Research Publications
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Publication Open Access Trade Liberalisation and Poverty in South Asia(Taylor & Francis Books, 2011) JAYATHILAKA, R; DE MEL, DThe relationship between trade and poverty has long been debated in academic and policy circles. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to this debate through an in-depth study of the experience of Sri Lanka, the first country in South Asia to break away from the protectionist past by embarking on a decisive process of economic opening in 1977. During the first decade after independence in 1948, Sri Lanka continued with a liberal trade regime, until growing balance of payments problems induced a policy shift towards protectionist import substitution policies from the early 1960s. By the mid-1970s the Sri Lankan economy had become one of the most inwardoriented and regulated outside the group of centrally planned economies. In 1977, Sri Lanka responded to the dismal economic outcome of the closedeconomy era by embarking on an extensive economic liberalisation process, becoming the first country in the South Asian region to do so. Despite major macroeconomic problems and political turmoil, market-oriented reforms have been sustained over the ensuing years. Sri Lanka is now classified as one of the few developing countries outside East Asia that have achieved a clear policy shift from the entrenched import-substitution era. This policy transition has brought about notable structural changes in the economy (Athukorala and Rajapatirana 2000; World Bank 2005b; Kelegama 2006). However, the impact of liberalisation reforms on the incidence of poverty and poverty reduction has not yet been systematically studied. Therefore, the main objective of this chapter is to systematically examine the link between trade liberalisation and poverty reduction through employment channels. The chapter is arranged as follows: Section 2 provides an overview of trade policy shifts and the role of trade in the economy. Section 3 surveys the incidence and patterns of poverty. Section 4 examines key channels through which trade policy impacts on poverty. Section 5 examines some cross-cutting issues. Section 6 reports the results of an econometric analysis undertaken to examine the determinant of poverty at the household level with emphasis on the impact of trade policy. The chapter ends with a summary of key findings and policy inferences.Publication Embargo Design evolution of mechatronic systems through modeling, on-line monitoring, and evolutionary optimization(Pergamon, 2012-02-01) Gamage, L. B; De Silva, C. W; Campos, RThis paper presents a system framework to automate the design evolution of multi-domain engineering systems. The developed system integrates machine health monitoring with an expert system to monitor the performance of an existing mechatronic system and to take a decision as to whether and which part of the system a design improvement is necessary. A system model represented by Linear Graphs is evolved using genetic programming to obtain a design that optimally satisfies a specified level of performance. The developed approach allows exploration of the design space to find the optimum design solution in an automated manner. In order to control the arbitrary exploration of the design space, domain knowledge, expertise, and input from the machine health monitoring system are used. The design evolution algorithm is implemented using GPLAB, a MATLAB tool, and integrated with Simscape for modeling and simulation. The developed system is applied to redesign the electro-mechanical conveyor system of an industrial fish processing machine.Publication Embargo Multi Objective Optimization of Lifecycle Cost, Unmet Load, and Renewable Energy Capacity for an Expansion of Existing Standalone Internal Combustion Generator (ICG) Systems(Elsevier, 2011-01-01) Perera, A. T. D; Attalage, R. AThis paper presents, for the first time, the application of the strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm to the multi-objective design of isolated hybrid systems, minimising both the total cost throughout the useful life of the installation and the unmet load. For this task, a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) and a genetic algorithm (GA) have been used in order to find the best combinations of components for the hybrid system and control strategy. Also, a novel control strategy has been developed and it will be expounded in this article. As an example of application, a PV–wind–diesel system has been designed, obtaining a set of possible solutions (Pareto set) from which the designer can choose those which he/she prefers considering the costs and unmet load of each. The results obtained demonstrate the practical utility of the design method used.Publication Embargo Applicability of three complexity metrics(IEEE, 2012-12-12) De Silva, D. I; Kodagoda, N; Perera, HOver the years a number of complexity metrics have been proposed. However, there have been only a few studies conducted to compare those proposed metrics in terms of their practical applicability. The few researches that have been conducted to assess the applicability of a complexity metric have also used the five properties proposed by Briand et al. However determining whether a complexity measure satisfies some theoretical complexity properties is not a reliable method of determining the practical applicability of it. Thus, the main intent of this study was to compare three proposed code complexity metrics: McCabe's cyclomatic complexity, Halstead's software science and Shao and Wangs' cognitive functional size and identify which metric is the most suitable metric that can be used in the current state of the art with the help of thirty programmers. To conduct this empirical study ten freely available java programs were used as the base. From this study it was identified that Shao and Wangs' cognitive functional size is the best complexity metric that can be used in the real world.Publication Open Access Analysis, Modeling and Simulation of a Poly-Bag Manufacturing System(Scientific Research Publishing, 2012-05-24) Gopura, R. A. R. C; Jayawardane, T. S. SThe cost of raw material of poly-bags increases and fluctuates with an unpredictable trend. Further, legal restrictions imposed on some types of polythene products adversely affects for the demand. In this context, entrepreneurs engaging in poly-bag manufacturing face major challenges. With the purview of optimizing the poly-bag manufacturing process, authors attempted to analyze, model and simulate the poly-bag manufacturing process in the light of posed challenges. This paper presents preliminary analysis, modeling and simulation strategies of a poly-bag manufacturing system. In addition, a risk prioritization method is proposed in the preliminary analysis and also a simulation tool is developed.Publication Embargo Control methodologies for upper limb exoskeleton robots(IEEE, 2012-12-16) Gunasekara, J. M. P; Gopura, R. A. R. C; Jayawardena, T. S. S; Lalitharathne, S. W. H. M. T. DAn