Abstract
Scheduling problems occurring in parallel machines manufacturing environments are quite usual and many different methods have been applied for solving it. These methods vary from the application of more or less simple heuristics and rules up to more complex methods, including distinct kind of metaheuristics. In this paper we discuss a fuzzy optimization method using simulated annealing (Fuzzy-SA) for solving an unrelated parallel machines manufacturing scheduling problem. To demonstrate the potential of our method we use an illustrative example of a parallel machines scheduling (PMS) problem and then we analyse it and perform statistical tests with 20 instances.

Abstract

Abstract
In the Smart Grid environment, it is expected that Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) should be capable of managing appliances inside the house, in order to provide reserve services. This paper aims at estimating the flexibility of a Portuguese typical residential load diagram. For this purpose, a bottom-up approach is used, i.e., the aggregated flexible load demand is determined taking into account the availability of each appliance to be controlled by the HEMS. The comfort requirements of the consumers are also incorporated in the flexibility calculations by integrating realistic load models into HEMS.

Abstract
Over the years, the increased search and exchange of information lead to an increase of traffic intensity in todays optical communication networks. Coherent communications, using the amplitude and phase of the signal, reappears as one of the transmission techniques to increase the spectral efficiency and throughput of optical channels. In this context, this paper present a survey on format conversion of modulated signals using MZISOAs, based exclusively on all-optical techniques through wavelength conversion. We also present two proposal using all-optical techniques: One for the conversion of amplitude modulation signals to a continuous phase modulation format, and another technique for the conversion of OOK signals to QPSK and QAM signals. Both approaches are experimentally validated.

Abstract
Extended Manufacturing Environments (EMEs) are nowadays growing due to the increase on Distributed and Virtual Enterprises, which led to an emergent need to apply scheduling approaches accordingly. This can be achieved in several different ways, namely by putting forward new approaches or by trying to adapt existing ones. In this paper the adaptation of some existing scheduling methods is proposed for solving a two stage manufacturing scheduling problem, and an illustrative example is presented. Several approaches were analyses, namely through the use of the ANOV A and the Post Hoc Scheffe's test, that demonstrated the superior performance of one of the proposed methods.

Abstract
How to improve the performance of a simulated soccer team using final game statistics? This is the question this research aims to answer using model-based collaborative techniques and a robotic team - FC Portugal - as a case study. After developing a framework capable of automatically calculating the final game statistics through the RoboCup log files, a feature selection algorithm was used to select the variables that most influence the final game result. In the next stage, given the statistics of the current game, we rank the strategies that obtained the maximum average of goal difference in similar past games. This is done by splitting offline past games into different k-clusters. Then, for each cluster, the expected best strategy was assigned. The online phase consists in the selection of the expected best strategy for the cluster in which the current game best fits. Regarding the final results, our approach proved that it is possible to improve the performance of a robotic team by more than 35%, even in a competitive environment such as the RoboCup 2D simulation league.