From an Ontology-Oriented Approach Conception to User Interface Development

* The presented work has discussed on the KDS-2003. It has corrected in compliance with remarks and requests of participants.

Fibre optic sensors for high speed hypervelocity impact studies and low velocity drop tests

The initial aim of this project was to develop a non-contact fibre optic based displacement sensor to operate in the harsh environment of a 'Light Gas Gun' (LGG), which can 'fire' small particles at velocities ranging from 1-8.4 km/s. The LGG is used extensively for research in aerospace to analyze the effects of high speed impacts on materials. Ideally the measurement should be made close to the centre of the impact to minimise corruption of the data from edge effects and survive the impact. A further requirement is that it should operate at a stand-off distance of ~ 8cm. For these reasons we chose to develop a pseudo con-focal intensity sensor, which demonstrated resolution comparable with conventional PVDF sensors combined with high survivability and low cost. A second sensor was developed based on 'Fibre Bragg Gratings' (FBG) which although requiring contact with the target the low weight and very small contact area had minimal effect on the dynamics of the target. The FBG was mounted either on the surface of the target or tangentially between a fixed location. The output signals from the FBG were interrogated in time by a new method. Measurements were made on composite and aluminium plates in the LGG and on low speed drop tests. The particle momentum for the drop tests was chosen to be similar to that of the particles used in the LGG.

Novel cost-effective PON-to-mm-wave RoF photonic bridge for multigigabit access networks

A novel low-cost photonic PON-to-RoF bridge is presented, allowing simultaneous wireline and wireless multi-Gbps data transmission with minor impact on deployed PON networks. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme does not require narrow-linewidth lasers when envelope detector mobile terminals are used, since the transmission performance is not limited by the phase noise but by the RIN and the frequency difference between the two beating lasers. © 2013 IEEE.

Cost-efficient OFDM generation at 60-GHz by heterodyne technique with direct modulation and envelope detector

A cost-effective radio over fiber system to up-convert and transmit multigigabit signals at 60 GHz is presented. A low intermediate frequency OFDM signal is used to directly modulate a laser, which is combined with an independent unmodulated laser. The generated millimeter wave frequency can be adjusted by tuning the frequency separation between the lasers. Since no external modulator is required, this technique is low-cost and it is easily integrable in a single chip. In this paper, we present numerical results showing the feasibility of generating an IEEE 802.15.3c compliant 3.5-Gbps 60-GHz OFDM. We show that received signal quality is not limited by the lasers' linewidth but by the relative intensity noise. © 2013 IEEE.

A cost-effective steam-driven RO plant for brackish groundwater

Desalination is a costly means of providing freshwater. Most desalination plants use either reverse osmosis (RO) or thermal distillation. Both processes have drawbacks: RO is efficient but uses expensive electrical energy; thermal distillation is inefficient but uses less expensive thermal energy. This work aims to provide an efficient RO plant that uses thermal energy. A steam-Rankine cycle has been designed to drive mechanically a batch-RO system that achieves high recovery, without the high energy penalty typically incurred in a continuous-RO system. The steam may be generated by solar panels, biomass boilers, or as an industrial by-product. A novel mechanical arrangement has been designed for low cost, and a steam-jacketed arrangement has been designed for isothermal expansion and improved thermodynamic efficiency. Based on detailed heat transfer and cost calculations, a gain output ratio of 69-162 is predicted, enabling water to be treated at a cost of 71 Indian Rupees/m3 at small scale. Costs will reduce with scale-up. Plants may be designed for a wide range of outputs, from 5 m3/day, up to commercial versions producing 300 m3/day of clean water from brackish groundwater.

