Power Line Inspection Via an Unmanned Aerial System Based on the Quadrotor Helicopter

The inspection of high voltage power transmission lines is mainly carried out by manned aerial vehicles or foot patrol. However, these maintenance methodologies for inspection are somehow inefficient and expensive. Moreover, helicopter assisted inspection endangers the human life. Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles have been under development in several research centers all over the world due to its potential applications. In this paper, we present an unmanned aerial system based on the quadrotor helicopter for high voltage power line inspection. Our interest is to equip the quadrotor helicopter with the necessary payload in order to be able to carry out a qualitative inspection, therefore the hardware architecture of the aerial robotic system is presented. Finally, some experimental results are shown to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system.ITESO, A.C

Robust Pose Control of Robot Manipulators Using Conformal Geometric Algebra

A controller, based on sliding mode control, is proposed for the n-link robotic manipulator pose tracking problem. The point pair (a geometric entity expressed in geometric algebra) is used to represent position and orientation of the end-effector of a manipulator. This permits us to express the direct and differential kinematics of the endeffector of the manipulator in a simple and compact way. For the control, a sliding mode controller is designed with the following properties: robustness against perturbations and parameter variations, finite time convergence, and easy implementation. Finally, the application, of the proposed controller in a 6 DOF robotic manipulator is presented via simulation.Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

Visual Servoing and Robust Object Manipulation Using Symmetries and Conformal Geometric Algebra

Object tracking and manipulation is an important process for many applications in robotics and computer vision. A novel 3D pose estimation of objects using reflectionally symmetry formulated in Conformal Geometric Algebra (CGA) is proposed in this work. The synthesis of the kinematics model for robots and a sliding mode controller using the CGA approach is described. Real time implementation results are presented for the pose estimation of object using a stereo vision system.ITESO, A.C.CINVESTA

Multi-mode Flight Sliding Mode Control System for a Quadrotor

There is a wide range of applications for unmanned aerial vehicles that requires the capability of having several and robust flight controllers available. This paper presents the main framework of a multimode flight control system for a quadrotor based on the super twisting control algorithm. The design stages for the four flight control modes encompassing manual, altitude, GPS fixed and autonomous mode are presented. The stability proof for each flight mode is carried out by means of Lyapunov functions while the stability analysis for the complete system, when a transition from one mode to another occurs, is demonstrated using the switching nonlinear systems theory. The performance of the proposed framework is demonstrated in a simulation study taking into account external disturbances.ITESO, A.C.CINVESTAV-IP

Robust Tracking of Bio-Inspired References for a Biped Robot Using Geometric Algebra and Sliding Mode Control

Controlling walking biped robots is a challenging problem due to its complex and uncertain dynamics. In order to tackle this, we propose a sliding mode controller based on a dynamic model which was obtained using the conformal geometric algebra approach (CGA). The CGA framework permits us to use lines, points, and other geometric entities, to obtain the Lagrange equations of the system. The references for the joints of the robot were bio-inspired in the kinematics of a walking human body. The first and second derivatives of the reference signal were obtained through an exact robust differentiator based on high order sliding mode. The performance of the proposed control schemes are illustrated through simulation.ITESO, A.C

La innovación de servicios en el sector turístico: Revisión de la literatura aplicable al sector hotelero

