Cooktop Sensing Based on a YOLO Object Detection Algorithm

Deep Learning (DL) has provided a significant breakthrough in many areas of research and industry. The development of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) has enabled the improvement of computer vision-based techniques, making the information gathered from cameras more useful. For this reason, recently, studies have been carried out on the use of image-based DL in some areas of people’s daily life. In this paper, an object detection-based algorithm is proposed to modify and improve the user experience in relation to the use of cooking appliances. The algorithm can sense common kitchen objects and identify interesting situations for users. Some of these situations are the detection of utensils on lit hobs, recognition of boiling, smoking and oil in kitchenware, and determination of good cookware size adjustment, among others. In addition, the authors have achieved sensor fusion by using a cooker hob with Bluetooth connectivity, so it is possible to automatically interact with it via an external device such as a computer or a mobile phone. Our main contribution focuses on supporting people when they are cooking, controlling heaters, or alerting them with different types of alarms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a YOLO algorithm has been used to control the cooktop by means of visual sensorization. Moreover, this research paper provides a comparison of the detection performance among different YOLO networks. Additionally, a dataset of more than 7500 images has been generated and multiple data augmentation techniques have been compared. The results show that YOLOv5s can successfully detect common kitchen objects with high accuracy and fast speed, and it can be employed for realistic cooking environment applications. Finally, multiple examples of the identification of interesting situations and how we act on the cooktop are presented.The current study has been sponsored by the Government of the Basque Country-ELKARTEK21/10 KK-2021/00014 (“Estudio de nuevas técnicas de inteligencia artificial basadas en Deep Learning dirigidas a la optimización de procesos industriales”) and ELKARTEK23-DEEPBASK (“Creación de nuevos algoritmos de aprendizaje profundo aplicado a la industria”) research programmes

Influential factors, drivers and barriers in competitive intelligence system implementations: case study and quantitative analysis

Every organizational change project will surely find obstacles and drivers, and the start-up of a competitive intelligence (CI) system confirms the rule. This paper describes the main features of six CI projects leaded by IK4-Ideko , pointing out the challenges and support they experienced while conducting it. This analysis is complemented by quantitatively analyzing the effects of 21 factors considered to have influence on CI system implementation. Results show that CI tools act as drivers and that no factor clearly acts as a barrier for CI, even though human factors are perceived to be nearly inconsequential. The overall handiness of information and the good execution of the first steps of the project can be important factors for future studies

Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests

Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world’s tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world’s tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.</p

Automotive safety concept definition for mixed-criticality integration on a COTS multicore

Mixed-criticality systems integrating applications subject to different safety assurance levels into the same multicore embedded platform can provide potential benefits in terms of performance, cost, size, weight, and power. In spite of this evidence, however, several hard challenges related to the safety certification of multicore approaches must be considered before endorsing their unrestrained adoption. This paper describes an ISO-26262 compliant safety concept for an automotive mixed-criticality case-study on top of a multicore platform. To this end, key aspects such as time and space partitioning are evaluated and enforced by means of hardware protection mechanisms

WCET analysis methods: Pitfalls and challenges on their trustworthiness

In the last three decades a number of methods have been devised to find upper-bounds for the execution time of critical tasks in time-critical systems. Most of such methods aim to compute Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) estimates, which can be used as trustworthy upper-bounds for the execution time that the analysed programs will ever take during operation. The range of analysis approaches used include static, measurement-based and probabilistic methods, as well as hybrid combinations of them. Each of those approaches delivers its results on the assumption that certain hypotheses hold on the timing behaviour of the system as well that the user is able to provide the needed input information. Often enough the trustworthiness of those methods is only adjudged on the basis of the soundness of the method itself. However, trustworthiness rests a great deal also on the viability of the assumptions that the method makes on the system and on the user's ability, and on the extent to which those assumptions hold in practice. This paper discusses the hypotheses on which the major state-of-the-art timing analyses methods rely, identifying pitfalls and challenges that cause uncertainty and reduce confidence on the computed WCET estimates. While identifying weaknesses, this paper does not wish to discredit any method but rather to increase awareness on their limitations and enable an informed selection of the technique that best fits the user needs

Transforming Cities: Opportunities and Challenges of Urban Regeneration in the Basque Country

Urban renewal policies seek to reverse physical, economic, and social decline in particular areas or neighborhoods—or in whole cities. Such policies are typically associated with public sector solutions to problems in the urban decline of former industrialized spaces that involve developing new economic activities by means of transforming such spaces once more into dynamic and attractive areas. Transforming Cities explores the multiple dimensions—incorporating physical-morphological, economic, functional, cultural, and residential elements—of urban renewal policies in the Basque Country and beyond. Individual chapters discuss urban regeneration in Bilbao, the legal framework of urban planning as a public function, the "smart city" model of sustainable and intelligent urban spaces, and culture as a strategic element for the reactivation, renewal, and development of new urban models, including the specific case of cultural heritage as a factor in the urban regeneration of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the legal implications of expropriating cultural assets, public and private collaboration to create cultural clusters, and, finally, the tensions that exist between institutionally driven visions of such transformation and more community-based approaches.This book was published with generous financial support from the Basque Government.Introduction by Arantxa Rodríguez and Joseba Juaristi ? 1. A Model of Regeneration? Urban Redevelopment and Policy-led Gentrification in Bilbao by Arantxa Rodríguez, Pedro Abramo, and Lorenzo Vicario ? 2. Some Reflections on Urban Revitilization and Regeneration in Central Asturias and Metropolitan Bilbao (1980-2010) by Joseba Juaristi Linacero ? 3. Urban Rehabilitation and the Necessity of Conservation: A New Approach by Pilar Garrido Gutiérrez ? 4. RDI and Urban Sustainability: The "Smart City" Model in the Basque Autonomous Community by Estibaliz Rodríguez Núñez and Iñaki Periàñez Cañadillas ? 5. Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: Exploring Conditions for Renewal Effectiveness by Beatriz Plaza ? 6. Cultural Heritage as a Factor in the Urban Regeneration of Vitoria-Gasteiz by Agustín Azkarate and Ander de la Fuente ? 7. The Expropriation of Cultural Assets in Urban Regeneration: On the Ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Kozacio?lu v. Turkey, February 19, 2009 by Carmen Agoues Mendizabal ? 8. Urban Development and Commercial Invigoration through Cultural Clusters in Peripheral Neighborhoods of Bilbao by Gloria Aparicio and Jon Charterina ? 9. Power and Potential: Enclosure and Eruption in Bilbao by Igor Ahedo Gurrutxaga and Imanol Telleria ? Inde

Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests.

Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world's tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world's tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests