Filomena O. Soares

University of Minho · Centro Algoritmi (CALG)

This book reports on innovations and engineering achievements of industrial relevance, with a special emphasis on developments in mechatronics, control engineering and signal processing. It gathers peer-reviewed papers presented at the 3rd International Conference “Innovation in Engineering”, ICIE 2024, held on June 26-28, 2024, in Povoação, São Mi...

Cerebral Palsy (CP) refers to a set of neurodevelopment disorders associated with motor and functional limitations in individuals, and often accompanied by other impairments. The lack of adapted resources to CP hinders a normal development and social inclusion. Create accessibilities and adapted solutions for this population which promote social in...

New pocket-sized laboratories are proving to be an excellent tool as complementary equipment that students and lecturers can deploy to test control engineering design techniques. Here, the description and outcome results of an IFAC activity funded project entitled as Pocket-Sized Portable Labs: Control Engineering Practice Made Easy are presented....

On an approach focused on skeleton-based action recognition along with deep learning methodologies, this study aims to present the application of classification models in order to enable real-time assessment of Taekwondo athletes. For that was used a developed dataset of some Taekwondo movements, as data for Long Short-term Memory (LSTM), Convoluti...

This book covers a variety of topics in the field of mechatronics engineering, with a special focus on innovative control systems and automation concepts for a wide range of applications. Based on a set of papers presented at the 2nd International Conference “Innovation in Engineering”, ICIE, held in Minho, Portugal, on June 28-30, 2022, the chapte...

In childhood, play is critical to the successful development of children, and it can be regarded as the most important activity in their daily life, allowing interaction and discovery of the world around them. Consequently, it is important to ensure that this birthright is protected and accessible to every child, including those with special needs....

Taekwondo practice has been increasing worldwide, however, the methods of analyzing the performance of the athletes have not evolved in the same proportion. The evaluation methods used are performed manually, making the process slow and ineffective. Regarding that, is presented in this paper a system able to get the 3-axis acceleration and gyroscop...

This paper presents an analysis of the state of the art of artificial intelligence applications in the textile industry. A review of the existing literature was performed. This article presents three methods of analyzing textile yarn. Some techniques, used in textile fabric inspection, are presented throughout this paper, as well as the use of arti...

To comprehend human behavior can be a very difficult task for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). These children have difficulties in social interaction, and they manifest repetitive patterns. Furthermore, they present deficits in imitation which can be directly linked to impairments in social interaction skills. Taking this into account,...

This paper focuses on the first research phase of the development and analysis of a support interface for Taekwondo athletes. This study aims to solve the existing gap in the time of analysis and feedback from the coach to the athlete. Through the creation of a platform supported by a system based on deep learning, it is intended to design a user i...

For nursing students it is very important to develop emotional competencies, as their jobs are usually in environ- ments of high stress and tiredness. Such environments place an emotional burden on the health professional, so it is important to promote the development of skills that help them to identify, manage and understand emotions. Although th...

To dress adequately may be a necessary condition in social interaction. The way we dress may have an impact in the way people see us. Recognizing and matching clothes in order to dress properly can be a hard and daily stressful task for blind people. How do they recognize and identify the garments attributes to perform an outfit without help? In or...

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically present difficulties in engaging and interacting with their peers. Thus, researchers have been developing different technological solutions as support tools for children with ASD. Social robots, one example of these technological solutions, are often unaware of their game partners, preventin...

This book covers a variety of topics in the field of industrial engineering, with a special focus on research and industrial applications aimed at both improving quality of processes and products and contributing to a sustainable economy. Based on a set of papers presented at the 1st International Conference “Innovation in Engineering”, ICIE, held...

This book covers a variety of topics in the field of mechanical engineering, with a special focus on methods and technologies for modeling, simulation, and design of mechanical systems. Based on a set of papers presented at the 1st International Conference “Innovation in Engineering”, ICIE, held in Guimarães, Portugal, on June 28–30, 2021, it focus...

This book covers a variety of topics in the field of mechatronics engineering, with a special focus on innovative control and automation concepts for applications in a wide range of field, including industrial production, medicine and rehabilitation, education and transport. Based on a set of papers presented at the 1st International Conference “In...

To dress adequately may be a necessary condition in social interaction. The way we dress may have an impact in the way people see us. Recognizing and matching clothes in order to dress properly can be a hard and daily stressful task for blind people. How do they recognize and identify the garments at-tributes to perform an outfit without help? In o...

This work is focused on the use of Cheat Sheets and Padlet as a new learning tool. In fact, Cheat Sheets are well-known in students´ community but not for the well-behaved reasons. But, if we extract the practical aspect of Cheat Sheets, we highlight “While doing it, I learn”. And this is the key issue of this study: is Cheat Sheets to promote lear...

Flipped Classroom approach was implemented in an Automation course with around 100 students. Videos focused on GRAFCET topics were given to students prior to class and problem-based challenges were solved in class by the students in a collaborative way. The teacher’s role was to guide students in their learning process. The goal was to identify stu...

Serious games are often used for the purpose of educating through fun. This serious game, designed for Android devices, includes three challenges that are presented randomly to the player. The main objective of game is to teach the player to classify food in terms of healthiness and to teach the proper food to eat over the different day meals. The...

Nowadays, Electromyography (EMG) signals generated by the amputee’s residual limbs are widely used for the control of myoelectric prostheses, usually with the aid of pattern-recognition algorithms. Since myoelectric prostheses are wearable medical devices, the sensors that integrate them should be appropriate for the users’ daily life, meeting the...

In some professions, the way we dress, has a great impact in the context we are inserted. This task can be a huge problem specially for the visually impaired. They dependent on their relatives, friends, and/or support center professionals for the purchase or for choosing the clothes to wear. With the advance of technology, it is important to minimi...

Objective Being aware that serious games can be an interesting and appealing tool, the objective of this paper is to present the Physioland, a serious game based on image processing techniques, developed to monitor the physical therapy practice of patients with reduced mobility as a consequence of neurological disease. Materials and Methods Severa...

In the last years, technology is receiving an important role in the development of new games and toys for children with special needs. In this paper a configurable prototype game is presented specially designed for children with special needs. The goal is to promote reaction and memory skills as well cooperative work in these children. The toy is c...

Every human interaction is emphasized by the participants’ emotional states and manifestations. Being unable to understand the emotional state of the others is a significant deficit for anyone. This is the situation children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) usually find themselves in. Thus, researchers are exploring different technologies, such...

In some professions, the way we dress, has a great impact in the con- text we are inserted. This task can be a huge problem specially for the visually impaired. They dependent on their relatives, friends, and/or support center pro- fessionals for the purchase or for choosing the clothes to wear. With the advance of technology, it is important to mi...

In the framework of this paper, we aimed to propose a methodology for giving baths to elderly, bedridden persons, when this task is performed by a single caregiver. Usually, two caregivers are required for nursing a bedridden patient, especially when certain important tasks are needed (e.g., bathing the patient), but this is not always possible. Th...

Vision is one of the senses that dominates the life of humans. It allows them to know and have the perception of the world around them, while giving meaning for objects, concepts and ideas, and tastes. How to dress and the style we prefer for different occasions is part of one’s identity. Blind people do not have this sense, and dressing can be a d...

The use of robots had already been proven to encourage the promotion of social interaction and skills lacking in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), who typically have difficulties in recognizing facial expressions and emotions. The main goal of this research is to study the influence of a humanoid robot to develop socio-emotional skills...

Vision is one of the senses that dominates the life of humans. It allows them to know and have the perception of the world around them, while giving meaning for objects, concepts and ideas, and tastes. How to dress and the style we prefer for different occasions is part of one’s identity. Blind people do not have this sense, and dressing can be a d...

The capacity for social interaction, communication and recognition of emotions is a characteristic that the human being possesses and that allows him/her to be socially included. However, some have difficulties in expressing and interpreting emotional states, which can contribute to their marginalisation in society. A particular case is children wi...

The main objective of this study is to evaluate students’ perceptions regarding different methods of assessment and which teaching/learning methodologies may be the most effective in a Fluid Transport System course. The impact of the changes in the assessment methodology in the final students’ grades and attendance at theoretical classes is also an...

Entrepreneurship relevance is recognized and the governments investments are visible through the startup programs volume that have been arising all over the world. Universities can promote the entrepreneurial spirit and help to develop entrepreneurship skills in their engineering students. This could increase engineering students intentions to crea...

Gestures are part of communication between humans, however, they can also have an important role to play for improving human-machine interaction. Moreover, gesture recognition can have relevant applications for activity monitoring in older adults. This paper proposes the use of the Pandlet (a wearable wireless device that features a 3-axis accelero...

It has been reported that over 3 million individuals live with upper limb amputation worldwide. Losing a hand drastically reduces the individual’s quality of life. Fortunately, there are several prosthetic solutions available in the market that try to restore some of the missing hand’s functions and characteristics. This paper presents a review on...

Human distraction behaviour is a paramount subject to take into account. Several woks in the literature try to tackle this topic mostly in the automotive industry. Following this trend, the present work proposes a system to detect the patterns of distraction/attention during an interaction activity between a human and a robot. The goal is to analys...

In the last two decades, Taekwondo is a combat sport who has gained popularity, being inducted as an official Olympic Sport since 2000. Lately, more than 4500 federated athletes existing in Portugal have achieved excellent results in national and international competitions recognized by the International Olympic Committee, Portugal Olympic Committe...

Physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality. Older adults, in particular, are more probable to suffer the consequences of physical inactivity, since it is one of the most sedentary age groups. On the other hand, engaging physical activity can have various benefits for the prevention of several diseases and functional...

The potentialities of using mobile devices such as smartphones for teaching/learning purposes are huge. However, in some teaching areas its use is still residual. The use of mobile applications in the context of teaching PLC programming techniques is addressed in this work. The MIT App-Inventor II is deployed to develop mobile applications for lear...

The increase in the elderly population takes along concerns to health professionals. A way of helping health professionals and the elderly may be through the development of systems that allow people to maintain their mobility regardless of age and health problems that may arise, such as: obesity, Parkinson’s, hypertension, arthritis, diabetes and e...

This work presents the initial step of the development of a mechatronic system that aims to promote physical activity in people with motor limitations. This mechatronic system consists of a stationary bike similar to the current gym bikes, with the difference of having a didactic component. The didactic component presents the integration of a game...

In general, humans can express their intents effortlessly. On the contrary, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) present impairments in this area. Researchers are employing different technological strategies in order to improve the emotion recognition skills of individuals with ASD. Among those technological solutions, the use of Objects...

Physical inactivity is estimated to be one of the leading risk factors for global mortality and it is associated with several illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and various types of cancers. To tackle this issue and promote physical activity amongst the elderly, a system that computes automatically, in real-time, the score...

Serious games can be used as a way to transmit knowledge to the users/students, playing the role of a pedagogical tool in their learning process. Following this idea, a serious game on Statistics is developed for higher education level, promoting and demonstrating the applicability of statistics concepts in day-to-day life and in the decision-makin...

This book presents endeavors to join synergies in order to create added value for society, using the latest scientific knowledge to boost technology transfer from academia to industry. It potentiates the foundations for the creation of knowledge- and entrepreneurial cooperation networks involving engineering, innovation, and entrepreneurship stakeh...

The traditional keyboard has been replaced by tactile screens or other types of implicit interfaces. An example of such interface is the Microsoft Kinect system, which makes use of a depth sensing system to enable the user-machine interaction. Allied to the physical activity, this hardware may be used to track and monitor the user when he/she is ex...

Joint Conference on Serious Games 7-8 November 2018, Darmstadt, Germany

1st International Conference on Human Systems Engineering and Design: Future Trends and Applications (IHSED 2018) , CHU-Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France, October 25-27, 2018.

Academic education comprises developing new teaching and learning tools, regulating the assessment methodologies, and adjusting the learning programs to the professional activities. Technology developments allow teachers to explore new ways of teaching as well as to adjust new ways of assessing students' performance, giving to students a relevant f...

In this chapter, the results of a questionnaire are analyzed to assess engineering students’ satisfaction toward their courses, working conditions, and academic environment, as well as the flow of knowledge perception along the first three curricular years. With a sample of 654 students from four higher education institutions and two countries, the...

Abstract: The present study analyses the perception of students before university application, in Portugal. Basic education qualification (9th year of schooling) is considered the general education in Portugal, since students do not have to make choices about their future. At the end of 9th year, students will choose if they want to pursue their st...

Current society has observed an increasing number of victims of neurological disease, with reduced mobility, leading to a necessity to perform physical therapy to optimize their quality of life. This action results in physiotherapeutic programs filled with repetitive exercises, often fastidious, that lead to the demotivation of patients and consequ...

Several thousands of people in Portugal use Portuguese sign language (PSL). Children belonging to this community have difficulties with communication and learning processes. There are some applications that focuses on teaching/learning PSL but with a limited interaction with the user, such as presentation of images of a hand gesture picture or avat...

The increase of the elderly population has an enormous effect on the health care system of a country, as the rise of this population sets the mood to an exponential growth in assistance and care. Indeed, the inherent costs of this populational class are higher when comparing to the younger classes. Today paradigm focuses on the reduction of these c...

The objective of the work described in this paper is to develop an interactive environment between a child and the humanoid robot ZECA. The robot is the mediator in the game, greeting and encouraging the child. The environment consists of two different activities, one to identify geometric figures and other to identify colours, each with two levels...

Taekwondo is an Olympic combat sport that has gained much popularity in the last years. Portugal is not an exception to the substantial growth of this martial art. Currently there are about 4500 practitioners of this art affiliated in the national federation. Several have already produced excellent results not only in national but also in internati...

Nowadays, the most used evaluation method of athlete’s performance in the martial art Taekwondo is still performed manually, where the coach analyses the collected videos of the athlete training. This method besides being time consuming, it is prone to errors. Aiming the development of methods for improvement the training, this project intends to p...

Repetitive movements in hands may cause strain injuries that negatively influence the employee performance. The lack of awareness for prevention this type of working injuries often leads the employers to believe that costs associated to prevention are unnecessary expenditures. So, the objective of this paper is to develop a serious game for prevent...

This paper is focused on the problem of repetitive strain injuries in hands. These injuries are mostly related to professional activities where people are subjected to a high rate of work and the performed tasks often lead to repetitive actions. The objective of this paper is to develop a serious game to prevent strain injuries in hands. The game s...

In textile industry, the quality of the final product is directly related to the quality of the yarn; therefore, it is essential to make an accurate assessment of the characteristics of the yarns, according to certain preestablished parameters. The main purpose of this chapter is to give an understanding of different problems in textile industry in...

This paper presents an approach regarding the use of a serious game with a playware object to improve the development of emotional skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The playware object is an interactive way for the user to play the game. It acts as the game controller, has six buttons, each displaying an emoji with a different...

Current students and technologies demand using new learning/teaching techniques. The potentialities of using mobile devices such as smartphones for teaching/learning purposes are huge. However, in some teaching areas its use is still residual. The use of mobile applications in the context of teaching PLC programming techniques is addressed in this...

Fluid Transport Systems topic is of fundamental importance in most Engineering areas. In this topic basic knowledge must be taught yet students normally resist and do not perform well in theoretical syllabus. In order to reinforce the importance of these issues, and based on teachers’ perceptions and experience, a change was made in the assessment...

Quality of life of disabled people in developed societies is one of the main issues to be achieved by evolution of technological solutions as well as obtaining low-cost equipment for achievement this purpose. Some equipment has been developed, and presented, and several studies have been performed about this subject. However, most of them present s...

When developing a reliable controller for cyber-physical systems, one of the main issues is to guarantee that all behaviour properties of such systems will be accomplished. For this purpose, it is very important to find and use formalisms and tools in order to model the controller and the respective plant. Moreover, it is very important to consider...

Society should care about those with special needs. Part of a proper care involves the development of new technologies and devices aiming at improving their quality of life. Research conducted at universities on this subject should be followed by the industrial development of commercial products and governmental institutions may play an important r...