Aerial Remote Sensing in Agriculture: A Practical Approach to Area Coverage and Path Planning for Fleets of Mini Aerial Robots

In this paper, a system that allows applying precision agriculture techniques is described. The application is based on the deployment of a team of unmanned aerial vehicles that are able to take georeferenced pictures in order to create a full map by applying mosaicking procedures for postprocessing. The main contribution of this work is practical experimentation with an integrated tool. Contributions in different fields are also reported. Among them is a new one-phase automatic task partitioning manager, which is based on negotiation among the aerial vehicles, considering their state and capabilities. Once the individual tasks are assigned, an optimal path planning algorithm is in charge of determining the best path for each vehicle to follow. Also, a robust flight control based on the use of a control law that improves the maneuverability of the quadrotors has been designed. A set of field tests was performed in order to analyze all the capabilities of the system, from task negotiations to final performance. These experiments also allowed testing control robustness under different weather conditions.

Analysis and 2D Simulation of a Hexapod Robot Leg for Remote Exploration

A walking machine is a wheeled rover alternative, well suited for work in an unstructured environment and specially in abrupt terrain. They have some drawback like speed and power consumption, but they can achieve complex movements and protrude very little the environment they are working on. The locomotion system is determined by the terrain conditions and, in our case, this legged design has been chosen based in a working area like Rio Tinto in the South of Spain, which is a river area with abrupt terrain. A walking robot with so many degrees of freedom can be a challenge when dealing with the analysis and simulations of the legs. This paper shows how to deal with the kinematical analysis of the equations of a hexapod robot based on a design developed by the Center of Astrobiology INTA-CSIC following the classical formulation of equations

Remote Effects of Hippocampal Sclerosis on Effective Connectivity during Working Memory Encoding: A Case of Connectional Diaschisis?

Accumulating evidence suggests a role for the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in working memory (WM). However, little is known concerning its functional interactions with other cortical regions in the distributed neural network subserving WM. To reveal these, we availed of subjects with MTL damage and characterized changes in effective connectivity while subjects engaged in WM task. Specifically, we compared dynamic causal models, extracted from magnetoencephalographic recordings during verbal WM encoding, in temporal lobe epilepsy patients (with left hippocampal sclerosis) and controls. Bayesian model comparison indicated that the best model (across subjects) evidenced bilateral, forward, and backward connections, coupling inferior temporal cortex (ITC), inferior frontal cortex (IFC), and MTL. MTL damage weakened backward connections from left MTL to left ITC, a decrease accompanied by strengthening of (bidirectional) connections between IFC and MTL in the contralesional hemisphere. These findings provide novel evidence concerning functional interactions between nodes of this fundamental cognitive network and sheds light on how these interactions are modified as a result of focal damage to MTL. The findings highlight that a reduced (top-down) influence of the MTL on ipsilateral language regions is accompanied by enhanced reciprocal coupling in the undamaged hemisphere providing a first demonstration of “connectional diaschisis.”

Intelligent context-aware services based on internet of things architectures

La Internet de las Cosas (IoT), como parte de la Futura Internet, se ha convertido en la actualidad en uno de los principales temas de investigación; en parte gracias a la atención que la sociedad está poniendo en el desarrollo de determinado tipo de servicios (telemetría, generación inteligente de energía, telesanidad, etc.) y por las recientes previsiones económicas que sitúan a algunos actores, como los operadores de telecomunicaciones (que se encuentran desesperadamente buscando nuevas oportunidades), al frente empujando algunas tecnologías interrelacionadas como las comunicaciones Máquina a Máquina (M2M). En este contexto, un importante número de actividades de investigación a nivel mundial se están realizando en distintas facetas: comunicaciones de redes de sensores, procesado de información, almacenamiento de grandes cantidades de datos (big--‐data), semántica, arquitecturas de servicio, etc. Todas ellas, de forma independiente, están llegando a un nivel de madurez que permiten vislumbrar la realización de la Internet de las Cosas más que como un sueño, como una realidad tangible. Sin embargo, los servicios anteriormente mencionados no pueden esperar a desarrollarse hasta que las actividades de investigación obtengan soluciones holísticas completas. Es importante proporcionar resultados intermedios que eviten soluciones verticales realizadas para desarrollos particulares. En este trabajo, nos hemos focalizado en la creación de una plataforma de servicios que pretende facilitar, por una parte la integración de redes de sensores y actuadores heterogéneas y geográficamente distribuidas, y por otra lado el desarrollo de servicios horizontales utilizando dichas redes y la información que proporcionan. Este habilitador se utilizará para el desarrollo de servicios y para la experimentación en la Internet de las Cosas. Previo a la definición de la plataforma, se ha realizado un importante estudio focalizando no sólo trabajos y proyectos de investigación, sino también actividades de estandarización. Los resultados se pueden resumir en las siguientes aseveraciones: a) Los modelos de datos definidos por el grupo “Sensor Web Enablement” (SWE™) del “Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®)” representan hoy en día la solución más completa para describir las redes de sensores y actuadores así como las observaciones. b) Las interfaces OGC, a pesar de las limitaciones que requieren cambios y extensiones, podrían ser utilizadas como las bases para acceder a sensores y datos. c) Las redes de nueva generación (NGN) ofrecen un buen sustrato que facilita la integración de redes de sensores y el desarrollo de servicios. En consecuencia, una nueva plataforma de Servicios, llamada Ubiquitous Sensor Networks (USN), se ha definido en esta Tesis tratando de contribuir a rellenar los huecos previamente mencionados. Los puntos más destacados de la plataforma USN son: a) Desde un punto de vista arquitectónico, sigue una aproximación de dos niveles (Habilitador y Gateway) similar a otros habilitadores que utilizan las NGN (como el OMA Presence). b) Los modelos de datos están basado en los estándares del OGC SWE. iv c) Está integrado en las NGN pero puede ser utilizado sin ellas utilizando infraestructuras IP abiertas. d) Las principales funciones son: Descubrimiento de sensores, Almacenamiento de observaciones, Publicacion--‐subscripcion--‐notificación, ejecución remota homogénea, seguridad, gestión de diccionarios de datos, facilidades de monitorización, utilidades de conversión de protocolos, interacciones síncronas y asíncronas, soporte para el “streaming” y arbitrado básico de recursos. Para demostrar las funcionalidades que la Plataforma USN propuesta pueden ofrecer a los futuros escenarios de la Internet de las Cosas, se presentan resultados experimentales de tres pruebas de concepto (telemetría, “Smart Places” y monitorización medioambiental) reales a pequeña escala y un estudio sobre semántica (sistema de información vehicular). Además, se está utilizando actualmente como Habilitador para desarrollar tanto experimentación como servicios reales en el proyecto Europeo SmartSantander (que aspira a integrar alrededor de 20.000 dispositivos IoT). v Abstract Internet of Things, as part of the Future Internet, has become one of the main research topics nowadays; in part thanks to the pressure the society is putting on the development of a particular kind of services (Smart metering, Smart Grids, eHealth, etc.), and by the recent business forecasts that situate some players, like Telecom Operators (which are desperately seeking for new opportunities), at the forefront pushing for some interrelated technologies like Machine--‐to--‐Machine (M2M) communications. Under this context, an important number of research activities are currently taking place worldwide at different levels: sensor network communications, information processing, big--‐ data storage, semantics, service level architectures, etc. All of them, isolated, are arriving to a level of maturity that envision the achievement of Internet of Things (IoT) more than a dream, a tangible goal. However, the aforementioned services cannot wait to be developed until the holistic research actions bring complete solutions. It is important to come out with intermediate results that avoid vertical solutions tailored for particular deployments. In the present work, we focus on the creation of a Service--‐level platform intended to facilitate, from one side the integration of heterogeneous and geographically disperse Sensors and Actuator Networks (SANs), and from the other the development of horizontal services using them and the information they provide. This enabler will be used for horizontal service development and for IoT experimentation. Prior to the definition of the platform, we have realized an important study targeting not just research works and projects, but also standardization topics. The results can be summarized in the following assertions: a) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE™) data models today represent the most complete solution to describe SANs and observations. b) OGC interfaces, despite the limitations that require changes and extensions, could be used as the bases for accessing sensors and data. c) Next Generation Networks (NGN) offer a good substrate that facilitates the integration of SANs and the development of services. Consequently a new Service Layer platform, called Ubiquitous Sensor Networks (USN), has been defined in this Thesis trying to contribute to fill in the previous gaps. The main highlights of the proposed USN Platform are: a) From an architectural point of view, it follows a two--‐layer approach (Enabler and Gateway) similar to other enablers that run on top of NGN (like the OMA Presence). b) Data models and interfaces are based on the OGC SWE standards. c) It is integrated in NGN but it can be used without it over open IP infrastructures. d) Main functions are: Sensor Discovery, Observation Storage, Publish--‐Subscribe--‐Notify, homogeneous remote execution, security, data dictionaries handling, monitoring facilities, authorization support, protocol conversion utilities, synchronous and asynchronous interactions, streaming support and basic resource arbitration. vi In order to demonstrate the functionalities that the proposed USN Platform can offer to future IoT scenarios, some experimental results have been addressed in three real--‐life small--‐scale proofs--‐of concepts (Smart Metering, Smart Places and Environmental monitoring) and a study for semantics (in--‐vehicle information system). Furthermore we also present the current use of the proposed USN Platform as an Enabler to develop experimentation and real services in the SmartSantander EU project (that aims at integrating around 20.000 IoT devices).