Comparison of cost- and energy-efficient signal modulations for next generation passive optical networks

Extensive numerical investigations are undertaken to analyze and compare, for the first time, the performance, techno-economy, and power consumption of three-level electrical Duobinary, optical Duobinary, and PAM-4 modulation formats as candidates for high-speed next-generation PONs supporting downstream 40 Gb/s per wavelength signal transmission over standard SMFs in C-band. Optimization of transceiver bandwidths are undertaken to show the feasibility of utilizing low-cost and band-limited components to support next-generation PON transmissions. The effect of electro-absorption modulator chirp is examined for electrical Duobinary and PAM-4. Electrical Duobinary and optical Duobinary are powerefficient schemes for smaller transmission distances of 10 km SMFs and optical Duobinary offers the best receiver sensitivity albeit with a relatively high transceiver cost. PAM-4 shows the best power budget and costefficiency for larger distances of around 20 km, although it consumes more power. Electrical Duobinary shows the best trade-off between performance, cost and power dissipation.

Multipurpose portable system for environmental, industrial, and medical applications

This dissertation is about the research carried on developing an MPS (Multipurpose Portable System) which consists of an instrument and many accessories. The instrument is portable, hand-held, and rechargeable battery operated, and it measures temperature, absorbance, and concentration of samples by using optical principles. The system also performs auxiliary functions like incubation and mixing. This system can be used in environmental, industrial, and medical applications. ^ Research emphasis is on system modularity, easy configuration, accuracy of measurements, power management schemes, reliability, low cost, computer interface, and networking. The instrument can send the data to a computer for data analysis and presentation, or to a printer. ^ This dissertation includes the presentation of a full working system. This involved integration of hardware and firmware for the micro-controller in assembly language, software in C and other application modules. ^ The instrument contains the Optics, Transimpedance Amplifiers, Voltage-to-Frequency Converters, LCD display, Lamp Driver, Battery Charger, Battery Manager, Timer, Interface Port, and Micro-controller. ^ The accessories are a Printer, Data Acquisition Adapter (to transfer the measurements to a computer via the Printer Port and expand the Analog/Digital conversion capability), Car Plug Adapter, and AC Transformer. This system has been fully evaluated for fault tolerance and the schemes will also be presented. ^

Low-income first time mothers: Effects on advanced practice nurse (APN) follow up telephone calls on maternal and infant health and health care charges

The United States has over 4 million births annually. Currently healthy women with non-complicated deliveries receive little to no routine postpartum support when discharged from the hospital. This is especially problematic if mothers are first time mothers, poor, have language barriers and little to no social support after giving birth. The purpose of this randomized clinical trial was to compare maternal and infant health outcomes, and health care charges between 2 groups of mothers and newborns. A control ( n = 69) group received routine posthospital discharge care. An intervention group (n = 70) received routine posthospital discharge care plus follow up telephone calls by advanced practice nurses (APNs) on days 3,7,14,21,28 and week 8. Both groups were followed for the first 8 weeks posthospital discharge following delivery to examine maternal health outcomes (perceived maternal stress, social support and perceived maternal physical health), infant health outcomes (routine medical follow up visits immunizations, weight gain), morbidity (urgent care visits, emergency room visits, rehospitalizations), health care charges (urgent care visits, emergency room visits, rehospitalizations) in both groups and charges for APN follow up in the intervention group only. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and two-sample t-tests. Study findings indicated that intervention group had significantly lower perceived maternal stress, significantly higher rating of perceived maternal health and higher levels of social support and by the end of the 2nd month posthospital discharge compared to control group mothers. Infants in the intervention group had: increased number of immunizations; fewer emergency room visits; and 1 infant rehospitalization compared to 3 infant rehospitalizations in the control group. The intervention groups' health care charges were significantly lower compared to the control group $14,333/$497 vs. $70,834/$1,068. These study results indicate that an intervention of APN follow up telephone calls in this sample of first time low-income culturally diverse mothers was an effective, safe, low cost, easy to apply intervention which improved mothers' and infants' health outcomes and reduced healthcare charges.

