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Publicações

2019

SAMPLED-DATA MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL: ADAPTIVE TIME-MESH REFINEMENT ALGORITHMS AND GUARANTEES OF STABILITY

Autores
Paiva, LT; Fontes, FACC;

Publicação
DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS-SERIES B

Abstract
This article addresses the problem of controlling a constrained, continuous-time, nonlinear system through Model Predictive Control (MPC). In particular, we focus on methods to efficiently and accurately solve the underlying optimal control problem (OCP). In the numerical solution of a nonlinear OCP, some form of discretization must be used at some stage. There are, however, benefits in postponing the discretization process and maintain a continuous-time model until a later stage. This is because that way we can exploit additional freedom to select the number and the location of the discretization node points. We propose an adaptive time-mesh refinement (AMR) algorithm that iteratively finds an adequate time-mesh satisfying a pre-defined bound on the local error estimate of the obtained trajectories. The algorithm provides a time-dependent stopping criterion, enabling us to impose higher accuracy in the initial parts of the receding horizon, which are more relevant to MPC. Additionally, we analyze the conditions to guarantee closed-loop stability of the MPC framework using the AMR algorithm. The numerical results show that the proposed AMR strategy can obtain solutions as fast as methods using a coarse equidistant-spaced mesh and, on the other hand, as accurate as methods using a fine equidistant-spaced mesh. Therefore, the OCP can be solved, and the MPC law obtained, faster and/or more accurately than with discrete-time MPC schemes using equidistant-spaced meshes.

2019

Going Back to Basics on Volumetric Segmentation of the Lungs in CT: A Fully Image Processing Based Technique

Autores
Oliveira, AC; Domingues, I; Duarte, H; Santos, J; Abreu, PH;

Publicação
PATTERN RECOGNITION AND IMAGE ANALYSIS, IBPRIA 2019, PT II

Abstract
Radiotherapy planning is a crucial task in cancer patients’ management. This task is, however, very time consuming and prone to a high intra and inter subject variance and human errors. In this way, the present line of work aims at developing a tool to help the specialists in this task. The developed tool will consider the delimitation of anatomical regions of interest, since it is crucial to identify the organs at risk and minimize the exposure of these organs to the radiation. This paper, in particular, presents a lung segmentation algorithm, based on image processing techniques, such as intensity projection and region growing, for Computed Tomography volumes. Our pipeline consists in first separating two halves of the volume to isolate each lung. Then, three techniques for seed placement are developed. Finally, a traditional region growing algorithm has been changed in order to automatically derive the value of the threshold parameter. The results obtained for the three different techniques for seed placement were, respectively, 74%, 74% and 92% of DICE with the Iterative Region Growing algorithm. Although the presented results have as use case the Hodgkin Lymphoma, we believe that the developed method is generalizable to any other pathology. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

2019

Altitude control of an underwater vehicle based on computer vision

Autores
Rodrigues, PM; Cruz, NA; Pinto, AM;

Publicação
OCEANS 2018 MTS/IEEE Charleston, OCEAN 2018

Abstract
It is common the use of the sonar technology in order acquire and posteriorly control the distance of an underwater vehicle towards an obstacle. Although this solution simplifies the problem and is effective in most cases, it might carry some disadvantages in certain underwater vehicles or conditions. In this work it is presented a system capable of controlling the altitude of an underwater vehicle using computer vision. The sensor capable of computing the distance is composed of a CCD camera and 2 green pointer lasers. Regarding the control of the vehicle, the solution used was based on the switching of two controllers, a velocity controller (based on a PI controller), and a position controller (based on a PD controller). The vehicle chosen to test the developed system was a profiler, which main task is the vertical navigation. The mathematical model was obtained and used in order to validate the controllers designed using the Simulink toolbox from Matlab. It was used a Kalman filter in order to have a better estimation of the state variables (altitude, depth, and velocity). The tests relative to the sensor developed responsible for the acquisition of the altitude showed an average relative error equal to 1 % in the range from 0 to 2.5 m. The UWsim underwater simulation environment was used in order to validate the integration of the system and its performance. © 2018 IEEE.