The CIAO Multi-Dialect Compiler and System: An Experimentation Workbench for Future (C)LP Systems

CIAO is an advanced programming environment supporting Logic and Constraint programming. It offers a simple concurrent kernel on top of which declarative and non-declarative extensions are added via librarles. Librarles are available for supporting the ISOProlog standard, several constraint domains, functional and higher order programming, concurrent and distributed programming, internet programming, and others. The source language allows declaring properties of predicates via assertions, including types and modes. Such properties are checked at compile-time or at run-time. The compiler and system architecture are designed to natively support modular global analysis, with the two objectives of proving properties in assertions and performing program optimizations, including transparently exploiting parallelism in programs. The purpose of this paper is to report on recent progress made in the context of the CIAO system, with special emphasis on the capabilities of the compiler, the techniques used for supporting such capabilities, and the results in the áreas of program analysis and transformation already obtained with the system.

The CIAO multi-dialect compiler and system: An experimentation workbench for future (C)LP systems

Abstract is not available.

Environmental variables modeling based on remote sensing data using time series analysis: forestry and agricultural applications

En la actualidad, el seguimiento de la dinámica de los procesos medio ambientales está considerado como un punto de gran interés en el campo medioambiental. La cobertura espacio temporal de los datos de teledetección proporciona información continua con una alta frecuencia temporal, permitiendo el análisis de la evolución de los ecosistemas desde diferentes escalas espacio-temporales. Aunque el valor de la teledetección ha sido ampliamente probado, en la actualidad solo existe un número reducido de metodologías que permiten su análisis de una forma cuantitativa. En la presente tesis se propone un esquema de trabajo para explotar las series temporales de datos de teledetección, basado en la combinación del análisis estadístico de series de tiempo y la fenometría. El objetivo principal es demostrar el uso de las series temporales de datos de teledetección para analizar la dinámica de variables medio ambientales de una forma cuantitativa. Los objetivos específicos son: (1) evaluar dichas variables medio ambientales y (2) desarrollar modelos empíricos para predecir su comportamiento futuro. Estos objetivos se materializan en cuatro aplicaciones cuyos objetivos específicos son: (1) evaluar y cartografiar estados fenológicos del cultivo del algodón mediante análisis espectral y fenometría, (2) evaluar y modelizar la estacionalidad de incendios forestales en dos regiones bioclimáticas mediante modelos dinámicos, (3) predecir el riesgo de incendios forestales a nivel pixel utilizando modelos dinámicos y (4) evaluar el funcionamiento de la vegetación en base a la autocorrelación temporal y la fenometría. Los resultados de esta tesis muestran la utilidad del ajuste de funciones para modelizar los índices espectrales AS1 y AS2. Los parámetros fenológicos derivados del ajuste de funciones permiten la identificación de distintos estados fenológicos del cultivo del algodón. El análisis espectral ha demostrado, de una forma cuantitativa, la presencia de un ciclo en el índice AS2 y de dos ciclos en el AS1 así como el comportamiento unimodal y bimodal de la estacionalidad de incendios en las regiones mediterránea y templada respectivamente. Modelos autorregresivos han sido utilizados para caracterizar la dinámica de la estacionalidad de incendios y para predecir de una forma muy precisa el riesgo de incendios forestales a nivel pixel. Ha sido demostrada la utilidad de la autocorrelación temporal para definir y caracterizar el funcionamiento de la vegetación a nivel pixel. Finalmente el concepto “Optical Functional Type” ha sido definido, donde se propone que los pixeles deberían ser considerados como unidades temporales y analizados en función de su dinámica temporal. ix SUMMARY A good understanding of land surface processes is considered as a key subject in environmental sciences. The spatial-temporal coverage of remote sensing data provides continuous observations with a high temporal frequency allowing the assessment of ecosystem evolution at different temporal and spatial scales. Although the value of remote sensing time series has been firmly proved, only few time series methods have been developed for analyzing this data in a quantitative and continuous manner. In the present dissertation a working framework to exploit Remote Sensing time series is proposed based on the combination of Time Series Analysis and phenometric approach. The main goal is to demonstrate the use of remote sensing time series to analyze quantitatively environmental variable dynamics. The specific objectives are (1) to assess environmental variables based on remote sensing time series and (2) to develop empirical models to forecast environmental variables. These objectives have been achieved in four applications which specific objectives are (1) assessing and mapping cotton crop phenological stages using spectral and phenometric analyses, (2) assessing and modeling fire seasonality in two different ecoregions by dynamic models, (3) forecasting forest fire risk on a pixel basis by dynamic models, and (4) assessing vegetation functioning based on temporal autocorrelation and phenometric analysis. The results of this dissertation show the usefulness of function fitting procedures to model AS1 and AS2. Phenometrics derived from function fitting procedure makes it possible to identify cotton crop phenological stages. Spectral analysis has demonstrated quantitatively the presence of one cycle in AS2 and two in AS1 and the unimodal and bimodal behaviour of fire seasonality in the Mediterranean and temperate ecoregions respectively. Autoregressive models has been used to characterize the dynamics of fire seasonality in two ecoregions and to forecasts accurately fire risk on a pixel basis. The usefulness of temporal autocorrelation to define and characterized land surface functioning has been demonstrated. And finally the “Optical Functional Types” concept has been proposed, in this approach pixels could be as temporal unities based on its temporal dynamics or functioning.

Design of a remote controlled hovercraft

Este informe trata el diseño, desarrollo y construcción de un aerodeslizador de pequeño tamaño, equipado con control remoto que permite al usuario actuar sobre la velocidad y dirección del mismo. Este proyecto podrá ser utilizado en un futuro como base para el desarrollo de aplicaciones más complejas. Un aerodeslizador es un medio de transporte cuyo chasis se eleva sobre el suelo por medio de un motor impulsor que hincha una falda colocada en la parte inferior del mismo. Además, uno o más motores se colocan en la parte trasera del vehículo para propulsarlo. El hecho de que el aerodeslizador no este en contacto directo con la tierra, hace que pueda moverse tanto por tierra como sobre el agua o hielo y que sea capaz de superar pequeños obstáculos. Por otra parte, este hecho se convierte a su vez en un problema debido a que su fuerza de rozamiento al desplazarse es muy pequeña, lo que provoca que sea muy difícil de frenar, y tienda a girar por sí mismo debido a la inercia del movimiento y a las fuerzas provocadas por las corrientes de aire debajo del chasis. Sin embargo, para este proyecto no se ha colocado una falda debajo del mismo, debido a que su diseño es bastante complicado, por lo tanto la fricción con el suelo es menor, aumentando los problemas detallados con anterioridad. El proyecto consta de dos partes, mando a distancia y aerodeslizador, que se conectan a través de antenas de radiofrecuencia (RF). El diseño y desarrollo de cada una ha sido realizado de manera separada exceptuando la parte de las comunicaciones entre ambas. El mando a distancia se divide en tres partes. La primera está compuesta por la interfaz de usuario y el circuito que genera las señales analógicas correspondientes a sus indicaciones. La interfaz de usuario la conforman tres potenciómetros: uno rotatorio y dos deslizantes. El rotatorio se utiliza para controlar la dirección de giro del aerodeslizador, mientras que cada uno de los deslizantes se emplea para controlar la fuerza del motor impulsor y del propulsor respectivamente. En los tres casos los potenciómetros se colocan en el circuito de manera que actúan como divisores de tensión controlables. La segunda parte se compone de un microcontrolador de la familia PSoC. Esta familia de microcontroladores se caracteriza por tener una gran adaptabilidad a la aplicación en la que se quieran utilizar debido a la posibilidad de elección de los periféricos, tanto analógicos como digitales, que forman parte del microcontrolador. Para el mando a distancia se configura con tres conversores A/D que se encargan de transformar las señales procedentes de los potenciómetros, tres amplificadores programables para trabajar con toda la escala de los conversores, un LCD que se utiliza para depurar el código en C con el que se programa y un módulo SPI que es la interfaz que conecta el microcontrolador con la antena. Además, se utilizan cuatro pines externos para elegir el canal de transmisión de la antena. La tercera parte es el módulo transceptor de radio frecuencia (RF) QFM-TRX1-24G, que en el mando a distancia funciona como transmisor. Éste utiliza codificación Manchester para asegurar bajas tasas de error. Como alimentación para los circuitos del mando a distancia se utilizan cuatro pilas AA de 1,5 voltios en serie. En el aerodeslizador se pueden distinguir cinco partes. La primera es el módulo de comunicaciones, que utiliza el mismo transceptor que en el mando a distancia, pero esta vez funciona como receptor y por lo tanto servirá como entrada de datos al sistema haciendo llegar las instrucciones del usuario. Este módulo se comunica con el siguiente, un microcontrolador de la familia PSoC, a través de una interfaz SPI. En este caso el microcontrolador se configura con: un modulo SPI, un LCD utilizado para depurar el código y tres módulos PWM (2 de 8 bits y uno de 16 bits) para controlar los motores y el servo del aerodeslizador. Además, se utilizan cuatro pines externos para seleccionar el canal de recepción de datos. La tercera y cuarta parte se pueden considerar conjuntamente. Ambas están compuestas por el mismo circuito electrónico basado en transistores MOSFET. A la puerta de cada uno de los transistores llega una señal PWM de 100 kilohercios que proviene del microcontrolador, que se encarga de controlar el modo de funcionamiento de los transistores, que llevan acoplado un disipador de calor para evitar que se quemen. A su vez, los transistores hacen funcionar al dos ventiladores, que actúan como motores, el impulsor y el propulsor del aerodeslizador. La quinta y última parte es un servo estándar para modelismo. El servo está controlado por una señal PWM, en la que la longitud del pulso positivo establece la posición de la cabeza del servo, girando en uno u otra dirección según las instrucciones enviadas desde el mando a distancia por el usuario. Para el aerodeslizador se han utilizado dos fuentes de alimentación diferentes: una compuesta por 4 pilas AA de 1,5 voltios en serie que alimentarán al microcontrolador y al servo, y 4 baterías de litio recargables de 3,2 voltios en serie que alimentan el circuito de los motores. La última parte del proyecto es el montaje y ensamblaje final de los dispositivos. Para el chasis del aerodeslizador se ha utilizado una cubierta rectangular de poli-estireno expandido, habitualmente encontrado en el embalaje de productos frágiles. Este material es bastante ligero y con una alta resistencia a los golpes, por lo que es ideal para el propósito del proyecto. En el chasis se han realizado dos agujeros: uno circular situado en el centro del mismo en el se introduce y se ajusta con pegamento el motor impulsor, y un agujero con la forma del servo, situado en uno del los laterales estrechos del rectángulo, en el que se acopla el mismo. El motor propulsor está adherido al cabezal giratorio del servo de manera que rota a la vez que él, haciendo girar al aerodeslizador. El resto de circuitos electrónicos y las baterías se fijan al chasis mediante cinta adhesiva y pegamento procurando en todo momento repartir el peso de manera homogénea por todo el chasis para aumentar la estabilidad del aerodeslizador. SUMMARY: In this final year project a remote controlled hovercraft was designed using mainly technology that is well known by students in the embedded systems programme. This platform could be used to develop further and more complex projects. The system was developed dividing the work into two parts: remote control and hovercraft. The hardware was of the hovercraft and the remote control was designed separately; however, the software was designed at the same time since it was needed to develop the communication system. The result of the project was a remote control hovercraft which has a user friendly interface. The system was designed based on microprocessor technologies and uses common remote control technologies. The system has been designed with technology commonly used by the students in Metropolia University so that it can be readily understood in order to develop other projects based on this platform.

Remote Delivery of Video Services over video links

The spreading of new systems of broadcasting and distribution of multimedia content has had as a consequence a larger need for aggregation of data and metadata to traditionally based contents of video and audio supply. Broadcasting chains of this type of channels have become overwhelmed by the quantity of resources, infrastructures and development needed for these channels to provide information. In order to avoid this kind of shortcomings, several recommendations and standards have been created to exchange metadata between production and distribution of taped programs. The problem lies in live programs, producers sometimes offer data to channels but most often, channels are not able to face required developments. The key to this problem is cost reduction. In this work, a study is conducted on added services which producers may provide to the media about content; a system is found by which additional communication expenses are not made and a model of information transfer is offered which allows low cost developments to supply new media platforms.

Comparison of fractal dimensions based on segmented NDVI fields obtained from different remote sensors.

Satellite image data have become an important source of information for monitoring vegetation and mapping land cover at several scales. Beside this, the distribution and phenology of vegetation is largely associated with climate, terrain characteristics and human activity. Various vegetation indices have been developed for qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation using remote spectral measurements. In particular, sensors with spectral bands in the red (RED) and near-infrared (NIR) lend themselves well to vegetation monitoring and based on them [(NIR - RED) / (NIR + RED)] Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been widespread used. Given that the characteristics of spectral bands in RED and NIR vary distinctly from sensor to sensor, NDVI values based on data from different instruments will not be directly comparable. The spatial resolution also varies significantly between sensors, as well as within a given scene in the case of wide-angle and oblique sensors. As a result, NDVI values will vary according to combinations of the heterogeneity and scale of terrestrial surfaces and pixel footprint sizes. Therefore, the question arises as to the impact of differences in spectral and spatial resolutions on vegetation indices like the NDVI. The aim of this study is to establish a comparison between two different sensors in their NDVI values at different spatial resolutions.

Using configuration management and product line software paradigms to support the experimentation process in software engineering.

There is no empirical evidence whatsoever to support most of the beliefs on which software construction is based. We do not yet know the adequacy, limits, qualities, costs and risks of the technologies used to develop software. Experimentation helps to check and convert beliefs and opinions into facts. This research is concerned with the replication area. Replication is a key component for gathering empirical evidence on software development that can be used in industry to build better software more efficiently. Replication has not been an easy thing to do in software engineering (SE) because the experimental paradigm applied to software development is still immature. Nowadays, a replication is executed mostly using a traditional replication package. But traditional replication packages do not appear, for some reason, to have been as effective as expected for transferring information among researchers in SE experimentation. The trouble spot appears to be the replication setup, caused by version management problems with materials, instruments, documents, etc. This has proved to be an obstacle to obtaining enough details about the experiment to be able to reproduce it as exactly as possible. We address the problem of information exchange among experimenters by developing a schema to characterize replications. We will adapt configuration management and product line ideas to support the experimentation process. This will enable researchers to make systematic decisions based on explicit knowledge rather than assumptions about replications. This research will output a replication support web environment. This environment will not only archive but also manage experimental materials flexibly enough to allow both similar and differentiated replications with massive experimental data storage. The platform should be accessible to several research groups working together on the same families of experiments.

Analysis of a thermal system through remote laboratories

This paper describes the experiences using remote laboratories for thorough analysis of a thermal system, including disturbances. Remote laboratories for education in subjects of control, is a common resorted method, used by universities. This method is applied to offer a flexible service in schedules so as to obtain greater and better results of available resources. Remote laboratories have been used for controlling physical devices remotely. Furthermore, remote labs have been used for transfer function identification of real equipment. Nevertheless, remote analyses of disturbances have not been done. The aim of this contribution is thereby to apply the experience of remote laboratories in the study of disturbances. Some experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness in using remote laboratories for complete analysis of a thermal system. Considering the remote access to thermal system, “Sistema de Laboratorios a Distancia” (SLD) was used.

