Abstract
The economical and environment impacts of fossil energies increased the interest for hybrid, battery and fuel-cell electric vehicles. Energy management systems (EMS) have a fundamental role in achieving high efficiency levels in vehicle performances, without compromise its drivability features. This is a complex task, since one is dealing with the integration of different physical subsystems. In addition, several vehicle electric power-train architectures must be considered, requiring different energy management approaches. Considering EMS for real-time applications will bring a higher complexity level. This paper aims at putting these efforts into perspective deriving a more holistic view of the literature in this topic. We start the analysis on the general requirements for EMS to identify the more demanding ones for real-time applications. Based on this analysis, we suggest some open challenges and describe new research opportunities. © 2011 INESC Coimbra.

Abstract
This paper presents a digital controller suitable for an instructional laboratory in electric drives. A prototype has been designed specifically to meet the requirements of low cost and motivating education tool, and it contains all of the active functions required to implement the open loop control of induction motors. This approach develops the concept of "grey box" module where the details are built for convenience, but not hidden inside as a "black box". Introductory laboratory experiments are presented to demonstrate how this hardware can be integrated in laboratory classes to present the most important concepts as regards adjustable speed drives.

Abstract
This paper presents a low cost, modular, configurable and fully protected education tool based on a generic electronic converter to be used by students, providing them with skills regarding power electronics and converters, and enabling them to learn from experience the most important issues concerning DC and AC electric drives.

Abstract
This paper describes a surveillance system for forest environments and protected natural areas with capacity for detecting fires and other ecological crimes. This system uses a digital camera that is controlled remotely by a system operator. Using the software the operator may chose to zoom a special spot or even take measures to place a strategy to fight the lire right before it becomes uncontrollable. Since that this system has to operate in the middle of forests, aspects like effectiveness, robustness and reliability are crucial. To make the positioning of camera, the system uses a stepper motor to the vertical movement of the camera, and a DC motor to the horizontal movement. The system also captures information about the temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. All the processing is realized by a PIC16f877 microcontroller.

Abstract
In this paper a new method of estimation of the induction motor electric parameters is presented and discussed. The proposed method uses the indirect approach that consists in estimating the continuous-time parameters by first fitting a discrete-time model to the data and then converting this model to a continuous-time version. The main contribution is that by using a polynomial pre-filter it is possible to compute the induction motor equivalent circuit parameters via an inverse transformation between the discrete-time and the continuous-time models. The procedure is potentially useful for the design of self-commissioning drives and may provide initial estimates to extended Kalman filtering type of procedures. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulated tests and results of the method are discussed.

Abstract
This paper proposes a design of a sliding mode controller for direct torque control of an induction motor drive. The design includes the hardware structure, the control laws for torque control and rotor flux control. The modulation is defined as part of the variable structure control algorithm which enables an optimum choice of output voltage of the static converter. The validity and robustness of the proposed control system were verified by simulation. The simulation results are presented to demonstrate their agreement with theoretical predictions of the proposed controller. Copyright (C) 1998 IFAC.