Learning-Based Adaptation for Personalized Mobility Assistance

Mobility assistance is of key importance for people with disabilities to remain autonomous in their preferred environments. In severe cases, assistance can be provided by robotized wheelchairs that can perform complex maneuvers and/or correct the user’s commands. User’s acceptance is of key importance, as some users do not like their commands to be modified. This work presents a solution to improve acceptance. It consists of making the robot learn how the user drives so corrections will not be so noticeable to the user. Case Based Reasoning (CBR) is used to acquire a user’s driving model reactive level. Experiments with volunteers at Fondazione Santa Lucia (FSL) have proven that, indeed, this customized approach at assistance increases acceptance by the user.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (MEC), Project TEC2011-29106-C02-01. The authors would like to thank Santa Lucia Hospedale and all volunteers for their kind cooperation and Sauer Medica for providing the power wheelchair

Towards a Shared Control Navigation Function:Efficiency Based Command Modulation

This paper presents a novel shared control algorithm for robotized wheelchairs. The proposed algorithm is a new method to extend autonomous navigation techniques into the shared control domain. It reactively combines user’s and robot’s commands into a continuous function that approximates a classic Navigation Function (NF) by weighting input commands with NF constraints. Our approach overcomes the main drawbacks of NFs -calculus complexity and limitations on environment modeling- so it can be used in dynamic unstructured environments. It also benefits from NF properties: convergence to destination, smooth paths and safe navigation. Due to the user’s contribution to control, our function is not strictly a NF, so we call it a pseudo-navigation function (PNF) instead.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

High Resolution Viscosity Measurement by Thermal Noise Detection

An interferometric method is implemented in order to accurately assess the thermal fluctuations of a micro-cantilever sensor in liquid environments. The power spectrum density (PSD) of thermal fluctuations together with Sader's model of the cantilever allow for the indirect measurement of the liquid viscosity with good accuracy. The good quality of the deflection signal and the characteristic low noise of the instrument allow for the detection and corrections of drawbacks due to both the cantilever shape irregularities and the uncertainties on the position of the laser spot at the fluctuating end of the cantilever. Variation of viscosity below 0.03 mPa$\cdot$s was detected with the alternative to achieve measurements with a volume as low as 50 $\mu$L.Comment: Sensors, MDPI, 201

Género, cuerpo, gimnasia y sexualidad en los manuales educacionales higienistas y eugenésicos en Chile, 1870-1938

Este artículo aborda la conformación de un discurso eugenésico positivo heredero de las teorías higienistas ambientalistas y raciales de finales del siglo XIX. Esta tendencia se consolidó entre 1925 a 1938 con la conformación de una estructura institucional y programas de corte social con fuertes matices eugenésicos positivos, considerando el cuerpo y el “carácter” de la juventud como amalgama de la nación.En este contexto se desarrollaron desde fines del siglo XIX tentativas por constituir una medicina pública que propulsara un programa de educación y preservación de la juventud. Estas iniciativas de corte ambientalista pretendían potenciar las aptitudes física y morales de los jóvenes mediante planes de alimentación, higiene y gimnasi

The role of GPR techniques in determining ice cave properties: Peña Castil ice cave, Picos de Europa

Producción CientíficaThe structure and ice content of ice caves are poorly understood. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can provide useful insights but has only rarely been applied to ice caves. This paper interprets GPR images (radargrams) in terms of internal structure, stratification, compaction, thickness and volume of the ice block in the Peña Castil ice cave (Central Massif of Picos de Europa, northern Spain), providing the endokarst geometry of the ice cave in GPR data reflections. Eight radargrams were obtained by applying a shielded ground‐coupled antenna with a nominal frequency of 400 MHz. Although the radargrams do not depict the ice–basal bedrock interface, they suggest that the ice block is at least 54 m deep and similarly thick. Some curved reflection signatures suggest a potential vertical displacement in the block of ice, and thus certain dynamics in the ice body. Other images show numerous interbedded clasts and thin sediment layers imaged as banded reflections. In this particular cave a direct visual inspection of the ice stratigraphy is a difficult task but GPR provides clear reflectivity patterns of some of its internal features, making GPR a suitable instrument for this and future studies to achieve a better and broader understanding of the internal behavior of ice caves.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (project CGL2015-68144-R)Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (project OAPN-053/2010

Percepción de la gestión de proyectos dentro de la empresa Redes y Montajes Hidráulicos S.A.S.

Trabajo de gradoLa gestión de proyectos de las empresas constructoras de Bogotá generalmente tiene una administración dependiendo de los requerimientos que se tengan en ese momento, basando los procesos y metodología implementada a la necesidad del momento y el personal que hace parte de ese proyecto generalmente tiene funciones específicas dadas por el director o jefe del proyecto. Para dar un mejor enfoque dentro de lo teórico a estas prácticas comunes en las empresas, tenemos la guía del PMBOK desarrollada por el Project Management Institute (PMI) y la norma internacional ISO 21500, al consultar estos documentos tenemos que ambos nos aportan las bases y lineamientos necesarios para la gestión de proyectos para diversas áreas, proporcionando una debida planeación con base en mejores prácticas que se enfocan en la obtención de resultados que estén acordes con las políticas y objetivos de la empresa.EspecializaciónEspecialista en Gerencia de Obras Civile

Design issues and experimental characterization of a continuously-tuned adaptive CMOS LNA

This paper presents the design implementation and experimental characterization of an adaptive Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) intended for multi-standard Radio Frequency (RF) wireless transceivers. The circuit —fabricated in a 90-nm CMOS technology— is a two-stage inductively degenerated common-source topology that combines PMOS varactors with programmable load to make the operation of the circuit continuously tunable. Practical design issues are analyzed, considering the effect of circuit parasitics associated to the chip package and integrated inductors, capacitors and varactors. Experimental measurements show a continuous tuning of NF and Sparameters within the 1.75-2.23GHz band, featuring NF19.6dB and IIP3> −9.8dBm, with a power dissipation < 23mW from a 1-V supply voltage.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (FEDER) TEC2007-67247-C02-01/MICJunta de Andalucía, Consejo Regional de Innovación, ciencia y empresa TIC-253

Reactive adapted assistance for wheelchair navigation based on a standard skill profile

Mobility assistance for wheelchair navigation is typically based on the shared control paradigm. Traditionally, control swaps from user to machine depending either on a trigger mechanism or on a explicit user request. Alternatively, in collaborative control approaches both user and robot contribute to control at the same time. However, in this case it is necessary to decide how much impact the user has in the emergent command. User weight has been estimated based on his/her command efficiency or on the environment complexity. However, the user’s command efficiency may change abruptly, whereas the environment complexity depends on the user’s skills. In this work we propose a collaborative control approach where this weight is determined by the user’s ability to cope with the situation at hand with respect to an average person. This estimation relies on an standard navigation skill profile extracted from a large number of traces from real users. This approach has two major advantages: i) the user receives more assistance only when needed according to his/her own skills; and ii) we avoid an excess of assistance to prevent loss of residual skills. The proposed system has been tested with a group of people with disabilities. Tests prove that resulting efficiencies are similar to other collaborative control approaches although the amount of assistance is reduced.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Current State of the Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

Surgery of atrial fibrillation (AF) was first described in 1991 by James Cox in what was named the Cox-Maze procedure, and over the years it has been considered the gold-standard treatment, with best results in maintaining sinus rhythm in the long term. Nevertheless, the complexity and aggressivity of the first techniques of cut-and-sew limited the application of this procedure, and few centers were dedicated to AF surgery. In the past years, however, new devices able to ablate atrial tissue with cryotherapy, radiofrequency, or ultrasounds have facilitated this operation. In the mid-term, other energy devices with laser or microwave have been abandoned due to a lack of consistency in getting transmural lesions in a consistent and reproducible manner. Additionally, better knowledge of the physiopathology of AF, with the importance of triggering zones around the pulmonary veins, has started new minimally invasive techniques to approach paroxysmal and persistent AF patients through thoracoscopy