulsion system. The next stage is to develop the controller that would autonomously get the blimp from one point to another based on the IMU and GPS. The controller must be implementable on the processor platform chosen by the avionics student. Skills: Control theory, microcontroller development, analogue electronics, Matlab.

USFFT/NUFFT Toolbox Dr. Kuang Ye Chow There are some important applications of non-uniform fast fourier transform (NUFFT) in geophisics, imaging, tomography, speech processing etc. This project will reproduce some of the best performing NUFFT schemes and contribute it to the Monash repository of numerical algorithms. The tasks of this project are: 1. Select and code the published NUFFT algorithms in Matlab. 2. Convert the algorithms into C programs. 3. Verify the speed, accuracy and memory requirement for each algorithm. Skills: Matlab programming, C programming, love for algorithms!

Web Widgets Dr Royan Ong The School of Engineering's website runs off a database (MySQL) to improve the timeliness of the information provided. This project aims to develop widgets (web-based tools) to increase staff and student productivity by making full use of database. These could include: •

a widget that finds suitable meeting times for a group of people based on their timetables

•

a widget that prints publication details in a user-defined format

•

a widget that generates the unit handbook from the information entered into Cupid.

•

a widget for staff members to book meeting rooms and AV resources.

These widgets should be implemented with PHP and would have access to the MySQL (and other relevant) servers. Skills: PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS

Wireless video capturing for UAV Dr. Kuang Ye Chow Build a cemera system for aerial video capturing. The system will be used in the environmental survey and monitoring. The tasks of this project are: 1. Set up a system of remote video capturing (camera is already available). 2. Image processing module for vibrations compensation, target alignment and some basic object recognition. Skills: hardware interfacing, programming and signal processing.

Animal Tagging with Wireless Sensor Network Dr Royan Ong Wireless Sensor Networks are ideally suited to track animals. Apart from recording information such as temperature and activity (motion), tags based on WSNs only require one tagged animal in a herd (assuming social animals) to come within range of a base station to transmit information of most (if not all) tagged animals in a herd. In addition, the interactions between tagged animals are also known, an added benefit for animal interaction studies. This project aims to develop the sensor nodes and base station. Skills: Embedded systems development, wireless design, communication

Novel Algorithm to Automatically Classify Defect Clusters on Integrated Circuit Wafers Melanie Ooi Defects may cluster on a fabricated silicon wafer. It is assumed that these clusters have been segmented out and ready for analysis. Currently, there are no accurate off-the-shelf solution to classify these clusters automatically. This project will develop a novel algorithm to automatically classify defect clusters on fabricated wafers using either signature analysis or Polar Fourier Transform (PFT). There will be a comparison of both approaches and a final selection will be

done based on performance and accuracy. Skills: Signal processing, strong mathematical skills, Matlab programming,

Photonic Crystals for Photonics Engineering Dr Raymond Ooi Photonic crystals are artificially engineered spatially periodic structures that can control the properties of light in remarkable ways, and has advanced the fields of optics and photonics. In my previous work on superconducting-dielectric photonic crystals, interesting band structures were found. In this project, students will be guided to learn (theoretically) the many exciting possibilities of photonic crystals, and then apply the results of existing works for engineering applications, e.g. in THz technology, optical communication and lasers. Skills: Good foundation in electrodynamics, MATLAB or C++ programming, interested in optics

Optimal Placement of Amplifiers and Regenerators in Optical Networks Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Optical networks are high-capacity telecommunication networks based on optical technologies and components that provide routing, grooming, and restoration at the wavelength level as well as wavelength-based services. Signals through the optical networks become attenuated as they travel through fiber, and must be periodically regenerated. Amplifiers are used to re-amplify the power of these signals, and regenerators are used to reshape, re-time and retransmit the signals. These signals may have to be monitored regularly to check their bit-error-rate performance. In the first stage of this project, we do a case-study on how amplifiers and regenerators are currently placed in optical backbone network architectures. In the second stage, we implement the algorithms in an in-house developed software. Finally, we develop an algorithm to place these network elements in order to minimize the overall network cost. The students aiming for an HD should complete this final stage successfully. Skills: Good programming skills, reasonable knowledge about optical networks.

