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Reply to the comment by Quartau and Mitchell on “Reconstructing the architectural evolution of volcanic islands from combined K/Ar, morphologic, tectonic, and magnetic data: The Faial Island example (Azores)”, J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 241–242, 39–48, by Hildenbrand et al. (2012)

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This paper describes the implementation of a multi-agent system in a real industrial washing machine production line aiming to integrate process and quality control, allowing the establishment of feedback control loops to support adaptation facing condition changes. For this purpose, the agent-based solution was implemented using the JADE framework, being the shared knowledge structured using a proper ontology, edited and validated in Protégé and posteriorly integrated in the multi-agent system. The solution was intensively tested using historical real production data and it is now being installed in the real production line. The preliminary results confirm the initial expectations in terms of improvement of process performance and product quality. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.

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This paper presents a path planning method for pick-and-place operations with obstacles in the work environment. The method developed is designed to plan the motion of an anthropomorphic manipulator in cluttered environments. The graph search algorithm A* applied to the configuration free space is used to calculate the shortest path between two points avoiding collisions with obstacles and joint limitations. Applying this algorithm in a six dimension space presents some constraints related to memory consumption and processing time, which were tackled using configuration space partition and selecting neighbourhood cells, respectively. Using the configuration space makes it possible for the entire robot body to avoid collisions with obstacles. Moreover, the system implemented proves that applying A* in high dimension configuration spaces is possible with admissible results.

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The rising costs of energy in organizations of various sectors of activity have been demonstrating the need for a correct evaluation of processes and technologies from the point of view of energy. In recent years there has been a major concern in the dissemination and adoption of more efficient technologies to the detriment of a more comprehensive and inclusive of various aspects related to energy consumption. In this context it is very important to develop computational tools that allow the characterization and evaluation of the efficiency of processes in real operating conditions, as well as its monitoring and control, being of great importance in the rationalization of energy costs. Considering the current global economic situation and the rising energy costs, all contributions to the reduction in energy consumption are relevant, allowing the reduction of the energy bill of industry and domestic users. Hence, this paper deals with the reduction of losses in cables of an electrical installation, depending on the equipment used, presenting both simulation and experimental results. The economic choice of the cables section will allow improving the efficiency of the machines in general, providing also an optimal cost/benefit relationship.

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