A FPGA Spike-Based Robot Controlled with Neuro-inspired VITE

This paper presents a spike-based control system applied to a fixed robotic platform. Our aim is to take a step forward to a future complete spikes processing architecture, from vision to direct motor actuation. This paper covers the processing and actuation layer over an anthropomorphic robot. In this way, the processing layer uses the neuro-inspired VITE algorithm, for reaching a target, based on PFM taking advantage of spike system information: its frequency. Thus, all the blocks of the system are based on spikes. Each layer is implemented within a FPGA board and spikes communication is codified under the AER protocol. The results show an accurate behavior of the robotic platform with 6-bit resolution for a 130º range per joint, and an automatic speed control of the algorithm. Up to 96 motor controllers could be integrated in the same FPGA, allowing the positioning and object grasping by more complex anthropomorphic robots.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-10639-C04-02Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2012-37868-C04-0

Towards AER VITE: building spike gate signal

Neuromorphic engineers aim to mimic the precise and efficient mechanisms of the nervous system to process information using spikes from sensors to actuators. There are many available works that sense and process information in a spike-based way. But there are still several gaps in the actuation and motor control field in a spike-based way. Spike-based Proportional-Integrative-Derivative controllers (PID) are present in the literature. On the other hand, neuro-inspired control models as VITE (Vector Integration To End point) and FLETE (Factorization of muscle Length and muscle Tension) are also present in the literature. This paper presents another step toward the spike implementation of those neuro-inspired models. We present a spike-based ramp multiplier. VITE algorithm generates the way to achieve a final position targeted by a mobile robotic arm. The block presented is used as a gate for the way involved and it also puts the incoming movement on speed with a variable slope profile. Only spikes for information representation were used and the process is in real time. The software simulation based on Simulink and Xilinx System Generator shows the accurate adjust to the traditional processing for short time periods and the hardware tests confirm and extend the previous simulated results for any time. We have implemented the spikes generator, the ramp multiplier and the low pass filter into the Virtex-5 FPGA and connected this with an USB-AER (Address Event Representation) board to monitor the spikes.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-10639-C04-0

Hydrogeological characterization of the Salinas-Los Hoyos evaporitic karst (Malaga province, S Spain) using topographic, hydrodynamic, hydrochemical and isotopic methods

The Salinas-Los Hoyos karst system is a geological diapiric structure formed by materials of diverse nature (clays, sandstones, evaporites, volcanic rocks, dolostones, etc.) placed between Malaga and Granada provinces (S Spain). The abundance of evaporite rocks (gypsum, anhydrite and halite) and their high solubility contribute to the development of exokarstic features (dolines, uvalas, sinkholes). Grande and Chica lakes are dolines located in the western border of the diapir that are intersected by the piezometric level. Close to the first wetland is the Aguileras spring, which is the main discharge point of the west sector of the system. To assess the wetland-spring relation and the general functioning of the system, the geomorphologic framework has been analyzed and hydrogeological controls have been performed, consisting in limnimetric and discharge logging and in situ measurements of physico-chemical parameters (EC and water temperature). Furthermore, spring, wetland and rain water samples have been taken for subsequent chemical and isotopic analysis. Preliminary results show that wetland water level and spring discharge follow a similar trend, consistently with the inertia of the system. However, their hydrochemical evolution and isotopic values differ, thus wetland groundwater interaction has not been fully determined. Nevertheless, present research suggests that the hydrogeological connection would be more likely during wet periods, when the water table is at higher altitude.Key words: Evaporitic (karst) aquifer, Hydrological and hydrogeological behaviours, Natural responses, South Spain, Wetlands

Preliminary hydrogeological characterization of an evaporite karst area (province of Cordoba, South Spain)

The northern sector of the Subbetic Domain in the Betic Cordillera is formed by an olistostrome unit known as the Chaotic Subbetic Complex (CSC). This megabreccia is basically made of Triassic (Keuper) clays and evaporites (gypsum, anhidrite and halite) as well as blocks of other lithologies (limestones, dolostones, sandstones, etc). Despite that low permeability has been traditionally assumed for these materials, water flow and storage through them is likely derived of their aquitard behavior, but also because of the highly permeable conduits generated by dissolution/karstification processes within the evaporite rocks. The geological complexity of the CSC materials determines their hydrogeological heterogeneity, with groundwater flow systems of different length and various scales from recharge areas to discharge zones. Three springs draining the CSC outcrops have been identified around an evaporitic karst plateau located between the Anzur River (to the North) and the Genil River (to the South), in the province of Cordoba (Spain). Data logger devices have been installed in two of them, located at the Anzur River (left margin), providing an hourly record of discharge, electrical conductivity and water temperature. Water samples have been collected fortnightly for subsequent chemical analysis. After two years of record, the results obtained show that the response of the springs to rainfall events is completely different between them. One has a clearly karstic behavior, with a rapid response to recharge whereas the other one is more inertial, and variations in its waters occur in a yearly scale. This is an evidence of the aforementioned hydrogeological heterogeneity of the CSC.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Hand function salvage with imatinib in a recurrence of a giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath/local pigmented villonodular synovitis

El tumor de células gigantes de la vaina sinovial del tendón (TCGVS) es la segunda lesión más frecuente de la mano y la muñeca y el 85% de estos tumores se originan en los dedos.Su localización más frecuente es en los tres dígitos radiales, especialmente en las articulaciones interfalángicas distales. La sobreexpresión de factor estimulante de colonias 1 (CSF1) se ha visto en la sinovitis vellonodular pigmentada (SVP) y en los TCGVS. Se reporta hasta el 50% de tasa de recurrencia. Con frecuencia, las recurrencias se tratan principalmente con resecciones quirúrgicas amplias que pueden implicar la amputación y el compromiso funcional de la mano. Presentamos el caso de una recurrencia de un TCGVS en un paciente con una lesión invasiva ubicada en el tendón del flexor profundo del pulgar que infiltraba toda la región tenar tratada mediante resección quirúrgica e imatinib. El tumor de células gigantes puede responder a la terapia sistémica y esta opción de tratamiento puede ser considerada en pacientes con márgenes inadecuados o en zonas no accesibles. Adecuados resultados funcionales se pueden esperar con el tratamiento quirúrgico y farmacológico combinado.Reporte de caso150-155Giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath (GCTTS) is the second most common lesion of the hand and wrist, with 85% of these tumours occurring in the fingers. Its most frequent location is usually the three radial digits, especially in the distal interphalangeal joints. Overexpression of colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF1) has been seen in pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) and tenosynovial giant cell tumours. The recurrence rate is reported as high as 50%. Recurrences are treated mainly with wide surgical resections that may involve amputation and functional compromise. The case is presented of a recurrent GCTTS in a female patient with a lesion arising from the flexor tendon sheath of her right thumb, invading and infiltrating the whole thenar region. Wide surgical excision was performed, and imatinib was administered as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent. Giant cell tumours may respond well to systemic therapy. This treatment option should be considered in patients in which adequate margins cannot be achieved, or in non-accessible areas. Adequate functional outcomes can be expected with combined surgical and pharmacological treatmen

Sampling Frequency Evaluation on Recurrent Neural Networks Architectures for IoT Real-time Fall Detection Devices

Falls are one of the most frequent causes of injuries in elderly people. Wearable Fall Detection Systems provided a ubiquitous tool for monitoring and alert when these events happen. Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) are algorithms that demonstrates a great accuracy in some problems analyzing sequential inputs, such as temporal signal values. However, their computational complexity are an obstacle for the implementation in IoT devices. This work shows a performance analysis of a set of RNN architectures when trained with data obtained using different sampling frequencies. These architectures were trained to detect both fall and fall hazards by using accelerometers and were tested with 10-fold cross validation, using the F1-score metric. The results obtained show that sampling with a frequency of 25Hz does not affect the effectiveness, based on the F1-score, which implies a substantial increase in the performance in terms of computational cost. The architectures with two RNN layers and without a first dense layer had slightly better results than the smallest architectures. In future works, the best architectures obtained will be integrated in an IoT solution to determine the effectiveness empirically.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2016-77785-

Pointing performance evaluation of control strategies for high concentration photovoltaic sun trackers

En este artículo se evalúa el desempeño por apuntamiento de una serie de estrategias de control para seguidores solares de alta concentración. Dado el alto grado de precisión que se necesita en el apuntamiento real, por debajo del semi ángulo de aceptancia global del sistema de captación de energía, en el artículo se revisan las incertidumbres mas características del montaje de un seguidor solar, y se establece un marco teórico que permite representar imperfecciones de montaje en forma de relaciones de rotación de marcos de referencias asociados a los elementos del seguidor. Se expone un proceso de calibración del sistema en dos etapas, que permite estimar incertidumbres paramétricas de las rotaciones. Finalmente, se analizan cinco estrategias de control y los resultados ´ experimentales obtenidos con ellas al implementarlas sobre un seguidor solar HCPV industrial de altas prestaciones. Los resultados muestran que con el sistema bien calibrado, todas las estrategias proporcionan un desempeño similar. Sin embargo, solo la basada ˜ en realimentación en potencia es suficientemente robusta como para proporcionar buen desempeño cuando el sistema de descalibraIn this article the pointing performance of several control strategies for high concentration sun trackers is evaluated. Due to the high accuracy required in real pointing, below the global acceptance half-angle of the energy harvesting system, the article sumarizes the most characteristic uncertainty sources of mounting a solar tracker. A theoretical framework is established that let us represent assembly imperfections in the form of rotational relationships among reference frames associated to the elements of the tracker. A two-stage system calibration process is exposed, which allows estimating parametric uncertainties of the rotations. Finally, five control strategies and the experimental results obtained with them when implemented on a high-performance industrial-grade HCPV solar tracker are analyzed. The results show an appropriate performance for all strategies whether the system is well calibrated. However, only the one based on power feedback is robust enough to provide a good performance when the system becomes uncalibrated.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2020-115561RB-C32Agencia Estatal de Investigación 10.13039/50110001103

Memoria del VII curso internacional de edafología y biología aplicada

450 páginas. en dos volúmenes.-- Memoria presentada en el VII Curso Internacional de Edafología y Biología Aplicada, en SevillaDirectores del trabajo: Dr. D. Francisco González Garcia Dr. D. Manuel Chaves Sánchez Dr. D. Guillermo Paneque Guerrero Dr. D. José Martin Aranda Dr. D. Pablo de Arambarri y Cazalis Dr. D. Francisco Martín Martinez Ldo. D. Jose Luis Mudarra Gómez Dr. D. Jose Luis Pérez Rodríguez Dr. D. Guillermo Garcia Rumos Dr. D. Luis Madrid Sánchez del VillarPeer reviewe

Neuro-Inspired Real-Time USB & PCI to AER Interfaces for Vision Processing

Address-Event-Representation (AER) is an emergent neuromorphic interchip communication protocol that allows for real-time virtual massive connectivity between huge number neurons located on different chips. By exploiting high speed digital communication circuits (with nanoseconds timings), synaptic neural connections can be time multiplexed, while neural activity signals (with mili-seconds timings) are sampled at low frequencies. When building multi-chip muti-layered AER systems it is absolutely necessary to have a computer interface that allows (a) to read AER interchip traffic into the computer and visualize it on screen, and (b) convert conventional frame-based video stream in the computer into AER and inject it at some point of the AER structure. This is necessary for test and debugging of complex AER systems. This paper describes a set of PC interfaces to neuroinspired systems, analyses the performance and power consumption. The interfaces use PCI or USB bus connections that have been developed under an EU project, where they have been tested in a stressed situation.Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación TEC2006-11730-C03-02 (SAMANTA 2)Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación TIN2006- 15617-C03-03Junta de Andalucía P06-TIC-01417Commission of the European Communities IST-2001- 3412

Recensiones [Revista de Historia Económica Año XVIII Primavera-Verano 2000 n. 2 pp. 421-460]

Editada en la Fundación Empresa PúblicaPalafox, Jordi (coord.): Curso de Historia Económica (Por Antonio Miguel Linares Lujan).-- López García, José Miguel (dir.): El impacto de la Corte en Castilla. Madrid y su territorio en la época moderna (Por Emilio Pérez Romero.).-- Solbes Ferri, Sergio: Rentas reales de Navarra: proyectos reformistas y evolución económica (1701-1765) (Por Juan Zafra).-- Pardos, Eva: La incidencia de la protección arancelaria en los mercados españoles (1870-1913) (Por Antonio Tena Junguito).-- Quiroga Valle, M.ª Gloria: El papel alfabetizador del Ejército de Tierra español (1893-1954) (Por Femando Puell de la Villa).-- García Delgado, José Luis (dir.): España, economía: ante el siglo XXI (Por Montserrat Cabello Muñoz).-- Thorp, Rosemary: Progreso, pobreza y exclusión. Una historia económica de América Latina en el siglo XX (Por Daniel Díaz Fuentes).-- Hatton, Timothy J., y Williamson, Jeffrey G.: The Age of Mass Migration. Causes and Economic Impact (Por Abel Losada).-- Aldcroet, Derek H., y Oliver, Michael J.: Exchange Rate Regimes in the Twentieth Century (Por José Luis García Ruiz).-- Friedman, Milton y Rose: Two Lucky People. Memoirs (Por Francisco Cabrillo)Publicad