Desenvolvimento de um sistema de captura de baixo custo destinado a determinação da cinemática humana

The motion capture is a main tool for quantitative motion analyses. Since the XIX century, several motion caption systems have been developed for biomechanics study, animations, games and movies. The biomechanics and kinesiology involves and depends on knowledge from distinct fields, the engineering and health sciences. A precise human motion analysis requires knowledge from both fields. It is necessary then the use of didactics tools and methods for research and teaching for learning aid. The devices for analysis and motion capture currently that are found on the market and on educational institutes presents difficulties for didactical practice, which are the difficulty of transportation, high cost and limited freedom for the user towards the data acquisition. Therefore, the motion analysis is qualitatively performed or is quantitatively performed in highly complex laboratories. Based is these problems, this work presents the development of a motion capture system for didactic use hence a cheap, light, portable and easily used device with a free software. This design includes the selection of the device, the software development for that and tests. The developed system uses the device Kinect, from Microsoft, for its low cost, low weight, portability and easy use, and delivery tree-dimensional data with only one peripheral device. The proposed programs use the hardware to make motion captures, store them, reproduce them, process the motion data and graphically presents the data.

Lousa digital no ensino de matemática

Using the digital whiteboard and its resources , classes become much more motivating and interesting than those that only require the chalk or whiteboard. In the face of still images , or moving, this technology has caused a broader interaction between the student, the content taught and the teacher bringing positive and significant changes to education. In this work, we discuss the technological evolution of education, new educational technologies, the digital blackboard and your pedagogical applications inmath classes and howthe teacher can mount it using resources available at the school and other relatively low cost. Finally, we will address the concept of homography and how it is applied in its operation.

Lousa digital no ensino de matemática

Using the digital whiteboard and its resources , classes become much more motivating and interesting than those that only require the chalk or whiteboard. In the face of still images , or moving, this technology has caused a broader interaction between the student, the content taught and the teacher bringing positive and significant changes to education. In this work, we discuss the technological evolution of education, new educational technologies, the digital blackboard and your pedagogical applications inmath classes and howthe teacher can mount it using resources available at the school and other relatively low cost. Finally, we will address the concept of homography and how it is applied in its operation.

Design and implementation of a relative localization system for ground and aerial robotic teams

The main focus of this thesis is to address the relative localization problem of a heterogenous team which comprises of both ground and micro aerial vehicle robots. This team configuration allows to combine the advantages of increased accessibility and better perspective provided by aerial robots with the higher computational and sensory resources provided by the ground agents, to realize a cooperative multi robotic system suitable for hostile autonomous missions. However, in such a scenario, the strict constraints in flight time, sensor pay load, and computational capability of micro aerial vehicles limits the practical applicability of popular map-based localization schemes for GPS denied navigation. Therefore, the resource limited aerial platforms of this team demand simpler localization means for autonomous navigation. Relative localization is the process of estimating the formation of a robot team using the acquired inter-robot relative measurements. This allows the team members to know their relative formation even without a global localization reference, such as GPS or a map. Thus a typical robot team would benefit from a relative localization service since it would allow the team to implement formation control, collision avoidance, and supervisory control tasks, independent of a global localization service. More importantly, a heterogenous team such as ground robots and computationally constrained aerial vehicles would benefit from a relative localization service since it provides the crucial localization information required for autonomous operation of the weaker agents. This enables less capable robots to assume supportive roles and contribute to the more powerful robots executing the mission. Hence this study proposes a relative localization-based approach for ground and micro aerial vehicle cooperation, and develops inter-robot measurement, filtering, and distributed computing modules, necessary to realize the system. The research study results in three significant contributions. First, the work designs and validates a novel inter-robot relative measurement hardware solution which has accuracy, range, and scalability characteristics, necessary for relative localization. Second, the research work performs an analysis and design of a novel nonlinear filtering method, which allows the implementation of relative localization modules and attitude reference filters on low cost devices with optimal tuning parameters. Third, this work designs and validates a novel distributed relative localization approach, which harnesses the distributed computing capability of the team to minimize communication requirements, achieve consistent estimation, and enable efficient data correspondence within the network. The work validates the complete relative localization-based system through multiple indoor experiments and numerical simulations. The relative localization based navigation concept with its sensing, filtering, and distributed computing methods introduced in this thesis complements system limitations of a ground and micro aerial vehicle team, and also targets hostile environmental conditions. Thus the work constitutes an essential step towards realizing autonomous navigation of heterogenous teams in real world applications.

