Engineering Commons^™

Permission-Based Privacy Analysis For Android Applications, Erza Gashi, Zhilbert Tafa

UBT International Conference

While Information and Communication Technology (ICT) trends are moving towards the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile applications are becoming more and more popular. Mostly due to their pervasiveness and the level of interaction with the users, along with the great number of advantages, the mobile applications bring up a great number of privacy related issues as well. These platforms can gather our very sensitive private data by only granting them a list of permissions during the installation process. Additionally, most of the users can find it difficult, or even useless, to analyze system permissions. Thus, their guess of app’s safety …

An Overview Of Zero Energy Buildings With An Emphasis On Energy Savings, Lazaros Aygeris, Peter P. Groumpos

UBT International Conference

The indiscriminate exploitation of the planet's energy sources has nowadays led to an uncontrolled form of climate change, with negative consequences for both humankind and the environment. In an effort to curb this situation, energy savings in both the building sector and other sectors of activity (industry, transport, etc.) is a primary objective and an indispensable component of any energy policy been planned today all around the world. As the building sector consumes 40% of the energy required at European level, the European Union (EU) has made considerable efforts to significantly reduce these consumption levels. In recent years, the European …

A Critical Overview Of Data Mining For Business Applications, George Telonis, Peter P. Groumpos

UBT International Conference

Everybody looks to a world that does not remain the same. Furthermore no one can deny that the world is changing, and changing very fast.

Technology, education, science, environment, health, communicating habits, entertainment, eating habits, dress - there is hardly anything in life that is not changing. Some changes we like, while others create fear and anxiety around us. Everywhere there is a feeling of insecurity.

What will happen to us tomorrow, or what will happen to our children, are questions we keep frequently asking. One thing, however, is clear.

It is no more possible to live in the way …

Decision Making Based On Data Analyses Using Data Warehouses, Valdrin Haxhiu

UBT International Conference

Data warehouses are a collection of several databases, whose goal is to help different companies and corporations make important decisions about their activities. These decisions are taken from the analyses that are made to the data within the data warehouse. These data are taken from data that companies and corporations collect on daily basis from their branches that may be located in different cities, regions, states and continents. Data that are entered to data warehouses are historical data and they represent that part of data that is important for making decisions. These data go under a transformation process in order …

Mobile Cloud Computing: A New Way Of Cloud Computing, Festim Halili, Verda Misimi, Rilinda Iseini, Mirije Salihi

UBT International Conference

Cloud Computing seems to be the most promising technology of the century we are living. It provides a new manner of sharing distributed resources and services that may be part of different organizations, geographically located in different places and different time zones. Mobile Cloud Computing offers partially the same functionality, with the only additional requirement that, at least, some of the devices are mobile. In this paper, we will try to provide a detailed explanation of Mobile Cloud Computing concept by providing different examples, figures and charts showing usage, accessibility, pros and cons and comparison of different cloud platforms.

Wind Turbine Technology Enables Sustainable Development Of Electricity In Kosovo, Vehebi Sofiu

UBT International Conference

The requirements of the EU directives for the renewable energy market, in particular wind turbines, enable sustainable development to meet the requirements for electricity generation. Global changes and environmental disasters resulting from industrial pollution do not allow a sustainable development of alternative natural resource exploitation. Balkan states and Kosovo are obliged to increase energy efficiency, to increase the discipline related to flow of fossil fuel emissions, which means less CO2 and greenhouse gases, and to advance the renewable energies by 20% up to 2020. Wind generation turbines are used to transform energy from a rotational mechanical action to generate electricity. …

Smart Grid Operation: A Survey, Kozeta Sevrani, Romina Muka

UBT International Conference

Creation of Smart Grid meets the energy requirements of the 21stcentury in a high-tech manner with real time approach by providing asignificant improvement in power reliability and services, and integrating thelatest digital communications in the current power grid. This grid improves theability of consumers and utilities to monitor, control, and predict the use ofenergy. Up to the present time, Smart Grid has involved numerous researchersfrom different viewpoints. This paper provides an extensive literature review ofSmart Grid technologies and its characteristics. There are a lot of problems andchallenges in the field of Smart Grid. Therefore, this paper can help to find …

