Experimental apparatus for finger ECG biometrics

Current Electrocardiographic (ECG) signal acquisition methods are generally highly intrusive, as they involve the use of pre-gelled electrodes and cabled sensors placed directly on the person, at the chest or limbs level. Moreover, systems that make use of alternative conductive materials to overcome this issue, only provide heart rate information and not the detailed signal itself. We present a comparison and evaluation of two types of dry electrodes as interface with the skin, targeting wearable and low intrusiveness applications, which enable ECG measurement without the need for any apparatus permanently fitted to the individual. In particular, our approach is targeted at ECG biometrics using signals collected at the hand or finger level. A custom differential circuit with virtual ground was also developed for enhanced usability. Our work builds upon the current stateof-the-art in sensoring devices and processing tools, and enables novel data acquisition settings through the use of dry electrodes. Experimental evaluation was performed for Ag/AgCl and Electrolycra materials, and results show that both materials exhibit adequate performance for the intended application.

Osuman havaitsevan maalilaitteen anturointi

Työssä tutkittiin anturointimahdollisuuksia havaita ammutun luodin osuminen maalitauluun ja mitata helposti saatavilla olevia passiivisia antureita. Luodin osuminen maalitauluun luo muutoksia maalilaitteessa ja maalitaulussa. Nämä voidaan havaita kiihtyvyytenä, äänenä tai muutoksena maalitaulussa.

Luodin osuman havaitsevan metallimaalitaulun anturointi

Luotiaseilla tapahtuvaan ampumaharjoitteluun on käytössä monia erilaisia maalitauluja. Perinteisesti maalitauluna on toiminut puukehikkoon kiinnitetty pahvitaulu ja osumat on todettu siihen jääneiden reikien perusteella. Nykymaailmassa kaikki kuitenkin sähköistyy ja niin käy myös maalitauluille. Tämän kandidaatintyön tarkoituksena on selvittää kirjallisuustutkimuksen sekä kokeellisen tutkimuksen avulla metallisen luotiaseille tarkoitetun osuman havaitsevan maalilaitteen käyttöön soveltuva anturointi. Kirjallisuustutkimuksen avulla selvitetään antureilta vaadittavat ominaisuudet sekä valitaan kokeellista tutkimusta varten vaihtoehdot anturoinnille. Kokeellinen tutkimus suoritetaan kahdessa osassa, ensin laboratoriossa ja myöhemmin ampumaradalla tositilanteessa. Kokeellisen tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on vertailla valittujen antureiden ominaisuuksia ja valita niistä käyttötarkoitukseen soveltuvin. Kokeellista tutkimusta varten kehitettiin kaksi eri mittausjärjestelyä, joiden todettiin soveltuvan hyvin antureiden vertailemiseen. Kokeellisessa tutkimuksessa selvitettiin kolmen piezosähköisen PVDF- eli polyvinyylideenifluoridi-anturin sekä kahden erilaisen akustisen anturin soveltuvuus maalilaitteen käyttöön. Tutkimuksen perusteella todettiin PVDF-antureiden olevan soveltuvia maalilaitteen anturointiin. Akustiset anturit eivät testa-tulla tavalla täyttäneet anturoinnille asetettuja vaatimuksia.

Estudo e especificação de um sistema de instrumentação para unidades de elevação de petróleo utilizando tecnologia sem fio

Wireless sensor networks are reality nowadays. The growing necessity of connectivity between existing industrial plant equipments pushes the research and development of several technologies. The IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN comes as a low-cost and powersaving viable solution, which are important concerns while making decisions on remote sensoring projects. This study intends to propose a wireless communication system which makes possible the monitoring of analogic and/or digital variables (i. e., the pressure studied) involved on the artificial methods for oil and gas lifting. The main issues are: To develop a software based on SMAC Standard in order to create a wireless network to monitoring analogic and/or digital variables; To evaluate the communication link based on the number of lost packets tested in different environments (indoor and outdoor) and To propose an instrumentation system consisting of wireless devices

Prevention of soil-transmitted helminth infection

Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) form one of the most important groups of infectious agents and are the cause of serious global health problems. The most important STHs are roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides), whipworms (Trichuris trichiura) and hookworms (Necator americanus or Ancylostoma duodenale); on a global level, more than a billion people have been infected by at least one species of this group of pathogens. This review explores the general concepts of transmission dynamics and the environment and intensity of infection and morbidity of STHs. The global strategy for the control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis is based on (i) regular anthelminthic treatment, (ii) health education, (iii) sanitation and personal hygiene and (iv) other means of prevention with vaccines and remote sensoring. The reasons for the development of a control strategy based on population intervention rather than on individual treatment are discussed, as well as the costs of the prevention of STHs, although these cannot always be calculated because interventions in health education are difficult to measure. An efficient sanitation infrastructure can reduce the morbidity of STHs and eliminates the underlying cause of most poverty-related diseases and thus supports the economic development of a country.

Mapeamento geoambiental com imagem de satélite do Vale do Paraíba

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE

Classificação de áreas de favelas a partir de imagens ikonos: viabilidade de uso de uma abordagem orientada a objetos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Desenvolvimento de um computador de bordo para veículo Baja-SAE

The objective of this paper is show the development of an Eletronic Control Unit (ECU) for Baja-SAE vehicles from its requirements to final implementation. An ECU for Baja-SAE vehicles is made of electric and electronic circuits (appropriated to the hostile situations of an off-road competition) able to make important measurements for the running or stand-by vehicle performance. For this development, some concepts were studied: embedded electronics concepts (mainly microcontrollers and data acquisition circuits) and sensoring. Both the studies were made considering the off-road environment. After these initial studies, the elaboration of the basics hardware and software (under simulations) has begun, and this elaboration objectives maximum performance and low implementation cost. After the theorical studies, basic definition of the hardware and software’s architectures and simulations, the printed circuit boards (PCB) were made, as exhaustive tests in these boards for debugging and verify if the boards work well. Once the system was tested in the university, it ran into a regional Southeast competition in 2010, that definitely proved the efficiency of the whole system

Integrated luminescent chemical microsensors based on GaN LEDs for security applications using smartphones

Development of PCB-integrateable microsensors for monitoring chemical species is a goal in areas such as lab-on-a-chip analytical devices, diagnostics medicine and electronics for hand-held instruments where the device size is a major issue. Cellular phones have pervaded the world inhabitants and their usefulness has dramatically increased with the introduction of smartphones due to a combination of amazing processing power in a confined space, geolocalization and manifold telecommunication features. Therefore, a number of physical and chemical sensors that add value to the terminal for health monitoring, personal safety (at home, at work) and, eventually, national security have started to be developed, capitalizing also on the huge number of circulating cell phones. The chemical sensor-enabled “super” smartphone provides a unique (bio)sensing platform for monitoring airborne or waterborne hazardous chemicals or microorganisms for both single user and crowdsourcing security applications. Some of the latest ones are illustrated by a few examples. Moreover, we have recently achieved for the first time (covalent) functionalization of p- and n-GaN semiconductor surfaces with tuneable luminescent indicator dyes of the Ru-polypyridyl family, as a key step in the development of innovative microsensors for smartphone applications. Chemical “sensoring” of GaN-based blue LED chips with those indicators has also been achieved by plasma treatment of their surface, and the micrometer-sized devices have been tested to monitor O2 in the gas phase to show their full functionality. Novel strategies to enhance the sensor sensitivity such as changing the length and nature of the siloxane buffer layer are discussed in this paper.

A General Purpose Configurable Navigation Controller for Micro Aerial Multirotor Vehicles

In this paper, we consider the problem of autonomous navigation of multirotor platforms in GPS-denied environments. The focus of this work is on safe navigation based on unperfect odometry measurements, such as on-board optical flow measurements. The multirotor platform is modeled as a flying object with specific kinematic constraints that must be taken into account in order to obtain successful results. A navigation controller is proposed featuring a set of configurable parameters that allow, for instance, to have a configuration setup for fast trajectory following, and another to soften the control laws and make the vehicle navigation more precise and slow whenever necessary. The proposed controller has been successfully implemented in two different multirotor platforms with similar sensoring capabilities showing the openness and tolerance of the approach. This research is focused around the Computer Vision Group's objective of applying multirotor vehicles to civilian service applications. The presented work was implemented to compete in the International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Flight Competition IMAV 2012, gaining two awards: the Special Award on "Best Automatic Performance - IMAV 2012" and the second overall prize in the participating category "Indoor Flight Dynamics - Rotary Wing MAV". Most of the code related to the present work is available as two open-source projects hosted in GitHub.

Designing an adaptive salutogenic care environment

Humans are profoundly affected by the surroundings which they inhabit. Environmental psychologists have produced numerous credible theories describing optimal human environments, based on the concept of congruence or “fit” (1, 2). Lack of person/environment fit can lead to stress-related illness and lack of psychosocial well-being (3). Conversely, appropriately designed environments can promote wellness (4) or “salutogenesis” (5). Increasingly, research in the area of Evidence-Based Design, largely concentrated in the area of healthcare architecture, has tended to bear out these theories (6). Patients and long-term care residents, because of injury, illness or physical/ cognitive impairment, are less likely to be able to intervene to modify their immediate environment, unless this is designed specifically to facilitate their particular needs. In the context of care settings, detailed design of personal space therefore takes on enormous significance. MyRoom conceptualises a personalisable room, utilising sensoring and networked computing to enable the environment to respond directly and continuously to the occupant. Bio-signals collected and relayed to the system will actuate application(s) intended to positively influence user well-being. Drawing on the evidence base in relation to therapeutic design interventions (7), real-time changes in ambient lighting, colour, image, etc. respond continuously to the user’s physiological state, optimising congruence. Based on research evidence, consideration is also given to development of an application which uses natural images (8). It is envisaged that actuation will require machine-learning based on interpretation of data gathered by sensors; sensoring arrangements may vary depending on context and end-user. Such interventions aim to reduce inappropriate stress/ provide stimulation, supporting both instrumental and cognitive tasks.