Projets novateurs réalisés

Implementation of a Machine Vision-based System for the Recognition of Indian Coins

Counting coins, with speed and accuracy, has been a challenging issue for banks and stores. People used to count coins manually before the arrival of coin counting machines. The process of counting coins manually is a very time consuming and tedious job. Moreover, mistakes are likely to occur due to various reasons such as fatigue, eye tiredness and too many coins of nearly same shape and size cause confusion in sorting and counting. Coin sorters are common in North America and can be found in most commercial banks and even some grocery stores. By contrast, they are not available in India, where the number and similarity of the coins make for a very challenging problem. The objective of this project is to determine whether advanced machine vision techniques are able to sort coins from India with acceptable speed and accuracy. TO BE CONT’D

Mobility and Protection of Goaltender Upper Body Personal Protective Equipment

Upper body injuries make up 32% of the injuries that ice hockey goaltenders have in a season. These values may be subject to change, as the National Hockey League is investigating rule changes that will decrease the size of the goaltender’s chest and arm equipment. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the mobility and safety of a chest and arm protector that meets the new NHL requirements by comparing goaltender shoulder/elbow mobility and protection against a CCM and a leading competitor’s chest and arm protector. It is expected that the new chest and arm will improve goaltender mobility; however, it will have larger peak contact forces compared to the current chest and arm models. This research is highly relevant to CCM as it will ensure that the equipment adjustments that CCM make, provide adequate goaltender protection and mobility.

Investigating the feasibility of a sensor-based hip protector for automatically detecting falls and characterizing activities of daily living in frail older adults

Over 350,000 Canadians live in long-term care facilities where the rate of falls is up to 3 times higher than among individuals living in the community. Wearable sensor technology holds great promise to accurately monitor an individual’s fall risk based on the activity profile and to detect dangerous fall events. With the understanding that hip protectors are commonly used in this population the objective of this project is to investigate the feasibility of a sensor-based hip protector to accurately detect falls and monitor daily activities. The partner organization is involved in the development of a discrete hip protector and will benefit as their device will be further developed, refined and evaluated in the target population.

Study the bond strength of adhered manufactured stone veneer units and setting bed mortar at different temperatures and different cycles of freeze-thaw

The bond between adhered manufactured stone masonry veneer units and the setting bed mortar will be studied. It will involve testing shear, and tensile bond on small samples. Samples will consist of 2 types of adhered manufactured stones; two types of setting bed mortar (Type S, and modified dry-set cement mortar); and two types of substrates (simulated scratch coat and metal lath, and exterior grade cement board). Samples will be tested at 3 different temperatures (-20, 0 and 20°C), and 2 different numbers of freeze-thaw cycles. Three samples will be cast and tested for each combination. Reliability analysis will be conducted on the results to suggest which combination works best at different temperatures or with respect to the number of cycles of freeze-thaw. In addition, some factors that modify the bond strength equations will be investigated to determine if their inclusion better predict the bond strengths.

Using Mobile Augmented Reality for Customized STEM Education

Discovery Agents is a leader in mobile, augmented reality educational technology, with products and services intended to enhance student and teacher experiences within informal and formal educational settings. With a growing industry demand for diverse science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals, this study proposes to examine the impact of the Discovery Agents Mission Builder tool on STEM learning and perceptions among middle school students. Educational material and assessments will be developed and tested at various sites in Calgary, Alberta and Fullerton, California. Data collected through surveys, interviews and observations will be analyzed and visualized using quantitative and qualitative analytics. The intended outcomes will demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of the Discovery Agents for future classrooms interested in improving STEM education for future generations.

CARIC LEAN-702_TRL4+ Développement d’un démonstrateur de chiffrage de pièces usinées

La fabrication de pièces aérospatiales représente plusieurs défis importants. Parmi ces défis, le chiffrage des coûts et de manière générale la gestion de l’ensemble des informations est un casse-tête souvent très difficile à solutionner et dépendant de représentations géométriques. La solution idéale doit permettre la combinaison d’informations multifactorielles tenant compte du capital humain, structurel et enfin relationnel, c’est-à-dire des connaissances tangibles et tacites qui rendent le projet complexe. Une vitrine technologique innovante de chiffrage des pièces usinées harmonisant les meilleures pratiques basées sur la réutilisation des connaissances et d’outils informatiques qui automatiseront fortement les tâches fastidieuses de collecte, de gestion puis de recherche, d’analyse et d’extraction d’informations tant alphanumériques que géométriques distribuées dans les systèmes informatiques d’entreprises est proposée. Il s’agira d’un démonstrateur illustrant le potentiel de la réutilisation de connaissances multifactorielles intégrées au sein des entreprises.

Exploring Differences and Similarities in the Geography Curriculum

The main objective of my research project is to compare the Canadian Geography curriculum with the Geography curriculum in China within grades 7 and 8. Over the course of 3 months I will be able to analyze the major topics covered by the Chinese geography teachers, explore the resources available to students and analyze how those resources are used to teach grades 7 and 8. This research project will be carried out through observations of classrooms in China. Note taking and journal writing will be the main method of gathering data. The observation of a geography classroom in China would be beneficial for me as a geography teacher since it will broaden my pedagogical horizons, acquire different teaching methods and extend my cultural knowledge. It will also help me develop an understanding of the Chinese culture, teaching psychology and philosophies that are held within the classrooms. Overall, my research will greatly assist in the development of becoming a better teacher within in Canada’s multicultural society.

Une formulation par équation intégrale volumique pour la tomographie par induction magnétique de tissus biologiques

La tomographie par induction magnétique est une technique d’imagerie biomédicale récente qui peut être appliquée, par exemple, pour la détection d’accidents vasculaires cérébraux et l’imagerie pulmonaire. Elle utilise un champ magnétique à basse fréquence pour identifier les propriétés diélectriques des tissus. La reconstruction du milieu biologique à partir des mesures du champ est complexe et nécessite un coût de calcul très élevé, ce qui limite pour l’instant son utilisation en cliniques. Le but du projet est de reformuler le problème sous forme d’intégrales volumiques et de vérifier si cela permet d’améliorer les contraintes liées au coût de calcul sans compromettre la validité des résultats. Des avancées dans ce domaine permettront ultimement de développer une méthode d’imagerie qui nécessite un équipement extrêmement simple et peu coûteux pour détecter rapidement certaines.

Evaluating Data for Urban Decision-Making surrounding Storm Water Drainage Systems in Chennai

The south Indian megacity of Chennai, India is susceptible to recurrent flooding and seawater infiltration. The city is quickly urbanizing, but the expansion of municipal infrastructure for water and drainage has not kept pace with this rate of development. So, in the event of a storm, the city does not have the necessary built infrastructure to diffuse water from heavy rainfalls. This exacerbates the losses from flooding, as seen in the recent floods of December 2015. While in recent years expenditures on storm water systems have increased, the general opinion is that these investments have delivered poor outcomes, with implications for inclusive and environmentally sustainable development.

This research aims to understand decision-making for urban services, with a particular focus on storm water drainage in Chennai. Very little is known about the planning, execution and monitoring processes for storm water drainage infrastructure. So, I will look at how the lack of high quality data poses barriers to achieving transparent and robust decision-making processes, and socially desirable outcomes.

This research will contribute to more participatory, inclusive, and environmentally responsible urban decision-making.

China English and its Role in the Differentiated Education of English Language Learners in Canada

This project will explore the dialect of China English at Southwest University in Chongqing, China. The research will attempt to connect the study of China English to the purpose of offering a more inclusive and comprehensive education for English language learning students in Canadian schools. The project will involve an observation of China English as present in oral and written forms across the Southwest University campus and in classrooms. This project is a part of Xu & Connelly’s (2013-2020) SSHRC Partnership Grant Project entitled “Reciprocal Learning in Teacher Education and School Education Between Canada and China.”

Prédistorsion non-linéaire pour la correction de haut-parleurs graves

Dans un système audio, les haut-parleurs sont les principales sources de distorsions non linéaires dans le son. Le système électromécanique de ces derniers produits des distorsions harmoniques et d’intermodulation, ce qui cause une dégradation de la qualité du son. Ces effets sont particulièrement considérables dans les basses fréquences, là où le déplacement mécanique de la membrane du haut-parleur est important. Dans ce travail, nous étendrons une méthode de prédistorsion pour corriger ces distorsions d’harmoniques et plus particulièrement en provenance des basses fréquences. Nous proposerons une méthode non linéaire de prédistorsion et une implémentation sur une cible DSP ou FPGA. Une évaluation pratique sera réalisée sur le gain en réduction des harmoniques et sur la perception d’écoute.

High-Quality Urban Representation/iCity: Urban Informatics for Sustainable Metropolitan Growth

The intention of this collaborative research effort is to create an accurate digital 3D model of the City of Toronto waterfront that can be used by city planners to visualize factors relevant to the city when making high-level decisions regarding infrastructure and policy. This project is a collaboration between OCAD University and Esri Canada Limited, a software company that specializes in geographical information systems (GIS). EC has offered the use of their proprietary software CityEngine, which optimizes the process of creating realistic 3D city and geographical models. The OCAD University intern is responsible for learning this software, integrating relevant city and geographical data, and finally creating the digital model. Within the broader scope of the iCity project, this model will then be used as a testbed for developing custom visualization software. The benefit for EC is that they can showcase their software as a permanent component of the City of Toronto’s information architect