Using Of Hvdc Technology In Super Grids, Ines Bula, Valmira Hoxha, Edin Bula

UBT International Conference

This paper describes the HVDC system, its organization, as well as advantages over the AC system. Implementation of this system will help to make Europe sustainable energy independent which will require a renewable generation portfolio where much of this portfolio will be fueled by wind and will be developed offshore as it is presented in this paper. To deliver this energy to European consumers will require the development of a high capacity transmission system the so called Supergrid, which will be capable of delivering this energy to Europe's load centers. In this paper also is presented, a DC connection of …

A Need For An Integrative Security Model For Semantic Stream Reasoning Systems, Admirim Aliti, Edmond Jajaga, Kozeta Sevrani

UBT International Conference

State-of-the-art security frameworks have been extensively addressing security issues for web resources, agents and services in the Semantic Web. The provision of Stream Reasoning as a new area spanning Semantic Web and Data Stream Management Systems has eventually opened up new challenges. Namely, their decentralized nature, the metadata descriptions, the number of users, agents, and services, make securing Stream Reasoning systems difficult to handle. Thus, there is an inherent need of developing new security models which will handle security and automate security mechanisms to a more autonomous system that supports complex and dynamic relationships between data, clients and service providers. …

Analysis Of Central Banks Platforms On Social Networks, Goran Bjelobaba, Ana Savic, Hana Stefanovic

UBT International Conference

The paper describes the advantages of using technical and technological achievements through the social networks and their implementation in Central Banks communication. A study of some Central Banks on their use of social media and some of the most popular social networks are given, showing that social media is becoming an important medium of communication for Central Banks around the world. The study shows that a majority of Central Banks use Twitter to send alerts for information already disseminated through the website, even as they are not very active in responding to public tweets, and also shows an increasing number …

Development And Improvement Of The Quality Of The Mobile Services At The Mobile Market In Macedonia, Arsov Boris, Trajkovski Vasko, Sherifi Vergim

UBT International Conference

To determine the strategic direction for the development of electronic communications market in the part of mobile telecommunication services in Republic of Macedonia, the Agency for electronic communication has made an assessment of the regulatory progress and that has been made in recent years. The needs are in order to obtain a clear strategy for the development of the mobile telecommunication market in Macedonia, and primarily will create a clear picture in the: technical, financial, operational and competitive segments. Republic of Macedonia at this moment has 2 mobile operators with own network and the third mobile virtual operator. They are …

Development Trends In Robotics, Peter Kopacek

UBT International Conference

Robots are always a frequently used as an example for Mechatronic Systems. Currently the field of robotics is very fast growing. Therefore the overview is definitely not actual and have to be improved. The main goal of this contribution is to make some additional remarks to the existing kinds of robots and introduce some new with special emphasis to Mechatronic Systems like manufacturing automation by Production 4.0.

State Feedback Of Complex Systems Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, Vassiliki Mpelogianni, Ioannis Arvanitakis, Peter P. Groumpos

UBT International Conference

Complex systems have become a research area with increasing interest over the last years. The emergence of new technologies, the increase in computational power with reduced resources and cost, the integration of the physical world with computer based systems has created the possibility of significantly improving the quality of life of humans. While a significant degree of automation within these systems exists and has been provided in the past decade with examples of the smart homes and energy efficient buildings, a paradigm shift towards autonomy has been noted. The need for autonomy requires the extraction of a model; while a …

Emerging Role Of Robot-Assisted Occupational Therapy For Children With Down Syndrome, Venera Krasniqi, Nevena Ackovska, Katerina Zdravkova

UBT International Conference

Robotic technology is becoming increasingly popular as a platform for both education and entertainment. It also provides us with new conceptual directions which might have incredibly positive impact on children with physical growth delays and intellectual disabilities. In this research project, the educational robot Roamer Too from Valiant Technologies has been used to explore the development of social skills of children with Down syndrome. In conjunction with an interactive collaborative environment, this device represents a unique opportunity for these children to fully engage in learning, play, communication, build relationships and have fun. The results of this study indicate that educational …

Maturity Level Of Kosovo Manufacturing Industry With Regard To Industry 4.0, Fatmir Azemi, Edmond Hajrizi, Bekim Maloku

UBT International Conference

In this paper the concept of Maturity Level of Kosovo Industry will be presented according to the Industry 4.0. Digitalization of factory has impact the entire business environment and lead to Smart Enterprises. To create a model of Smart Factory, first we have analyzed the existing situation of Kosovo Manufacturing Industry with regard to revolution of Industry. In this paper we will describe the results of a recent research at the Kosovo manufacturing companies and are included metalworking and furniture industry, where is developed a Maturity Level for Kosovo Industry. To describe the Maturity Level of Kosovo Industry we have …