Rede de aprendizagem em robótica : uma perspectiva educativa de trabalho com jovens

The present research sought to comprehend what is the development perspective of a collective work of educational robotics with high school students. The work started from the development activities Mathematics Sub Project of PIBID (Programa Institucional de Bolsa de Iniciação à Docência, Institutional Program of Initiation to Teaching Scholarship) in a school network from the state of Minas Gerais. The production process of data of this research was done through the follow up of high school students that participated in workshops robotics at the mentioned public school and were selected to continue the project at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). Subsequently, these students were involved in activities related to Robotics championships, elapsed through different spaces in public and private schools of basic education, University and Non-Governmental Organization. The data at the research were registered by photos, videos, field notes, documents produced by the participants and arising from internet like the social media Facebook, questionnaires and, mainly, interviews. At the analysis process of data the followed axes were constituted: Movement Learning Network with Robotics; The Different Roles at the Robotics Events and Experiences in Engineering and Technology. By this axes we understand what is the trajectory of the constitution process of a learning network in educational robotics that we find in expansion and consolidation. In this network the research participants performed different roles which left imprints responsible for their transformation. As a more evident imprint, we detected the robot construction and programming, which as for as they moved their studies forward, they developed the subject autonomy, collaboration, sharing and technological authorship.

SINGLE STAGE LED DRIVER TECHNOLOGY WITH LOW FREQUENCY RIPPLE CANCELLATION

Because of high efficacy, long lifespan, and environment-friendly operation, LED lighting devices become more and more popular in every part of our life, such as ornament/interior lighting, outdoor lightings and flood lighting. The LED driver is the most critical part of the LED lighting fixture. It heavily affects the purchasing cost, operation cost as well as the light quality. Design a high efficiency, low component cost and flicker-free LED driver is the goal. The conventional single-stage LED driver can achieve low cost and high efficiency. However, it inevitably produces significant twice-line-frequency lighting flicker, which adversely affects our health. The conventional two-stage LED driver can achieve flicker-free LED driving at the expenses of significantly adding component cost, design complexity and low the efficiency. The basic ripple cancellation LED driving method has been proposed in chapter three. It achieves a high efficiency and a low component cost as the single-stage LED driver while also obtaining flicker-free LED driving performance. The basic ripple cancellation LED driver is the foundation of the entire thesis. As the research evolving, another two ripple cancellation LED drivers has been developed to improve different aspects of the basic ripple cancellation LED driver design. The primary side controlled ripple cancellation LED driver has been proposed in chapter four to further reduce cost on the control circuit. It eliminates secondary side compensation circuit and an opto-coupler in design while at the same time maintaining flicker-free LED driving. A potential integrated primary side controller can be designed based on the proposed LED driving method. The energy channeling ripple cancellation LED driver has been proposed in chapter five to further reduce cost on the power stage circuit. In previous two ripple cancellation LED drivers, an additional DC-DC converter is needed to achieve ripple cancellation. A power transistor has been used in the energy channeling ripple cancellation LED driving design to successfully replace a separate DC-DC converter and therefore achieved lower cost. The detailed analysis supports the theory of the proposed ripple cancellation LED drivers. Simulation and experiment have also been included to verify the proposed ripple cancellation LED drivers.

Localization of a mobile robot based on odometry and natural landmarks using extended kalman filter

SANTANA, André M.; SOUZA, Anderson A. S.; BRITTO, Ricardo S.; ALSINA, Pablo J.; MEDEIROS, Adelardo A. D. Localization of a mobile robot based on odometry and natural landmarks using extended Kalman Filter. In: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATICS IN CONTROL, AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS, 5., 2008, Funchal, Portugal. Proceedings... Funchal, Portugal: ICINCO, 2008.