Re-routing Algorithms in Optical Networks Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Optical networks are high-capacity telecommunication networks based on optical technologies and components that provide routing, grooming, and restoration at the wavelength level as well as wavelength-based services. In dynamic traffic routing in optical networks, traffic is routed one-by-one as they arrive. Since simple path selection algorithms are used to minimize setup time, this could lead to inefficient utilization of resources. For this reason, re-routing algorithms are used to gain significant bandwidth improvements. There are many re-routing algorithms proposed in the literature such as move-to-vacant wavelength-returning and minimum-overlapping-to-least-congested. In the first part of this project, the student does a literature survey to identify two most recent re-routing schemes and analyze their features and drawbacks. The next stage is to implement the selected algorithms in Aurora 2008, and compare their cost and resource savings. Students aiming for an HD should also focus on altering an existing algorithm to gain a better performance or developing their own implementation of a re-routing algorithm. Skills: Good programming skills, reasonable knowledge about optical networks.

Secure Localization Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are composed of a large number of sensor nodes that cooperate among themselves to monitor an area of interest. Several physical properties can be monitored by a WSN: temperature, humidity, pressure, ambient light and movement. Usually, the collected information and sensor nodes must be localized in space to identify the location of an event. Localization systems can be setup to run algorithms to accomplish this positioning task. Due to the key role played by localization systems in WSNs, they could be the target of an attack that could compromise the functionality of WSNs. In this project, we develop techniques to make the existing localization algorithms more secure to withstand from these kinds of attacks. In order to get an HD, students should implement at least two different algorithms successfully. Skills: Good programming and hardware skills, reasonable knowledge about wireless sensor networks.

Memory Management for Large Simulation Models in MATLAB Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Physical Memory in a standard computer is a limited resource that needs to be managed carefully. Failure to do so will result in memory overflow and spectacular system crashes. This is one of the biggest bottlenecks in performing large simulations using MATLAB in a standard computer. MATLAB stores all of the simulation data in the memory, which eventually limits the depth and breadth of simulation experiments. As a solution, we proposed the idea of transferring simulation data to the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) such that memory is free to continue the simulation activities. This idea has been tested for 1-D arrays successfully. In this project, we are looking forward to extend the current research to a new level while addressing certain problems encounter during initial experiments. This includes, 1. Integrating multi-dimension arrays 2. Improving random storing/reading algorithms 3. Optimizing all algorithms to achieve minimum latency 4. Improving user-experience Skills: High programming skills in MATLAB (knowledge in C/C++ are a plus0, good knowledge in topics covered in ECE 2701/2071, ECE 4705/4075, enthusiastic in programming, testing and debugging, innovative ideas on optimizing algorithms and ability implement/test them.

Hardware Implementation of Localization Algorithms in Wireless Sensor Networks Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are composed of a large number of sensor nodes that cooperate among themselves to monitor an area of interest. Several physical properties can be monitored by a WSN: temperature, humidity, pressure, ambient light and movement. Usually, the collected information and sensor nodes must be localized in space to identify the location of an

event. Former FYP students have developed some localization algorithms for WSNs using Visual Basic.NET. In this project, we incorporate these localization algorithms in hardware. The WSN kit required for this purpose has already been purchased. We test various algorithms in this hardware and compare their performance. Skills: Good programming and hardware skills, reasonable knowledge about wireless sensor networks.

OFDM: Implementation of FFT and IFFT with FPGA Dr. Rajendran Parthiban and A/Prof. Jean Armstrong Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a modulation technique that is used in a variety of modern day communication applications. This technique increases data rate by parallel multicarrier transmission and uses a relatively simple cyclic prefix to avoid InterSymbol? Interference (ISI). The transmitter and receiver of OFDM use Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) respectively. In this project, we implement the FFT and IFFT part of OFDM using FPGA. The FPGA programming can be achieved using Altera DEII with QUARTUS software. Skills: Good programming skills in MATLAB and FPGA, reasonable knowledge about OFDM.