Design and control of multi-finger haptic devices for dexterous manipulation

En la interacción con el entorno que nos rodea durante nuestra vida diaria (utilizar un cepillo de dientes, abrir puertas, utilizar el teléfono móvil, etc.) y en situaciones profesionales (intervenciones médicas, procesos de producción, etc.), típicamente realizamos manipulaciones avanzadas que incluyen la utilización de los dedos de ambas manos. De esta forma el desarrollo de métodos de interacción háptica multi-dedo dan lugar a interfaces hombre-máquina más naturales y realistas. No obstante, la mayoría de interfaces hápticas disponibles en el mercado están basadas en interacciones con un solo punto de contacto; esto puede ser suficiente para la exploración o palpación del entorno pero no permite la realización de tareas más avanzadas como agarres. En esta tesis, se investiga el diseño mecánico, control y aplicaciones de dispositivos hápticos modulares con capacidad de reflexión de fuerzas en los dedos índice, corazón y pulgar del usuario. El diseño mecánico de la interfaz diseñada, ha sido optimizado con funciones multi-objetivo para conseguir una baja inercia, un amplio espacio de trabajo, alta manipulabilidad y reflexión de fuerzas superiores a 3 N en el espacio de trabajo. El ancho de banda y la rigidez del dispositivo se han evaluado mediante simulación y experimentación real. Una de las áreas más importantes en el diseño de estos dispositivos es el efector final, ya que es la parte que está en contacto con el usuario. Durante este trabajo se ha diseñado un dedal de bajo peso, adaptable a diferentes usuarios que, mediante la incorporación de sensores de contacto, permite estimar fuerzas normales y tangenciales durante la interacción con entornos reales y virtuales. Para el diseño de la arquitectura de control, se estudiaron los principales requisitos para estos dispositivos. Entre estos, cabe destacar la adquisición, procesado e intercambio a través de internet de numerosas señales de control e instrumentación; la computación de equaciones matemáticas incluyendo la cinemática directa e inversa, jacobiana, algoritmos de detección de agarres, etc. Todos estos componentes deben calcularse en tiempo real garantizando una frecuencia mínima de 1 KHz. Además, se describen sistemas para manipulación de precisión virtual y remota; así como el diseño de un método denominado "desacoplo cinemático iterativo" para computar la cinemática inversa de robots y la comparación con otros métodos actuales. Para entender la importancia de la interacción multimodal, se ha llevado a cabo un estudio para comprobar qué estímulos sensoriales se correlacionan con tiempos de respuesta más rápidos y de mayor precisión. Estos experimentos se desarrollaron en colaboración con neurocientíficos del instituto Technion Israel Institute of Technology. Comparando los tiempos de respuesta en la interacción unimodal (auditiva, visual y háptica) con combinaciones bimodales y trimodales de los mismos, se demuestra que el movimiento sincronizado de los dedos para generar respuestas de agarre se basa principalmente en la percepción háptica. La ventaja en el tiempo de procesamiento de los estímulos hápticos, sugiere que los entornos virtuales que incluyen esta componente sensorial generan mejores contingencias motoras y mejoran la credibilidad de los eventos. Se concluye que, los sistemas que incluyen percepción háptica dotan a los usuarios de más tiempo en las etapas cognitivas para rellenar información de forma creativa y formar una experiencia más rica. Una aplicación interesante de los dispositivos hápticos es el diseño de nuevos simuladores que permitan entrenar habilidades manuales en el sector médico. En colaboración con fisioterapeutas de Griffith University en Australia, se desarrolló un simulador que permite realizar ejercicios de rehabilitación de la mano. Las propiedades de rigidez no lineales de la articulación metacarpofalange del dedo índice se estimaron mediante la utilización del efector final diseñado. Estos parámetros, se han implementado en un escenario que simula el comportamiento de la mano humana y que permite la interacción háptica a través de esta interfaz. Las aplicaciones potenciales de este simulador están relacionadas con entrenamiento y educación de estudiantes de fisioterapia. En esta tesis, se han desarrollado nuevos métodos que permiten el control simultáneo de robots y manos robóticas en la interacción con entornos reales. El espacio de trabajo alcanzable por el dispositivo háptico, se extiende mediante el cambio de modo de control automático entre posición y velocidad. Además, estos métodos permiten reconocer el gesto del usuario durante las primeras etapas de aproximación al objeto para su agarre. Mediante experimentos de manipulación avanzada de objetos con un manipulador y diferentes manos robóticas, se muestra que el tiempo en realizar una tarea se reduce y que el sistema permite la realización de la tarea con precisión. Este trabajo, es el resultado de una colaboración con investigadores de Harvard BioRobotics Laboratory. ABSTRACT When we interact with the environment in our daily life (using a toothbrush, opening doors, using cell-phones, etc.), or in professional situations (medical interventions, manufacturing processes, etc.) we typically perform dexterous manipulations that involve multiple fingers and palm for both hands. Therefore, multi-Finger haptic methods can provide a realistic and natural human-machine interface to enhance immersion when interacting with simulated or remote environments. Most commercial devices allow haptic interaction with only one contact point, which may be sufficient for some exploration or palpation tasks but are not enough to perform advanced object manipulations such as grasping. In this thesis, I investigate the mechanical design, control and applications of a modular haptic device that can provide force feedback to the index, thumb and middle fingers of the user. The designed mechanical device is optimized with a multi-objective design function to achieve a low inertia, a large workspace, manipulability, and force-feedback of up to 3 N within the workspace; the bandwidth and rigidity for the device is assessed through simulation and real experimentation. One of the most important areas when designing haptic devices is the end-effector, since it is in contact with the user. In this thesis the design and evaluation of a thimble-like, lightweight, user-adaptable, and cost-effective device that incorporates four contact force sensors is described. This design allows estimation of the forces applied by a user during manipulation of virtual and real objects. The design of a real-time, modular control architecture for multi-finger haptic interaction is described. Requirements for control of multi-finger haptic devices are explored. Moreover, a large number of signals have to be acquired, processed, sent over the network and mathematical computations such as device direct and inverse kinematics, jacobian, grasp detection algorithms, etc. have to be calculated in Real Time to assure the required high fidelity for the haptic interaction. The Hardware control architecture has different modules and consists of an FPGA for the low-level controller and a RT controller for managing all the complex calculations (jacobian, kinematics, etc.); this provides a compact and scalable solution for the required high computation capabilities assuring a correct frequency rate for the control loop of 1 kHz. A set-up for dexterous virtual and real manipulation is described. Moreover, a new algorithm named the iterative kinematic decoupling method was implemented to solve the inverse kinematics of a robotic manipulator. In order to understand the importance of multi-modal interaction including haptics, a subject study was carried out to look for sensory stimuli that correlate with fast response time and enhanced accuracy. This experiment was carried out in collaboration with neuro-scientists from Technion Israel Institute of Technology. By comparing the grasping response times in unimodal (auditory, visual, and haptic) events with the response times in events with bimodal and trimodal combinations. It is concluded that in grasping tasks the synchronized motion of the fingers to generate the grasping response relies on haptic cues. This processing-speed advantage of haptic cues suggests that multimodalhaptic virtual environments are superior in generating motor contingencies, enhancing the plausibility of events. Applications that include haptics provide users with more time at the cognitive stages to fill in missing information creatively and form a richer experience. A major application of haptic devices is the design of new simulators to train manual skills for the medical sector. In collaboration with physical therapists from Griffith University in Australia, we developed a simulator to allow hand rehabilitation manipulations. First, the non-linear stiffness properties of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger were estimated by using the designed end-effector; these parameters are implemented in a scenario that simulates the behavior of the human hand and that allows haptic interaction through the designed haptic device. The potential application of this work is related to educational and medical training purposes. In this thesis, new methods to simultaneously control the position and orientation of a robotic manipulator and the grasp of a robotic hand when interacting with large real environments are studied. The reachable workspace is extended by automatically switching between rate and position control modes. Moreover, the human hand gesture is recognized by reading the relative movements of the index, thumb and middle fingers of the user during the early stages of the approximation-to-the-object phase and then mapped to the robotic hand actuators. These methods are validated to perform dexterous manipulation of objects with a robotic manipulator, and different robotic hands. This work is the result of a research collaboration with researchers from the Harvard BioRobotics Laboratory. The developed experiments show that the overall task time is reduced and that the developed methods allow for full dexterity and correct completion of dexterous manipulations.