2019

FLIGBY -A Serious Game Tool to Enhance Motivation and Competencies in Entrepreneurship

Autores
Buzady, Z; Almeida, F;

Publicação
INFORMATICS-BASEL

Abstract
Entrepreneurship is currently one of the most fundamental economic activities in the 21st century. Entrepreneurship encourages young generations to generate their self-employment and develop key soft-skills that will be useful throughout their professional career. This study aims to present and explore a case study of a higher education institution that adopts FLIGBY as a serious game, which allows students to develop entrepreneurship skills in an immersive way and based on real challenges that can be found in business environments. The findings indicate that FLIGBY offers relevant potentials and new possibilities in the development of management, leadership, and entrepreneurship skills. Furthermore, the game allows the inclusion of summative and formative assessment elements, which are essential in the process of monitoring and analyzing the student's performance.

2019

The benefits and challenges of general data protection regulation for the information technology sector

Autores
Poritskiy, N; Oliveira, F; Almeida, F;

Publicação
DIGITAL POLICY REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE

Abstract
Purpose The implementation of European data protection is a challenge for businesses and has imposed legal, technical and organizational changes for companies. This study aims to explore the benefits and challenges that companies operating in the information technology (IT) sector have experienced in applying the European data protection. Additionally, this study aims to explore whether the benefits and challenges faced by these companies were different considering their dimension and the state of implementation of the regulation. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a quantitative methodology, based on a survey conducted with Portuguese IT companies. The survey is composed of 30 questions divided into three sections, namely, control data; assessment; and benefits and challenges. The survey was created on Google Drive and distributed among Portuguese IT companies between March and April of 2019. The data were analyzed using the Stata software using descriptive and inferential analysis techniques using the ANOVA one-way test. Findings A total of 286 responses were received. The main benefits identified by the application of European data protection include increased confidence and legal clarification. On the other hand, the main challenges include the execution of audits to systems and processes and the application of the right to erasure. The findings allow us to conclude that the state of implementation of the general data protection regulation (GDPR), and the type of company are discriminating factors in the perception of benefits and challenges. Originality/value The implementation of the GDPR is still in an initial phase. This study is pioneering in synthesizing the main benefits and challenges of its adoption considering the companies operating in the IT sector. Furthermore, this study explores the impact of the size of the company and the status of implementation of the GDPR on the perception of the established benefits and challenges.

2019

A Routing Metric for Inter-flow Interference-aware Flying Multi-hop Networks

Autores
Coelho, A; Almeida, EN; Ruela, J; Campos, R; Ricardo, M;

Publicação
2019 IEEE SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTERS AND COMMUNICATIONS (ISCC)

Abstract
The growing demand for broadband communications anytime, anywhere has paved the way to the usage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for providing Internet access in areas without network infrastructure and enhancing the performance of existing networks. However, the usage of Flying Multi-hop Networks (FMNs) in such scenarios brings up significant challenges concerning network routing, in order to permanently provide the Quality of Service expected by the users. The problem is exacerbated in crowded events, where the FMN may be formed by many UAVs to address the traffic demand, causing interflow interference within the FMN. Typically, estimating inter-flow interference is not straightforward and requires the exchange of probe packets, thus increasing network overhead. The main contribution of this paper is an inter-flow interference-aware routing metric, named I2R, designed for centralized routing in FMNs with controllable topology. I2R does not require any control packets and enables the configuration of paths with minimal Euclidean distance formed by UAVs with the lowest number of neighbors in carrier-sense range, thus minimizing inter-flow interference in the FMN. Simulation results show the I2R superior performance, with significant gains in terms of throughput and end-to-end delay, when compared with state of the art routing metrics.

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