German Submarine war in Portuguese Waters: Esposende – a Smuggling Network

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Parametrização automática de equipamentos de controlo de qualidade de diferentes tipos de condensadores

Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia Industrial - Automação e RobóticaA crescente necessidade do aumento da produtividade e da qualidade na fabricação de produtos revolucionou o desenvolvimento industrial, visando a utilização de novas tecnologias na produção, no sentido de aumentar a eficiência e a flexibilidade das máquinas e dos processos industriais. Estes factores, aliados à necessidade de criar novos produtos que obedeçam a regras e requisitos de mercado muito restritos, conduziu à concepção e desenvolvimento das máquinas SMA e SMAP na Vishay Electrónica Portugal. É neste contexto que se apresenta o trabalho efectuado no âmbito desta dissertação, orientando o estudo e a implementação de um sistema que efectue a Parametrização Automática de Equipamentos de Controlo de Qualidade de Diferentes Tipos de Condensadores. As máquinas existentes no teste do controlo da qualidade na produção são caracterizadas por não serem capazes de dar resposta às exigências de mercado, uma vez que estas foram concebidas para a produção em massa. Na sua maioria as máquinas referidas, apresentam problemas de flexibilização, afinação e desempenho devido à sua baixa fiabilidade mecânica e aos seus processos ainda muito manuais. Todos estes factores condicionam a garantia da qualidade dos produtos fabricados. O software desenvolvido permite ao operador validar a programação da máquina e dos instrumentos de medida através da leitura óptica do código de barras 2D de forma automática. As interfaces foram desenvolvidas com tecnologia Touch Screen, tendo sempre presente o ambiente industrial, a facilidade de operação e as restrições de operação. A comunicação do software pela porta RS-232 com o autómato programável (PLC) permite visualizar a distribuição de condensadores, os gráficos da evolução da produção, as distribuições de Lote e Turno e o estado da máquina e dos instrumentos de medida. Nesta base, a integração das máquinas de teste SMA e SMAP, com o sistema informático baseado numa plataforma cliente – servidor, possibilita a automatização do processo de programação da máquina e dos instrumentos de medida e interligação com outros softwares de apoio à produção, sistemas operativos e base de dados. As parametrizações, distribuições e anomalias são guardadas em base de dados SQL Server na fase de Fecho de Controlo de Lote. Esta metodologia contribui para a melhoria do processo de controlo da qualidade.The increasing necessity of improving the productivity and the quality in the manufacture of products revolutionized the industrial development, aiming at the use of new technologies in the production, in order to increase the efficiency and the flexibility of the machines and the industrial processes. These factors, together with the necessity to create new products that obey to the rules and very restricted requirements of market, lead to the conception and development of machines SMA and SMAP in Vishay Electrónica Portugal. It is in this context that we present the work made in the scope of this dissertation, guiding the study and the implementation of a system that makes the Automatic Parametrization of Equipment of Quality control of Different Types of Capacitors. The existing machines in the quality control test in the production are characterized by not being capable to give reply to the market requirements, once these had been conceived for the production in mass. In their majority the related machines, present problems of flexibilization, refining and performance due to their low mechanical reliability and to their still very manual processes. All these factors condition the guarantee of the manufactured product quality. The developed software allows the operator to validate the programming of the machine and the instruments of measure through the optic reading of the barcode 2D of automatic form. The interfaces had been developed with Touch Screen technology, having always present the industrial environment, the easiness of operation and the restrictions of operation. The communication of software by the RS-232 gate with the programmable controller (PLC) allows to visualize the distribution of capacitors, the graphs of the evolution of the production, the distributions of Lot and Shift and the state of the machine and the instruments of measure. In this base, the integration of the test machines SMA and SMAP, with the informatics system based in a client - server platform, makes possible the automatization of the process of programming the machine and the instruments of measure and interconnection with other softwares of support to the production, operative systems and database. The parametrizations, distributions and anomalies are kept in database SQL Server in the phase of Closing of Control of Lot. This methodology contributes for the improvement of the process of control of the quality

Digital Tools to Foster Inclusiveness: Porto's System of Accessible Itineraries

The recognition, by public authorities, of the shared nature of urban places and the extent and variety of disabling conditions associated with the emergence of phenomena of social exclusion and a steadily ageing population has motivated the creation of new legislation and strategic tools under the umbrella of inclusive design and accessibility for all. This study aims to show how the use of a new interactive accessibility instrument-the System of Accessible Itineraries (SIA)-can help decision-makers, municipality services and citizens to develop pedestrian-friendly networks in their cities. An in loco analysis of the main features, weaknesses, and potential of public spaces was undertaken within a selected survey area in the city of Porto, with the aim of improving the inclusiveness of public spaces. The integration of several concerns and regulations, pertaining to inclusiveness in the design of public spaces, into an easy-to-understand summary specific to this territory constitutes an important first step towards changing the existing paradigm. Apart from the inherent advantages to citizens with reduced mobility, the SIA also has the ability to inform urban planners concerning areas in need of intervention, prioritizing the execution of corrective actions within the public space. Additionally, due to the morphological similarity of the consolidated urban fabric of most Portuguese and European cities, the adopted interactive framework also reveals a considerable potential for comprehensive replication in many city centres, reducing the physical barriers, in a more integrative land strategy

Certitex: a Textile Certified Supply Chain

The appearance of blockchain technologies and their growth and development have led to the exploration of applications of the technology in new areas, in addition to the original, cryptocurrencies, areas such as product management and traceability in supply chains are being explored. Initially, this technology was explored with the aim of providing food supply chains with traceability and transparency for the consumer. Currently, solutions for a larger variety of supply chains are being studied and developed. Current studies have proven that the technology has powerful properties to promote traceability and nonrepudiation of information related to products in a supply chain, as well as providing liability of entities for damages caused to products, which in the past has been notoriously difficult. The current structure of these supply chains, several different entities located in different physical spaces, is prone to the application of blockchain solutions as it also fits the architecture of the technology itself. All of this leads to a strong interest in applying blockchain technology to supply chains. Unfortunately, all the blockchain based solutions found to solve similar problems in the research phase of this project were developed by private entities, with little to no divulgation about their development and many times not even about how they function. This led to this project being mainly about researching the base technology and developing a solution from scratch. The problems of currently used traditional solutions are related to the use of non-standardized information registration strategies and ease of repudiation of information, but current consumer demands for knowledge of the origin of products has led to the exploration of new solutions to overcome this. Additionally, it is common for products, at the end of their production cycle, to be damaged and it is practically impossible to locate where the damage occurred in the chain. The idea of adapting blockchain technology as a solution for product traceability in the supply chain presents some points of concern, as blockchains are generally associated with distributed and public systems to maintain a given cryptocurrency, thus making information public. Although this is the initial purpose of its creation, other blockchain technologies oriented to data storage in a business to business model have emerged. These blockchains have access control measures, and are therefore called private. Only allowing access by a select group of entities. Additionally, information stored on a blockchain is also often associated with high costs, and when we refer to public blockchains like Ethereum this is a reality, but by using private solutions we can mitigate this cost. It is also often a concern the computational costs associated with cryptocurrency blockchains like Bitcoin and Etherum. Again, it is possible to get around this limitation by using private solutions where we can use more light weight algorithms, because the environment in which the system will be inserted, does not benefit from the properties of such algorithms. With the usage of blockchain to certify and record the progress of products as they travel through the supply chain, it is also interesting to explore the collected data, and how it could be used to make the supply chain itself more efficient. The purpose of this dissertation is to study how blockchain technology can be combined with a supply chain to offer product traceability and information collection. To achieve this goal, a prototype of a blockchain-based application was developed to collect data in a supply chain, as well as a prototype of an application for remote viewing of the data entered and a prototype of a Machine Learning module able to make use of the information collected by the blockchain.O aparecimento das tecnologias blockchain e o seu crescimento e desenvolvimento, têm levado à exploração de aplicações da tecnologia em novas áreas. Inicialmente, e relativamente ao tema desta tese, esta tecnologia foi explorada com o objetivo de prover cadeias de fornecimento alimentícias de rastreabilidade e transparência para o consumidor. Estudos atuais têm provado que a tecnologia apresenta propriedades poderosas para promover a rastreabilidade e não repúdio de informação. Infelizmente todas as soluções baseadas em blockchain encontradas na fase de pesquisa são soluções desenvolvidas por entidades privadas não havendo qualquer divulgação de informação relativa ao seu desenvolvimento, e também na maioria esmagadora dos casos sobre o seu funcionamento. Isto levou a que esta dissertação fosse maioritariamente um trabalho de investigação da tecnologia base, e desenvolvimento de raiz de uma solução funcional. Os problemas das soluções tradicionais, prendem-se com o uso de estratégias de registo de informação não estandardizadas e facilidade de repúdio de informação isto porque cada entidade por norma age independentemente das outras e apenas comunica com aquelas que lhe estão diretamente ligadas. Adicionalmente, é comum verificar que produtos no final da sua cadeia de produção estão danificados e de ser praticamente impossível localizar onde na cadeia os danos ocorreram. A ideia de adaptar a tecnologia blockchain como uma solução para a rastreabilidade de produtos na cadeia de fornecimento apresenta alguns pontos preocupantes, pois as blockchains são geralmente associadas a sistemas distribuídos e públicos para manter uma dada criptomoeda. Apesar de este ser o propósito inicial para a sua criação têm vindo a surgir outras tecnologias blockchain orientadas para o armazenamento e processamento de dados num modelo business to business. Estas blockchains possuem medidas de controlo de acesso, e são, portanto chamadas de privadas permitindo apenas acesso por parte de um grupo seleto de entidades. Adicionalmente, o armazenamento de informação numa blockchain é também muitas vezes associado a custos elevados, e quando nos referimos a blockchains públicas como a Ethereum isto é uma realidade, mas pelo uso de soluções privadas podemos colmatar este custo. É também uma preocupação os custos computacionais associados a blockchains de criptomoeadas como a Bitcoin e Etherum. Novamente é possível contornar esta limitação pelo uso de soluções privativas onde podemos usar algoritmos mais leves, pois o ambiente em que o sistema se vai inserir, não carece de tantos cuidados. Através do uso de blockchain para certificar a origem e percurso de produtos numa cadeia de fornecimento é também interessante explorar os dados recolhidos no processo e como estes podem ser utilizados para tornar a própria cadeia de fornecimentos mais eficiente. O objetivo desta dissertação é estudar como a tecnologia blockchain pode ser conjugada com uma cadeia de fornecimento para oferecer rastreabilidade de produtos e recolha de informação. Para alcançar este objetivo foi desenvolvido um protótipo de uma aplicação baseada em blockchain para recolha de dados numa cadeia de fornecimento, bem como um protótipo de uma aplicação para a visualização e interação remota com os dados e também um protótipo de um módulo de Machine Learning capaz de fazer uso da informação recolhida pela blockchain

“Private label products: a category analysis”

The presented dissertation was developed within a partnership between Nova School of Business and Economics and the Portuguese retailer Sonae MC. The main objective of the study was to develop an analysis for the confectionary category to identify potential development opportunities for new Private Label products. In order to do so, the starting point was to understand how the confectionery market was behaving, followed by and understanding of Continente’s performance in that market. Aiming to point out development opportunities, the analysis was split between the subcategories – Chocolate, Chewing Gums and Sweets. The Subcategory performance was assessed in terms of sales, number of SKU’s, Private Label weight and it market position in terms of share. For the potential development opportunities a comparison between the top selling Branded Product and the competitors’ position was developed, in order to establish a reasonable size and retail price for such products. Key Word: Private Label, Branded Products, Continente, Sonae MC, Retail, SKU’s, Sales, Price, Market Share

Vibration control in buildings under seismic excitation using optimized tuned mass dampers

Earthquakes can cause vibration problems in many types of structures, generating large displacements. The interstory drift is a design criterion very used in seismic analysis and the structural control is an alternative to reduce these displacements and improve the performance of these structures adapting them to the imposed criteria. TMD is a device widely used due to the simple principle of operation and many successful applications in real life practice. This paper investigates the use of optimized TMD for reduction of maximum horizontal displacement at the top floor and interstory drift of a steel building under seismic excitation considering three scenarios: single TMD at the top floor; MTMD horizontally arranged at the top floor; and MTMD vertically arranged on the structure. By a metaheuristic optimization algorithm, the parameters and positions of the devices are obtained. Three real and one artificial earthquakes are employed in the simulations. The results showed that all proposed scenarios are efficient in reducing top floor response and interstory drift to values below of the interstory drift limits allowed by the standard code consulted. However, Scenario 2 presented the best reduction for the top displacement and interstory drift to the critical floor for the worst earthquake considered

Cooperative awareness in cognitive wireless networks for jamming control

In cognitive wireless networks, opportunistic network devices can be programmed to take advantage of licence holders' idle times and dynamically adjust their operating parameters to improve transmissions. For this to be successful, these idle periods must be reliably detected. To support this requirement, this work proposes a cooperative detection mechanism for the signals transmitted by the licenced system through the use of positioning-enabled devices. Such devices can provide information to guide and control opportunistic network devices to limit interference to the licenced system. Simulations show that keeping interference within specification limits makes it possible to maintain opportunistic network communications in an ad hoc scenario with quality.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Sci- ence and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through the national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021), and with the support of the SM-TMC project (586035-EPP-1-2017-1-DZ-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio