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Publications

2020

Agricultural robotics: A state of the art survey

Authors
Oliveira, LFP; Silva, MF; Moreira, AP;

Publication
Robots in Human Life- Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines, CLAWAR 2020

Abstract
The constant increase in the world population has progressively demanded that humanity develop new technologies to face challenges such as providing high-quality food to the consumer market. In this sense, the concept of precision agriculture arises, proposing the development of agricultural activities such as preparing the land, sowing, planting, treating plants and harvesting automatically through robotic systems. This study focuses on performing a systematic review of the state of the art of robotics applications to execute agricultural activities. Through a comparative analysis of the existing solutions it was possible to highlight the similarities, differences and limitations of several agricultural robots. After looking at the needs of agricultural tasks and the limitations of robots, the challenges that are still unresolved and their possible solutions are indicated. © CLAWAR Association Ltd.

2020

Is Feed in Generation Pressing the Total Generation Cost in Portugal?

Authors
Da Silva, MA; Saraiva, JT; Sousa, JC;

Publication
International Conference on the European Energy Market, EEM

Abstract
Feed in generation was introduced in Portugal in 1988 to induce investments in endogenous and renewable energy resources. The feed in mechanism was adapted along time and its application was very successful so that currently more than 40% of the installed capacity is under this regime. Typically feed in tariffs are larger than average market prices so that there is a recurrent debate on whether this regime is pressing or not the end-user tariffs. This paper reports the main results obtained by the first author in his MSc Thesis in assessing the total generation cost under the current legal provisions on one side and, on the other, eliminating feed in generation from the mix. The results obtained using public data for 2017 indicate that the generation cost with feed in generation is 2,70% larger than the value obtained if it was eliminated from the market clearing process. © 2020 IEEE.

2020

Gait Pattern Analysis with Accelerometer Data From a Smartphone in PAD Patients

Authors
Renner, K; Filipe, V; Pereira, LT; Silva, I; Abrantes, C; Paredes, H;

Publication
2020 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON E-HEALTH AND BIOENGINEERING (EHB)

Abstract
Current research shows discrepancies in the gait pattern of patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Some studies suggest a change in gait pattern after the manifestation of claudication pain while others found patients with PAD already show a pathological gait, even before the intermittent claudication arises, and no change once the pain manifests. This exploratory research examines what change in gait pattern can be detected once claudication pain arises with the help of an accelerometer embedded in a smartphone. This study aims to contribute to the development of a process to remotely collect accelerometer data in a mobile health application, which then can be used to analyze gait pattern in patients with PAD on a larger scale. The findings of this exploratory study show that processing and analyzing accelerometer data from smartphone for gait analysis is viable and establishes a methodology for collecting and analyzing PAD patients' data. The major limitation of this study is the small sample size that do not provide the necessary reliability of the findings, about gait pattern changes. Further gait data should be collected to help understanding the gait pattern of PAD patients and build an extended dataset to be analyzed at a larger scale.

2020

On the development of a component model for the realization of Industry 4.0

Authors
Neto, L; Gonçalves, G; Torres, PMB; Dionísio, R;

Publication
IEEE Conference on Industrial Cyberphysical Systems, ICPS 2020, Tampere, Finland, June 10-12, 2020

Abstract
The fourth industrial revolution promotes Industrial Cyber Physical Systems (ICPS) as the key to achieve smart, efficient, flexible and self-organizing production plants. In a shop floor there are heterogeneous physical and logical assets that form the ICPS. But without proper communication and composition techniques the integration of these assets in ICPS is compromised. Component Based Software Engineering (CBSE) is a discipline of growing relevance for ICPS because integration and composition issues have been extensively researched in the software domain. Under the Reference Architecture for Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0), the Industry 4.0 Component Model inherits aspects of CBSE to specify how several industrial plant assets can form an ICPS. The technological aspects for physical assets digitalization and integration have been explored, but the I4.0 Component model lacks proposals and use cases for dealing with industrial software components. In this work we discuss the development of the Smart Component Model as a proposal for integration of software components in ICPS. Furthermore, we focus on how prediction and monitoring applications could be converted in I4.0 Components and integrated in ICPS. To sustain our proposals, we describe a real industrial case study where these developments are being applied. © 2020 IEEE.

2020

The impact of universities’ entrepreneurial activity on perception of regional competitiveness

Authors
Brás, GR; Preto, MT; Daniel, AD; Vitória, A; Rodrigues, C; Teixeira, A; Oliveira, A;

Publication
EAI/Springer Innovations in Communication and Computing

Abstract
Within the framework of the entrepreneurial university (EU), this study aims to test its multidimensional domain and therefore to confirm the positive contribution of EU factors to perceived regional competitiveness in Portugal. Data were collected from ten Portuguese public universities (PPUs) through a self-employed questionnaire. First- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed through factor and multiple linear regression analyses. The proposed EU construct was confirmed, thus proving the adequacy of scales for the PPUs context. Overall, the main findings show that EU factors—‘internal processes’, ‘entrepreneurial supporting measures’, ‘international collaboration’, and ‘funding strategy’—make a positive contribution to the perception of regional competitiveness. ‘Entrepreneurial supporting measures’ is the EU factor which has the biggest impact on perceived regional competitiveness and ‘organisational design’ is the only EU factor that does not reveal any impact on it. This contribution demonstrates to policy makers that PPUs are not merely cost centres but knowledge spillovers that can have a positive influence on regional competitiveness. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

2020

Damage detection under environmental and operational effects using cointegration analysis - Application to experimental data from a cable-stayed bridge

Authors
Tome, ES; Pimentel, M; Figueiras, J;

Publication
MECHANICAL SYSTEMS AND SIGNAL PROCESSING

Abstract
One of the main challenges that Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) faces when transitioning from academia to real-world applications is the discernment between structural changes due to damage and normal environmental, operational and long-term effects. In this context, a strategy for early damage detection based on multivariate cointegration analysis and statistical process control is proposed. The effects of environmental and operational variations are suppressed using cointegration analysis, being the cointegrating vector estimated following the multivariate Johansen procedure. The cointegrated residuals are then used for novelty detection by means of the Hotelling T-2 control chart. The proposed strategy is systematised and is applied to a large prestressed concrete cable-stayed bridge of which 3.5 years of data are available, being the stay-cable forces used as damage sensitive-features. Several damage scenarios are studied involving increasing section loss of the stay cables. The damage intensities that can be detected using the proposed methodology and the available sensory system are quantified.

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