Browsing by Author "Minja, Gilbert"

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Automatic Railway Road Crossing (RLC) Traffic Light System for Metric Gauge Railway Network in Tanzania
(International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering (ijasre), 2021-11) NKUNZIMANA, Libere; Minja, Gilbert; Mariki, Christina; Zirakwiye, Innocent; Mduma, Neema; Dida, Mussa
The verdict has been established that Railway Level Crossings (RLCs) present a possible risk to roads users. Because of the ever- increasing number of vehicles on the road every day, it was determined that employing automation at level crossings can be beneficial to both road and railway users' safety. The aim is to develop an automated railway level crossing system that would reduce the likelihood of collisions between trains and road users at intersections. From the perspective of a railway level crossing, the conditions safeguards must meet is straightforward - Before a train passes, there must be a complete stop for all road users. Two RFID sensors and Ultrasonic sensors are used located at strike-in and strike-out points at the level crossing. Detection of automobiles stuck on the rail road once the train has activated the automation at the RLC is performed by the Ultrasonic sensor. Other warning measures in the system include an automated barrier, Light Emitting Diode flashing lights, and an audio alarm device. Arduino UNO and ESP32 were used as microcontrollers to perform all the logical operations and control commands. Consequently, the next train station from RLC was updated of the incoming train’s Expected Time of Arrival (ETA). The time it takes for the barriers to close will be determined by the train’s speed. In this project work, the prospective application strategy for securing rail road crossings are described in detail. It is the best feasible control of the level crossing by using the train detection system
IoT-based control and monitoring system of a solar-powered brushless dc motor for agro-machines – the case of a Tanzanian-made oil press machine
(NM-AIST, 2022-07) Minja, Gilbert
The impulse in designing local agricultural machinery for curbing post-harvest losses in most African countries particularly Tanzania is unmatched. Locally made agricultural machines have proven to elevate the life of many small-scale farmers, which has increased the need to incorporate machine drives and controls to ease the process and operations. With potentials in Solar Energy, powering machine drive systems that operate in off-grid areas has been the best solution. Using the principles of Internet of Things (IoT) together with advancement in motor designs and readily available off the shelf microcontrollers such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino UNO in the market, we achieve machinery that caters for our needs and the local content. Mobile apps play a huge role in industrialization where monitoring and even controls of machines can be performed by the mobile phones. This project incorporated Agile-Scrum methods to develop a control and monitoring system for a locally made avocado oil extraction machine that is powered by a solar system with 1600W panel arrays and 800Ah battery pack, and uses a Brushless Direct Current Motor coupled with electric solenoid valve, relay modules and a controller unit assisting on the control process and collecting crucial motor operation data such as voltage and current. The designed Mobile app ‘Blue’ acquire motor operation data from the Raspberry Pi via Bluetooth technology, delivering data to cloud server for later analysis. Easing data acquisition in off grid areas when engineers, technicians or operators have a physical access to the stations. It was concluded that this novel design would provide an effective control and monitoring mechanism with an acceptance on reliability, usability and effectiveness of up to 85.65% for a plethora of locally-made machinery that available in the market which still uses the manual means of operation emphasizing ease of use and productivity, thence joining hands with the global world on attaining some of the Sustainable Development Goals.