European Module for Crisis Management A Crisis Room on the field Design of a ready-to-deploy mobile module for Crisis Management

In the context of crisis management, new technologies are employed to enable the crisis managers exploiting better the flow of information. The presence of decision makers near the crisis locations helps the process of coordination, scaling from a tactical to a strategic level. Providing promptly a shelter and a proper place to arrange a coordination centre is a challenging task, which requires a solution agile, flexible and sustainable. In order to coordinate the efforts of different entities involved in the crisis management, the solution must also provide interoperability usually achieved by modularity. In this report this concept will be further described together with past and present implementations. On the basis of past experiences and using consolidated technologies, the report will then provide a design of a mobile crisis room to be implemented in 2016. At the end of the report new technologies will be introduced to evaluate their possible impact on future implementation of similar solutions.JRC.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

Development of a novel gerotor pump for lubrication systems of aeronautic engines

The technology of lubrication systems for aircrafts engines has seen significant development during the history of aeronautics and has progressed in parallel with the evolution of the engines themselves. Starting from the first, wetsump schemes derived from automotive applications, more complex systems and components have been introduced. The progressive increase of aeronautic engines’ power and speed, as well as that of the maximum operative altitude of the aircraft, have increased the lubricant flow rate required to avoid severe mechanical issues that can cause dangerous conditions for the vehicle and its users. Currently, the main focus on the development of novel lubrication pumps is aimed at reducing the pumps’ weight and envelope while maintaining, or possibly increasing, their reliability. The first two objective could be pursued by searching for novel pump types and/or increasing the pump speed in order to downsize its required capacity, but the low-pressure environment, typical of the lubrication circuits, over imposes a few, severe, limitations to avoid cavitation occurrence that decrease the effectiveness of this approach. The central aim of the presented research, performed within the program “Greening the Propulsion”, is to provide a theoretical framework to help in the development of a novel gerotor pump for the lubrication of aeronautic engines.The first step of the research involves the study of the state of the art of aeronautic engines’ lubrication systems, providing particular care to the effect that any design choice and possible operational condition may have on the lubrication pump design. Hence, the state of the art for gerotor pumps is investigated; results of this study are used, along with catalogue comparisons, to build simplified sizing tools to perform a benchmarking activity involving gerotors and other low pressure pumps type. This activity, performed to position gerotor pumps in the aeronautic engine lubrication market, is then used as a starting point to highlight the weak points of gerotors traditional design and to propose some possible solutions to enhance the pumps performances. To study the outcomes of these modifications, a rigorous theoretical framework is required; sizing and modeling criteria, based on the theory of gearing and compressible fluids, are hence detailed and used to build an Automatic Design and Simulation Framework, able to automatically design, validate and simulate a novel gerotor pump given a minimum number of geometrical and physical input parameters. This design and simulation tool is then used to evaluate the performance boost provided by the proposed variations and to optimize the gears profiles by pairing it with a multiobjective algorithm based on evolutionary strategies. Another critical component of any lubrication system is the pressure relief valve used to avoid the occurrence of dangerous conditions for the pipes integrity. A side activity involving the study of a preliminary sizing tool for pressure relief valve is hence performed. A preliminary design framework is presented and discussed, highlighting the importance of the valve discharge coefficient. To study its dependence on the valve’s geometry, a lengthy CFD simulation campaign is performed varying the poppet shape and the fluid Reynolds’ number. Results are hence discussed and used inside the design framework

Locomotion system for ground mobile robots in uneven and unstructured environments

