António Espírito Santo

• University of Beira Interior

Smart sensors and networks have spread worldwide over the past few decades. In the industry field, these concepts have found an increasing quantity of applications. The omnipresence of smart sensor networks and smart devices, especially in the industrial world, has contributed to the emergence of the concept of Industry 4.0. In a world where everyt...

Internal combustion engines have been a major contributor to air pollution. Replacing these engines with electric propulsion systems presents significant challenges due to different coun-tries' needs and limitations. An active, purely mechanical solution to the problem of irregular torque production in an alternative internal combustion engine is p...

This paper addresses indoor localization using an anchor-based system based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.0 technology, adopting the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) for the distance estimation. Different solutions have been proposed in the scientific literature to improve the performance of this localization technology, but a detailed p...

Distributed control and measurement systems are robust and flexible thanks to their reconfigurability and plug-and-play characteristics. IEC 61499 and IEEE 1451 standards are proposed for distributed and plug-and-play control and measurement systems. However, IEC 61499 standards do not provide an integration guideline at the transducer level, and a...

Everyday tasks use sensors to monitor and provide information about processes in different scenarios, such as monitoring devices in manufacturing or homes. Sensors need to communicate, with or without wires, while providing secure information. Power can be derived from various energy sources, such as batteries, electrical power grids, and energy ha...

Provides society information that may include news, reviews or technical notes that should be of interest to practitioners and researchers.

This paper introduces a novel smart sensor that employs an advanced algorithm for earthquake early warning (EEW). The sensor utilizes a smart sampling technique to extract significant signal information, simplifying the process of inferring knowledge. The main objective is to assess the potential destructiveness of an incoming earthquake by analysi...

The IEEE International Symposium on Measurements and Networking (M&N) is a conference sponsored by the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society (IMS). It is a privileged forum for discussing the emerging trends in the areas of measurements, communications, computer science, wireless systems, and sensor networks and fostering a debate with engin...

The shop floor or factory floor is the area inside a factory where manufacturing production is executed. The digitalisation of this area has been increasing in the last few years, introducing the Digital Twin (DT) and the Industry 4.0 concepts. A DT is the digital representation of a real object or an entire system. A DT includes a high diversity o...

In the last years, communication networks have become a central piece for many applications in multiple domains, including commercial and industrial systems, personal care and medicine, modern vehicles and vehicular networks, and environmental and disaster early-warning monitoring, to cite a few examples. Each application field has specific constra...

Industrial Internet of Things focuses on the manufacturing process and connects with other associated concepts such as Industry 4.0, Cyber-Physical Systems, and Cyber-Physical Production Systems. Because of the complexity of those components, it is necessary to define reference architectures models to manage Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet...

Environmental concerns gather considerable academic research and private investment, namely when addressing water and energy. Wastewater treatment and reuse have become a standard practice across the globe. In Europe, this topic has been addressed through the European Commission policy for the environment. Microbial Fuel Cells are a useful technolo...

The value chain associated with wastewater treatment is discussed in this chapter. Using biological reactors like microbial fuel cells (MFCs), it is possible to understand that energy production can be associated with the conversion of organic matter present in wastewater. After a general operating principle introduction, which describes in detail...

The occurrence of an earthquake has immediate consequences, such as the destruction of buildings. However, the impact can be much more severe and extend over time. The arrival of an earthquake's destructive wave can subsequently: produce a rupture in water distribution pipes, leading to water leakage, when water is even more valuable; break gas pip...

The CO2 legislation has become more restrictive over time, and to reach the goals imposed by this legislation the automotive industry saw in the hybrid vehicles a solution. Technologies like micro, mild, full and plug in hybrids emerged in order to achieve the imposed goals. This article will provide an overview of the status of micro and mild hybr...

The purpose of this work was to study the influence of pulp fiber suspensions refining operating variables on energy efficiency coefficient. Three chemical pulps with different average morphological characteristics were used, obtained from bleached kraft Pinus sylvestris , Eucalyptus globulus and Betula verrucosa . The final objective was to establ...

Control and monitoring systems base their decisions on the information provided by transducers. These signals must be acquired, processed and transmitted. There is an exchange between sensor signal processing and data rate, more signal processing inside the transducer implies lower data rate over the networks. This paper presents the standard IEEE...

Technological advancements are allowing the development of smart sensing devices with extremely low energy requirements. An emerging trend is the powering of smart sensors with energy harvested from the operating environment. Simultaneously, the task performed by a sensing node can be performed by a microprocessor with low computational resources....

