Smart walker solutions for physical rehabilitation

In the last decade, the clinical reasoning in physical therapy has been to develop systems for physiotherapists to make clinical decisions rapidly, effectively and efficiently, in response to the increasingly complex needs of health and rehabilitation units. Some studies show the importance of walking aids during rehabilitation from some diseases, and after surgery for arthroplasty in the elderly population, and in elderly patients with balance disorders, muscle weakness or in people with diabetes mellitus. Walkers are important devices that aid the rehabilitation process. The use of a walker is recommended for gait changes and imbalance due to various factors, such as surgery of the lower limbs or neurodegenerative changes, especially in the early recovery period.

Smart Cities @ DIITET

La presentazione oltre a illustrare le attività progettuali del Dipartimento di Ingegneria, ICT e Tecnologie per l'Energia e i Trasporti (DIITET) del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) nell'ambito delle Smart Cities, spiega che cos'è una città intelligente/sostenibile, i livelli su cui opera, perchè è importante. Si evidenziano tre esempi progettuali concreti testati anche con i cittadini su tre città italiante: Siracusa, Pisa e Bologna.

Understanding the gender dimensions of adopting climate-smart smallholder aquaculture innovations

This study explored how climate-smart agricultural and aquaculture innovations may lead to more successful climate adaptation efforts and enhanced resilience for both men and women in households and across communities, as well as to improved and equitable outcomes in terms of income, nutrition and livelihood opportunities. Specifically, it investigated efforts to target women with household aquaculture innovations to understand (1) if such approaches enable women to use or benefit from them; (2) if and how usage impacts the sustained use of these innovations; and (3) if it would be possible to scale out these innovations to achieve large scale development outcomes.

Città Metropolitane e Smart Governance Iniziative di successo e nodi critici verso la Smart City

The volume contains the results of the research project "Governance Analysis Project (GAP) for the Smart Energy City. The actualization of Smart Cities in the Metropolitan Areas of Europe and Italy” conducted within the PON “Smart Energy Master for the energy management of the territory” at the University Federico II of Naples (TeMA Lab of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering). Smart Cities have gained increasing relevance in the scientific debate and in the national and international operational practice, emerging as one of the opportunities to rethink cities and, more generally, the life of urban communities. First reflections, researches and projects on the issue seem to converge towards the idea that a “smart” urban development should not only be a result of the yet necessary and unavoidable infrastructural endowment (physical capital) and of its continuing innovation, but also of the quality of human, social and environmental capital, conceived as strategic factors for development. A “smart” city is, primarily, a city able to effectively satisfy the needs of its citizens respecting the rules imposed by the environmental context. It is in such a debate that the project GAP fits with the aim to address Smart Cities in light of the administrative reorganization of Italian large cities as a consequence of the Law 56/2014. With a scientific approach, the volume provides a comprehensive and updated framework of how Italian and European Metropolitan cities are declining the Smart City issue and this thanks to the collection of a wide-ranging screening represented by more than 1.000 initiatives including researches, projects, interventions, technologies, etc. Furthermore, one original element of this research is that after an analysis conducted through indirect sources, a phase of dialogue with “stakeholders” was carried out (and of this there is a wide picture in the volume in which, by the way, are reported long excerpts of the interviews). This has enabled to give a clearer framework of what is now experimenting in Italian and European cities, avoiding being totally naïve for interventions and projects labelled as “smart”, but often lacking of innovative methods and contents.

smart shopping for veggies and fruits : 10 tips for affordable vegetables and fruits

It is possible to fit vegetables and fruits into any budget. Making nutritious choices does not have to hurt your wallet. Getting enough of these foods promotes health and can reduce your risk of certain diseases. There are many low-cost ways to meet your fruit and vegetable needs. This sheet lists some of them.

MUSEUM: Una aplicación de visionado de contenidos multimedia para Smart TV

Tradicionalmente, la televisión ha sido siempre el mejor medio (y hasta no hace mucho, el único) para visionar contenidos. Varios elementos, como áreas de visionado cada vez mayores, distintas posibilidades de conectividad y su presencia en la principal estancia del hogar lo siguen manteniendo como el dispositivo ideal para visionar contenidos. Gracias al acceso a internet que incorporan los últimos modelos se abre un nuevo abanico de posibilidades, permitiendo el acceso (en teoría, depende de las capacidades de cada aparato) a todo el contenido disponible en la red. Esto, junto a la gran área de visionado que ofrecen, lo hacen el elemento ideal para ver contenidos de forma grupal (tanto elementos educacionales como de ocio, para la familia, amigos o cualquier grupo de personas). Aunque cada día los fabricantes convergen hacia un estándar común que permita que una misma aplicación se ejecute en una televisión de cualquier marca sin tener que ser adaptada, lo cierto a día de hoy es que no existe una compatibilidad 100% entre aparatos, por lo que se elige para el desarrollo la plataforma más extendida hasta el momento, Smart TV de Samsung. No obstante, con pequeñas modificaciones en la aplicación se podría hacer compatible con aparatos de otras marcas. En este trabajo fin de grado se ha desarrollado un sistema que simula una visita virtual a un museo, donde se puede acceder a los contenidos disponibles en las distintas salas en forma de vídeos, fotografías o audios a la vez que se ofrece la opción de ver una descripción en texto sobre el contenido. El contenido multimedia se almacena en un repositorio externo (servidor) que envía a la televisión dicha información bajo petición. La estructura del contenido es adaptable de forma que, con pequeños cambios, un programador puede modificar la aplicación para ajustarla a otros casos de uso.De manera más específica:  Un usuario con capacidades de administración en el servidor puede: o Añadir datos de nuevos museos o Organizar la estructura del museo en distintas salas. o Añadir contenido multimedia a cada sala.  Un usuario que instala la aplicación en su TV puede: o Navegar por los distintos museos y salas definidos en la aplicación. o Visualizar el contenido multimedia (vídeo, fotos, audio, texto) que ofrece cada sala.

Modelling of an efficient dynamic smart solar photovoltaic power grid system

A smart solar photovoltaic grid system is an advent of innovation coherence of information and communications technology (ICT) with power systems control engineering via the internet [1]. This thesis designs and demonstrates a smart solar photovoltaic grid system that is selfhealing, environmental and consumer friendly, but also with the ability to accommodate other renewable sources of energy generation seamlessly, creating a healthy competitive energy industry and optimising energy assets efficiency. This thesis also presents the modelling of an efficient dynamic smart solar photovoltaic power grid system by exploring the maximum power point tracking efficiency, optimisation of the smart solar photovoltaic array through modelling and simulation to improve the quality of design for the solar photovoltaic module. In contrast, over the past decade quite promising results have been published in literature, most of which have not addressed the basis of the research questions in this thesis. The Levenberg-Marquardt and sparse based algorithms have proven to be very effective tools in helping to improve the quality of design for solar photovoltaic modules, minimising the possible relative errors in this thesis. Guided by theoretical and analytical reviews in literature, this research has carefully chosen the MatLab/Simulink software toolbox for modelling and simulation experiments performed on the static smart solar grid system. The auto-correlation coefficient results obtained from the modelling experiments give an accuracy of 99% with negligible mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE) and standard deviation. This thesis further explores the design and implementation of a robust real-time online solar photovoltaic monitoring system, establishing a comparative study of two solar photovoltaic tracking systems which provide remote access to the harvested energy data. This research made a landmark innovation in designing and implementing a unique approach for online remote access solar photovoltaic monitoring systems providing updated information of the energy produced by the solar photovoltaic module at the site location. In addressing the challenge of online solar photovoltaic monitoring systems, Darfon online data logger device has been systematically integrated into the design for a comparative study of the two solar photovoltaic tracking systems examined in this thesis. The site location for the comparative study of the solar photovoltaic tracking systems is at the National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Taiwan, R.O.C. The overall comparative energy output efficiency of the azimuthal-altitude dual-axis over the 450 stationary solar photovoltaic monitoring system as observed at the research location site is about 72% based on the total energy produced, estimated money saved and the amount of CO2 reduction achieved. Similarly, in comparing the total amount of energy produced by the two solar photovoltaic tracking systems, the overall daily generated energy for the month of July shows the effectiveness of the azimuthal-altitude tracking systems over the 450 stationary solar photovoltaic system. It was found that the azimuthal-altitude dual-axis tracking systems were about 68.43% efficient compared to the 450 stationary solar photovoltaic systems. Lastly, the overall comparative hourly energy efficiency of the azimuthal-altitude dual-axis over the 450 stationary solar photovoltaic energy system was found to be 74.2% efficient. Results from this research are quite promising and significant in satisfying the purpose of the research objectives and questions posed in the thesis. The new algorithms introduced in this research and the statistical measures applied to the modelling and simulation of a smart static solar photovoltaic grid system performance outperformed other previous works in reviewed literature. Based on this new implementation design of the online data logging systems for solar photovoltaic monitoring, it is possible for the first time to have online on-site information of the energy produced remotely, fault identification and rectification, maintenance and recovery time deployed as fast as possible. The results presented in this research as Internet of things (IoT) on smart solar grid systems are likely to offer real-life experiences especially both to the existing body of knowledge and the future solar photovoltaic energy industry irrespective of the study site location for the comparative solar photovoltaic tracking systems. While the thesis has contributed to the smart solar photovoltaic grid system, it has also highlighted areas of further research and the need to investigate more on improving the choice and quality design for solar photovoltaic modules. Finally, it has also made recommendations for further research in the minimization of the absolute or relative errors in the quality and design of the smart static solar photovoltaic module.

Specification of a smart meter/actuator description mechanism & development of a mobile application

Home Automation holds the potential of realizing cost savings for end users while reducing the carbon footprint of domestic energy consumption. Yet, adoption is still very low. High cost of vendor-supplied home automation systems is a major prohibiting factor. Open source systems such as FHEM, Domoticz, OpenHAB etc. are a cheaper alternative and can drive the adoption of home automation. Moreover, they have the advantage of not being limited to a single vendor or communication technology which gives end users flexibility in the choice of devices to include in their installation. However, interaction with devices having diverse communication technologies can be inconvenient for users thus limiting the utility they derive from it. For application developers, creating applications which interact with the several technologies in the home automation systems is not a consistent process. Hence, there is the need for a common description mechanism that makes interaction smooth for end users and which enables application developers to make home automation applications in a consistent and uniform way. This thesis proposes such a description mechanism within the context of an open source home automation system – FHEM, together with a system concept for its application. A mobile application was developed as a proof of concept of the proposed description mechanism and the results of the implementation are reflected upon.

Developing smart services by Internet of Things in manufacturing business

Manufacturing companies have passed from selling uniquely tangible products to adopting a service-oriented approach to generate steady and continuous revenue streams. Nowadays, equipment and machine manufacturers possess technologies to track and analyze product-related data for obtaining relevant information from customers’ use towards the product after it is sold. The Internet of Things on Industrial environments will allow manufacturers to leverage lifecycle product traceability for innovating towards an information-driven services approach, commonly referred as “Smart Services”, for achieving improvements in support, maintenance and usage processes. The aim of this study is to conduct a literature review and empirical analysis to present a framework that describes a customer-oriented approach for developing information-driven services leveraged by the Internet of Things in manufacturing companies. The empirical study employed tools for the assessment of customer needs for analyzing the case company in terms of information requirements and digital needs. The literature review supported the empirical analysis with a deep research on product lifecycle traceability and digitalization of product-related services within manufacturing value chains. As well as the role of simulation-based technologies on supporting the “Smart Service” development process. The results obtained from the case company analysis show that the customers mainly demand information that allow them to monitor machine conditions, machine behavior on different geographical conditions, machine-implement interactions, and resource and energy consumption. Put simply, information outputs that allow them to increase machine productivity for maximizing yields, save time and optimize resources in the most sustainable way. Based on customer needs assessment, this study presents a framework to describe the initial phases of a “Smart Service” development process, considering the requirements of Smart Engineering methodologies.

RCOS: Real time context sharing across a fleet of smart mobile devices

Today, biodiversity is endangered by the currently applied intensive farming methods imposed on food producers by intermediate actors (e.g.: retailers). The lack of a direct communication technology between the food producer and the consumer creates dependency on the intermediate actors for both producers and the consumers. A tool allowing producers to directly and efficiently market produce that meets customer demands could greatly reduce the dependency enforced by intermediate actors. To this end, in this thesis, we propose, develop, implement and validate a Real Time Context Sharing (RCOS) system. RCOS takes advantage of the widely used publish/subscribe paradigm to exchange messages between producers and consumers, directly, according to their interest and context. Current systems follow a topic-based model or a content-based model. With RCOS, we propose a context-awareness approach into the matching process of publish/subscribe paradigm. Finally, as a proof of concept, we extend the Apache ActiveMQ Artemis software and create a client prototype. We evaluate our proof of concept for larger scale deployment.

Gestão nos Serviços com Sistemas de Monitorização e Implementação do Smart Pricing

A presente dissertação foi elaborada no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Electrotécnica (MEE) no Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), em regime empresarial, na empresa PH Energia Lda. Tem-se verificado que, ao longo dos últimos anos, os mercados estão cada vez mais competitivos, tornando-se quase imperativo que as empresas apostem numa boa otimização dos processos produtivos. Produzir cada vez mais, mais rapidamente e com menos recursos disponíveis, ou seja, de forma eficiente, são os desafios de todas as empresas que pretendem permanecer no mercado. Neste contexto surge o tema de tese, “Gestão nos Serviços com Sistemas de Monitorização e Implementação do Smart Pricing”, cujo objetivo tem como base principal a otimização das plataformas da PH Energia numa cultura de melhoria contínua e orientação para o cliente e promover aplicação da tarifa indexada e Smart Pricing em empresas de maneira a que exista uma maior poupança. Ao longo desta dissertação, foram desenvolvidos cálculos associados à monitorização e gestão nos serviços, bem como demonstrada a viabilidade dos mesmos na aplicação de tarifasindexadas e Smart Pricing no setor empresarial e, para finalizar, a compensação que é possível obter ao deslocar o diagrama de cargas, mantendo sempre o mesmo consumo. Na elaboração deste trabalho fez-se o cruzamento de duas plataformas informáticas designadas GesEnergy e Kisense, com ajuda da empresa VPS que tem como parceria a empresa Energia Simples. Em relação ao plano indexado, foram realizados dois estudos de dois balcões do Banco Popular de Portugal de forma a explicitar quando e como deve ser aplicada a tarifa indexada, gestão da procura, bem como deve ser deslocação do consumo, de forma a abranger as horas mais vantajosas em que o preço de energia elétrica é mais baixo.

Auditoría y metodología de implantación de open data para smart cities

El movimiento de datos abiertos es relativamente nuevo, ofrece beneficios significativos a la sociedad y a la economía, promueve la democracia y la responsabilidad de los gobiernos públicos fomentando la transparencia, participación y colaboración de los ciudadanos. Por ser un movimiento relativamente nuevo, son los países que lideran el desarrollo quienes ya han implementado políticas de datos abiertos y ya disfrutan de sus beneficios; sin embargo, hay países en los que aún ni siquiera hay iniciativas de datos abiertos o aún están comenzando. En este trabajo se estudia el uso adecuado de buenas prácticas, normas, métricas y estándares para la implantación de datos abiertos de manera sostenible, automatizable y en formatos accesibles que garanticen la reutilización de los datos con el fin de generar valor a través de ellos, al crear nuevos productos y servicios que contribuyan a mejorar la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos. En ese sentido, se realiza un análisis exploratorio de los principios de datos abiertos, se realiza un análisis sobre la situación actual de iniciativas de datos abiertos, y con el fin de que el proyecto sea de máxima aplicabilidad, se realizan pruebas de la métrica Meloda 4.0 sobre conjuntos de datos del Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Se realiza un análisis y evaluación de los portales de datos abiertos de los Ayuntamientos de Madrid, Zaragoza y Barcelona basándose en la Norma UNE 178301:2015. En concordancia con la filosofía de datos abiertos, se estudia y sugiere el uso de tecnologías de código abierto para la publicación de datos abiertos. Finalmente, como resultado y aplicabilidad de todo lo aprendido, se propone el diseño de una metodología para publicación de datos abiertos orientada a entidades públicas que aún no tienen iniciativas o están comenzando a implementar políticas de datos abiertos.

Collaborative Systems for Smart Networked Environments

International audience