Database of Inquiries for Monash Library Dr. Rajendran Parthiban and Jeffrina Jamaluddin (Monash Library) Monash Library receives many inquiries every year. They wish to develop a comprehensive database to capture these inquiries. This database can then be used for reporting purposes and analyzing pattern of queries. In this project, we closely work with Monash Library to develop this database. Skills: Good knowledge about database management and development, reasonable knowledge about SQL database.

Light Force on Plasmonic Objects Dr Raymond Ooi Light force has been used as optical tweezer to levitate micro objects, such as dielectric microparticles. We wish to study how microsphere coated with metal responds to the optical force due to the presence of surface plasmon polariton excitation (SPP). The SPP is an elementary excitation and has been the key to recent developments in plasmonics. The research would explore and develop the foundations toward next generation photonic systems. Skills: Good foundation in electrodynamics and optics, MATLAB or C++ programming

Raman Lasing without Inversion Dr Raymond Ooi, Dr. Tin Win Raman laser has been widely studied through classical theory. One remarkable aspect of Raman system is inversionless lasing. It is an interference effect that requires quantum formalism. Master equation would be used to describe the dynamics. However, full numerical solution in dynamical nonlinear regime does not exist. The students will undertake systematic steps to develop a numerical programme to study the transient problem.

Skills: Good foundation in lasers and optics, interested in quantum optics, MATLAB or C++ programming

Octave training suite in higher education Dr. Kuang Ye Chow(Monash), Mr. Gary Yang(Solution4U) Development of open source computer system has become more important in the recent years. Octave is one of the most prominent project aiming at replicating many functionalities of Matlab in the area of technical computing. The wide spread use and development of Octave in Malaysia has the following benefits: 1. Better control of the future development in the technical computing by local experts. 2. Wider availability of technical computing tools to public school due to inherently free distribution of open source movement. This will enable the high school students to be better prepared in computational mathematics. 3. Low cost solution to colleges that are teaching technical courses. However extensive training is required in order to achieve these goals. This project aims at developing a uniform platform that are suitable for the teaching of engineering courses at year one level and its associated training materials. Skills: Presentation Tasks: 1. Develop a complete technical computing training program in Octave 2. Extend/modify Octave-forge signal processing toolbox to enable the teaching of signal processing entirely using octave environment

Automatic human tracking in surveillance video camera using mid/close range camera Dr. Kuang Ye Chow (Monash), Mr. Ng Min Wee (Elid) Tracking of humans in video sequences is important in dynamic scene analysis as they are the principal actors in daily activities of interest. There has been considerable work in tracking humans and other objects in recent years. Isolated objects or small number of objects having transient occlusion can be tracked fairly reliably in some systems. However, tracking in a more crowded situation where large number of people are present and exhibit persistent occlusion, remains challenging. This work would choose to track human through human shape model in Bayesian framework. An interesting extension of the application is to apply the technique (perhaps different human shape model) in an indoor environment where the target is at a very short distance from the camera. Skills: Matlab programming, Image manipulation

Robust face alignment Dr. Kuang Ye Chow (Monash), Mr. Ng Min Wee (Elid) Face alignment, whose objective is to localize the feature points on face images such as the contour points of eye, nose, mouth and outline, is essential to many face processing applications including face recognition, modeling and synthesis.

Extensive research has been conducted on face alignment in recent decade. Active Shape Model (ASM) and Active Appearance Model (AAM), proposed by Cootes et al are two popular face alignment methods. Both of ASM and AAM use a point distribution model to parameterize a face shape with PCA method, but their feature model and optimization strategy are different. ASM method introduces a 2-stage iterative algorithm: 1) given the initial labels, searching for a new position for every label point in its local neighbors, which best fits the corresponding local 1-D profile texture model; 2) interpreting the shape parameters which best fit these new label positions. AAM differentiates itself from ASM with its global appearance model, which is used to directly conduct the optimization of shape parameters. Due to the different optimization criteria, ASM performs more accurately on shape localization, and is relatively more robust to illumination and bad initialization. Skills: Matlab programming, Image manipulation, C programming (OpenCV)

