Events & Seminars

A Faculty Development Program on “Modeling & Simulation of Signal processing & Mechatronics systems and Implementation on DSP kits/ Microcontrollers with MATLAB” was organized by Amity University, Noida, on 1st June 2015 in collaboration with Math Works. Mrs. Sanghamitra V. Arora, (ECE Department) of Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaon attended the program.

The objective of the FDP was to impart knowledge about the various techniques of Optimization used for solving various Engineering problems and discussions on the latest developments in the field of Optimization. Optimization is a subject that deals with the problem of minimizing or maximizing a certain function in a finite dimensional Euclidean space over a subset of that space, which is usually determined by functional inequalities. During the past century, optimization has been developed into a mature field that includes many branches, such as linear conic optimization, convex optimization, global optimization, discrete optimization etc. Each of such branches has a sound theoretical foundation and is featured by an extensive collection of sophisticated algorithms and software. Optimization as a powerful modeling and problem solving methodology has a broad range of applications in management science, industry and engineering.

MathWorks is the leading developer of mathematical computing software. MATLAB, the language of technical computing, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization and numeric computation.

Simulink is a graphical environment for simulation and Model- Based Design for multidomain dynamic and embedded systems. Engineers and scientists worldwide rely on these product families to accelerate the pace of discovery , innovation, and development in automotive, aerospace, electronics, financial services, biotech- pharmaceuticals and other industries.

Dr. Deepak Kumar, Software developer, The MathWorks, gave very useful insight into the new release of MATLAB version, R2015a. In this version the mathematical summary for DSP applications are written in such a way that it is suitable for non- mathematical readers as well as the beginners who are doing research in DSP and Mechatronics systems. He explained that MATLAB R2015a delivers new features in MATLAB and Simulink, enhanced capabilities for signal processing and wireless system design. He further highlighted the points:

1. MATLAB : Support for Arduino Leonardo and other Arduino boards.

2. Simulink : Graphical controls and displays for tuning and testing simulations

3. Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox (formerly Statistics Toolbox) : Classification Learner app for training modelsand classifying data using supervised machine learning

4. MATLAB Compiler SDK : Extension to MATLAB Compiler for creating C/C++, Java, and .NET components.

5. Communication System Toolbox : Connectivity and targeting for Zynq-based SDR, new synchronization methods for wireless receivers , and an end to end QAM link example.

6. Antenna Toolbox : New product for designing, analyzing and visualizing antenna elements and antenna arrays

7. Robotics System Toolbox : New product for designing and testing algorithms for robotics applications

8. Simulink Test : New product for creating test harnesses, authoring complex test sequences, and managing simulations- based tests.

9. Vision HDL Toolbox : New product for designing image processing, video, and computer vision systems FPGAs and ASICs.

Dr. Dhirendra Singh, Software Developer, The MathWorks is used as a high- level language and interactive environment for engineers and scientists. It allows to explore and visualize ideas and collaboration across disciplines, including signal processing and image, communication, control systems and computational finance. MATLAB are used in projects such as smart energy networks modeling to shoe the development of control algorithms for hypersonic vehicles, the analysis of weather data on the track and intensity of hurricanes, and to determine millions of simulations, the optimal dose for the construction of antibiotics. He further explained the new features in MATLAb R2015a including major improvements in data, new hardware support, and integrated custom toolkit documentation skills.

Mechtronics engineering has gained much attention in recent years. As the requirements for real-time, fast and accurate controllers increased , the use of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) as controllers gained momentum. This is due to the fact that DSP architecture has many advantages over regular microcontrollers. DSP has many applications in mechatronics such as hard disk drives.

Overall the workshop was quite useful as it gave exposure on the multi-dimensional capabilities developing signal processing algorithms to analyze raw sensor data in MATLAB and streaming real-world signals from Raspberry Pi boards and Android or Apple smartphones in tethered mode.