Open Access, Open Access, How Does Your Catalog Grow? With Selection, Access, And Usage All In A Virtual Row!, David W. Schuster, Susan J. Martin

Charleston Library Conference

Much of the open access (OA) focus and discussion has been on journals (think Glossa), but the open access monograph has come fully into its own. University and scholarly publishers are providing high-quality books, often in areas that rely on long-form scholarship. However, open access monographs presented a challenge. How do they fit into the traditional models of selection, acquisition, cataloging, and tracking usage?

In the spring of 2016, Texas Woman’s University Libraries created a simple workflow to make open access monographs accessible through the libraries’ discovery layer using Google Sheets to track the workflow and EZproxy to track usage.

University Of Minnesota Smallsat And High Altitude Ballooning Development And Collaboration, Luke Zumwalt, Ricardo Saborio, Athanasios Pantazides, Aaron Nightingale, Demoz Gebre Egziabher, Lindsay Glesener

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The Experiment for X-ray Characterization and Timing (EXACT) mission is a 3U CubeSat technology-development project being built by the SmallSat team at the University of MN – Twin Cities which is a joint research effort of the Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (AEM) Department and the School of Physics and Astronomy (SPA). The main objective of this spacecraft is to carry a payload including a detector designed to measure energy and time of arrival time of individual hard x-ray photons emitted from the Sun and from other astrophysical sources. During the development process for EXACT, flights provided by the High-Altitude Student …

Solar Eclipse Induced Atmospheric Turbulence Effects On High Altitude Balloons, Fnu Anamika, Denise Buckner, Peter Henson, Jennifer Fowler, Nanette Valentour

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The North Dakota Atmospheric Education Student Initiated Research (ND-AESIR) team launched a balloon during the total solar eclipse in Rexburg, Idaho. After the umbra’s passage, the balloon experienced unexpectedly high levels of atmospheric turbulence. Video footage taken from the payload displays the conditions, and analysis of flight path data models created from the iridium GPS confirm that unusually violent turbulence occurred. These forces caused the key rings holding the bottom of the parachute to the payload train to rip open; the balloon and parachute flew away and the payloads free fell to the surface from an altitude of 68,301 feet. …

Measurement Of Speed Of Sound Profile Using Laaces Balloon, Zhuang Li, Brett Schaefer, Brian Schaefer, William Dever, Tyler Morgan, Matthew Foltz

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The goal of this mission is to test the speed of sound at different altitudes and ultimately at a maximum height of 100,000 feet (30 km). In conjunction with this testing, environmental parameters including temperature, pressure, and humidity are measured and used to calculate the speed of sound to compare to the measured results. The team constructed the payload “Dorothy” using polystyrene foam due to its lightweight and thermal isolation property. An ultrasonic sensor with a reflection mirror were installed outside payload box to measure speed of sound. All the sensors were calibrated. Software for the project was developed in …

How Iridium Satellite Tracker Model 9602-Lp Asset Affects Span Of Control In High Altitidue Balloning, Steven Hamby

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The Irdium Satelitte Network has greatly increased safety in the ballooning field by enabling a greater span of control in flight awarness and termination. This enhanced awareness stems from accurate high interval GPS coordinates that can be integrated into ground station tracking software. The Iridium Network creates the ability to send activation commands remotely with high reliabilty using emails. Additionally this feature has the ability to use local rf transmiters and recievers to increase the flexibilty of cutdown designs. The Iridium Modems provides significant coverage regardless of altitude and loss of ground communication. It is marketed at econmical price point …

Multiple Camera Control Using An Octaplexer In A 5.8 Ghz Video System, Uciel Garcia Olmedo, Skylar Tamke

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

One of the greatest challenges with camera systems on High-Altitude Balloons (HAB) is to control the direction that they point. This is because the payload boxes constantly rotate during the flight. While mechanical gambles are normally used, an electronic gambled was designed using multiple cameras and a series of multiplexers. The design consists of 8 version 1 pi cameras, connected through a series of multiplexers and interfacing with an IMU to tell the direction the cameras are facing. This design attaches to the Raspberry Pi through the GPIO pins. The multiplexers turn on the camera facing the orientation desired and …