exoskeleton robot is kind of a man-machine system which mostly uses combination of human intelligence and machine power. These robotic systems are used for different applications such as rehabilitation, human power amplification, motion assistance, virtual reality etc. Successful operation of an exoskeleton robot depends on correct selection of design and control methodologies. This paper reviews control methodologies used in upper limb exoskeleton robots. In the review, the control methods used in the exoskeleton robots are classified into three categories: control system based on human biological signal, nonbiological signal and platform independent control system. Different types of control methods under each category are compared and reviewed.Publication Open Access Efficient, Authentication and Access control Implementation in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET) as applied to Indoor Navigation Guidance System for Vision Impaired People(2012 International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation, 2012-11) Rupasinghe, P. L; Abhayasinghe, N; Murray, IIndoor navigation systems are becoming increasingly popular. Blind and Low Vision users are prominently in need of indoor positioning and navigating systems as indoor navigation is a significant issue. Most of the efforts in creating such systems are using MANET (Mobile Ad-hoc Networks) as the base technology. However the properties of MANET’s inherently provide greater challenges in areas like security, reliability and performance. Most of research work was done on those different challenges in isolation. A holistic approach to address all these challenges in an implementation appears to be rare. Ad-hoc collaboration is usually an unplanned interaction or created "immediately on the fly". In MANET networks Authentication and access-control trust relations established through, on-line- available evidence, may be short-term and largely peer-to-peer, where the peers may not necessarily have a relevant network that can be placed into a recognizable trust hierarchy. Trust relations involving a captured node need to be invalidated, and new trust evidence need to be collected and evaluated to maintain node connectivity in the ad-hoc network This paper present the framework on Trust Relations based on friendships mechanism which is adopted from the theory of small-world phenomenon (i.e. six degrees of separation) initiated by Milgram, to provide rapid authentication. Continuity Efficient, Rapid Authentication is needed in practical implementations of an Indoor navigation system. Particularly when Low vision users are dependent on such system, a rogue node can be hazardous. Further research delivers a framework which combines reliability and performance, two important factors in practical implementation of an indoor navigation system.Publication Open Access Accessbim model for environmental characteristics for vision impaired indoor navigation and way finding(2012 International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation, 2012-11) Jayakody, J. A. D. C. A; Abhayasinghe, N; Murray, IMost blind people require assistance to navigate within buildings as there is often insufficient information about the buildings available to them. To address this problem, this paper describes the “AccessBIM” model as an approach to facility management in which a digital representation of the indoor building features is used to facilitate the exchange and interoperability of real-time information in digital format which can assist blind people to independently access unfamiliar building indoor environments. This paper discusses conceptual communication model driven architecture that can be implemented for way finding and data synchronization, generating, in real-time, an AccessBIM for a remote user.Publication Open Access A novel approach for indoor localization using human gait analysis with gyroscopic data(2012 International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation, 2012-11) Abhayasinghe, N; Murray, I— Way finding is one of the main difficulties that vision impaired people face, especially in indoor environments. Although Global Positioning System (GPS) based navigation is possible outdoors, the accuracy of GPS is not sufficient for indoor navigation and way finding. Most of the existing indoor localization and path finding techniques depend on additional infrastructure deployed in the environment. This paper proposes a novel technique for indoor localization based on human gait using single-point sensors embedded in mobile devices. It involves inertial sensors and other sensors such as magnetometer, generally embedded into the mobile devices. Progress made from data collection indicates that there is a better correlation of gyroscopic data than acceleration data to the gait of the person. Data was collected in different environments with the involvement of multiple male and female volunteers with no vision impairment or motor disability. The two carrying positions considered in this experiment were in the hip-pocket (pocket of the trouser) and clipped into the belt (hip). Various positioning experiments determined that a possible optimal location for the data gathering device was in the subject’s hip-pocket as compared to placement on the belt (hip region) as the movement of the thigh can be tracked when the device is placed in this position. It was also observed that the gyroscopic data can be used to identify different activities, such as walking on flat land, climbing up and down stairs and walking on inclined planes. Although the amplitude of the signal is small at the beginning and the end of the travel, the gyroscopic signal clearly identifies the step events. It is concluded that gyroscopic data gives promising results in indoor localization using gait analysis when the device is placed in the hip-pocket.Publication Open Access Service quality in University of Colombo libraries: an assessment(university of Colombo, 2011) Somaratna, S. D; Peiris, C. NSurvey of 614 users of the University of Colombo Library system using a modified version of SERVQUAL was carried out to ascertain the views of library users about the service level. They were asked to assess the actual service delivered by the library; to establish the importance of the service to them as users; and, to identify to what extent the service met their expectations. Exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation was employed to identify underlying dimensions of service quality of the Library and the best predictor of the overall service quality of the University of Colombo Library was identified by regression analysis. Finds that the service quality of the University of Colombo Library System was represented by seven dimensions and the best predictor of the overall service quality was the dimension referred to as “Collection and Access”. This is the first user survey conducted in University Libraries in Sri Lanka to assess the service quality through user perspectives, discovering service quality factors.