One of the technology domains with the greatest growth rates nowadays is service robots. The extensive use of ground mobile robots in environments that are unstructured or structured for humans is a promising challenge for the coming years, even though Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) moving on flat and compact grounds are already commercially available and widely utilized to move components and products inside indoor industrial buildings. Agriculture, planetary exploration, military operations, demining, intervention in case of terrorist attacks, surveillance, and reconnaissance in hazardous conditions are important application domains. Due to the fact that it integrates the disciplines of locomotion, vision, cognition, and navigation, the design of a ground mobile robot is extremely interdisciplinary. In terms of mechanics, ground mobile robots, with the exception of those designed for particular surroundings and surfaces (such as slithering or sticky robots), can move on wheels (W), legs (L), tracks (T), or hybrids of these concepts (LW, LT, WT, LWT). In terms of maximum speed, obstacle crossing ability, step/stair climbing ability, slope climbing ability, walking capability on soft terrain, walking capability on uneven terrain, energy efficiency, mechanical complexity, control complexity, and technology readiness, a systematic comparison of these locomotion systems is provided in [1]. Based on the above-mentioned classification, in this thesis, we first introduce a small-scale hybrid locomotion robot for surveillance and inspection, WheTLHLoc, with two tracks, two revolving legs, two active wheels, and two passive omni wheels. The robot can move in several different ways, including using wheels on the flat, compact ground,[1] tracks on soft, yielding terrain, and a combination of tracks, legs, and wheels to navigate obstacles. In particular, static stability and non-slipping characteristics are considered while analyzing the process of climbing steps and stairs. The experimental test on the first prototype has proven the planned climbing maneuver’s efficacy and the WheTLHLoc robot's operational flexibility. Later we present another development of WheTLHLoc and introduce WheTLHLoc 2.0 with newly designed legs, enabling the robot to deal with bigger obstacles. Subsequently, a single-track bio-inspired ground mobile robot's conceptual and embodiment designs are presented. This robot is called SnakeTrack. It is designed for surveillance and inspection activities in unstructured environments with constrained areas. The vertebral column has two end modules and a variable number of vertebrae linked by compliant joints, and the surrounding track is its essential component. Four motors drive the robot: two control the track motion and two regulate the lateral flexion of the vertebral column for steering. The compliant joints enable limited passive torsion and retroflection of the vertebral column, which the robot can use to adapt to uneven terrain and increase traction. Eventually, the new version of SnakeTrack, called 'Porcospino', is introduced with the aim of allowing the robot to move in a wider variety of terrains. The novelty of this thesis lies in the development and presentation of three novel designs of small-scale mobile robots for surveillance and inspection in unstructured environments, and they employ hybrid locomotion systems that allow them to traverse a variety of terrains, including soft, yielding terrain and high obstacles. This thesis contributes to the field of mobile robotics by introducing new design concepts for hybrid locomotion systems that enable robots to navigate challenging environments. The robots presented in this thesis employ modular designs that allow their lengths to be adapted to suit specific tasks, and they are capable of restoring their correct position after falling over, making them highly adaptable and versatile. Furthermore, this thesis presents a detailed analysis of the robots' capabilities, including their step-climbing and motion planning abilities. In this thesis we also discuss possible refinements for the robots' designs to improve their performance and reliability. Overall, this thesis's contributions lie in the design and development of innovative mobile robots that address the challenges of surveillance and inspection in unstructured environments, and the analysis and evaluation of these robots' capabilities. The research presented in this thesis provides a foundation for further work in this field, and it may be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the areas of robotics, automation, and inspection. As a general note, the first robot, WheTLHLoc, is a hybrid locomotion robot capable of combining tracked locomotion on soft terrains, wheeled locomotion on flat and compact grounds, and high obstacle crossing capability. The second robot, SnakeTrack, is a small-size mono-track robot with a modular structure composed of a vertebral column and a single peripherical track revolving around it. The third robot, Porcospino, is an evolution of SnakeTrack and includes flexible spines on the track modules for improved traction on uneven but firm terrains, and refinements of the shape of the track guidance system. This thesis provides detailed descriptions of the design and prototyping of these robots and presents analytical and experimental results to verify their capabilities

Visualizing Information on Smartwatch Faces: A Review and Design Space

We present a systematic review and design space for visualizations on smartwatches and the context in which these visualizations are displayed--smartwatch faces. A smartwatch face is the main smartwatch screen that wearers see when checking the time. Smartwatch faces are small data dashboards that present a variety of data to wearers in a compact form. Yet, the usage context and form factor of smartwatch faces pose unique design challenges for visualization. In this paper, we present an in-depth review and analysis of visualization designs for popular premium smartwatch faces based on their design styles, amount and types of data, as well as visualization styles and encodings they included. From our analysis we derive a design space to provide an overview of the important considerations for new data displays for smartwatch faces and other small displays. Our design space can also serve as inspiration for design choices and grounding of empirical work on smartwatch visualization design. We end with a research agenda that points to open opportunities in this nascent research direction. Supplementary material is available at: https://osf.io/nwy2r/.Comment: 13 pages, appendi