Energy harvesting is part of a current paradigm of distributed production and use of energy. However, we are aware that the size of turbomachinery used to produce the energy can be an advantage, in terms of higher efficiencies when using larger machines. This is one main reason why distributed production and use of energy has not known a very large...

Currently, the concept of smart cities and renewable energy are more consolidated and developed. With each passing day, new technological advances are emerging within both themes. At the same time, the water sector has becoming increasingly demanding in terms of quality and compliance with all existing legislation. That said, it is understandable t...

In order to sustain the planet's environmental health, alternative, less polluting and renewable energy production processes have emerged over time. The Kyoto Protocol of 1998 was recently one of the great drivers of this technological advance, which has contributed significantly to the development of new infrastructures and to the reduction of car...

In a society where Energy and Water walk side by side in practically all sectors of activity, it becomes necessary to analyze them from a productive, economic and sustainable point of view. From the extraction of mines and wells, to its treatment and transportation, and to the cooling systems of energy production, and despite being independently de...

The water energy nexus is a multidisciplinary topic that requires the interaction of different areas of knowledge, with direct impact on the economy, society and ecosystems. Smart sensing concept allows us to develop new ways of monitoring and, consequently, contribute to simultaneously optimize the efficiency of energy and water processes. The int...

This paper addresses the problem of vibrations produced by switched reluctance actuators, focusing on the linear configuration of this type of machines, aiming at its characterization regarding the structural vibrations. The complexity of the mechanical system and the number of parts used put serious restrictions on the effectiveness of analytical...

Smart cities and smart homes are driving economic growth and improving the quality of people's life by enabling local development and harnessing technologies, especially the ones leading to smart outcomes and connectivity. Application of smart solutions will enable human living environments to use technology, information and data to improve infrast...

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) are the main topic of this chapter. Different types of electrochemical devices are presented and their typical power output is compared with other energy sources, providing a framework for the uses and applications of MFC technology. Following an historical approach of how this technology came to be, a more detailed descr...

The improvement of methods to harvest the energy produced by a Microbial Fuel Cells is receiving growing attention from the scientific community. The motive is related with the possibility to join the wastewater treatment process with the production of energy. This last process is strongly dependent from several biochemical parameters that can affe...

In recent years the grid connected photovoltaic (PV) micro-generation facilities in individual homes has increased due to the adopted governmental policies and the industry attention. The power feed-in of PV generation in rural low-voltage grid can influence the power quality and the facility operation and reliability. This paper presents the resul...

A comparison between two different algorithms to measure the period of a signal is performed on this work. One of the algorithms is based on the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) measurement procedure, whereas the other is based on the Segmentation and Labeling algorithm (MeT). Both algorithms have been prepared for implementation in a microcontrol...

In this paper, the authors intend to propose a method to teach Electrical Machines in Electrical Engineering courses. The way that both in textbooks and classrooms treat this subject seems to limit students' understanding. The competences on electrical machines design and analysis are improved by a practical approach based on simulation and numeric...

An analysis of the algorithm for period measurement based on a segmentation and labeling technique is shown in this paper. Results of the implementation of the algorithm on an oscilloscope are explained, comparing these with results of the oscilloscope algorithm for period computation. In the last section, results of the algorithm, arranged fo...

The welfare of elderly people living alone or in rest homes can be significantly improved with the introduction of technological solutions. However, before start the development of a new commercial product, new ideas and concepts must be quickly validated. The existence of a platform to enable the rapid verification of a solution will be an asset t...

This paper presents a simple and cost effective solution of a semi-anechoic chamber suitable for the acoustic noise characterization of a Linear Switched Reluctance Actuator (LSRA). Using simple construction and assembling techniques, and low-cost materials, it allows significant acoustic isolation characteristics from the environmental noise, caus...

This paper proposes a distributed system for analysis and monitoring (DSAM) of vibrations and acoustic noise, which consists of an array of intelligent modules, sensor modules, communication bus and a host PC acting as data center. The main advantages of the DSAM are its modularity, scalability, and flexibility for use of different type of sensors/...

Research efforts have been taken to characterize the vibrations in switched reluctance machines but only a few works focus on the linear configuration. This paper proposes a realtime data acquisition system to monitor and analyze the vibrations in this type of machines with special focus on the linear switched reluctance actuator. The system is bas...

This chapter presents a scalable platform designed from scratch to support teaching laboratories of embedded systems. Platform’s complexity can increase to offer more functionalities in conjunction with student’s educational evolution. An I2C bus guarantees the continuity of functionalities among modules. The functionalities are supported by a comm...

The main drawback of switched reluctance machines acceptance is the acoustic noise produced. Research efforts to minimize vibrations in this type of electric machines concentrate mainly on the rotational configuration and only a few works can be found focusing on linear actuators. This paper presents the results of finite elements analysis of vibra...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is the evaluation of the influence of pole and teeth shapes on the behaviour of a linear switched reluctance actuator (LSRA). The study was carried out through the application of a finite element static analysis and the application of a new method for dynamic analysis. Those studies are thereafter evaluated with ex...

The development of new and efficient control methodologies demands the availability of mathematical models for the electromagnetic device under control. These models must be solved with great accuracy and speed. The finite element method (FEM) gives truthful results but computational demanding increases with device geometrical complexity. This pape...

This paper presents the second part of a new approach for embedded systems courses appropriate for both high school and undergraduate classrooms, that has been conceived and designed to accomplish these goals, while motivating and equipping this next generation of engineers to rise to future challenges. Part 1 of this paper presented the outline of...

The embedded systems (ES) formation require a broader set of knowledge, abilities and skills including informatics and electronics concepts in order to develop highly creative and imaginative applications based in analytical studies. Moreover, in an effo rt to improve the education quality it needs to be followed with intense hands-on laboratories....

This paper presents the development of a new linear switched reluctance actuator and confirms its applicability to perform positioning tasks. After the explanation of the actuator working principle and the presentation of its electromechanical topology, an analysis is accomplished using a finite elements tool. Based on the theoretical results, an e...

Embedded systems have an everyday presence and direct impact in our lives. Therefore, Universities are continuously improving their courses in microprocessor and embedded programming. Although the diversity of curriculums, the availability of learning tools, where the student can practice and improve their skills, is a key factor to the success of...

The acceptance and usage of switched reluctance machines has been conditioned, beside other reasons, by the acoustic noise produced. Research efforts to minimize vibrations on the design stage and during machine operation mainly concentrate on rotational machines and only a few works can be found focusing on the linear configuration. This paper pro...

The linear counterpart of the rotational switched reluctance drive is receiving increasing attention from academic and industrial societies. The special characteristics of this driving technology, that normally works in a highly magnetic saturation regimen, make the development of efficient design methodologies more difficult. This paper proposes a...

The embedded systems (ES) formation require a broader set of knowledge, abilities and skills including informatics and electronics concepts in order to develop highly creative and imaginative applications based in analytical studies. Moreover, in an effort to improve the education quality it needs to be followed with intense hands-on laboratories....

This paper presents the second part of a new approach for embedded systems courses appropriate for both high school and undergraduate classrooms, that has been conceived and designed to accomplish these goals, while motivating and equipping this next generation of engineers to rise to future challenges.

This paper presents the third part a new approach for embedded systems courses appropriate for both high school and undergraduate classrooms, that has been conceived and designed to accomplish these goals, while motivating and equipping this next generation of engineers to rise to future challenges. Part 1 of this paper presented the outline of the...

This paper presents the electromagnetic analysis of a new designed and constructed prototype of a single-sided linear switched reluctance actuator. First, a brief consideration on the adopted analytical design methodology, establishing some desired electrical and mechanical parameters, is stated. After, a characterization of the actuator is made, a...

This paper deals with the proposal of a numerical model for the study and simulation of switched reluctance actuators. The proposed model is implemented by using Matlabreg software and is tested for different driving schemes. The actuator co-energy map characteristic is used to provide additional information required by the numerical model, and the...

The concept of flux tube can be applied to different simple elements that together describe the flux distribution in a complex magnetic device airgap. A linear switched reluctance actuator (LSRA) model based on a separation into a set of simple reluctance elements is here constructed and analysed. The model proposed in this paper gives very accurat...

This paper presents the finite elements analysis and the control of a linear switched reluctance actuator (LSRA). The energy conversion process is described, and based on a finite elements analysis, both traction and attraction maps are derived. This information is useful to understand the device working principle and its performance for different...

Resumo — O ensino da robótica no ensino superior integra diversos conhecimentos adquiridos durante os cursos que apresentam esta área específica nos seus conteúdos programáticos. Estes conhecimentos prendem-se fundamentalmente com conceitos mecânicos e eléctricos/ electrónicos. Adicionalmente, a experiência prática destes conceitos é parte importan...