Recent Patents on Engineering - Volume 17, Issue 5, 2023

Garbage collection and segregation are among the biggest problems in today's world across the globe. This work proposed a System that helps clean waste and eases people in daily life. This system, proposed by Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, is an intelligent waste segregator bin embedded with many applications. The system relies on an "Ultrasonic sensor, calorimetric sensor, LED, Arduino, programming language and some hardware used." The invention is quite innovative and advantageous. A gist of the system mainly uses two divided sections for the segregation of bio and non-biodegradable wastes. Arduino has been used to save the coding of the system. Hence, the system helps us maintain and reduce garbage levels and can be proven a blessing in the waste management. The patent office of India has patented the proposed innovation, application number 202111006039, 12th Feb 2021, and copyright has been granted from the copyright office, India, on the design of the proposal having registration number L-104358/2021 dated 10th June 2021.

A brain tumour is described by the presence of abnormal cells in the brain's tissues. Brain tumours can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). The malignant brain tumour is one of the leading and common cancers in the world. There are two types of tumours, primary tumours that develop in the brain and secondary tumours that start in another region of the body and then spread to the brain. The precise identification of the size and location of a brain tumour is crucial in the diagnosis of a brain tumour and is often diagnosed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This book chapter discusses the major types of brain tumours and the advancements in computeraided approaches for detecting brain tumours. The manuscript gives an overview of various recent machine learning and medical image processing approaches developed recently for the identification and classification of brain tumours. Several medical image dataset available for the research works in this domain is also briefed in this article. The major research challenges which can be addressed by the researchers in the domain of brain tumour detection are also discussed in this article.

Background: 3D printing is a kind of rapid prototyping technology. It is a digital model file-based technology that uses powdered metals, plastics, and other bond able materials to construct objects by stacking them layer by layer. In recent years, 3D printed artificial bones have been widely used for repairing or replacing damaged bones. Therefore, the application of 3d printing technology in the field of orthopedics has attracted more and more attention. Objective: This paper introduces the research status of 3D printing technology in the field of orthopedics and discusses the future development direction. Methods: Summarize various representative patents related to 3D printing bones all over the world. Results: By summarizing a large number of patents related to 3D printing bones, the research status of printing devices, printing materials, structure optimization, and related applications of 3D printing bones are analyzed, and the related problems and development trends of 3D printing bones are discussed. Conclusion: The combination of 3D printed bone materials and the optimization of the artificial bone unit structure will improve the mechanical properties of bone grafts and increase the success rate of transplantation. Bone repair aids and surgical guides will improve the success rate of orthopedic surgery and will be more widely used in the future. 3D printing technology is more and more widely used in the field of orthopedics, and there will be more research results in the future.

Background: As a kind of non-renewable natural resource, mineral resources are the important material basis of social development. Mineral resources mined need to be sorted and processed to improve product quality and utilization rate. As an important mineral separation process, jigging has obvious technical advantages and has been widely used in mineral separation technical field. Objective: In this paper, jig related patents are summarized, and their structural characteristics, working principles and technical advantages are analyzed in detail. The research results can provide a meaningful reference for improving mineral separation efficiency and jig technology innovation. Methods: Through the comparative analysis of jig related patents, the current research progress has been summarized, and the future development direction is put forward. Results: The patent is mainly devoted to the external structure transformation and internal flow field optimization of the jig, so as to achieve the purpose of energy saving and high efficiency. Studies have shown that jigging has improved significantly, and many patents have been applied to industrial production practices. Conclusion: Jig has development potential in terms of being large-scale, intelligent, highly efficient, and energy-saving technique, and it can constantly improve the processing ability. Through the intelligent control system to ensure the safe and stable operation of jig, and combined with new materials and structure optimization to improve separation efficiency and working life, jig for mineral separation is of great significance.

Background: Colleges and universities play an important role in national scientific and technological innovation, and research outputs are the comprehensive embodiment of their strength. There is a study value in determining how to energize the researchers and create a healthy atmosphere for them. Objective: On the premise of the bounded rationality of researchers, this paper first briefly describes some practical issues in the field of evaluation of scientific achievements, establishing two major research objects: researchers and scientific research management departments. Methods: By using the evolutionary game theory, this study establishes a two-side evolutionary game model in combination with the factors that affect the decision of researchers, and it shows the preconditions for an evolutionarily stable strategy based on replication dynamic thought and the criterion of evolutionary stability strategy. Based on MATLAB GUI platform, this paper also develops the numerical simulation system of research investment and reward strategy and realizes the quantitative processing of the theoretical model. Results: First, there is a relation between the evolution speed of the researcher choosing high research investment and the scientific management department selecting a high research reward strategy; Second, there is hysteresis in both parties’ mastery of each other’s strategy information; and third, while optimizing the conditions for scientific research and punishing academic misconduct, the administrative departments should regularly adjust their assessment indicators to create a good atmosphere for scientific research. Conclusion: This paper will further solve engineering problems in the field of scientific research management.

Background: Dementia causes a slow decline in the cognitive impairing abilities in the behavior of the elders. This suppresses the elders from living independently due to their wandering tendencies. To reduce any kind of harm to such patients, consistent supervision is required by the caretaker. The existing location tracking methods consume high energy to provide an accurate location. Introduction: Some systems have been developed to track the wandering pattern of patients in indoor and outdoor environments. Initially, the methodologies used for location tracking use sensors and accelerometers based on embedded programs. However, these methods do not provide high accuracy and are hence unreliable. Methods: In this paper, a study on the location detection algorithms based upon frequency of visit, navigation, geofences, and movement patterns is carried out. Many other algorithms based on location tracking are discussed in this study. Results: The algorithms are compared on the basis of accuracy, recall rate, detection rate, and false alarm rate. The algorithms based on geofence provide a 95% detection rate, 95% accuracy, less than 3% false alarm rate, and less than 1 ms latency. The algorithms based on navigation provide 85% detection rate, 95% accuracy, less than 2% false alarm rate, and less than 10 s latency, while the algorithms based on movement pattern offer 90% detection rate, 90% accuracy, 5% false alarm rate, and 12 s latency. Conclusion: The study shows that geofences provide the best solution for detecting the location of patients.

Aims: Cloud computing has been a hot topic in recent years, yet its technology trend is rarely comprehensively studied in peer-reviewed publications. Owing to a great number of professional and technical terms and the increasing volume of technical data presented in patents, it is difficult to analytically identify the timeframe of technological development. Methods: To remedy this problem, this study uses a sequential pattern method and social network analysis to develop the technological context of cloud computing. Results & Discussion: The analysis of relative patent position, technology quality, and technology life cycle was incorporated. Conclusion: This study proposes a method of patent portfolio analysis on the technological level to assist managers of cloud computing enterprises in developing competitive research and development (R&D) strategies.

Background: Trajectory tracking, one of the critical automatic driving technologies, is significant for the operation of small electric sweepers working in complex road environments, such as campuses and closed parks. Methods: This paper investigates a trajectory tracking control system for small self-driving electric sweepers on roads with different operating speed requirements. A hybrid control method combining sliding mode control and model predictive control is proposed, with sliding mode control operating under low-speed (<2 m/s) conditions, and model predictive control operating under high-speed (>2 m/s) conditions. An improved sliding mode controller based on the kinematic model is designed to reduce chattering, and a model predictive controller based on the dynamics model is constructed. Results: Finally, the performance of the hybrid control method is verified using the MATLAB/ Simulink platform. Conclusion: The simulation results prove the effectiveness of the hybrid control method and the good tracking performance of the electric sweeper at different driving speeds.