Treadmill User Centering

The goal of team CENTREAD was to design a device to allow a person with a visual disability to run efficiently and effectively on a treadmill without fear of falling off or injuring themselves. The customer wished for the device to be small, lightweight, and have an easy, autonomous setup, while providing feedback to the user wirelessly for them to correct their own movement. The ultimate goal of the device is to allow the user to be comfortable, safe, and free while using it in order to ensure they have the best running experience. The device utilizes ultrasonic sensors in housings to detect distances of objects using sound wave pulses. These sensors send signals out and detect the amount of time it takes for the signal to return to the same place, taking that time and converting it into a distance. These distances are sent directly into a microcontroller, where the microcontroller collects and analyzes the data. While analyzing the data, the microcontroller looks for data points that are within the boundaries set as not safe zones. These data points are then assigned a value and are sent over to a wireless transmitter to communicate with its sister receiver. The receiver detects a signal sent from the relative transmitter and sends the signal to another microcontroller to be processed. This process takes the value sent from the transmitter and assigns that value to a pin to activate a voltage to. This pin contains a small eccentric weighted motor that vibrates when a voltage is applied. This vibration is then interpreted by the user to move in the opposite direction of the vibration, correcting their location. This device utilizes two housings, one along the length axis of the treadmill belt and one along the width axis of the treadmill belt. These boxes interpret backwards distance from the front edge of the belt and left and right distance from the inside face of the right treadmill arm, respectively. These housings each contain their own microcontroller and transmitter that communicate with the receiver. The receiver is contained with a belt that the user wears, and collects signals from both housings. The microcontroller interprets these signals and applies a voltage to the respective motor. These motors are located on the left, right, and back of the belt and are there to correct the user to the right, left, and forwards respectively. This feedback system ultimately serves the purpose for solving the users problem and is an effective way of helping them get back to running confidently and safely again

Kalaia: branding through emerging technologies

Companies have existed for thousands of years all over the world, however, brands are the personality of a company, and as people, a broad range of personalities can be found, just like brands. The choice and use of the appropriate brand language according to the business’s vision, mission and value create the correct perception to its targeted customers. The name, the logo, the colours, the imagery chosen is the face of the brand. This thesis presents how and why to choose appropriate brand language, bringing to it added value, such as understanding why purple is more than mixing red and blue, or why choosing a particular shaped letter is more than a angled line. Just as brands change, times change as well; it is important to take into consideration the era we live in and the eras your brand will live in, this being longer than its founders. With this is mind, it was important to understand what the technological trends of the decade are, and what to expect as the billboards of tomorrow. Augmented reality was a trend which caught my attention and decided to investigate and implement while projecting creation of the brand. Considering the objective of creating a fashion brand in a technological era, it was important to conduct case studies of fashion brands, understand brand language and how augmented reality is implemented in their advertisement. Kalaia, a swimwear brand, I created with the development of this thesis is the ensemble of both theoretical and projection components form this course. Kalaia, selling products made in Portugal, intends to sell more than swimsuits but a lifestyle, for daring, irreverent and adventurous women.Empresas existem há centenas de anos, no entanto, as marcas são a personalidade de uma empresa e, como pessoas, uma grande variedade de personalidades pode ser encontrada em diferentes marcas. A escolha e o uso da linguagem visual apropriada, de acordo com a visão, missão e valores da empresa criam a perceção correta paro o público-alvo pretendido. O nome, o logotipo, as cores, as imagens escolhidas são a personalidade que encontramos nas marcas. Esta tese apresenta escolher a linguagem apropriada da marca para lhe acrescentar valor, tal como perceber que o roxo é mais do que a mistura de vermelho e azul ou que uma letra é mais que linhas angulares. Assim como as marcas mudam, os tempos também e é importante levar em consideração a época em que vivemos e as épocas em que uma marca ir permanecer. Com isso em mente, era importante entender quais são as tendências tecnológicas da década e o que esperar da publicidade de amanhã. A realidade aumentada foi uma tendência que me chamou à atenção e decidi investigar e implementar para a projeção e criação da marca. Considerando o objetivo de criar uma marca de moda durante uma era tecnológica, era importante realizar estudos de caso de marcas de moda, e compreender a linguagem visual utilizadas assim como a realidade aumentada implementada nas suas publicidades. Kalaia, uma marca de moda de praia que criei com o desenvolvimento desta tese, é o conjunto de componentes teóricos e práticos deste curso. A Kalaia, que vende produtos fabricados em Portugal, pretende vender mais do que fatos de banho, mas um estilo de vida para mulheres ousadas, e irreverentes

NASA Tech Briefs, November 1988

Topics covered include: New Product Ideas; NASA TU Services; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences