Methods for autonomous wristband placement with a search-and-rescue aerial manipulator

A new robotic system for Search And Rescue (SAR) operations based on the automatic wristband placement on the victims’ arm, which may provide identification, beaconing and remote sensor readings for continuous health monitoring. This paper focuses on the development of the automatic target localization and the device placement using an unmanned aerial manipulator. The automatic wrist detection and localization system uses an RGB-D camera and a convolutional neural network based on the region faster method (Faster R-CNN). A lightweight parallel delta manipulator with a large workspace has been built, and a new design of a wristband in the form of a passive detachable gripper, is presented, which under contact, automatically attaches to the human, while disengages from the manipulator. A new trajectory planning method has been used to minimize the torques caused by the external forces during contact, which cause attitude perturbations. Experiments have been done to evaluate the machine learning method for detection and location, and for the assessment of the performance of the trajectory planning method. The results show how the VGG-16 neural network provides a detection accuracy of 67.99%. Moreover, simulation experiments have been done to show that the new trajectories minimize the perturbations to the aerial platform.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Autonomous Wristband Placement in a Moving Hand for Victims in Search and Rescue Scenarios With a Mobile Manipulator.

In this letter, we present an autonomous method for the placement of a sensorized wristband to victims in a Search-And-Rescue (SAR) scenario. For this purpose, an all-terrain mobile robot includes a mobile manipulator, which End-Effector (EE) is equipped with a detachable sensorized wristband. The wristband consists of two links with a shared shaft and a spring. This configuration allows the wristband to maintain fixed to the EE while moving and get placed around the victim’s forearm once the contact is produced. The method has two differentiated phases: i) The visual moving hand tracking phase, where a 3D vision system detects the victim’s hand pose. At the same time, the robotic manipulator tracks it with a Model Predictive Controller (MPC). ii) The haptic force-controlled phase, where the wristband gets placed around the victim’s forearm controlling the forces exerted. The wristband design is also discussed, considering the magnitude of the force needed for the attachment and the torque the wristband exerts to the forearm. Two experiments are carried out, one in the laboratory to evaluate the performance of the method and the second one in a SAR scenario, with the robotic manipulator integrated with the all-terrain mobile robot. Results show a 97.4% success in the wristband placement procedure and a good performance of the whole system in a large scale disaster exercisePlan Propio de la Universidad de Málaga, y Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci ón y Universidades, Gobierno de España, RTI2018-093421-B-I00. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Utilización de programas CAM para el aprendizaje de la asignatura Fabricación y Máquinas

Póster presentado en: VIII Jornadas de Innovación Docente de la UBU, Burgos, 5 de abril de 2016, organizadas por el Instituto de Formación e Innovación Educativa-IFIE de la Universidad de Burgo

Family history and historical demography in rural Europe, 16th-18th centuries. Recent bibliography developments, 2000-2019

¿Qué lugar les corresponde en la actualidad a los estudios sobre la población y la familia en el marco de la historia rural europea de la época moderna? ¿Siguen siendo dos campos científicos interconectados? ¿Se trata de un tipo de conocimiento meramente acumulativo y continuista de unas líneas de investigación ya trazadas? ¿No hay margen para la innovación? El objetivo de este artículo es hacer un balance de lo realizado durante estas dos últimas décadas así como apuntar algunas propuestas de futuro. Se trata de un recorrido de la historia de las estructuras a la historia social de la población que, con un marcado carácter relacional y diferencial, está abriendo el camino hacia una renovación historiográfica que puede considerarse profunda e innovadora en algunos aspectos, al contrario de la imagen trasnochada y caduca que con frecuencia se ofrece de este ámbito de investigación.What determined place have currently population and family studies among European rural history in Modern Age? Are they still being two inter-connected scientific fields? Is it just a continuist and accumulative type of knowledge about research areas that are already drawn up? Is there no room for innovation? The aim of this paper is to review the last two decades' work as well as concrete future proposals. A journey through population social history structures that, with a strong relational and differential character, is opening way to a historiographic renovation, which can be considered deep and innovative in certain aspects unlike the outdated and old-fashioned image that is frequently offered from this research field.Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociale

Gene–Gene Interaction based Clustering method for Microarray Data

In this paper, we propose a greedy clustering algorithm to identify groups of related genes and a new measure to improve the results of this algorithm. Clustering algorithms analyze genes in order to group those with similar behavior. Instead, our approach groups pairs of genes that present similar positive and/or negative interactions. In order to avoid noise in clusters, we apply a threshold, the neighbouring minimun index(λ), to know if a pair of genes have interac tion enough or not. The algorithm allows the researcher to modify all the criteria: discretization mapping function, gene– gene mapping function and filtering function, and even the neighbouring minimun index, and provides much flexibility to obtain clusters based on the level of precision needed. We have carried out a deep experimental study in databases to obtain a good neighbouring minimun index, λ. The performance of our approach is experimentally tested on the yeast, yeast cell-cycle and malaria datasets. The final number of clusters has a very high level of customization and genes within show a significant level of cohesion, as it is shown graphically in the experiment

Linking traits and personal constructs: an exploratory study throughout levels of personality

This article presents a preliminary study of links between personal constructs and traits. The conceptual framework for this study is the domains of personality model postulated by McAdams (1995) and McAdams & Pals (2006), and we tried to find concomitances between variables of two different levels, the dispositional level and the identity level. A repertory grid and the NEOFFI inventory were distributed to a total of 273 individuals, 146 representing the general population, and 137 having pathologies. By applying an exploratory design ex post facto in which Pearson’s correlations and ANOVAs were used, we found associations between the content of the constructs used and the traits. The neuroticism trait was most closely related to the content of the constructs. There were also clear associations between construct structure and scores on traits. Neurotic subjects were more rigid, whereas agreeable and conscientious subjects were more complex. However, the type of sample (normal or pathological) is a basic modulator of the relationships between constructs and traits

La economía a través de una educación positiva: evaluación de una experiencia

En este trabajo se describe una experiencia docente que empezó en año 2000, consistente en la utilización de la educación “positiva” para la transmisión de competencias éticas y emocionales. Además, evaluamos dicha experiencia a partir de una encuesta realizada a los alumnos de la licenciatura de Marketing. Los principales resultados son, en esta encuesta repetida, tres: 1) Existe un desajuste Universidad-mercado laboral; 2) La educación “positiva” disminuyen dicho desajuste y 3) Los resultados son robustos en el tiempo

Obtención de la ecuación constitutiva de ampollas de hidruros mediante nanoindentación

En el presente trabajo, se ha desarrollado un procedimiento experimental para generar ampollas de hidruros de circonio (“blisters”) en vainas de combustible nuclear. Dichas ampollas son similares a las encontradas en vainas irradiadas con hidruración severa. En una ampolla preparada en el laboratorio mediante esta técnica, se efectuaron ensayos de nanoindentación. Se desarrolló un modelo numérico, mediante el método de los elementos finitos, para ajustar las curvas cargapenetración de estos ensayos de nanoindentación. Por medio de un procedimiento inverso que combina resultados experimentales de nanoindentación y el modelo numérico, se determinó la ecuación constitutiva de las ampollas de hidruro

Analysis of dynamic reliability surveillance: a case study

In this paper a reliability model based on artificial neural networks and the generalized renewal process is developed. The model is used for failure prediction, and is able to dynamically adapt to changes in the operating and environmental conditions of assets. The model is implemented for a thermal solar power plant, focusing on critical elements of these plants: heat transfer fluid pumps. We affirm that this type of model can be easily automated within the plant’s remote monitoring system. Using this model we can dynamically assign reference values for warnings and alarms and provide predictions of asset degradation. These in turn can be used to evaluate the associated economic risk to the system under existing operating conditions and to inform preventive maintenance activitie