Meter data management for smart monitoring power networks

The electrical power distribution and commercialization scenario is evolving worldwide, and electricity companies, faced with the challenge of new information requirements, are demanding IT solutions to deal with the smart monitoring of power networks. Two main challenges arise from data management and smart monitoring of power networks: real-time data acquisition and big data processing over short time periods. We present a solution in the form of a system architecture that conveys real time issues and has the capacity for big data management.

Processing and validation of JEFF3-3.1.2 Cross-section Library into Various Formats: ACE, PENDF, GENDF, MATXSR and BOXER.

Following the processing and validation of JEFF-3.1 performed in 2006 and presented in ND2007, and as a consequence of the latest updated of this library (JEFF-3.1.2) in February 2012, a new processing and validation of JEFF-3.1.2 cross section library is presented in this paper. The processed library in ACE format at ten different temperatures was generated with NJOY-99.364 nuclear data processing system. In addition, NJOY-99 inputs are provided to generate PENDF, GENDF, MATXSR and BOXER formats. The library has undergone strict QA procedures, being compared with other available libraries (e.g. ENDF/B-VII.1) and processing codes as PREPRO-2000 codes. A set of 119 criticality benchmark experiments taken from ICSBEP-2010 has been used for validation purposes.

Desarrollo de un sistema hardware modular que implemente los instrumentos de un laboratorio de electrónica

El poder disponer de la instrumentación y los equipos electrónicos resulta vital en el diseño de circuitos analógicos. Permiten realizar las pruebas necesarias y el estudio para el buen funcionamiento de estos circuitos. Los equipos se pueden diferenciar en instrumentos de excitación, los que proporcionan las señales al circuito, y en instrumentos de medida, los que miden las señales generadas por el circuito. Estos equipos sirven de gran ayuda pero a su vez tienen un precio elevado lo que impide en muchos casos disponer de ellos. Por esta principal desventaja, se hace necesario conseguir un dispositivo de bajo coste que sustituya de alguna manera a los equipos reales. Si el instrumento es de medida, este sistema de bajo coste puede ser implementado mediante un equipo hardware encargado de adquirir los datos y una aplicación ejecutándose en un ordenador donde analizarlos y presentarlos en la pantalla. En el caso de que el instrumento sea de excitación, el único cometido del sistema hardware es el de proporcionar las señales cuya configuración ha enviado el ordenador. En un equipo real, es el propio equipo el que debe realizar todas esas acciones: adquisición, procesamiento y presentación de los datos. Además, la dificultad de realizar modificaciones o ampliaciones de las funcionalidades en un instrumento tradicional con respecto a una aplicación de queda patente. Debido a que un instrumento tradicional es un sistema cerrado y uno cuya configuración o procesamiento de datos es hecho por una aplicación, algunas de las modificaciones serían realizables modificando simplemente el software del programa de control, por lo que el coste de las modificaciones sería menor. En este proyecto se pretende implementar un sistema hardware que tenga las características y realice las funciones del equipamiento real que se pueda encontrar en un laboratorio de electrónica. También el desarrollo de una aplicación encargada del control y el análisis de las señales adquiridas, cuya interfaz gráfica se asemeje a la de los equipos reales para facilitar su uso. ABSTRACT. The instrumentation and electronic equipment are vital for the design of analogue circuits. They enable to perform the necessary testing and study for the proper functioning of these circuits. The devices can be classified into the following categories: excitation instruments, which transmit the signals to the circuit, and measuring instruments, those in charge of measuring the signals produced by the circuit. This equipment is considerably helpful, however, its high price often makes it hardly accessible. For this reason, low price equipment is needed in order to replace real devices. If the instrument is measuring, this low cost system can be implemented by hardware equipment to acquire the data and running on a computer where analyzing and present on the screen application. In case of an excitation the instrument, the only task of the hardware system is to provide signals which sent the computer configuration. In a real instrument, is the instrument itself that must perform all these actions: acquisition, processing and presentation of data. Moreover, the difficulty of making changes or additions to the features in traditional devices with respect to an application running on a computer is evident. This is due to the fact that a traditional instrument is a closed system and its configuration or data processing is made by an application. Therefore, certain changes can be made just by modifying the control program software. Consequently, the cost of these modifications is lower. This project aims to implement a hardware system with the same features and functions of any real device, available in an electronics laboratory. Besides, it aims to develop an application for the monitoring and analysis of acquired signals. This application is provided with a graphic interface resembling those of real devices in order to facilitate its use.

Assessment of Underground Wine Cellars Using Geographic Information Technologies

Geographic information technologies (GIT) are essential to many fields of research, such as the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage buildings, a category which includes traditional underground wine cellars. This article presents a methodology based on research carried out on this type of rural heritage building. The data were acquired using the following sensors: EDM, total station, close-range photogrammetry and laser scanning, and subsequently processed with a specific software which was verified for each case, in order to obtain a satisfactory graphic representation of these underground wine cellars. Two key aspects of this work are the accuracy of the data processing and the visualization of these traditional constructions. The methodology includes an application for geovisualizing these traditional constructions on mobile devices in order to contribute to raising awareness of this unique heritage.

Uma nova arquitetura para Internet das Coisas com análise e reconhecimento de padrões e processamento com Big Data.

