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The performance of a portable propane air conditioner system, in which the temperatures of the air passing over the condenser and evaporator are equal, has been experimentally investigated under different room temperatures and refrigerant charge levels. The research has been carried out in a range of room temperatures from 20°C to 35°C and in undercharge, standard charge and overcharge conditions. The results show that, at higher room temperatures, the refrigerant temperature in all parts of the system, the density of the refrigerant at the inlet and outlet of the condenser, mass of the refrigerant in the compressor, the mass flow rate of the refrigerant and the cooling capacity of the system in either the undercharge or full charge condition, the specific cooling capacity of the undercharge system, the useful work of the compressor, and the maximum pressure of the refrigerant increase. The increase in room temperature decreases the density of the refrigerant at the inlet and outlet of the capillary tube, the mass of the refrigerant in the capillary tube, the refrigerant subcooling at the inlet of the capillary tube, the maximum velocity of the refrigerant and the coefficient of performance. In addition, the increase in room temperature at overcharge condition causes an increase in the mass flow rate, cooling capacity and specific cooling capacity to a maximum value followed by their decrease. The most important difference between a portable air conditioner and a nonportable system is the increase in cooling capacity with an increase in room temperature in full charge condition.

A high input impedance, high common mode rejection ratio, fixed gain (×100) amplifier is proposed for recording biopotential signals. This miniature amplifier affords the feature of power saving. It can continuously function for as long as 3 months with a small battery (3.3 V, 2.2 g). A practical application of this amplifier for ECG recording has shown that it has great potential for recording other biomedical signals. Hence, this amplifier can be used as a building block at the front end of most biomedical systems. Detailed design considerations and circuit implementation of this amplifier are described to facilitate its acceptance as a common module for this purpose.

In this research, we employ the technology of computer vision to recognize traffic light. We manipulate the color information of traffic light under HSI color space. And then, adding motor tracking technology, we can trap the traffic light which is subjected to a region of interest (ROI) to the center area of monitor. Meanwhile, we assign different frequency (peach) according to red light or green light to inform the people what state the light is.

We develop the algorithm at PC with MATLAB. Then, we port the whole system to DSP platform TI TMS320 DM642 EVM. The result is that in the condition of non-complex environment, the system can distinguish the red light from green light, and also can output audio signal by means of speaker.

Remote monitoring systems for home health care service have become one of the hottest topics recently. Biomedical signals recorded by portable devices can be wirelessly transmitted through the Internet. In this paper, a miniature signal-condition module for ambulatory recording of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals was designed with high input impedance, high common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR), low power, appropriate amplification and filtration, and automatic suppression of offset voltage. For early detection of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), this device is extended and 12-lead ECG recording is available. Due to the modular approach, the module is accommodated for other biomedical signals recording as well if the gain and pass-band of the module are modified.

In this study, we proposed a portable electronic nose (e-nose) system based on a microcontroller (MSP430-FG439) combined with a tin oxide (SnO₂) gas sensor, which was heated by a cyclic heating method, to recognize the volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We had demonstrated that this e-nose system can classify and quantify VOCs, such as methanol and ethanol. The sensitivity of the e-nose system had good linearity in the concentration range of 10–40 ppm of these two VOCs, respectively. This portable e-nose system was implemented with a microcontroller acted as CPU, an LCD for displaying information of gases in real time, a wireless communication system, ZigBee, and a warning system.

The incidence of brain diseases, such as dementia, Parkinson's disease and motor nerve disorder, has increased since 1980s. According to a survey conducted on the incidence in England, US, Japan, Germany and Spain, the dementia death rate, including Alzheimer's disease, had increased by three times for men. The death rate from brain disease, such as Parkinson's disease and motor nerve disorder, has increased by 50% for both men and women. Although this increase can be assumed to be caused by changes in DNA when observing from a genetic perspective, it would take hundreds of years to confirm this. Therefore, environmental factors are regarded as the actual cause. In this situation of a rapidly increasing aging population, the prevention of senile and brain diseases is considered the most important measure because treatment is difficult and the after-effects are severe. A cerebrovascular ultrasonogram, which can frequently allow a self-inspection of the blood vessels for the early detection of the risk factors for disease, is actualized to model with a characteristic test and has shown performance. Supplementation of the system can facilitate an application in the measurement of brain disorder patients with other diseases in the future. This study examined the atypical characteristics through the production of a prototype.