A Powerful Technique for Optical Pulse Propagation Dr Raymond Ooi, A/Prof B. L. Lan The study of optical pulse propagation is the basis for the development of soliton propagation in optical fiber communication. The fundamental physics of pulse propagation in two-level system has been studied for many years. It is a nonlinear dynamical problem which requires numerical treatment. However, the inverse scattering theory can provide analytical solutions. In this project, the students will be systematically guided to learn this powerful analytical technique and apply it to an engineering or scientific problem. Skills: Good foundation in advanced engineering mathematics, basics in optics and lasers, numerical programming would be an advantage.

Designing Filter Array for Musical Frequency Analysis and Transcription Dr. Tin Win, Nader Kamrani Using Fourier Transform or Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) is the usual method to obtain frequency spectra of (audio) signals. The segmentation of the signal and the FFT calculation time slows down the process of determining frequencies in the signal. The alternative would be using a band of filters, if the frequencies contain in a time series signal are fixed, such as musical signals from the instruments. This method is faster to record the frequencies and the audio intensity of each note while the music is playing. The frequencies and the intensities at the outputs of the filters could be recorded quickly by multiplexing. Skills: It would be very helpful if the students have basic knowledge in active and passive filters, audio amplifiers, multiplexers, periphery interface controller (PIC), programming in C or C++ in carrying out the project. Understanding music symbols and notes would also be helpful but student may learn music notes reading during the project.

An Accurate Time-lapse Controller for Cameras Dr Royan Ong Time lapse photography allows us to create stunning "videos" of very slow changing situations, such as the growth of a plant. Since many modern digital cameras – especially the single lens reflex (SLR) type – are externally controlable, they are an inexpensive method to produce extremely high quality “videos” that rival professional video cameras. The aim for this project is to develop a miniature, low power, highly versatile microcontroller-based camera controller that

could be programmed to capture still images at various intervals. Skills: Microcontroller development, analogue electronics

FPGA-based Bit Error Injector Ms Vineetha Kalavally, Dr Royan Ong The development of digital communication protocols typically neccessitates the measure of robustness of the protocol in detecting and/or correcting transmission errors as one of its metrics. This project aims to develop an electronic device that would inject periodic or aperiodic errors (bit flips) into the transmission/reception bit stream, hence emulating environmental and physical interference of the propagation medium. The Bit Error Injector would be programmed on the FPGA that is part of the Software-define Radio (SDR) equipment (which has been purchased) and controlled via RS232 from a basic interface running on a PC. Skills: FPGA development, basic software programming (Visual C, Visual Basic, Delphi, etc.).

Home Security and Climatic Control with Wireless Sensor Networks Dr Royan Ong Wireless Sensor Networks are ideally suited for domotic (home automation), especially for older homes, as one can implement security and climatic control without wiring the house. This project aims to develop cost-effective wireless sensor nodes that would measure the environment and transmit the information to a master node, possibly via other sensor nodes, using ad-hoc wireless network protocol (e.g. MiWi?, Zigbee, etc.). Skills: Embedded systems development, wireless design, communication

Mains Monitor Dr Royan Ong It is commonly believed that mains powered and rechargable electrical/electronics equipment failures are due to the user and/or equipment itself. What about the effects of the mains power supply? How often is the power supply itself the culprit due to poor regulation? This project aims to develop a non-intrusive, low-power, long-term data logger to record (with timestamp) voltage spikes, dips and frequency deviations. The Mains Monitor should raise an alert if one of the unwanted conditions occur. As far as possible, the Mains Monitor should be inductively mains powered. Skills: Embedded Systems development, low power electronics.

Micromouse Dr Royan Ong This project aims to build a maze solving robot (the Micromouse!). The maze is made up of 16 by 16 cells, each measuring 180mm by 180mm. The white walls of the maze are 50mm high, 12mm thick. The base of the maze is painted black. This project is open to a maximum of 2 students. The goal is to build upon the robots developed by previous students to solve the maze in the quickest time. Four students attempted the Micromouse project in S2 2007 but were unable to create a final version that would solve the maze. This project aims to continue and improve their work to develop a smaller micromouse that would successfully solve the maze. Up to two students can

take this project (each developing their own micromouse). Skills: Microcontroller development, analogue electronics, mechanical, control theory, a good imagination.

