Students research tomorrow's technology

Research and development by local industry in the field of science and technology may be limited but if you put your ears to the ground, you will hear a buzz coming from the University of Malta, where students at the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of ICT are putting up an annual exhibition of their final year research project next weekend.

Eye-controlled cursor

Eye gaze tracking can be used in various applications ranging from the study of eye movements to human-computer interfacing (HCI). In HCI, the eyes are used to control a device such as a cursor on a computer screen, enabling a physically impaired user to access a computer without physically moving the computer mouse.

A project by Stefania Cristina, a student in the Faculty of Engineering's Department of Systems and Control Engineering focused on the implementation and evaluation of the performance of single-eye gaze tracking methods in the context of controlling a computer mouse cursor. The system consists of a simple and inexpensive web camera mounted on a stand and focused on one of the user's eyes.

The implemented tracking system had four main steps: finding an initial rough estimate of the eye region by detecting eye motion in the video frames and enclosing this region within a bounding box; labelling the pixels within the bounding box based on their colour, retaining only the iris-coloured pixels while discarding the rest; fitting a circle to the retained iris region, taking the circle centre as the iris centre; and finally, mapping the estimated iris centre onto the screen location at which the user is looking. The implemented graphical control panel allows the user to interact easily with the system.

Computer 'Open Sesame'

Tired of remembering all those passwords on computers to access personal or confidential information? Simply saying 'Open Sesame' to a computer will suffice thanks to a voice-based biometric speaker verification system built by Andrea Demarco, a student in the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of ICT.

Mr Demarco built a biometric system that can recognise persons using their voice samples, in the same way one would recognise people using fingerprints. A specific set of features that discriminate human voices is represented mathematically to build statistical inference models that can help identify different speakers.

He managed to achieve a 100 per cent identification rate using a programming toolkit built using state-of-the art research results.

"At this stage I don't really want to stop studying this topic. Building a toolkit was the first step, but I plan on finding better discriminating features, therefore enhancing voice identification systems," said Mr Demarco.

Harnessing wind energy

Some time ago the idea of having a wind farm off the shores of Malta to generate cleaner energy was floated, but little has been heard since then. Anthony Magro, a student at the Faculty of Engineering's Department of Industrial Electrical Power Conversion thought of investigating the impact of bulk wind energy generation in the local power system.

Simulation models for conventional megawatt range wind turbines were developed allowing the steady-state and transient performance of the electrical machines used to be analysed. Such models were then applied to simulate a multi-machine grid connected wind farms within the local system.

Issues relating to the inherently weak grid connection point highlight the necessity for network reinforcements and implementation of reactive power compensation techniques. The connection sub-station and offshore electrical design are an integral part of this research. This dissertation also includes a wind energy yield analysis for the selected wind farm site.

The second part of the investigation highlights the ability of the Maltese grid to maintain security of supply and dynamic stability at various levels of wind power penetration.

"Results have highlighted a natural technical limit relating to the total amount of wind energy that can be assimilated by the existing power system," concluded Mr Magro.

A modem stethoscope

Where would internet users be without the modem, the small black box that acts as a medium between the computers or other equipment and the telephone line or cable? It is when it lets them down that they appreciate its vital role.

Brian E. Cauchi, a student in the Faculty of ICT's Department of Communications and Computer Engineering has developed what he calls a 'stethoscope for modems', an entirely software-based solution capable of running on a basic laptop computer.

The system is compact, easy to use, non-intrusive, and addresses practical call and data monitoring requirements that are encountered in the industry. The implementation is based on digital signal processing techniques as used in home theatres and MP3 players. Decoder performance was tested with simulated telephone lines of varying quality, with favourable results.

Virtual Maths tutor

It has been repeatedly proven that integrating IT in teaching ensures quality in an educational system. Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) may be adopted to improve the learning when used in supplemental instruction.

Julien Fenech, a student at the Faculty of ICT's Department of Computer Information Systems worked on 'Visual Math', a project that demonstrates the advantage of intelligence in computer-based training, focusing on tutoring basic primary addition and subtraction. Students may learn without getting bored, as it includes utilising an educational gaming feature, whereas teachers can manage their students' overall progress.

A web-based intelligent tutoring system prototype was developed by researching its design, including its web technologies. Various 3D graphics were included making it more visually appealing.

Virtual Math may be extended to include other subjects where the level of tuition incorporates students of a wider age group.

Souped-up engine

If you want to check what it takes to prepare a racing car, speak to Marlon Chircop. As a student in the Faculty of Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering he worked on improvements of the car engine of the first team representing the University at the Formula SAE (FSAE), a student-based competition in which university students from around the world challenge each other by competing with self-designed and built formula style racing cars. The car successfully raced on the Ferrari Fiorano race track last summer.

Mr Chircop's dissertation aimed at improving the general performance of an engine allowed in competing in FSAE, through a complete physical conversion of a Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R engine from naturally aspirated to turbocharged.

Exhibition opening times

The Engineering students' projects exhibition will be open in the Engineering Building (Car park 2) on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The ICT projects exhibition will be open on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. in Dar Ġużeppi Zahra Computer Building (Car park 2).

The students will be available to explain and demonstrate their work to visitors. This is also a unique opportunity for all those interested in enrolling for an engineering or an ICT degree or for secondary school students who are still considering their choice of subjects and their future career.