Gas monitoring methodology and application to CCS projects as defined by atmospheric and remote sensing survey in the natural analogue of Campo de Calatrava

CO2 capture and storage (CCS) projects are presently developed to reduce the emission of anthropogenic CO2 into the atmosphere. CCS technologies are expected to account for the 20% of the CO2 reduction by 2050. Geophysical, ground deformation and geochemical monitoring have been carried out to detect potential leakage, and, in the event that this occurs, identify and quantify it. This monitoring needs to be developed prior, during and after the injection stage. For a correct interpretation and quantification of the leakage, it is essential to establish a pre-injection characterization (baseline) of the area affected by the CO2 storage at reservoir level as well as at shallow depth, surface and atmosphere, via soil gas measurements. Therefore, the methodological approach is important because it can affect the spatial and temporal variability of this flux and even jeopardize the total value of CO2 in a given area. In this sense, measurements of CO2 flux were done using portable infrared analyzers (i.e., accumulation chambers) adapted to monitoring the geological storage of CO2, and other measurements of trace gases, e.g. radon isotopes and remote sensing imagery were tested in the natural analogue of Campo de Calatrava (Ciudad Real, Spain) with the aim to apply in CO2 leakage detection; thus, observing a high correlation between CO2 and radon (r=0,858) and detecting some vegetation indices that may be successfully applied for the leakage detection.

Comparison of NDVI fields obtained from different remote sensors

Satellite image data have become an important source of information for monitoring vegetation and mapping land cover at several scales. Beside this, the distribution and phenology of vegetation is largely associated with climate, terrain characteristics and human activity. Various vegetation indices have been developed for qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation using remote spectral measurements. In particular, sensors with spectral bands in the red (RED) and near-infrared (NIR) lend themselves well to vegetation monitoring and based on them [(NIR - RED) / (NIR + RED)] Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been widespread used. Given that the characteristics of spectral bands in RED and NIR vary distinctly from sensor to sensor, NDVI values based on data from different instruments will not be directly comparable. The spatial resolution also varies significantly between sensors, as well as within a given scene in the case of wide-angle and oblique sensors. As a result, NDVI values will vary according to combinations of the heterogeneity and scale of terrestrial surfaces and pixel footprint sizes. Therefore, the question arises as to the impact of differences in spectral and spatial resolutions on vegetation indices like the NDVI and their interpretation as a drought index. During 2012 three locations (at Salamanca, Granada and Córdoba) were selected and a periodic pasture monitoring and botanic composition were achieved. Daily precipitation, temperature and monthly soil water content were measurement as well as fresh and dry pasture weight. At the same time, remote sensing images were capture by DEIMOS-1 and MODIS of the chosen places. DEIMOS-1 is based on the concept Microsat-100 from Surrey. It is conceived for obtaining Earth images with a good enough resolution to study the terrestrial vegetation cover (20x20 m), although with a great range of visual field (600 km) in order to obtain those images with high temporal resolution and at a reduced cost. By contranst, MODIS images present a much lower spatial resolution (500x500 m). The aim of this study is to establish a comparison between two different sensors in their NDVI values at different spatial resolutions. Acknowledgements. This work was partially supported by ENESA under project P10 0220C-823. Funding provided by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) through project no. MTM2009-14621 and i-MATH No. CSD2006-00032 is greatly appreciated.