RF Uni-dimensional Ranging Dr Royan Ong The main hurdle preventing the widespread implementation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is the cost associated with deploying the WSN nodes at known locations, especially in environmentally hostile and/or mobile environments. Although GPS and inertial navigation systems could be used for position location, they are unsuitable for the majority of WSN implementations due to their high power consumption. This project aims to provide a stepping stone in surmounting this hurdle by developing a transceiver and transponder that would measure (to 5m accuracy) the time of flight of an electromagnetic signal. Skills: Embedded Systems development, high speed electronics, RF.

Web Widgets Dr Royan Ong The School of Engineering's website, developed and maintained by the supervisor, is based upon a database (MySQL) and scripting engine (PHP) to improve the timeliness of the information provided. This project aims to develop widgets (web-based tools) to increase staff and student productivity by making full use of database. The proposed widgets include: •

A widget for FYP students to log their interested projects, and assign respective supervisors.

•

A widget that finds suitable meeting times for a group of people based on their timetables.

•

A widget that prints/formats publication details in a user-defined format.

•

A widget for staff members to book meeting rooms and AV resources of the School of Engineering.

These widgets would be implemented with PHP and would have access to the MySQL (and other relevant) servers. Skills: PHP, MySQL, HTML

Powerless Wireless Intercom System Dr Royan Ong Intercom systems can be somewhat analogous to lifeboats: they are essential but typically underused! The infrastructural overheads of installing an intercom system, especially in completed buildings, can be substantial. This project aims to develop a powerless and wireless intercom system to overcome the typical infrastuctural overheads. It is envisioned that each intercom unit — based on simple off-the-shelf intercom systems — would be solar powered (battery-backed). Intra-unit communication would be based on a a robust, multi-hop wireless protocol. Skills: Embedded systems development, wireless protocol, communication

Wireless Sensor Network Emulation

Dr Royan Ong WSN protocols are constantly being developed and redesigned to meet its ever increasing implementation needs. To aid the research, development, benchmarking and the implementation of new protocols, researchers require simulators to judge its effectiveness in the given scenario. Simulators to date do not consider signal attenuation of propagation medium due to occlusion and distance, and do not simulate the firmware effect of the microprocessors (important for low power, time critical systems). The Dynamic Reconnection Matrix hardware completed last semester aimed to address the above-mentioned issues. The aim of this project is to develop the graphical user interface that would control the Dynamic Reconnection Matrix in real-time to emulate node mobility. Skills: GUI development (Visual C++, Delphi, Matlab, etc.), wireless communication, PC hardware integration.

Framework for an Ultra-Low? Power Wireless Sensor Probe Dr Royan Ong An area that Wireless Sensor Networks has gained a tremendous following is the field of environmental monitoring, particularly for inhospitable, dangerous and/or unreachable environments such glaciers (GLACSWEB), the rim of volcanoes and in dense foliage. Some WSN systems (or at least the sensor nodes) have to operate over long durations without access to external power sources (e.g. solar), hence power consumption is utmost important. This project aims to develop a time-triggered framework allowing semi-technical user to easily customise an ultra-low power WSN platform, based on the TI MSP430 microcontrollers, that is currently being designed and developed by the author, in conjunction with collaborators from the University of Southampton, UK. The framework envisioned may either be propietary or based upon open source software such as TinyOS. Skills: Embedded systems development, structured programming, basic scheduler operations

Evaluation of the Miwi Protocol for Ultra Low Power Wireless Sensor Networks Dr Royan Ong, Mr Tan Hwee Tiong (Elid Sdn Bhd) Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are suitable for practically all forms of environmental monitoring such as glaciers (GLACSWEB), home security and flood prevention. Efficient wireless routing of data packets form the backbone of all WSNs, hence significant research has gone into protocols potentially suitable for WSNs. Miwi had recently been promoted as a low computation and resource WSN protocol ideally suited for very low cost embedded systems. The aims of this project is to: 1. Implement the Miwi protocol on a few embedded systems to evaluate its performance in terms of data transfer rates, scalability and network reliability. 2. Develop a protocol with substantially improved power consumption based on Miwi. This is an industry-linked project. The hardware for this project has been purchased. Skills: Embedded systems development, wireless communication protocols, low power electronic designs.

Evaluation of the CC2431 RF transceiver for Localisation of Wireless Sensor Networks

Dr Royan Ong, Mr Tan Hwee Tiong (Elid Sdn Bhd) The CC2431 from Texas Instruments (TI) is an highly integrated IC incorporating an IEEE 802.15.4 2.4GHz RF transceiver, an 8051-compatible microcontroller, RAM and ROM; ideal for ultra miniature, extremely lightweight Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) nodes. The key feature of the CC2431 is the hardware-based localisation engine, that is claimed by TI tobe able to determine the position of a sensor node within a 10m radius. The aims of this project is to: 1. Implement a basic WSN and characterise the accuracy of the CC2431's localisation engine in open and enclosed environments. 2. Improve the localisation accuracy by using static nodes to broadcast localisation correction information. This is an industry-linked project. The hardware for this project has been purchased. Skills: Embedded systems development, wireless communication protocols, position location.

FPGA Implementation of Adaptive FIR Filter Mr Nader Kamrani An adaptive filter is essentially a digital filter with self-tuning abilities. They basically deal with signals whose statistical properties are not constant (non-stationary signals). And adjust themselves to changes in their inputs. Adaptive filters have many applications in industries and generally they can be categorized in one of the following classes: adaptive noise canceller, adaptive self-tuning filter, system identification, parameter estimator. Two most widely used algorithms for adaptive filters are LMS (least mean square) and RLS (recursive least square). There are many implementation of these algorithms in C languages and physical implementation on DSB boards. However, with rapid advances in FPGA technology it is possible (advantageous) to implement them on FPGAs. In this project, student will study different structures of FIR filters, different algorithms for adaption, implementation methods and choose best possible combination to be implemented in Altera DE2 board. Skills: DSP, Verilog programming, C language and willing to work hard

Reducing Power Consumption cost in Homes via Power Factor Correction Mr Nader Kamrani Power generation today heavily relies on fossil fuel. The emissions lead to global warming. A lot of research is being done in this area to mitigate the dependency on fossil use and shift to more environmentally friendly methods. Today most household appliances are inductive in nature. (E.g. air conditioner, freezers, inductive motors etc.) Inductive devices tend to consume more power than actually required due to its reactive power consumption. Thus the power factor deviates from unity for inductive loads. This can be compensated by adding required amount of capacitive loads, thus reducing the overall reactive power consumption and bring the power factor close to unity. Power factor correction is utilized in industrial environments using synchronous machines. This however is not a feasible solution to implement in homes. In this project we aim to develop a device which is capable of measuring the consumed reactive power and balance it with the proper amount of capacitive loads. A microcontroller (E.g. PIC) can be used as the control circuit, which takes in the reactive power values and using feedback control, to add the required amount of capacitive loads to make the power factor close to unity. Skills: fair knowledge of circuit theory, microprocessors, C programming.

Incoherently Pumped Raman Amplifiers Ms Vineetha Kalavally This project involves the study and analysis of gain and noise in incoherently pumped Raman amplifiers. Raman amplifiers are a class of optical amplifiers which are replacements for electronic amplifiers in the past in an optical communication network. As this technology matures, we look at different ways to optimize its performance and make it suitable for modern broadband applications. Incoherent pumping refers to the use of a Raman pump with its spectrum broadened using highly non-linear fiber (HNLF) in order to achieve broadband gain. The major milestones in this project: 1. Understand and be able to improvise on work done on Raman amplifier modeling thus far 2. Research on incoherently pumped Raman amplifiers 3. Include incoherent pumping into the existing Raman amplifier model 4. Forward design solutions for incoherently pumped Raman amplification 5. Compare cost of this method versus other traditional methods Skills: Willingness to learn from available resources. A basic understanding of optical communication theory and programming ability (MATLAB and C++) will be an advantage. Students are required to use numerical and analytical techniques for modeling this type of amplifiers.

Remote Control of Home Appliance Using Mobile Touch Screen "Mr. Nader Kamrani" There are many commercially available remote control devices offering many functionalities. In this project student is supposed to use a new board called Tahoe II: to do the task. (Refer to the following site for more information: http://devicesolutions.net/Products/TahoeII.aspx). This is a powerful board with ARM microprocessor and several communication protocols such as Zigbee. It also includes a touch screen color monitor. The developed application will show the plan of the home on the screen and based of touch will choose a particular device in different sections of the plan to turn on/off. On board Zigbee communication system will relay the information to specific device which in turn will turn on/off. Skills: Student must have a good understanding of C programming, Microprocessors, UGI design, digital systems.

Implementation of OFDM "Mr. Nader Kamrani, Ms. Vineetha Kalavally" The ever increasing demand of bandwidth in wireless communication systems such as 802.11 has pushed the industry to develop new techniques to deal with these demands. One such technique is called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing or OFDM for short. OFDM, also referred as multi-carrier or discrete multi-tone modulation utilizes multiple subcarriers to transport information in from one particular user to another. An OFDM-based system divides a high-speed serial information signal into multiple lower-speed sub-signals that the system transmits simultaneously at different frequencies in parallel. The benefits of OFDM are high spectral efficiency, resiliency to RF interference, and lower multi-path distortion. Many wired and wireless standards bodies have adopted OFDM for a variety of applications. For example, OFDM is the basis for the global standard for asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) and for digital audio broadcasting (DAB) in the European market. In the wireless network space, OFDM is at the heart of IEEE 802.11a.

Each individual carrier, commonly called a subcarrier, transmits information by modulating the phase and possible the amplitude of the subcarrier over the symbol duration. That is, each subcarrier uses either phase-shift-keying (PSK) or quadrature-amplitude-modulation (QAM) to convey information just as conventional single carrier systems. The purpose of this project is software/hardware implementation of this system. Skills: Students must have sufficient proficiency in modulation techniques, Matlab, C programming, Verilog, FPGA.

Controllable Photonic Transmission Device Dr Raymond Ooi The refractive index, reflective and transmissive properties of a medium can be controlled by a laser field. This is connected to an interesting optical effect called electromagnetic induced transparency, where an opaque medium can be made transparent by laser field. We want to study how this effect can be used to control the transmission of light, particularly, passing through a Fabry-Perot? device. Skills: Good foundation in optics, MATLAB or C++ programming

Stability Study of a Walking Biped Dr. Low Sew Ming A walking biped was built using some mechanical parts and micro-motors. At the moment, the biped system is unstable in the sense that when it is in motion, it tends to fall. This project aims to stabilize the biped system using software as a controlling tool. Skill: The potential student is expected to be well-versed in C++ programming, PIC microcontroller electronics and control theory. Other knowledge such as understanding of center of gravity of a system is advantageous to this project.

Improving a Walking Biped Dr. Low Sew Ming A walking biped was built using some mechanical parts and micro-motors. It was intended the system will have motion resemblance as closely as possible to the human walking gaits. This project aims to realize this requirement. Skill: The knowledge and skills required for this project includes electronics, PIC microcontroller programming, C++ programming, motor operation.

Processing of Written Text Dr. Low Sew Ming The objective of the project is to create a software that could receive a message and to process the message in order to provide an automatic reply to the sender of the message. Skill: The knowledge and skills required for this project includes C++ programming, PC architecture and software knowledge.

Comparative study of monoscopic and stereoscopic images Dr. Low Sew Ming The project involves setting up and taking images using a single and a dual webcam or webcam

type cameras. and to process the images obtained so as to identify some objects within the visual range of the system. The advantages and disadvantages of the two systems will be investigated. Skill: The knowledge and skills required for this project includes camera operation and interfacing, C++ programming, image processing.