Many algorithms have been developed for automated electrocardiogram (ECG) classification. Due to the non-stationary nature of the ECG signal, it is rather challenging to use traditional handcraft methods, such as time-based analysis of feature extraction and classification, to pave the way for machine learning implementation. This paper proposed a novel method, i.e., the ensemble of depthwise separable convolutional (DSC) neural networks for the classification of cardiac arrhythmia ECG beats. Using our proposed method, the four stages of ECG classification, i.e., QRS detection, preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification, were reduced to two steps only, i.e., QRS detection and classification. No preprocessing method was required while feature extraction was combined with classification. Moreover, to reduce the computational cost while maintaining its accuracy, several techniques were implemented, including All Convolutional Network (ACN), Batch Normalization (BN), and ensemble convolutional neural networks. The performance of the proposed ensemble CNNs were evaluated using the MIT-BIH arrythmia database. In the training phase, around 22% of the 110,057 beats data extracted from 48 records were utilized. Using only these 22% labeled training data, our proposed algorithm was able to classify the remaining 78% of the database into 16 classes. Furthermore, the sensitivity ( $S_n$ ), specificity ( $S_p$ ), and positive predictivity ( $P_p$ ), and accuracy ( $Acc$ ) are 99.03%, 99.94%, 99.03%, and 99.88%, respectively. The proposed algorithm required around 180 μs, which is suitable for real time application. These results showed that our proposed method outperformed other state of the art methods.

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is relatively easy to acquire and has been used for reliable biometric authentication. Despite growing interest in ECG authentication, there are still two main problems that need to be tackled, i.e., the accuracy and processing speed. Therefore, this paper proposed a fast and accurate ECG authentication utilizing only two stages, i.e., ECG beat detection and classification. By minimizing time-consuming ECG signal pre-processing and feature extraction, our proposed two-stage algorithm can authenticate the ECG signal around 660 μs. Hamilton’s method was used for ECG beat detection, while the Residual Depthwise Separable Convolutional Neural Network (RDSCNN) algorithm was used for classification. It was found that between six and eight ECG beats were required for authentication of different databases. Results showed that our proposed algorithm achieved 100% accuracy when evaluated with 48 patients in the MIT-BIH database and 90 people in the ECG ID database. These results showed that our proposed algorithm outperformed other state-of-the-art methods.

Flooding in urban areas is counted as a significant disaster that must be correctly mitigated due to the huge amount of affected people, material losses, hampered economic activity, and flood-related diseases. One of the technologies available for disaster mitigation and prevention is satellites providing image data on previously flooded areas. In most cases, floods occur in conjunction with heavy rain. Thus, from a satellite’s optical sensor, the flood area is mostly covered with clouds which indicates ineffective observation. One solution to this problem is to use Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors by observing backscatter differences before and after flood events. This research proposes mapping the flood-prone areas using machine learning to classify the areas using the 3D CNN method. The method was applied on a combination of co-polarized and cross-polarized SAR multi-temporal image datasets covering Jakarta City and the coastal area of Bekasi Regency. Testing with multiple combinations of training/testing data proportion split and a different number of epochs gave the optimum performance at an 80/20 split with 150 epochs achieving an overall accuracy of 0.71 after training in 283 min.

Forest and land fires are disasters that greatly impact various sectors. Burned area identification is needed to control forest and land fires. Remote sensing is used as common technology for rapid burned area identification. However, there are not many studies related to the combination of optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing data for burned area detection. In addition, SAR remote sensing data has the advantage of being a technology that can be used in various weather conditions. This research aims to evaluate the burned area model using a hybrid of convolutional neural network (CNN) as a feature extractor and random forest (CNN-RF) as classifiers on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data. The experiment uses five test schemes: (1) using optical remote sensing data; (2) using SAR remote sensing data; (3) a combination of optical and SAR data with VH polarization only; (4) a combination of optical and SAR data with VV polarization only; and (5) a combination of optical and SAR data with dual VH and VV polarization. The research was also carried out on the CNN, RF, and neural network (NN) classifiers. On the basis of the overall accuracy on the part of the region of Pulang Pisau Regency and Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, the CNN-RF method provided the best results in the tested schemes, with the highest overall accuracy reaching 97% using Satellite pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) images as reference data. This shows the potential of the CNN-RF method to identify burned areas, mainly in increasing precision value. The estimated result of the burned area at the research site using a hybrid CNN-RF method is 48,824.59 hectares, and the accuracy is 90% compared with MCD64A1 burned area product data.

More than 1.3 million people are killed in traffic accidents annually. Road traffic accidents are mostly caused by human error. Therefore, an accurate driving fatigue detection system is required for drivers. Most driving fatigue detection studies concentrated on improving feature engineering and classification methods. We propose a novel driving fatigue detection framework concentrating on the development of the preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification stages to improve the classification accuracy of fatigue states. The proposed driving fatigue detection framework measures fatigue using a two-electrode ECG. The resampling method and heart rate variability analysis were used to extract features from the ECG data, and an ensemble learning model was utilized to classify fatigue states. To achieve the best model performance, 40 possible scenarios were applied: a combination of 5 resampling scenarios, 2 feature extraction scenarios, and 4 classification model scenarios. It was discovered that the combination of a resampling method with a window duration of 300 s and an overlap of 270 s, 54 extracted features, and AdaBoost yielded an optimum accuracy of 98.82% for the training dataset and 81.82% for the testing dataset. Furthermore, the preprocessing resampling method had the greatest impact on the model’s performance; it is a new approach presented in this study.

Visually Impaired Person or People (VIP) need to improve both orientation and mobility capabilities in order to be able to walk autonomously and safely using a white stick (cane). However, the feedback provided by an enhanced white stick (smart stick) does not integrate assistance to orientation and walking functions. This paper proposes to fill this gap and outlines the SEES (Smart Environment Explorer Stick) an enhanced white cane which assists the VIP's navigation. The active multi-sensor context-awareness concept is adopted to be implemented in the SEES to help the VIP to move safely and easily in any places (indoor or outdoor). The first prototype of SEES (hardware and software) is presented in this paper.