2023
Autores
Silva, M; Pedroso, JP; Viana, A;
Publicação
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF OPERATIONAL RESEARCH
Abstract
In this work, we study last-mile delivery with the option of crowd shipping. A company uses occasional drivers to complement its fleet in the activity of delivering products to its customers. We model it as a variant of the stochastic capacitated vehicle routing problem. Our approach is data-driven, where not only customer orders but also the availability of occasional drivers are uncertain. It is assumed that marginal distributions of the uncertainty vector are known, but the joint distribution is difficult to estimate. We optimize considering a worst-case joint distribution and model with a strategic planning perspective, where we calculate an optimal a priori solution before the uncertainty is revealed. A limit on the infea-sibility of the routes due to the capacity is imposed using probabilistic constraints. We propose an extended formulation for the problem using column-dependent rows and implement a branch-price-and-cut algorithm to solve it. We also develop a heuristic approximation to cope with larger instances of the problem. Through computational experiments, we analyze the solution and performance of the implemented algorithms.
2023
Autores
Pinheiro, I; Aguiar, A; Figueiredo, A; Pinho, T; Valente, A; Santos, F;
Publicação
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
Abstract
Currently, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are considered in the development of various applications in agriculture, which has led to the expansion of the agricultural UAV market. However, Nano Aerial Vehicles (NAVs) are still underutilised in agriculture. NAVs are characterised by a maximum wing length of 15 centimetres and a weight of fewer than 50 g. Due to their physical characteristics, NAVs have the advantage of being able to approach and perform tasks with more precision than conventional UAVs, making them suitable for precision agriculture. This work aims to contribute to an open-source solution known as Nano Aerial Bee (NAB) to enable further research and development on the use of NAVs in an agricultural context. The purpose of NAB is to mimic and assist bees in the context of pollination. We designed this open-source solution by taking into account the existing state-of-the-art solution and the requirements of pollination activities. This paper presents the relevant background and work carried out in this area by analysing papers on the topic of NAVs. The development of this prototype is rather complex given the interactions between the different hardware components and the need to achieve autonomous flight capable of pollination. We adequately describe and discuss these challenges in this work. Besides the open-source NAB solution, we train three different versions of YOLO (YOLOv5, YOLOv7, and YOLOR) on an original dataset (Flower Detection Dataset) containing 206 images of a group of eight flowers and a public dataset (TensorFlow Flower Dataset), which must be annotated (TensorFlow Flower Detection Dataset). The results of the models trained on the Flower Detection Dataset are shown to be satisfactory, with YOLOv7 and YOLOR achieving the best performance, with 98% precision, 99% recall, and 98% F1 score. The performance of these models is evaluated using the TensorFlow Flower Detection Dataset to test their robustness. The three YOLO models are also trained on the TensorFlow Flower Detection Dataset to better understand the results. In this case, YOLOR is shown to obtain the most promising results, with 84% precision, 80% recall, and 82% F1 score. The results obtained using the Flower Detection Dataset are used for NAB guidance for the detection of the relative position in an image, which defines the NAB execute command.
2023
Autores
Barreto, J; Almeida, H; Pinto, P;
Publicação
2023 25TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, ICACT
Abstract
Cyberattacks are performed against all organizations including Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). When these attacks are successful, they can affect the regular operation of these institutions and may cause the leak of essential or sensitive data that can be misused or become inaccessible. Therefore, the adoption of current security services is important for devices and services exposed to the Internet that should run the latest and secure versions of web-related protocols and comply with the latest security-related guidelines and recommendations. This article surveys and analyzes the status of web-related security services, namely the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) services, in Brazilian HEIs. The results of this survey show that regarding HTTPS around 15% do not use any SSL / TLS certificate and of those supporting it, about 14% do not demand its usage. Regarding DNSSEC, the analysis shows that only around 2% of the HEIs are implementing this protocol. These results show that it is important to design an effective and continuous action plan for HEIs regarding the support or discontinuity of versions of these protocols, in order to improve their protection against cyberattacks.
2023
Autores
Pereira, BMB; Torres, JM; Sobral, PM; Moreira, RS; Soares, CPD; Pereira, I;
Publicação
CRYPTOGRAPHY
Abstract
Since its appearance in 2008, blockchain technology has found multiple uses in fields such as banking, supply chain management, and healthcare. One of the most intriguing uses of blockchain is in voting systems, where the technology can overcome the security and transparency concerns that plague traditional voting systems. This paper provides a thorough examination of the implementation of a blockchain-based voting system. The proposed system employs cryptographic methods to protect voters' privacy and anonymity while ensuring the verifiability and integrity of election results. Digital signatures, homomorphic encryption (He), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), and the Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus method underpin the system. A review of the literature on the use of blockchain technology for voting systems supports the analysis and the technical and logistical constraints connected with implementing the suggested system. The study suggests solutions to problems such as managing voter identification and authentication, ensuring accessibility for all voters, and dealing with network latency and scalability. The suggested blockchain-based voting system can provide a safe and transparent platform for casting and counting votes, ensuring election results' privacy, anonymity, and verifiability. The implementation of blockchain technology can overcome traditional voting systems' security and transparency shortcomings while also delivering a high level of integrity and traceability.
2023
Autores
Lousada, C; Mendes, D; Rodrigues, R;
Publicação
International Conference on Graphics and Interaction, ICGI 2023, Tomar, Portugal, November 2-3, 2023
Abstract
Virtual Reality (VR) has opened avenues for users to immerse themselves in virtual 3D environments, simulating reality across various domains like health, education, and entertainment. Haptic feedback plays a pivotal role in achieving lifelike experiences. However, the accessibility of haptic devices poses challenges, prompting the exploration of alternatives. In response, Pseudo-Haptic feedback has emerged, utilizing visual and auditory cues to create illusions or modify perceived haptic feedback. Given that many pseudo-haptic techniques are yet to be tailored for VR, our proposal involves combining and adapting multiple techniques to enhance compliance perception in virtual environments. By modifying the Mass-Spring-Damper model and incorporating hand-tracking software along with an inverse kinematics algorithm, our aim is to deliver compliance feedback through visual stimuli, thereby elevating the realism of the overall experience. The outcomes were encouraging, with numerous participants expressing their ability to easily discern various compliance levels with high confidence, all within a realistic and immersive environment. Additionally, we observed an impact of object scale on the perception of compliance in specific scenarios, as participants noted a tendency to perceive smaller objects as more compliant. © 2023 IEEE.
2023
Autores
Silva E.; Beirão G.; Torres A.;
Publicação
Journal of Small Business Strategy
Abstract
The recent pandemic crisis has greatly impacted startups, and some changes are expected to be long-lasting. Small businesses usually have fewer resources and are more vulnerable to losing customers and investors, especially during crises. This study investigates how startups’ business processes were affected and how entrepreneurs managed this sudden change brought by the COVID-19 outbreak. Data were analyzed using qualitative research methods through in-depth interviews with the co-founders of eighteen startups. Results show that the three core business processes affected by the COVID-19 crisis were marketing and sales, logistics and operations, and organizational support. The way to succeed is to be flexible, agile, and adaptable, with technological knowledge focusing on digital channels to find novel opportunities and innovate. Additionally, resilience, self-improvement, education, technology readiness and adoption, close relationship with customers and other stakeholders, and incubation experience seem to shield startups against pandemic crisis outbreaks.
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