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo realizar una revisión sistemática de la literatura sobre innovación en servicios. Éste se ha centrado en servicios no intensivos en conocimiento, que se corresponden con gran variedad de servicios turísticos, como el alojamiento. El propósito del trabajo es realizar un análisis comparado de la evolución de los factores determinantes de la innovación en estos servicios. Para ello se han examinado las principales contribuciones científicas, clasificándolas según dos criterios: 1) el objeto de la investigación y 2) el enfoque de la misma. De acuerdo con el primero, se han agrupado considerando el contexto de la innovación, el proceso o la propia innovación del servicio. El segundo criterio está relacionado con el enfoque del estudio; es decir, aquellos que abordan el tratamiento de la innovación a partir de los modelos clásicos de innovación en manufactura (enfoque tecnológico), aquellos que proponen características específicas de los servicios (enfoque orientado al servicio) y, finalmente, aquellos que integran ambos (enfoque holístico o integrador). A partir de esta revisión, se concluye la importancia del factor humano relacionado con la orientación al cliente en el éxito de las innovaciones, especialmente importante en las empresas turísticas. Por ello, analizar la gestión del talento en estas empresas será determinante en su potencial innovador y en el desempeño empresarial.This study aims to perform a systematic review of the literature on innovation in services. It is focused on a type of services that are no intensive in knowledge, which corresponds to a wide range of tourist services, including hospitality. The purpose of this work is to carry out a comparative analysis of the evolution of the determinants of innovation in this type of services. In order to do so, it has been examined the main scientific contributions on the subject, classifying them according to two main criteria: 1) the object of research and 2) the perspective or approach used. According to the first criterion, studies are grouped considering the context in which innovation, innovative process or service innovation itself takes place. The second criterion is related to the approach selected; that is, those works that address the treatment of service innovation from the classical models of innovation in manufacturing (technological approach), those that propose specific characteristics of services (service-oriented approach) and finally, those that integrate both views (holistic or integrative approach). From this review of the literature it is important to highlight the significance of human factor related to customer orientation in the success of innovations, especially important in tourism enterprises. Therefore, analyze talent management in these companies will be crucial in their potential for innovation and business performance

A comparative study of magnetic and electrical properties of BiFeO3 mutiferroic ceramics sintered by electric field assisted-methods: Spark plasma sintering and flash sintering

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IoT Smart Parking System Based on the Visual-Aided Smart Vehicle Presence Sensor: SPIN-V

Humanity is currently experiencing one of the short periods of transition thanks to novel sensing solutions for smart cities that bring the future to today. Overpopulation of cities demands the development of solid strategic plannings that uses infrastructure, innovation, and technology to adapt to rapid changes. To improve mobility in cities with a larger and larger vehicle fleet, a novel sensing solution that is the cornerstone of a smart parking system, the smart vehicular presence sensor (SPIN-V, in its Spanish abbreviation), is presented. The SPIN-V is composed of a small single-board computer, distance sensor, camera, LED indicator, buzzer, and battery and devoted to obtain the status of a parking space. This smart mobility project involves three main elements, namely the SPIN-V, a mobile application, and a monitoring center, working together to monitor, control, process, and display the parking space information in real-time to the drivers. In addition, the design and implementation of the three elements of the complete architecture are presented.ITESO, A.C

Robust Tracking of Bio-Inspired References for a Biped Robot Using Geometric Algebra and Sliding Modes

Controlling walking biped robots is a challenging problem due to its complex and uncertain dynamics. In order to tackle this, we propose a sliding mode controller based on a dynamic model which was obtained using the conformal geometric algebra approach (CGA). The CGA framework permits us to use lines, points, and other geometric entities, to obtain the Lagrange equations of the system. The references for the joints of the robot were bio-inspired in the kinematics of a walking human body. The first and second derivatives of the reference signal were obtained through an exact robust differentiator based on high order sliding modes. The performance of the proposed control scheme is illustrated through simulation.CINVESTA

Intelligent Waste Separator

Nowadays, trash has become a problem in the society and the ecosystem due to the way people get rid of it. Most of garbage is buried or burnt or even kept in places to which it does not belong. Big volumes of garbage thrown away and the methods used to store it cause air, water, and soil pollution. Fortunately, people can count on other methods to reduce the quantity of produced litter. An answer is recycling by re-using the materials. Currently, the traditional way to separate waste is to use different containers for each kind of waste separating trash manually, which does not always work. The aim of this paper is to present an Intelligent Waste Separator (IWS) which can replace the traditional way of dealing with waste; the proposed device receives the incoming waste and places it automatically in different containers by using a multimedia embedded processor, image processing, and machine learning in order to select and separate waste.ITESO, A.C