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Publicações

2025

Enhancing Mobile Robot Navigation: A Graph Decomposition Submodule for TEA*

Autores
Cardoso, F; Matos, DM; Brilhante, M; Costa, P; Sobreira, E; Silva, C;

Publicação
2025 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AUTONOMOUS ROBOT SYSTEMS AND COMPETITIONS, ICARSC

Abstract
Rising industrial complexity demands efficient mobile robots to drive automation and productivity. Effective navigation relies on perception, localization, mapping, path planning, and motion control, with path planning being key. The Time Enhanced A* (TEA*) algorithm extends A* by adding time as a dimension to resolve temporal conflicts in multi-robot coordination. However, inconsistencies in edge lengths within the graph can hinder optimal path calculation. To address this, a Graph Decomposition submodule was developed to standardize edge lengths and temporal costs. Integrated into a ROS-based fleet coordination system, this approach significantly reduces execution time and improves coordination capacity.

2025

Predicting demand for new products in fashion retailing using censored data

Autores
Sousa, MS; Loureiro, ALD; Miguéis, VL;

Publicação
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS

Abstract
In today's highly competitive fashion retail market, it is crucial to have accurate demand forecasting systems, namely for new products. Many experts have used machine learning techniques to forecast product sales. However, sales that do not happen due to lack of product availability are often ignored, resulting in censored demand and service levels that are lower than expected. Motivated by the relevance of this issue, we developed a two-stage approach to forecast the demand for new products in the fashion retail industry. In the first stage, we compared four methods of transforming historical sales into historical demand for products already commercialized. Three methods used sales-weighted averages to estimate demand on the days with stock-outs, while the fourth method employed an Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm to account for potential substitute products affected by stock-outs of preferred products. We then evaluated the performance of these methods and selected the most accurate one for calculating the primary demand for these historical products. In the second stage, we predicted the demand for the products of the following collection using Random Forest, Deep Neural Networks, and Support Vector Regression algorithms. In addition, we applied a model that consisted of weighting the demands previously calculated for the products of past collections that were most similar to the new products. We validated the proposed methodology using a European fashion retailer case study. The results revealed that the method using the Expectation-Maximization algorithm had the highest potential, followed by the Random Forest algorithm. We believe that this approach will lead to more assertive and better-aligned decisions in production management.

2025

A Robust Phase Mapping Approach Using the Mahalanobis-Wasserstein Distance. *

Autores
Lima, D; Sampaio, G; Rocha, C; Viana, JP; Gouveia, C;

Publicação
SMC

Abstract
The integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) into low-voltage (LV) distribution grids poses significant challenges for grid management, particularly regarding the need for accurate information on the connection phases of installations to ensure proper load balancing and to enhance hosting capacity. This paper presents a novel voltage-based phase mapping approach using the Mahalanobis-Wasserstein (MW) distance - a metric that exploits voltage time series data to accurately assign users to their corresponding phases without requiring additional hardware or prior knowledge of the grid's topology. The proposed method demonstrates strong resilience to missing data, a frequent issue in real-world deployments, and incorporates a confidence score to quantify the reliability of the phase assignments. © 2025 IEEE.

2025

Image-Based Relative Pose Estimation of Underwater Tube-Like Structures

Autores
Pinto, F; Cruz, A; Ferreira, M; Soares, SFSP; Filipe, V;

Publicação
Oceans Conference Record (IEEE)

Abstract
This paper leverages image processing techniques, including edge detection and feature extraction, to identify and perform pose tracking of cylindrical-like structures within underwater scenes. Examples of these cylindrical-shaped objects are pipes typically used in offshore oil and gas, pillars of bridge structures, or mooring line cables when their sag angle is near zero, making them approximately flat and thus can be approximated as rectilinear. In addition to the pipe's contour identification, this algorithm provides relative distance and bearing to the vision sensor to enable a convergence framework between the structure and any vehicle equipped with this sensor. Furthermore, the algorithm proposed was tested in a pollsimulated scene with a digital twin of the actual vision sensor, onboard an in-house developed ROV prototype. Additionally, the effects of common underwater challenges, such as lighting variability, shadows, turbidity, and visual noise from the pool's geometric structure, were all analyzed to describe the algorithm's performance and robustness fully. Performance was evaluated for distances, bearing angles, FOV, turbidity, camera resolutions, and algorithm processing complexity. © 2025 Marine Technology Society.

2025

Sizing Distributed Energy Resources for Energy Communities

Autores
Moran, JP; Faria, AS; Soares, T; Villar, J; Pinto, T; Petruzzi, GE; Bovera, F; Macedo, LH;

Publicação
2025 21ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EUROPEAN ENERGY MARKET, EEM

Abstract
Renewable energy resources are crucial for addressing global economic and environmental challenges. Energy communities, which unite consumers to pursue shared energy goals, present a promising solution for reducing energy costs and enhancing sustainability. This study analyzes the optimal sizing and operation of energy community resources, formulating the problem as mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) models. Two tools are employed: one for daily operation, calculating energy setpoints for community assets such as battery energy storage systems (BESS) and electric vehicles (EVs), and another for sizing photovoltaic (PV) panels and BESS capacities to minimize costs while optimizing local energy trades. Due to the high computational demands of MILP, three optimization methods are compared: deterministic, hybrid particle swarm optimization (PSO), and evolutionary PSO (EPSO). The hybrid PSO method handles binary and continuous variables efficiently, while EPSO introduces diversity to improve solution quality in complex scenarios. These metaheuristic approaches address the trade-off between solution accuracy and computational effort, providing reliable tools for decision-makers in energy communities.

2025

Scrum4DO178C: An Agile Process to Enhance Aerospace Software Development for DO-178C Compliance-A Case Study at Criticality Level A

Autores
Ribeiro, JEF; Silva, JG; Aguiar, A;

Publicação
IEEE ACCESS

Abstract
The development of safety-critical systems is heavily governed by domain-specific standards. In the aerospace industry, the DO-178C-Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification-serves as the primary certification standard used by agencies such as the FAA and EASA to review and approve software-based systems. Although DO-178C aims to ensure system safety while providing evidence for certification, it does not prescribe a specific software development process, allowing flexibility for traditional Waterfall, Agile, or hybrid methods with appropriate adaptations for the aerospace context. This study proposes Scrum4DO178C, an Agile process based on Scrum, to meet the demanding requirements of aerospace software, including safety, robustness, reliability, and integrity. Scrum4DO178C introduces novel process enhancements specifically tailored to meet these criticality needs, while aligning with the standard. Unlike previous proposals that lack detail, this research presents a comprehensive, validated process applied in a real-world industry project at the highest criticality level (Level A - Catastrophic), offering insights beyond theoretical scenarios. The findings demonstrated that the Scrum4DO178C process improves project performance, allows frequent and manageable requirement changes, reduces Verification & Validation (V&V) effort, and increases efficiency while maintaining full compliance with DO-178C. The study also identifies areas for further improvement and suggests exploring the process in additional case studies, both within the aerospace industry and other domains with similarly stringent safety-critical requirements. Finally, it confirms that appropriate automation, namely for documentation production, is a central element to further improve the process.

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