Biomechanical study of the Spider Crab as inspiration for the development of a biomimetic robot

A problem faced by oil companies is the maintenance of the location register of pipelines that cross the surf zone, the regular survey of their location, and also their inspection. A survey of the state of art did not allow identifying operating systems capable of executing such tasks. Commercial technologies available on the market also do not address this problem and/or do not satisfy the presented requirements. A possible solution is to use robotic systems which have the ability to walk on the shore and in the surf zone, subject to existing currents and ripples, and being able to withstand these ambient conditions. In this sense, the authors propose the development of a spider crab biologically inspired robot to achieve those tasks. Based on these ideas, this work presents a biomechanical study of the spider crab, its modeling and simulation using the SimMechanics toolbox of Matlab/Simulink, which is the first phase of this more vast project. Results show a robot model that is moving in an “animal like” manner, the locomotion, the algorithm presented in this paper allows the crab to walk sideways, in the desired direction.N/

Using plantar pressures for improving arch support for shoe customization

The footwear industry is evolving from a laborintensive work to a knowledge-based manufacturing process, developing customized and personalized products in order to meet the customer needs [1]. Pathologies like high arch and flat foot are widely studied and some orthoses have shown positive results in treatment [1, 4]. The objective of this work was to customize the design of a comfort shoe (Arcopédico), so it could be adapted to three major foot types (pes cavus, planus and normal).N/

Engineering education addressing professional challenges

Engineering profession is very demanding because of the different competences young graduates need to master. The exponential growth in technology, even though very beneficial to all, tends to worsen their needs of expertise, having to endlessly update themselves. Engineering education has been addressing these issues, hoping to contribute to better teaching practices more aligned with engineering professional world. Students must develop the necessary competences from the beginning of their education and engage into actively learning the subjects. Three aspects of this problematic are presented in this special session: educational experiences, students’ learning and professional challengesThe chairs of this track session would like to thank the members of its Scientific Committee and all contributing authors for their efforts in enhancing the discussion upon this thematic. The authors would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Foundation for Science and Technology Project, FCT UID/EQU/04730/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Engineering Education and Technological / Professional Learning

Engineering business is a demanding and dynamic market, which universities must understand and accompany. Being aware of the market needs is a step forward in training successful professionals. The presented works contributed to enhance the present discussion addressing different topics like emergent technologies, professional, scientific and social competences or projects that allow students to perform the first contacts with the real world. The view of students, teachers and company supervisors are considered.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Engineering education and technological/professional learning

(Excerpt) The focus of this Special Issue is aimed at enhancing the discussion of Engineering Education, particularly related to technological and professional learning. It was associated with TEEM’18 (6th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality), in particular the special track (under the same nomination) from which the authors of the best works were invited to submit an extension of their paper. Later, it was also associated with CASHE’19 (1st Conference on Academic Success in Higher Education). In parallel, since this special issue had an open call, several works were submitted, from different universities and countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, Portugal, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom), creating a more global view of different, yet similar concerns. (...)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Currently used systems of dental posts for endodontic treatment

An advanced stage of a tooth decay promotes an extremely damaged tooth that needs endodontic treatment to be restored. When satisfactory coronal tooth structure remains, an artificial crown can be placed without a post. On the other hand, the treatment of seriously damaged teeth often require an endodontic post. The main reason for using post is to enable rebuilding of the tooth structure prior to crown restoration. Dentists believe that endodontic posts provide a stable and solid restoration of the tooth, as well as providing strengthening of the tooth root, which constitutes the solid basis for a dental crown restoration. However, some authors reported that the strength of the tooth is directly related to the remaining dentin, and because of that, an endodontic treatment can present a higher risk of biomechanical failure. A number of different materials have been used for the manufacturing of dental posts. The fundamental posts requirements include high tensile strength, high fatigue resistance to occlusal and shear loading and a good distribution of the forces affecting the tooth root. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature and identify the various characteristics of a dental post, as well as some principles on the endodontic treatment for tooth decay.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bone Immobilization devices and consolidation mechanisms: Impact on healing time

The human skeleton is formed by living tissues that react to loads and ensures the support of the remaining tissues of human body like muscles, ligaments, tendons, etc. However, its integrity can be compromised due to fractures or injuries of the bone tissue that require orthopedic surgery and immobilization methods, such as external fixators, intramedullary nail or osteosynthesis plates.One of the most important characteristics of living tissue is its capacity of self-regeneration. It is a complex process that implies several mechanisms during the consolidation time. Therefore, the knowledge of the involved mechanisms and their interdependence on external factors, will allow accelerating the regeneration process and contributing to the success of the rehabilitation process. Several techniques have been developed to characterizing characterize the mechanical loads acting in fractured bone to better understand the fracture consolidation and obtain useful information for the orthopedic doctors. This information is relevant to enable each patient follow-up and optimize the clinic procedures. As such, it is important to understand what happens during fracture consolidation to predict the necessary structural immobilization time and mechanical stimulus which shorten the healing process. The purpose of this work is twofold: primarily, to study the consolidation process using different immobilization systems, and secondarily, to explore the necessary time for bone consolidation by recording the relevant mechanical parameters time story.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mechanical behavior of external fixator on fracture healing process

Succeeding a fracture of a long bone, there are multiple approaches to perform the bone fracture immobilization.The external fixation has traditionally been used under clinical indications, and can be a definitive optionin cases where risks of infection are high. The currently used system scannot predict or measure the complete bone consolidation[1, 2]. The purpose of the present study is to understand the phases of healing and to predict functional bone consolidation.This study was carrying out using the finite element analysis (FEA)to determine the influence of stress distribution along the tibia and the rods of the fixator.This information gathered by the present study is relevant to help medical and scientific communities to know the real fracture healing process.The authors acknowledge the support of Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000022 –SciTech –Science and Technology for Competitive and Sustainable Industries, cofinanced by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biomechanical Characterization of Comfort Footwear using Gait Analysis

Comfort footwear has unique characteristics fundamental to people looking for this type of shoe, namely foot support, flexibility, stability, lightweight, cushioning, traction, etc. [1]. They are usually preferred mainly by elder, overweighed or people with feet problems [2]. It is known that the shoe can modify gait behavior [3]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate posture and gait by comparing barefoot and shoe wearing circumstances to assess the real effect of the comfort footwear under study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ABHA - Advanced Biomechanical Hand Assistant

The outlook for the future of physiotherapy is very promising, with a gradual increase in its demand. This trend is mainly explained by the fact that there is an increasingly active and ageing population in developed countries. The growing demand for this area will consequently lead to the need for many resources, both human and economic. Currently, there are several bionic hands with various uses and functions, and most of these hands are programmed to respond to the movements of a particular user. Besides, most of the applications of medical robotics are mainly directed to the area of surgery. With this proposal, we intend to simplify the whole physiotherapy or rehabilitation process. For that, we have developed an equipment capable of helping the patient to perform the exercises in the comfort of his home, but in an equally efficient way. The operation of the system consists of autonomous use by the patient, who must wear the glove and replicate the exercises, predefined for each user, performed by the biomechanical hand. Having the possibility to define the exercises, ABHA is transferable and can be used by more than one patient.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio