An automatic maintenance system for nuclear power plants instrumentation

Maintenance and testing of reactor protection systems is an important cause of unplanned reactor trips due to be commonly carried out in manual mode. The execution of surveillance procedures in this mode entails a great number of manual operations. Automated testing is the answer because it minimises test times and reduces the risk of human errors. GAMA-I is an automatic system for testing the reactor protection instrumentation which is based on VXI instrumentation cards. This system has important advantages over previous ones in terms of easiness to carry out software modifications related to configuration changes in the protection system. The system uses visual programming and the modifications can be implemented by ordinary instrumentation specialists without programming experience.The system has been developed at the Vandellos II Nuclear Power Plant by the I&C groups of Vandellos II, Tecnatom S.A. and ENWESA Servicios S.A. The representation for this project is held by the Spanish Association for the Nuclear Technologic Development (DTN). Financial support for this research was provided by the Electrical and Electronic Research Program (PIE-OCIDE) of the Spanish Ministry of Industry

GOYA: a teleoperated system for blasting applied to ships maintenance

This paper presents the GOYA Project, a teleoperated system for blasting applied to hull cleaning in ship maintenance. The objective of the project is to develop a reliable and cost effective technology regarding hull grit blasting, obtaining a high quality surface preparation together with a dramatic reduction of waste and zero emissions to environment. Present technology for hull cleaning and the problematic in shipbuilding industry are analysed. Selection of blasting technologies and materials is also approached in this paper, showing the different tests carried out to achieve a hull surface cleanliness of SA 2 ½. The desing of the robot is also presented, showing aspects of mechanical, control unit, teleoperation system and blasting head design. It also shows the consecution of a smooth hull surface and the reduction of operation costs atmospheric contamination. It also eliminates the hard working conditions of the operators in the present manual operation. This work is supported by the Spanish government and the European Union (CICYT-FEDER) and is tested in BAZAN Co.The authors want to acknowledge the Spanish government and European Communities for CICYT-FEDER support (1FD97-0823). Additional funds support from BAZAN and Spanish Ministry of Industry (ATYCA)

Red de sensores inalámbrica para agricultura de precisión

Las redes de sensores inalámbricas combinadas con otras tecnologías (sistemas de posicionamiento global, imágenes aéreas y de satélites, sistemas de información geográfica, etc.) pueden jugar un papel muy importante en estimar y evaluar el estado hídrico de los cultivos además de permitir entender los cambios que se producen en los mismos, cuestiones éstas que son objeto de estudio de la agricultura de precisión. El presente trabajo muestra la experiencia que se ha recogido en la implantación y despliegue de una red de sensores de carácter experimental que se ha llevado a cabo en una empresa hortícola de productos ecológicos en el Campo de Cartagena, y que distribuye sus productos en una gran parte de Europa. Se muestra la topología de la red desplegada, algunos de los diferentes nodos que se han construido, así como la aplicación software de monitorización desarrollada.Los autores quieren agradecer a los proyectos RIMSI (FIT-330100-2006-173) y ESNA (ITEA 2006) del Ministerio de Industría, así como a la Fundación Séneca de la Región de Murcia (ref ID-02998/PI/05) y a la CICYT MEDWSA (ref TIN1006-15175-C05-02) del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia de España su apoyo para la realización de estos trabajos

European Entrepreneurial Learning in Information and Communication Technologies. The EU-xCEL Experience in Spain

This paper describes the experience of the Cartagena node in the 2015 edition of the EU-xCEL project, which was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. EU-xCEL aims at fostering entrepreneurship awareness and training among young graduates, in Information and Communication Technologies as well as to strengthen the European entrepreneurship ecosystem. This paper outlines the development of the training week and the posterior virtual incubation phase, as well as the experience of running the program in Cartagena. Finally, we outline some conclusions drawn from the experience.This work has been developed in the context of the EUxCEL project, funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 644801. It has been partially supported by the “Research Programme for Groups of Scientific Excellence at Region of Murcia" of the Seneca Foundation (Agency for Science and Technology of the Region of Murcia – 19895/GERM/15). Diego Alonso thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Subprograma Estatal de Movilidad, Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016 for grant CAS14/00238

Supporting tech founders—a needs‑must approach to the delivery of acceleration programmes for a post‑pandemic world

Along with most economic sectors, the COVID-19 crisis has had a strong impact on start-up accelerators, forcing them to seek urgent and imaginative solutions to quickly adapt to a new environment. The enforced change brought challenges that have been exacerbated by the sudden slowdown in economic activity. Despite these difficulties, it has become clear that the accelerated digital transformation that emerged through a needs-must approach to engage with start-ups through remote means has also presented new opportunities for accelerators to improve their programmes. This article analyses the impact of the COVID crisis on the organisation and results obtained by a European accelerator, which delivers programmes for growth stage technology start-ups. For this purpose, two very similar programmes have been analysed and compared: one focused on industrial technologies (delivered in 2019–2020) and another one focused on products and services built on space technologies (2020–2021). The research has been undertaken using observational techniques, reinforced through the collection of primary and secondary data throughout the study duration. The result of the analysis point to a possible post-COVID accelerator model that blends online and remote delivery as a new way of improving the experience of start-ups and optimising the use of scarce resourcesThis work has been partially funded by the European Commission under the project “Space End: Endeavour Space Hub” (GA #870480)

A Sensor System for Detection of Hull Surface Defects

This paper presents a sensor system for detecting defects in ship hull surfaces. The sensor was developed to enable a robotic system to perform grit blasting operations on ship hulls. To achieve this, the proposed sensor system captures images with the help of a camera and processes them in real time using a new defect detection method based on thresholding techniques. What makes this method different is its efficiency in the automatic detection of defects from images recorded in variable lighting conditions. The sensor system was tested under real conditions at a Spanish shipyard, with excellent results

Lexical and reading comprehension processes in Secondary School students

La comprensión lectora es un proceso complejo que requiere tanto la “construcción” como la “integración” de la información, siendo por tanto un proceso interactivo en el que intervienen una gran cantidad de procesos mentales. Este hecho conlleva que exista una gran heterogeneidad de dificultades en la comprensión. El objetivo del presente estudio consiste en analizar las posibles diferencias en cuanto al acceso al léxico y los procesos de comprensión entre un grupo de alumnos con dificultades en la comprensión (DCL) y otro grupo de alumnos sin DCL. Participaron 84 adolescentes (42 con DCL y 42 sin DCL) de 12 a 16 años escolarizados en la etapa de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian que ambos grupos presentan un procesamiento de la información diferenciado. Las principales diferencias obtenidas se encuentran en los diferentes procesos léxicos, además de la captación de ideas explícitas y la elaboración de inferencias anafóricas. La finalidad de este trabajo consiste en poder diseñar intervenciones que se ajusten a las necesidades de los alumnos con dificultades.Reading comprehension is a complex process that requires both the “construction” and the “integration” of information, making it an interactive process that involves a wide variety of mental processes. This fact implies a great heterogeneity of difficulties in reading comprehension. The aim of this study consists of analyzing the possible differences in lexical and reading comprehension processes among a group of students with reading comprehension difficulties and another group of students without these difficulties. The participants of this study were 84 adolescents (42 with reading comprehension difficulties and 42 without them) from 12 to 16 years of age enrolled in the stage of compulsory secondary education. The results show that the information is processed differently in both groups. The main differences are obtained in lexical processes as well as understanding explicit ideas and making anaphoric inferences. The purpose of this paper is to design interventions that meet the needs of students with reading comprehension difficulties.peerReviewe

Methodology for the Optimal Design of a Hybrid Charging Station of Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles Supplied by Renewable Energies and an Energy Storage System

The global energy system is changing, mainly to achieve sustainable transport technologies and clean electrical generation based on renewable sources. Thus, as fuels, electricity and hydrogen are the most promising transport technologies in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. On the other hand, photovoltaic and wind energies, including energy storage, have become the main sources of distributed generation. This study proposes a new optimal-technical sizing method based on the Simulink Design Optimization of a stand-alone microgrid with renewable energy sources and energy storage to provide energy to a wireless power transfer system to charge electric vehicles along a motorway and to a hydrogen charging station for fuel cell-powered buses. The results show that the design system can provide energy for the charging of electric vehicles along the motorway and produce the hydrogen consumed by the fuel cell-buses plus a certain tank reserve. The flexibility of the study allows the analysis of other scenarios, design requirements, configurations or types of microgrids

Reference architecture for robot teleoperation: development details and practical use

The need to avoid redundant efforts in software development has been recognized for a long time. Currently, work is focused on the generation of products that are designed to be reused. A reference architecture for robot teleoperation systems has been developed using the domain-engineering process and certain architectural patterns. The architecture has been applied successfully to the development of different teleoperation platforms used in the maintenance activities of nuclear power plants. In particular, this paper presents how the reference architecture has been implemented in different systems, such as the Remotely Operated Service Arm (ROSA), the Teleoperated and Robotized System for Maintenance Operation in Nuclear Power Plants Vessels (TRON) and the Inspection Retrieving Vehicle (IRV).This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Government Programmes for Research in Electrical Power (project PIE-041049), and for Technological Actuation in Industry (PAUTA projects 753/ 95 y 53/96). TRON is supported inside EUREKA– MAINE program (EU1565)

Low cost buoy for monitoring recreational areas

By using buoy-based coastal monitoring systems we can build innovative solutions addressed to measure, among other activities, the marine cosastal conditions. This technology is continuously evolving mainly because the current high-cost of the buoy-based installations jepoardizes the full penetration of these products and their potential added-value applications in the consumer market. To mitigate these shortcomings, we propose a Samrt System for Marine Environments . This is a novel concept to monitor coastal areas: a low-cost, light weight, energy-efficient and surface buoy-based system to dedicate all the efforts in satisfying the demand of a wide variety of end-users and applications.Peer Reviewe