Among the metaheuristic algorithms, population-based algorithms are an explorative search algorithm superior to the local search algorithm in terms of exploring the search space to find globally optimal solutions. However, the primary downside of such algorithms is their low exploitative capability, which prevents the expansion of the search space neighborhood for more optimal solutions. The firefly algorithm (FA) is a population-based algorithm that has been widely used in clustering problems. However, FA is limited in terms of its premature convergence when no neighborhood search strategies are employed to improve the quality of clustering solutions in the neighborhood region and exploring the global regions in the search space. On the

The global food supply heavily depends on utilizing fertilizers to meet production goals. The adverse impacts of traditional fertilization practices on the environment have necessitated the exploration of new alternatives in the form of smart fertilizer technologies (SFTs). This review seeks to categorize SFTs, which are slow and controlled-release Fertilizers (SCRFs), nano fertilizers, and biological fertilizers, and describes their operational principles. It examines the environmental implications of conventional fertilizers and outlines the attributes of SFTs that effectively address these concerns. The findings demonstrate a pronounced environmental advantage of SFTs, including enhanced crop yields, minimized nutrient loss, improved nut

Scheduling Timetables for courses in the big departments in the universities is a very hard problem and is often be solved by many previous works although results are partially optimal. This work implements the principle of an evolutionary algorithm by using genetic theories to solve the timetabling problem to get a random and full optimal timetable with the ability to generate a multi-solution timetable for each stage in the collage. The major idea is to generate course timetables automatically while discovering the area of constraints to get an optimal and flexible schedule with no redundancy through the change of a viable course timetable. The main contribution in this work is indicated by increasing the flexibility of generating opti

We propose a new object tracking model for two degrees of freedom mechanism. Our model uses a reverse projection from a camera plane to a world plane. Here, the model takes advantage of optic flow technique by re-projecting the flow vectors from the image space into world space. A pan-tilt (PT) mounting system is used to verify the performance of our model and maintain the tracked object within a region of interest (ROI). This system contains two servo motors to enable a webcam rotating along PT axes. The PT rotation angles are estimated based on a rigid transformation of the the optic flow vectors in which an idealized translation matrix followed by two rotational matrices around PT axes are used. Our model was tested and evaluated

Abstract 

This paper presents mechanical and electrical design, and implementation  process of industrial robot, 3-DoF type SCARA (selective compliment assembly robot arm),with two rotations and one translation used for welding applications.The design process also included the controller design which was based on PLC(programmable logic controller) as well as selection of mechanical and electrical components.The challenge was to use the available components in Iraq with reasonable costs. The robot mentioned is fully automated using programmable logic controller PLC(Zelio type SR3-B261BD),with 16inputs and 10 outputs. The PLC was implemented in FBD logic to obtain three different automatic motions with hi

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques enable transparency and trust in automated visual inspection systems by making black-box machine learning models understandable. While XAI has been widely applied, prior reviews have not addressed the specific demands of industrial and medical inspection tasks. This paper reviews studies applying XAI techniques to visual inspection across industrial and medical domains. A systematic search was conducted in IEEE Xplore, Scopus, PubMed, arXiv, and Web of Science for studies published between 2014 and 2025, with inclusion criteria requiring the application of XAI in inspection tasks using public or domain-specific datasets. From an initial pool of studies, 75 were included and categorized in

Porous silicon (PS) layers were formed on n-type silicon (Si) wafers using Photo- electrochemical Etching technique (PEC) was used to produce porous silicon for n-type with orientation of (111). The effects of current density were investigated at: (10, 20, 30, 40, and50) mA/cm2 with etching time: 10min. X-ray diffraction studies showed distinct variations between the fresh silicon surface and the synthesized porous silicon. The maximum crystal size of Porous Silicon is (33.9nm) and minimum is (2.6nm) The Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) were used to study the morphology of porous silicon layer. AFM results showed that root mean square (RMS) of roughness and the grain size of p