Abstract
This paper presents the Advanced Collaborative Educational Model (ACEM) for conception of collaborative learning activities. It is based on collaboration between teachers through virtual interactions, reutilization, interoperability and adaptability of learning activities. The definition of learning activity is oriented to a constructivist approach. Tagging collaboration and ontologies are also considered in order to facilitate sharing knowledge in a more effective and personalized way. The main goal of this research is to describe teachers' procedures when interacting with the collaborative environment and to develop mechanisms to support teachers in their tasks, mainly in the creation of learning activities to be used in an e-learning context. The model will be implemented through a high-level graphical tool that facilitates synchronous and asynchronous communication. © 2011 IEEE.

Abstract
This paper, describes an agent based model of the spreading of a population over a territory. The models aims at reproducing a distribution of settlements with statistical and spatial characteristics similar to a historically produced pattern. The model operates on a representation of a real territory, taking into account hydrography and relief. The two main goals are to obtain a rank size distribution of the size of settlements which corresponds to a power law (also known as the Zipf Law of settlements) and to place the settlements in the territory in patterns that are close to the real ones, in zones where settlements were the result of a long historical process. The goal of the project was to demonstrate that a set of relatively simple rules could produce a complex pattern, similar to the result of a long and complex historical process. Therefore, it is an assumed reductionist approach. Our conclusions show that a simple territorial logic, taking into account the quality of land, accessibility, population growth and migration preferences could reproduce Zipf distributions and interesting patterns of agent flow among the settlements created. However, achieving spatial patterns closer to the historical record needs an extra dimension involving field of sight. The best results were achieved by creating an artifical population which chooses to create settlements in places where a wide field of view exists of quality territory.

Abstract
This paper studies the application of fractional algorithms in the control of a quad-rotor rotorcraft. The development of a flight simulator provide the evaluation of the controller algorithm. Several basic maneuvers are investigated, namely the elevation and the position control.

Abstract
Strategic planning and multi-agent coordination are major research topics in the domain of RoboCup. Innovations in these areas are, however, often developed and applied to only a single RoboCup league and/or one domain, without proper generalization. Moreover, the more technical leagues, like middle-size and humanoid, tend to focus development on low-level skills, that often suffice to gain a competitive edge over other teams. In these leagues, the development of high-level cooperation is secondary. Although the importance of the concept of Setplay, to structure a robotic soccer team behaviour, has been acknowledged by many researchers, no general framework for the development and execution of generic Setplays has been introduced in the context of RoboCup. This paper presents such a framework for high-level Setplay definition and execution, applicable to any RoboCup cooperative league and similar domains. The framework is based on a flexible, standard and league-independent language, which defines Setplays that are interpreted and executed at run-time, using inter-robot communication. An initial major step in the development of the Setplay framework was its usage and testing in the scope of the FCPortugal team, which participates in the RoboCup 2D-simulation and 3D-simulation leagues, where it won several titles both in the 2D and 3D leagues. This framework was also recently implemented in the middle-size team CAMBADA. This team has, in the recent past and with previous versions of the control software, ranked first and third in RoboCup's 2008 and 2009 editions. The implementation is described with concrete examples of Setplay definition and execution, which shows the usefulness of this approach and motivate its use as a major coordination tool for teams participating in the simulation, small-size, middle-size, standard platform and humanoid leagues of RoboCup.

Abstract
The European Space Research and Technology Center ESTEC, ESA's premises in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, has a long lasting cooperation with the ZARM-FAB (Centre of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity-Drop Tower Operation and Service Company) in Bremen on the utilization of the Drop Tower for ground-based microgravity research and space hardware development studies. During the period January 2000 to December 2011 ESA will have procured in total some 840 drops addressing a variety of scientific and technological disciplines. The experiments are usually carried out in campaigns of 15 to 20 drops each, with an annual average of about 5 campaigns. The cooperation agreement between ESA and the ZARM-FAB includes experiment preparation advice by ZARM's experts, the integration of the hardware into the drop capsule, dedicated safety reviews, the execution of the drop or catapult experiments, the post-flight payload de-integration as well as the handover of acquired data to the experimenters. The experiment hardware itself is provided by the scientists or has to be procured from sources outside of ESA's drop tower utilization contract. ESA appreciates the cooperation of the ZARM-FAB in Bremen whose drop-and catapult facility provides excellent microgravity quality, is operated by a highly competent, flexible and extremely supportive expert team, allows campaign integration at relatively short notice throughout the entire year, offers real-time experiment operations and immediately after each drop delivers experiment results and provides on-site hardware modification possibilities.

Abstract