Ground Station Tracking System, Garret Hilton, Carter Mciver, Steven Hamby, Trevor Gahl, Casey Coffman, David Schwehr

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

One of the Eclipse Ballooning Project’s main goals was to stream live video of the eclipse to the internet. To accomplish this task a tracking antenna was built to follow the balloon payload. As an added challenge, the task had to be completed on a budget. The “ground station” is the center for communication between the payload and user. This system utilizes GPS position reports from the payload via the iridium network to determine the balloons position. The computer algorithm takes in additional GPS and IMU data from the ground station to determine a relative heading to orientate the antenna …

High Altitude Balloon Flight Predictions, Sara Stafford

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The ability to make accurate predictions of a high altitude balloon’s flight trajectory is critical for safety, protection of sensitive payloads, and ease of payload recovery. Several free software programs and websites are available which make predictions straightforward and yield acceptable results. Additional resources are presented which help evaluate the stability of the projected flight track. The various methods of prediction will be described and results compared with actual flight data.

2017 Eclipse Rfd-900 Still Image System, Tristan Running Crane, Uciel Garcia Olmedo, David Schwehr

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

As part of the NASA Space Grant 2017 Eclipse Ballooning Project, Montana Space Grant Consortium designed a camera system capable of transmitting still images from a balloon borne payload to a remote ground station via a RFD-900 radio. This payload consists of a Raspberry Pi, a Raspberry Pi camera, custom power supply and a RFD 900MHz radio. This system was designed to record pictures at high and low resolution at altitude. The low resolution images could be selected for downlinking back to the ground via the radio, while the high resolution pictures were saved to the Raspberry Pi memory card. …

Controlled Heading Automation Device, Robert Coulson

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

One of the most significant limitations of weather balloon-based data collection is that instruments and payloads cannot depend on particular orientations or predictable rotation. Several investigators have used payload heading control devices to overcome this limitation in order to collect directional data and record motion controlled video footage. The work described in this presentation builds on the Controlled Heading Automation Device (CHAD) developed by Kruger et al. (2016) and was carried out at DePaul University in summer 2017 as an undergraduate research project. Our goal was to record stable video of the shadow of the moon on Earth’s surface during …

University Of Maine High Altitude Ballooning Eclipse Experience, Kent Seneres, Derek Haas, William Bessette, Richard Eason

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The University of Maine High Altitude Ballooning (UMHAB) team launched two balloons during the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, producing a consistent online video stream of the eclipse to an altitude of 110,000 feet. This paper discusses the key factors that lead to a successful launch and recovery, such as thorough testing procedures, redesign of components, choice of launch site, and a touch of luck. In preparation for the event, the team tested the equipment and code over eleven balloon launches. Airplane based testing and land testing were conducted for the tracking and video stream components. The payloads and …

Placing A High-Altitude Balloon In The Path Of Totality, Nicholas Jordan, Christopher Helmerich

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The UAH Space Hardware Club had conducted 70 flights prior to the Eclipse. In this time, we have gained valuable skills and experience which we have put into practice and passed on through the years. We put these skills into practice for the Eclipse. Our first challenge was finding where to launch. We started out by looking for suitable locations inside totality. We also examined a map of totality at 80,000 ft. We then ran predictions based on past weather during that time of year. By compiling multiple past predictions, we eliminated possible launch sites. We had multiple payloads, some …

Ssetgami: Secure Software Education Through Gamification, Hector Suarez, Hooper Kincannon, Li Yang

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Since web browsers have become essential to accomplishing everyday tasks, developing secure web applications has become a priority in order to protect user data, corporate databases and critical infrastructure against cyber-crimes . This research presents a game-like (gamification) approach to teach key concepts and skills on how to develop secure web applications. Gamification draws on motivational models, one of psychological theories. Gamification design has great potential over traditional education where we often find students demotivated and lecturers failing to engage them in learning activities. This research created game-like learning modules to teach top vulnerabilities and countermeasures for these top vulnerabilities …

Resource Efficient Design Of Quantum Circuits For Quantum Algorithms, Himanshu Thapliyal

Commonwealth Computational Summit

No abstract provided.

Additional Data Via Autonomous Systems To Supplement Traditional Sparse Sources For Weather Forecasting And Atmospheric Science, Suzanne Weaver Smith

Commonwealth Computational Summit

No abstract provided.