A Internet das Coisas é um novo paradigma de comunicação que estende o mundo virtual (Internet) para o mundo real com a interface e interação entre objetos. Ela possuirá um grande número de dispositivos heteregôneos interconectados, que deverá gerar um grande volume de dados. Um dos importantes desafios para seu desenvolvimento é se guardar e processar esse grande volume de dados em aceitáveis intervalos de tempo. Esta pesquisa endereça esse desafio, com a introdução de serviços de análise e reconhecimento de padrões nas camadas inferiores do modelo de para Internet das Coisas, que procura reduzir o processamento nas camadas superiores. Na pesquisa foram analisados os modelos de referência para Internet das Coisas e plataformas para desenvolvimento de aplicações nesse contexto. A nova arquitetura de implementada estende o LinkSmart Middeware pela introdução de um módulo para reconhecimento de padrões, implementa algoritmos para estimação de valores, detecção de outliers e descoberta de grupos nos dados brutos, oriundos de origens de dados. O novo módulo foi integrado à plataforma para Big Data Hadoop e usa as implementações algorítmicas do framework Mahout. Este trabalho destaca a importância da comunicação cross layer integrada à essa nova arquitetura. Nos experimentos desenvolvidos na pesquisa foram utilizadas bases de dados reais, provenientes do projeto Smart Santander, de modo a validar da nova arquitetura de IoT integrada aos serviços de análise e reconhecimento de padrões e a comunicação cross-layer.

Advanced interpretation of subsidence in Murcia (SE Spain) using A-DInSAR data – modelling and validation

Subsidence is a natural hazard that affects wide areas in the world causing important economic costs annually. This phenomenon has occurred in the metropolitan area of Murcia City (SE Spain) as a result of groundwater overexploitation. In this work aquifer system subsidence is investigated using an advanced differential SAR interferometry remote sensing technique (A-DInSAR) called Stable Point Network (SPN). The SPN derived displacement results, mainly the velocity displacement maps and the time series of the displacement, reveal that in the period 2004–2008 the rate of subsidence in Murcia metropolitan area doubled with respect to the previous period from 1995 to 2005. The acceleration of the deformation phenomenon is explained by the drought period started in 2006. The comparison of the temporal evolution of the displacements measured with the extensometers and the SPN technique shows an average absolute error of 3.9±3.8 mm. Finally, results from a finite element model developed to simulate the recorded time history subsidence from known water table height changes compares well with the SPN displacement time series estimations. This result demonstrates the potential of A-DInSAR techniques to validate subsidence prediction models as an alternative to using instrumental ground based techniques for validation.

Improving 3D Keypoint Detection from Noisy Data Using Growing Neural Gas

3D sensors provides valuable information for mobile robotic tasks like scene classification or object recognition, but these sensors often produce noisy data that makes impossible applying classical keypoint detection and feature extraction techniques. Therefore, noise removal and downsampling have become essential steps in 3D data processing. In this work, we propose the use of a 3D filtering and down-sampling technique based on a Growing Neural Gas (GNG) network. GNG method is able to deal with outliers presents in the input data. These features allows to represent 3D spaces, obtaining an induced Delaunay Triangulation of the input space. Experiments show how the state-of-the-art keypoint detectors improve their performance using GNG output representation as input data. Descriptors extracted on improved keypoints perform better matching in robotics applications as 3D scene registration.

Subsidence activity maps derived from DInSAR data: Orihuela case study

A new methodology is proposed to produce subsidence activity maps based on the geostatistical analysis of persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) data. PSI displacement measurements are interpolated based on conditional Sequential Gaussian Simulation (SGS) to calculate multiple equiprobable realizations of subsidence. The result from this process is a series of interpolated subsidence values, with an estimation of the spatial variability and a confidence level on the interpolation. These maps complement the PSI displacement map, improving the identification of wide subsiding areas at a regional scale. At a local scale, they can be used to identify buildings susceptible to suffer subsidence related damages. In order to do so, it is necessary to calculate the maximum differential settlement and the maximum angular distortion for each building of the study area. Based on PSI-derived parameters those buildings in which the serviceability limit state has been exceeded, and where in situ forensic analysis should be made, can be automatically identified. This methodology has been tested in the city of Orihuela (SE Spain) for the study of historical buildings damaged during the last two decades by subsidence due to aquifer overexploitation. The qualitative evaluation of the results from the methodology carried out in buildings where damages have been reported shows a success rate of 100%.

Subsidence damage assessment of a Gothic church using differential interferometry and field data

The Santas Justa and Rufina Gothic church (fourteenth century) has suffered several physical, mechanical, chemical, and biochemical types of pathologies along its history: rock alveolization, efflorescence, biological activity, and capillary ascent of groundwater. However, during the last two decades, a new phenomenon has seriously affected the church: ground subsidence caused by aquifer overexploitation. Subsidence is a process that affects the whole Vega Baja of the Segura River basin and consists of gradual sinking in the ground surface caused by soil consolidation due to a pore pressure decrease. This phenomenon has been studied by differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry techniques, which illustrate settlements up to 100 mm for the 1993–2009 period for the whole Orihuela city. Although no differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry information is available for the church due to the loss of interferometric coherence, the spatial analysis of nearby deformation combined with fieldwork has advanced the current understanding on the mechanisms that affect the Santas Justa and Rufina church. These results show the potential interest and the limitations of using this remote sensing technique as a complementary tool for the forensic analysis of building structures.

Instrumentation for measuring pavement-vehicle interaction. Volume II: Digalog Systems operation and maintenance manual, data acquisition system, model DLI 203. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Structures and Applied Mechanics Division, Washington, D.C.

Guide to reporting highway statistics: procedures for the compilation, analysis and reporting of: state motor-fuel, motor-vehicle, driver-license and motor-carrier data; highway finance data of state and local governments.

Mode of access: Internet.

Waveform generator signal processing software. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Development of a data link from PDP 11/34 computer to HP 9830 calculator. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, East Liberty, Ohio

An on-line electro-optical video processing system.

Vita.