Near Field Coupling in Wireless Systems for Identification, Sensing and Communication

Antennas for radio communication systems (e.g. radio links, cellular networks, WLAN, remote sensing) are designed giving a lot of attention to antenna gain, polarization, radiation pattern characteristics (e.g. half power beam width, front to back ratio, etc.). All above parameters are defined in the antenna far-field (FF) region, so they are suitable to characterize a communication system in which the transmitter and the receiver antennas are far enough. On the other hand, some applications exist that exploit antenna features in its near-field (NF) region. In this context, NF coupling between antennas has been studied since a long time and most researches have been focused on coupling effects in antenna arrays, field sensing for near-field antenna scanning systems, magnetic coupling between loops operating at LF-HF frequency bands. During his PhD course, the author designed and tested several antennas for Near-Field applications such as UHF RFID Desktop Reader. Moreover, he developed numerical codes to analyze a novel method to estimate the deep human tissues status with a near-field sensor, determining its prediction capability and determining critical parameters that affect its accuracy. Finally, he studied the mutual coupling effect between antennas integrated in commercial PV panels for wireless communication systems

RFID-based smart shelving storage systems

In recent years, RFID systems that are widely applied for the identification of objects and people in radio frequency, are also going to be applied used for localization purposes. In indoor applications (apartments, shopping malls, airports), conventional solutions can use a number of signal parameters: instant of arrival ( Time of Arrival , Time Difference of Arrival, TOA, TDOA), angle information (Angle of Arrival, AOA), phase information (Phase Difference of Arrival , PDOA ) or the amplitude of the received signal (Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI). There are also some scenarios with small dimensions where the location can be extremely useful. For example, in a hospital, a better service could be offered through RFID technology, as it can add more control to prevent human errors. Indeed, RFID technology can be useful for correct patient drug supply, dose recording, accurate dispensing, anti-counterfeiting as well as replenishment ordering; besides, it simplifies the information transfer between doctors and nurses (e.g. allergic reactions or drug treatment). In retail industry, real-time inventory based on RFID allows to monitor actual customer demand for products, to prevent an out-of-stock situation by timely replenishing orders, to increase sales through additional services (e.g. fitting rooms with smart mirrors providing suggestions to the customer). In food and restaurant industry, RFID technology allows for a better food control, as for example avoiding expired products sale. In this framework, RFID-based smart shelves, smart freezers, and proximity point readers have been developed in libraries, hospitals and retail industries. In Chapter I, a brief introduction on RFID systems will be presented, in particular describing the main components involved and the principle of operation. It will be described what is proposed in literature about RFID smart shelf and localization algorithms, with particular attention to the methods exploiting the RSSI information. In Chapter II, an exhaustive experimental study by using off-the-shelf reader, antennas and tags, will be presented with reference to a wooden drawer filled with drug boxes. The LDA algorithm (supervised classifier) will be compared with the K-Means clustering algorithm (unsupervised classifier), to validate the proposed method. The procedure to get several RSSI average samples during the drawer sliding actions is described, and classification performance is investigated. First of all, an RSSI analysis is described with reference to a static configuration of the drawer (not sliding). Then, two classification algorithms are compared by considering a different number of drawer sub-regions. In the second part, the algorithm exploiting the drawer sliding is described and system performance is illustrated to verify the classification capability in a two-region drawer. In Chapter III, a localization technique for smart bookshelves based on UHF-RFID systems is presented. Two off-the-shelf reader antennas attached to the bookshelf columns, one in front of the other, are used as an alternative to large-area thin planar antennas integrated onto the shelf top. Two scenarios were considered: the first one with a shelf that is D = 97 cm long, and the second one with D = 150 cm. Exploiting RSSI data acquired by the two antennas, a clustering algorithm is implemented to classify tagged books within one of the regions the shelf has been subdivided into. Preliminary results of the system performance analysis have been compared with simulations to demonstrate that is possible to create an interference region in different sectors on the shelf, through a proper phase shift between the feed currents of the two antennas. The system requires a power divider, a switch, variable phase shifters and finally a fixed or variable power attenuator based on the size of the shelf. In Chapter IV the algorithm implemented will be described and then the performance results (in terms of normalized confusion matrix) will be presented and discussed. Finally, a preliminary analysis has been presented considering different tags, even if it is still under developing

Search and restore: a study of cooperative multi-robot systems

Swarm intelligence is the study of natural biological systems with the ability to transform simple local interactions into complex global behaviours. Swarm robotics takes these principles and applies them to multi-robot systems with the aim of achieving the same level of complex behaviour which can result in more robust, scalable and flexible robotic solutions than singular robot systems. This research concerns how cooperative multi-robot systems can be utilised to solve real world challenges and outperform existing techniques. The majority of this research is focused around an emergency ship hull repair scenario where a ship has taken damage and sea water is flowing into the hull, decreasing the stability of the ship. A bespoke team of simulated robots using novel algorithms enable the robots to perform a coordinated ship hull inspection, allowing the robots to locate the damage faster than a similarly sized uncoordinated team of robots. Following this investigation, a method is presented by which the same team of robots can use self-assembly to form a structure, using their own bodies as material, to cover and repair the hole in the ship hull, halting the ingress of sea water. The results from a collaborative nature-inspired scenario are also presented in which a swarm of simple robots are tasked with foraging within an initially unexplored bounded arena. Many of the behaviours implemented in swarm robotics are inspired by biological swarms including their goals such as optimal distribution within environments. In this scenario, there are multiple items of varying quality which can be collected from different sources in the area to be returned to a central depot. The aim of this study is to imbue the robot swarm with a behaviour that will allow them to achieve the most optimal foraging strategy similar to those observed in more complex biological systems such as ants. The author’s main contribution to this study is the implementation of an obstacle avoidance behaviour which allows the swarm of robots to behave more similarly to systems of higher complexity

Proceedings of the European Conference on Agricultural Engineering AgEng2021

This proceedings book results from the AgEng2021 Agricultural Engineering Conference under auspices of the European Society of Agricultural Engineers, held in an online format based on the University of Évora, Portugal, from 4 to 8 July 2021. This book contains the full papers of a selection of abstracts that were the base for the oral presentations and posters presented at the conference. Presentations were distributed in eleven thematic areas: Artificial Intelligence, data processing and management; Automation, robotics and sensor technology; Circular Economy; Education and Rural development; Energy and bioenergy; Integrated and sustainable Farming systems; New application technologies and mechanisation; Post-harvest technologies; Smart farming / Precision agriculture; Soil, land and water engineering; Sustainable production in Farm buildings

Multi-Agent Systems

A multi-agent system (MAS) is a system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents. Multi-agent systems can be used to solve problems which are difficult or impossible for an individual agent or monolithic system to solve. Agent systems are open and extensible systems that allow for the deployment of autonomous and proactive software components. Multi-agent systems have been brought up and used in several application domains

Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 4: Learning, Technology, Thinking

In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 4 includes papers from Learning, Technology and Thinking tracks of the conference